Zen Ways To Build Routines, Concentrate Your Mind, and Simplify Your Life
Dan Harris presents a feed drop from "The Way Out Is In" podcast, where Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and writer Jo Confino explore the true meaning of Zen. They discuss finding beauty in simplicity, cultivating mindfulness, concentration, and insight, and integrating Zen practices into everyday life.
Deep Dive Analysis
13 Topic Outline
Introduction to Zen's Deeper Meaning
Defining Zen as Meditation and Practice
The Two Wings of Meditation: Stopping and Looking Deeply
Three Core Elements of Zen Practice: Mindfulness, Concentration, Insight
The Value of a Beginner's Mind in Zen
Cultivating Sacredness in Everyday Life and Spaces
Thich Nhat Hanh's Playful Teaching on Concentration
Finding Meaning and Joy in Simple Routines
True Beauty, Simplicity, and Monastic Appearance
The Role of Humility in Zen Practice
Balancing Sophistication with Simplicity in Understanding
Zen in Mundane Activities: Crisps and Hairdressing
Guided Meditation for Simplicity and Stillness
7 Key Concepts
Zen
Zen is an art form and concrete practice rooted in meditation, aiming to see reality as it is through contemplation. It involves cultivating stillness and looking deeply into life, making it a practical way to engage in daily existence.
Samatha (Stopping)
Samatha is the first wing of meditation, which involves learning to pause, be still, and not be carried away by thoughts of the past or future. It's about grounding oneself into the present moment, maintaining concentration even during active engagement.
Looking Deeply
This is the second wing of meditation, an art of understanding life in a simple way while perceiving its profound depths. It requires the ability to truly comprehend a person or situation, ensuring actions are offered with understanding rather than solely personal desires.
Beginner's Mind
Considered the most precious mind in Zen, the beginner's mind embodies openness, curiosity, and a genuine wish to understand. It contrasts with a 'master's' mind, which might be too confident or caught in what it already knows, hindering new insights.
Sacredness in Zen
Sacredness in Zen is not merely about formal worship, but an energy cultivated when practice is alive, infusing reverence and respect into spaces, objects, and actions. It transforms mundane items and routines into meaningful experiences through mindful engagement and gratitude.
Humility in Zen
Humility is a beautiful quality that transcends feelings of inferiority, superiority, or equality, representing an open energy of wanting to be of service anywhere. It is essential for learning, leadership, and maintaining gratitude, preventing talent from becoming pride or self-centeredness.
Sixth Novice Precept
This precept advises against being caught in using cosmetics or wearing jewelry, emphasizing that the true beauty of a monastic is found in their stability and freedom. It encourages living simply, dressing neatly, and wearing clean clothes as a practice of inner adornment.
7 Questions Answered
Zen, derived from meditation, is an art form and concrete practice focused on cultivating stillness (Samatha) and looking deeply into life to understand reality as it is, fostering insight and wisdom in everyday actions.
Zen meditation involves two main elements: 'stopping' (Samatha), which is learning to pause and be still to ground oneself in the present, and 'looking deeply,' which is the art of understanding life's simple and profound aspects.
Zen practice cultivates sacredness by bringing mindfulness, concentration, and insight to all aspects of life, including mundane objects and spaces. This means treating them with reverence and gratitude, acknowledging their role in supporting one's practice.
The beginner's mind is considered precious because it embodies openness, curiosity, and a genuine desire to understand, allowing for continuous learning and fresh insights, unlike a 'master's' mind that might be too certain.
By being mindful and fully present in the moment, even simple, routine tasks like sweeping or cleaning can become sacred actions with deep meaning, leading to contentment and freedom from constant chasing.
Humility is a beautiful quality that allows one to be of service anywhere with openness, fostering the ability to learn and grow. It helps prevent talent from becoming pride and ensures one remains grounded and compassionate.
Zen acknowledges that studying sophisticated concepts can inspire the aspiration to make them simple and applicable to everyday life. While intellectual understanding has its role, true Zen emphasizes direct, simple action and living practice over getting lost in mental complexity.
20 Actionable Insights
1. Cultivate Stillness Through Stopping
Train yourself to stop running away from thoughts of the past or worrying about the future. Ground yourself in the present moment by finding an anchor for your mind and attention, allowing you to cultivate peace even when actively engaged.
2. Understand Through Deep Looking
Develop the art of looking deeply to understand life in its simplicity and see its profound depths. This involves truly understanding others, especially those you love, by looking beyond your own desires to offer actions rooted in genuine understanding.
3. Embody Mindfulness, Concentration, Insight
Cultivate three core energies: mindfulness (awareness within and around you), concentration (sustaining awareness without distraction), and insight (understanding and wisdom that ripens from practice). These energies are fundamental to Zen practice and lead to deeper understanding.
4. Embrace Beginner’s Mindset
Value the beginner’s mind, which embodies openness, curiosity, and a wish to understand, over a ‘master’s mind’ that might be too sure or confident. This mindset fosters continuous learning and growth.
5. Practice Still Sitting Meditation
Engage in sitting meditation by finding a stable, relaxed, and upright (but not rigid) posture on a cushion. This formal activity trains your ability to pause, be still, and become aware of your body.
6. Ground Yourself with Mindful Chores
If your mind is busy or overstimulated, engage in physical chores like gardening, sweeping, or cleaning. These practical activities allow you to put your attention to something concrete and ground yourself in the present moment through mindfulness of action.
7. Let Go for New Insights
Understand that letting go is a form of happiness; be willing to release existing insights or achievements to make way for new understandings and continued growth in your practice.
8. Revere All Life’s Conditions
Develop a deep reverence for everything in your space, viewing even mundane objects like a cushion, a cup of tea, or dirt as sacred. This mindset acknowledges the conditions that support your life and practice, fostering gratitude and respect.
9. Make Meditation Exciting
Approach meditation with the same level of excitement and challenge you might bring to an engaging activity like watching a sports game. Strive to make the practice of sitting still and being aware as compelling as scoring a goal.
10. Sacredness in Mundane Tasks
See everyday, seemingly menial tasks as sacred actions by investing your heart and soul into them and finding deep meaning in what you are doing. This transforms mundane activities into opportunities for inner contentment and beauty.
11. Adopt Flexible Daily Routines
Cultivate a simple routine and schedule to help realign your energies and provide structure for your practice. While routines are important, maintain flexibility and avoid being overly caught in rigid forms.
12. Find Contentment in Enough
Practice the simplicity of knowing that what you currently have is enough. This contentment allows you to stop chasing after more, leading to a deeper and more relaxed life.
13. Mindful Self-Care and Space
Dress neatly and wear clean clothes, not for outer attractiveness, but as a form of self-care that impacts your health, wellbeing, and respect for your community. Similarly, keep your room and desk tidy, as your space reflects your mind.
14. Establish Home Zen Space
Designate a ‘breathing corner’ or sacred space in your home where you can go when angry or when you need to cultivate inner peace. This dedicated space supports your practice and helps you recenter.
15. Cultivate Humility and Service
Practice humility, which allows you to be open, curious, and willing to serve anywhere without a sense of superiority or inferiority. Be a good follower before aspiring to lead, and learn by paying attention rather than just through formal instruction.
16. Protect Aspirations with Boundaries
Be mindful of your energies, approach, physical contact, and attention to the smallest details to protect your deepest aspirations. This practice helps maintain your chosen path, especially in the face of attraction and desire.
17. Communicate Simply and Heartfully
Prioritize simple, heartfelt messages and direct eye contact in your communication. Understand that true connection and knowing often reside more in presence and non-verbal cues than in complex, intellectualized verbal expression.
18. Integrate Talent with Virtue
Recognize that talent must be accompanied by virtue; if virtue is absent, talent can lead to pride and self-centeredness, potentially damaging one’s path. Prioritize character over raw ability.
19. Engage in Reverent Rituals
Practice specific rituals, such as bowing upon entering and leaving a meditation hall, or formally announcing departures and returns. These actions acknowledge presence, express gratitude, and cultivate sacredness in your environment.
20. Guided Mindful Breathing
Practice mindful breathing by becoming aware of your in-breath and out-breath, following them from beginning to end without forcing them. Extend this awareness to your whole body, smiling to it, relaxing it, and feeling gratitude for the wonders of life.
8 Key Quotes
Zen, by definition, it means meditation.
Brother Fapu
This is because that is. When we're able to have this understanding, you have this aha moment.
Brother Fapu
The mind of a beginner's mind is the most precious mind. It's not a mind of a master.
Brother Fapu
Sacredness is very alive when the practice is alive.
Brother Fapu
You know, sometimes it's so difficult to get all of you to sit in stillness for 30 minutes, but you can sit there and watch a game for 90 minutes without moving.
Thich Nhat Hanh (quoted by Brother Fapu)
Being mindful is to establish yourself to be so alive in the present moment that nothing becomes boring.
Brother Fapu
Talent has to go with virtue. If there's no virtue, put that talent away.
Brother Fapu (quoting a Zen school saying)
Your room represents your mind.
Thich Nhat Hanh (quoted by Brother Fapu)
2 Protocols
Monastic Practice Before Leaving/Returning to Monastery
Brother Fapu- Get in front of an altar.
- Join palms.
- Declare in heart the journey (e.g., 'going on a journey to Canada for two weeks to offer a retreat').
- Ask patriarchs, ancestors, and the Three Jewels to witness aspiration, support, and protect the journey.
- Upon return, come in front of the altar and touch the earth to declare return home.
- Upon return, announce to the community, 'I would like to ask permission to enter into the stream of practice here.'
Short Guided Meditation for Stillness and Gratitude
Brother Fapu- Find a comfortable position (sitting, laying down, or standing still).
- Feel the earth underneath the feet or buttocks, connecting the body to the earth.
- Become aware of the in-breath and out-breath, knowing 'this is an in-breath, this is an out-breath.'
- Follow the breath from beginning to end, fully dwelling in the present moment of the breath.
- Allow the breath to be long or short naturally, without forcing.
- Become aware of the whole body and smile to the body, offering care and stillness.
- Relax the body, acknowledging that there's no need to keep running.
- Get in touch with the wonders of life around, and feel grateful for all conditions supporting life, understanding, and love.
- Enjoy the simplicity of breathing in and breathing out.