Picture: In quiet contemplation in the Lassalle Haus Zendo.
According to Gautama Buddha life is suffering. And there are four reasons for us suffering: First, we want things we do not have (sounds obvious). Second, we do not want the things we have. Third, we are afraid that things we have will be taken away. And fourth, we are afraid that we will get things we do not want (like diseases). So what shall you do about it? At my recent Zazen meditation retreat at the beautifully located Lassalle-Haus in Schönbrunn, Switzerland, the Zen teacher gave the following answer: radical optimism. This phrase was coined by the American Zen-master Halifax. She meant by it that only here and now counts. What we experience now is our life, as the Japanese Zen Master Dogen mentioned. Not the past nor the future matter. Mrs. Halifax based her experience on counseling death-row prisoners in the USA. She realized that she could not offer them hope for the future but only the bare and simple here and now. In a sense we are all prisoners of our expectations and desires. So just sit, breath and do not think. Be here and now. Be (and stay away from the art market).
Read more about Zen-Retreats here: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2007/07/the-quickest-wa.html
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