Zen: The Art of Simple Living Book Review
Shunmyō Masuno is the head priest of a 450-year-old Zen Buddhist temple in Japan, an award-winning Zen garden designer for clients all over the world and a professor of environmental design at one of Japan’s leading art schools.
The book is about “subtle shifts in your habits and perspective that’s all you need to live simply.” Zen style.
Why should you read this book? The author explains beautifully in the Foreword.
You visit a temple or shrine in an ancient city, and look out at the tranquil gardens.
You break into a sweat climbing a mountain, and enjoy the sweeping vista from the summit.
You stand before a crystal-blue sea, and just stare out at the horizon.
Have you experienced this sense of being refreshed, in such extraordinary moments when you are removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life?
Your heart feels lighter, and a warm energy surges through your body. The worries and stresses of daily life vanish for an instant, and you can just feel yourself, alive in this moment.
[…]
Nowadays, many people have lost their footing – they are worried and confused about how to live their lives.
That is why they seek out the extraordinary, in an attempt to reset their mental balance. Even once you have pushed reset, the extraordinary remains outside of the everyday.
[…]
No matter how much you lament the complexities of life, changing the world is no simple task.
If the world is not going the way you want it to, perhaps it is better to change yourself. Then, whatever world you encounter, you can move through it comfortably and with ease.
Changing lifestyle is not difficult – it needs a slight changes in habits and a subtle shift in perspective. Zen is about habits, ideas and hints for living a happy life.
The book articulates simple habits that are easy to practice to achieve this change.
The book is divided into four parts each covering 20-30 practices. I would recommend buying a physical copy as its filled with beautiful paintings.
The author requests us not just understand these Zen practices only intellectually, but also actually practice them. After all,
The answers you seek are within.
Zen: The Art of Simple Living Book Summary
Note: This summary is made up of my notes, thoughts and highlights of important passages while reading the book. I keep updating the summary when I revisit it, and occasionally may edit it to reduce summary length. Don’t be surprised if it has changed between visits. The author’s words are in normal font, while my interpretations are in italics.
30 Ways to Energize Your ‘Present Self’
Make Time For Emptiness First, observe yourself.
Be with yourself as you are, but without haste, without impatience.
Any given day, a mere ten minutes is all you need. Try making time for emptiness, for not thinking about anything.
Making time for not thinking about anything – that is the first step towards creating a simple life.
Wake Up Fifteen Minutes Earlier.
The prescription for when there is no room in your heart.
When we are short on time, this scarcity extends to our heart as well. We automatically say, ‘I’m busy, I don’t have time.’ When we feel this way, our mind becomes even more hectic.
We are busy because there is no room in our heart.
Savour The Morning Air.
The monk’s secret to a long life is found here. Each day is not the same.
Line Up Your Shoes When You Take Them Off.
This will beautify your life. Disorder in your mind shows in your feet.
Discard What You Don’t Need.
It will refresh your mind. Part with old things before acquiring new ones.
Discard your attachments. Let go of your assumptions. Reduce your possessions. Living simply is also about discarding your physical and mental burdens.
It’s amazing how refreshed we can feel after a good cry. Crying clears out whatever weight you were carrying in your heart.
The act of discarding, of detaching from mental and physical burdens, from the baggage that weighs us down, is extremely difficult. Sometimes it can be accompanied by real pain, as when we part with someone who is dear to us.
if you want to improve the way things are, if you want to live with a light heart, you must start by discarding. The moment you detach, a new abundance will flow into your life.
Organize Your Desk.
Cleaning hones the mind. Your desk is a mirror that reflects your inner mind.
With every sweep of the broom, you clear out the dust in your mind. With every swipe of the cloth, your heart gleams brighter.
Key to keeping your mind invigorated is to first put the things around you in order.
Make A Delicious Cup Of Coffee.
The happiness to be found in taking your time. When we eliminate effort, we eliminate life’s pleasures.
First, you go out into the woods and collect firewood. You make a fire and boil water. As you grind the coffee beans, you look up at the sky and say, ‘˜What a beautiful day.’ Coffee brewed this way is likely to taste much better than coffee from a machine. The reason why, perhaps, is because each step in the process has been brought to life ‘“ collecting firewood, starting the fire, grinding the beans. There is nothing extraneous in any of these actions. That is what I call living.
Life requires time and effort. That is to say, when we eliminate time and effort, we eliminate life’s pleasures.
Every so often, experience the flip side of convenience.
Put Pen To Paper With Care.
Your true self can be seen in your handwriting. Turn your attention inwards.
Consider trying to write or draw with care – not with the intention of showing it to others, but rather by mindfully facing your inner self. Your true self will show through, in a single line or letter.
Try Using A Loud Voice.
This is a way to get yourself motivated. Speak from your belly and awaken your brain.
When you speak loudly, as a matter of course, you are able to hear your own voice clearly. But moreover, it stimulates and activates your brain.
Once a day, try using a loud voice, even if you just put a lot of heart into your morning greeting. You may be surprised by how good it feels.
Do Not Neglect Your Meals.
Make your meals about the eating ‘Eat and drink with your whole heart.’
Why do we take pleasure in delicious things? Because the life in us savours that which has been cultivated by the life in another.
When Eating, Pause After Every Bite.
Savour the sense of gratitude. Zen practice is not just seated meditation.
We reflect upon these five things at each meal, expressing gratitude for the food, and we pause after every bite, setting down our chopsticks. The purpose of this pause is to enable us to savour the feelings of gratitude with each bite we take.
Meals are not simply to satisfy hunger. They are an important time to practise our training.
Discover The Benefits Of A Vegetable-centric Diet.
A vegetarian fast is a ‘quick cleanse’ for your mind and body.
Food is what creates both your body and your mind.
Seek Out Your Favourite Words.
Time for being with your mind. For example, ‘All things come from nothingness,’ a Zen phrase to free yourself from attachments.
Within nothingness there is infinite potential.
It means that human beings are born possessing nothing. Yet within all of us lies infinite potential.
As James Allen says “The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg.”
A seed waits for the right environment to grow into a plant, each of us has potential that is only waiting for the right environment to grow and prosper.
The waiting is not passive-waiting for something to happen. The waiting needs to be active-waiting, by putting yourself, through your actions, in a place where opportunities to realize your potential are found.
Pare Down Your Belongings.
Acquire only what you need. The concept of exhausting the essence of things.
Acquiring lots of things isn’t freedom.
Arrange Your Room Simply.
Doing so will simplify your mind as well.
If you cultivate a simplified mindset, your body, too, will naturally become lean. Conversely, if you pay attention to your diet and strengthen your body, your mind, too, will become healthier and stronger.
If you wish to simplify your inner self, arrange your rooms sparely.
Frugality is about subsisting with things of low value.
A lifestyle of simplicity is the fundamental practice that will hone the mind.
Try Going Barefoot.
How to keep sickness away The reason why monks go barefoot
Exhale Deeply.
How to eliminate negative emotions Improve your breathing, and your mind, too, will improve.
Sit Zazen.
The effects of sitting and thinking. Humans are not capable of deep reflection while we are moving.
The word Zen derives from the Sanskrit word dhyana, which means ‘quiet contemplation’.
Try A Standing Practice
A Zen-style method to make use of your commuting time.
With your commute as a kind of bridge between your home life and your work life, you’re able to assume a completely different mode.
Try a ‘standing practice’. You can do this even while holding on to the strap in a train carriage. As you stand there, focus your awareness on the point below your navel – your tanden – and practise zazen. It’s simple.
Seek Out The Sunset.
Be grateful for making it through another day. Find your own ‘sunset steps.’
When evening falls, take a moment to look up at the sky. Feel gratitude for having made it through another day.
Don’t Waste Time Worrying About Things You Cannot Control
What does it mean to become spiritually lighter? The moment when you suddenly leave yourself behind.
Become Adept At Switching Modes.
Create gates within your mind. There are such things as ‘necessary non-essentials.’
You might think of your commute to work as a similar ‘necessary non-essential’. It can provide time for you to switch between your private self and your work self.
Breathe Slowly.
A five-minute ‘chair zazen’ during your lunch break. To settle your mind, first adjust your posture and your breathing.
The basis for zazen is to harmonize your posture, breathing and mind.
Under the stressful conditions at work, you might take seven or eight breaths per minute. By focusing on your breathing, you can naturally decrease this to three or four breaths per minute. Once this happens, your mind will naturally settle.
Don’t Think Of Unpleasant Things Right Before Bed.
A five-minute ‘bed zazen’ before going to sleep. Time to reset your mind.
Join Your Hands Together.
The way to calm an irritable mind. The meaning of gasshÅ: the left hand represents you; the right represents others.
Make Time To Be Alone.
The first step towards simple living, Zen style. The benefits of ‘seclusion in the city.’
Mountain dwelling’ is the lifestyle idealized by Japanese people.
Create A Small Garden On Your Balcony.
A little place for practising mindfulness. You can sharpen your mind, no matter where you are.
A place where your mind can escape. A place where you can look upon your essential self.
Get In Touch With Nature.
Find the happiness that is right at hand. Create a miniature garden in your mind.
Try getting in touch with nature yourself. If you notice a stone lying on the ground, pick it up and hold it. When you see flowers blooming by the side of the road, stop and smell their fragrance.
Inside your mind, create a miniature garden of your very own. It will relax you.
Don’t Put Off What You Can Do Today.
You cannot regret the future.
Try Your Best To Do What You Can Now.
It will lead to good things. Don’t go chasing after clouds – you will never catch them.
Simply work hard to do today what needs to be done. And fortune will surely come your way.
30 Ways to Inspire Confidence and Courage for Living
Discover Another You.
Find your inner protagonist. Your protagonist has boundless potential.
There is another you within yourself. This version of you is freer than the self you think you know, and rich with potential. It is your essential self. Within yourself lives your true protagonist.
In Zen terms, the word for ‘protagonist’ is also translated as ‘master’.
Don’t Be Troubled By Things That Have Not Yet Happened.
Anxiety is intangible.
Huike shared his troubles with Bodhidharma. ‘My mind is always filled with anxiety. Please help me to quieten it.’
Bodhidharma replied, ‘I will calm these anxieties for you. But first, will you bring them to me? If you can set them before me and say, ‘These are the anxieties that burden me,’ I will be sure to calm them for you.’
Hearing this, Huike realized something for the first time. ‘Anxiety’ was a thing within his mind. In reality, it was intangible.
There is no need to be troubled by things that have not yet happened. Think only about what is happening right now.
Almost all anxieties are intangible. They are the invention of your own mind.
Take Pleasure In Your Work.
Work is what brings out your inner protagonist. Joy is to be found within yourself.
‘Be the master wherever you go. Then, wherever you find yourself, things will be as they truly are.’
People who do their best to enjoy what is before them have the greatest chance to discover inner peace. Often, whatever it is they are enjoying ‘the thing before them’ has the potential to turn into an opportunity.
The place where you currently find yourself, the role you inhabit, the people you meet today, every little thing. You never know what might become an opportunity. Stop dismissing what it is that you’re doing, and start living.
Do Not Feel Put Out By The Tasks Before You.
A way to make work much more enjoyable. ‘A day without working is a day without eating.’
Zen master Baizhang Huaihai, ‘A day without working is a day without eating.’
Don’t Blame Others.
A way of thinking that will bring forth opportunity and fortune. Think of the work you’re doing as an encounter.
If there’s anything that differentiates the results we produce, it may be the mindset in which each of us faces whatever task is at hand.
Whatever it is you’re doing, be grateful for the opportunity. Be happy for the chance to do the work.
If you believe that a task is being forced upon you, then you will see the work as a burden, and it will arouse negative feelings.
If we are to find meaning in what we do, we must first become our own protagonist in the work. You have the leading role in your work. If you approach work with this attitude, all work becomes meaningful and invaluable.
Simply Immerse Yourself.
The tremendous power of being unfettered. Empty your mind, and do not let it settle anywhere or wander.
There is a saying in Zen practice, munen muso, that describes a state of being free from worldly desires and distracting thoughts.
Try simply immersing yourself in what is before you. You may discover that doing so can be surprisingly powerful.
Don’t Compare Yourself To Others.
When you feel as though you’re doing the wrong job. In anything, the hard part is just to keep going.
The work I’m doing now is my true calling.’ Whoever can say this is very fortunate.
Seek Not What You Lack.
Be content with the here and now.
Every So Often, Try To Stop Thinking.
Where ideas can be hiding. The benefits of having room in your mind.
Ideas or sparks actually emerge from the empty spaces within your mind – from the gaps between your thoughts.
Try Attending A Zazen Sitting.
A chance to sweep the detritus from your mind. You can leave behind your stress and worries at the temple.
Plant A Single Flower.
No day is more important than today. In the world of nature, every day is a new day.
When you grow a flower from seed, you become aware that nothing and no one can remain in the same place.
Make Distinctions.
The best way to relieve stress. Try erecting gates in your mind.
Make A Proper Start.
Create an ‘upward spiral.’ How to generate lots of good around you.
Cherish Your Own Self
The meaning of carrying an amulet. An amulet is your alter ego.
I am sometimes asked the following questions by visitors to the temple: ‘Master, which amulet is the most potent? Which one will have the greatest effect?’
‘Think of an amulet as an alter ego of the deity or of the Buddha himself. You’re looking after the deity for a year. You must protect the deity. And by cherishing the amulet, you are cherishing your own self.’
Always strive to be mindful of your behaviour. Cherish your own self. That is the true meaning of carrying an amulet.
Think Simple.
If you really want to satisfy your mind.
When you’re uncertain, simplicity is the best way to go.
Samadhi, the state of intense concentration achieved through meditation.
Ichigyo zanmai. It means ‘Strive for just one thing.’
Rather than branching out into this, that and what-have-you, focus your attention on just one thing. This is the way to gain satisfaction and fulfilment.
Do Not Fear Change.
Cast off your attachment to the past. There is beauty to be found in change.
What the Japanese prize most is the fragility of the cherry blossoms’ beauty. The blossoms are lovely because of their evanescence ‘“ we sense in them the ephemerality of life. It is said that this appreciation of the ephemeral is what enabled Zen Buddhism to take root and spread throughout Japan. There is, in fact, a deep connection between Zen thought and the reverence for cherry blossoms.
A supple mind accepts change and is not attached to the past. Rather than lamenting change, it finds new beauty and hope in it. That is a life to which to aspire.
Feel Instead Of Think.
To foster a true zest for life. The advantage of those who notice small changes.
Believe in the importance of honing the five senses in order to experience such satisfaction. It is one of life’s pleasures.
Hone your senses so that you won’t miss even the slightest changes.
Notice Changes.
Everything else springs from this awareness.
When you maintain a regular lifestyle, you are able to notice the slightest changes. If you want to change yourself, first it is important to develop an awareness of any shifts within.
Conscientious living begins with early to bed, early to rise. This is the secret to a life of ease and contentment.
Don’t Let Things Go To Waste
The essence of Zen is in the beauty of simple things.
Appreciate the basic materials or ingredients, no matter what they are. It is a simple way to hone both your mind and your lifestyle.
Think With Your Own Head.
Be sceptical of common sense. Knowledge and wisdom are similar but not the same.
Knowledge and wisdom ‘they may appear to be the same, but they are not.
Things you learn either at school or on your own’ this is knowledge.
Wisdom, on the other hand, is what you know from actually putting these things to use.
See as much as you can. Feel as much as you can. And make sure to think with your own head.
Don’t Be Bound By A Single Perspective.
There is more than just ‘the proper way.’
There is abundance not in the accumulation of things, but in knowing how to use things well.
Believe In Yourself.
When you give up, your potential drops to zero. Possibility springs from confidence.
Instead Of Worrying, Get Moving.
A much easier way to meet a challenge. For those who plant the seeds of their own anxiety.
Whether you’re worried about jobs or interpersonal relationships, if you keep everything in your head, you just allow feelings like, ‘I can’t do this,’ or ‘That’ll never work,’ to take hold. But if you leap into it with both feet, you may be surprised by how easy it is to accomplish something or to come up with a solution.
Just like with bungee jumping or riding a roller coaster, the scariest part is not the doing but the moment right before it.
It’s a waste of time to get lost in a labyrinth of your own making.
Get Active.
Become more down to earth Some things you can appreciate only when you do them yourself
Saying in Zen: ‘Experience for yourself hot and cold.’
It means that no matter how you try to explain the coolness or warmth of, for example, water, you cannot really know it without touching it. It’s about the importance of first-hand experience.
There are some things you can appreciate only when you do them yourself.
Maintain A Supple Mind.
What purpose does hard work serve? A supple mind is a strong mind.
One way to strengthen the mind is through cleaning.
While what we learn from expending mental effort may be important, what our body learns from physical labour has a greater effect on mental strength.
The practice of Zen Buddhism involves learning through physical labour. Zen monks wake up early in the morning and clean. When it’s cold out, sweeping and wiping down everything with a damp cloth is difficult for anyone. But once we’ve finished, the moment we step into that neat and tidy space, we feel refreshed. You cannot experience this unless you have cleaned it yourself.
When we work hard with our head, heart and body, we cannot help but grow stronger. We become better equipped to respond to life with a supple mind.
Wait For The Right Opportunity.
When things don’t go the way you want. The Japanese mindset.
Appreciate Your Connection With Things.
Recognize the luxury of not having things. An appreciation of things is an appreciation of yourself.
Desire feeds upon itself, and the mind becomes dominated by boundless greed. This is not happiness.
Try Just Sitting Quietly In Nature.
Make time to look closely at yourself. The reason why, when you encounter a garden, you have an unconscious desire to sit down.
Try Clearing Your Head.
Become aware of which senses are being stimulated Do less, not more
Enjoy A Zen Garden.
Experience how such a garden is imbued with the ‘Zen mind.’ There are healing powers within a Zen garden.
20 Ways to Alleviate Confusion and Worry
Serve People.
The starting point for a contented life.
Human suffering occurs when we lack awareness of this impermanence and insubstantiality.
Our confusion and worry stem from an inability to accept that the world is constantly changing, from a belief ‘or an unconscious hope’ that our selves and our possessions, as well as the people who surround us, will never change.
Cast Away The ‘three Poisons.’
Bring a Zen mindset into your life. Keep your desires and anger in check, and strive to understand the nature of things
The three poisons are greed, anger and ignorance.
Cultivate Your Sense Of Gratitude.
Demonstrate, Rather Than Assert, How You Feel. The way to convey your true intentions. Understand the thinking behind uchimizu, the Japanese practice of sprinkling water outside a gate.
Demonstrate, Rather Than Assert, How You Feel
The way to convey your true intentions. Understand the thinking behind uchimizu, the Japanese practice of sprinkling water outside a gate.
Express Your Mind, But Not In Words.
What you can see is not all there is
Zen philosophy holds the following to be true: ‘Spiritual awakening is transmitted outside of the sutras. It cannot be experienced through words or letters.’
Focus On Others’ Merits.
Especially when their faults are on display. In both gardens and interpersonal relationships, what is paramount is harmony.
Deepen Your Connection With Someone.
The true meaning of ‘once in a lifetime.’ Concentrate on a single encounter.
‘Once in a lifetime’ means that we should treasure each and every encounter, because we may meet a person only once in our lifetime.
Fine-tune Your Timing.
This applies just as well to interpersonal relationships. Don’t be too rushed or too relaxed.
Don’t Fixate On Right And Wrong.
This is about compromise. If you fuss over black and white, you miss out on the beauty of grey.
Give Up The Need To Be Liked By Everyone.
See Things For What They Are.
Hatred and affection share the same true nature.
Both misfortune and good fortune share the same origin. Hatred and affection are, in fact, one and the same. Then what is their true nature? To put it succinctly, it is your own mind. Our preferences, our likes and dislikes ‘“ everything is a product of our own mind.
When you reach enlightenment, there are no likes or dislikes.’
Skilfully Detach.
‘Pay no attention’ is also Buddhist wisdom. ‘Unmoved even when the eight winds blow.’
Do Not Get Caught Up With Mere Words.
The importance of reading others’ feelings. Consider what others say with empathy.
Do Not Think In Terms Of Loss And Gain.
Where does the awareness of our weaknesses come from? People we get along well with, and those we don’t.
Do Not Be Swayed By The Opinions Of Others.
The secret to breaking free from confusion. Decisiveness is about having the ability to trust in yourself.
Decisiveness is about having the ability to trust in yourself.
Have Faith.
Benefit from the wisdom of your elders. Find the keys to life in the stories of older people.
Those who possess what is known as faith, or the core of how to live, are never the least bit discouraged.
In their true stories you can find the keys to life.
Have A Conversation With A Garden.
The things you miss when you are caught up in appearances.
Find Occasions To Get Together With Family.
Where you can just be who you are. Becoming aware of what’s really important.
Make Someone Happy
Something to enhance your meals. Japanese hospitality can evoke the flow of time, even at the dining table.
Japanese prize cuisine that demonstrates an awareness of the season.
In other words, the meal includes the last of the previous season, the height of the current season and the first of the coming season. These three things conjure the flow of time – the past, the present and the future – for the guest’s enjoyment.
Whether it is with a meal you prepare or a gift you give, try incorporating a sense of the flow of time to make your guests happy.
Appreciate All The People Who Came Before You.
Realizing the miracle of ‘being here now.’ If you were to take away just one of your ancestors, you wouldn’t exist.
20 Ways to Make Any Day the Best Day
Be Here Now.
The you of a moment ago is the past you. Focus on the here and now rather than on the past.
Be Grateful For Every Day, Even The Most Ordinary.
The happiness to be found in the unremarkable. The greatest happiness is in the natural order of things.
˜First the parent dies, then the child dies, and at last the grandchild grows old and dies. That is the natural order. If your family is able to experience death in the natural order, you will have the greatest happiness.’
Recognize That You Are Protected.
We are all in the palm of the Buddha. So take heart and keep going!
Be Positive.
Your mind has the power to decide whether or not you are happy.
The uncertainty of tomorrow makes it all the more important to live in the moment.
Any event can be interpreted in multiple ways; what matters is how you respond to it. You may not have any control over what happens or any power to change things, but your reaction is entirely under your control.
Do Not Covet
Wanting more leads to suffering.
Accept Reality For What It Is.
The art of being prepared It is not about giving up, but about preparing yourself.
We cannot change what happens in life, but it is within our power to decide how to deal with what happens.
There Is Not Just One Answer.
The meaning behind Zen kaoans.
Our essential self is pure and clean, perfect in its clarity. The search for that essential self is the search for enlightenment, or satori.
There Is Not Just One Way, Either
Don’t Be A Show-off.
What charismatic people have in common. True charisma comes across without saying a word.
Do Not Divide Things Into Good And Bad.
Your worries will vanish Your breathing is not subject to judgement – it just is.
There is no particular secret to mastering something. Just repeat the same practice every day. Adopt a sober, steady, continuous routine.
Attempting to define things as good or bad breeds worry and stress.
Believe In Yourself, Especially When You Feel Anxious.
Focus on the self-confidence that lies behind the anxiety.
Make a habit of believing in yourself.
Notice The Changes Of The Season.
It will inspire you to go on. Herein lies the only truth in the world.
What we call spring actually has no physical form. Spring does not materially exist.
Try Taking Care Of Something.
Develop affection for someone or something. Understand what is important in life.
However much affection you put into it, the object of your affection gives you back energy in equal measure.
When you buy a tomato at the market, it’s just another tomato to you. But a tomato that was grown with your own hands transcends being a simple ‘ingredient’.
It is through the act of nurturing something that we develop a mind that cares for things, a mind that feels affection for others.
Free Yourself From Money.
The more you try to accumulate money, the more it gets away.
Listen For The Voice Of Your True Self.
Learn to appreciate this insight. A dry landscape garden symbolizes a life of seclusion.
Cherish Being Alive, Every Single Day.
Life really does go by in the blink of an eye.
Time spent out of character is empty time.
Make Every Preparation.
Destiny comes for all of us. There are those who seize opportunities, and those who let them pass.
The winds of destiny blow for all of us. Whether you are able to make the most of an opportunity will depend upon long-standing dedication and preparedness.
Contemplate How To Die.
Whenever you are confused about how to live.
Put Your Everything Into The Here And Now.
Life is a long but brief practice.
Make The Most Of Life.
Life is a precious thing, for our safekeeping.
Your life is your own, but it is not your possession.
Buddhism teaches that a life’s worth is not measured by its duration. What is important is how we use the life we are given.
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