12 Essential rules to live more like a zen monk

Mervatron

That's a fantastic article.

Im gonna print it out and stick it up next to me desk.

[-0-]

Great article Khannie. I have been practising Zen Buddhism for several years now, but I would not call myself a Buddhist. I take the good things from Zen Buddhism, so that I am content. Like Asiaprod, I have made many mistakes in the past...but what would be the point in dwelling on them? Buddhism is helping me live a better life.

Thank you.

KamikazeKenny81

I saw these 12 rules a few days ago and found them very interesting. Most of the buddhist teachings I have read or seen have been Tibetan but I liked the sound of these so I gave them a go.

They went really well, I have been focusing on 1 thing at a time and making sure I finish each task before moving on to the next one. My problem is I think Ive become carried away with my productivity. Today I started a number of tasks and came up against different things that ment that task had to be put off until tomorrow, understandably I became increasingly frustrated

What does Zen say about what to do if the task you start can not be completed?

ntlbell

KamikazeKenny81 wrote: »

What does Zen say about what to do if the task you start can not be completed?

I was thinking about this myself a few weeks ago when I first read the article.

The only conclusion I came to was you let go you understand that it's out of your control let go of any frustrations and move on to the next most important task until such time the last one can be completed.

I guess when it comes working in todays moderen society you have to try and adjust these "guidelines" to try and suit your circumstances but the most important part I would assume is not letting the frustration affect your well being.

understand why it can't be finish and let go..

ntlbell

he covers it a bit in no 4

Do it completely. Put your mind completely on the task. Don’t move on to the next task until you’re finished. If, for some reason, you have no choice but to move on to something else, try to at least put away the unfinished task and clean up after yourself. If you prepare a sandwich, don’t start eating it until you’ve put away the stuff you used to prepare it, wiped down the counter, and washed the dishes used for preparation. Then you’re done with that task, and can focus more completely on the next task.

KamikazeKenny81

Cheers ntl, I had a re-read yesterday alright and it highlighted some of my mistakes. It goes to show how different people take different things from the same set of instructions, I had infact only taken on a few pointers and I will be sure to check back to them again in a few days to ensure I havent forgotten bits.

It sounds obvious when u explain the need for overcoming frustration, its like everything i guess, was looking and hoping for an easy answer. The answer is obvious, achieving it is much harder.