Oakville Zen Meditation
Setting up your GPS in life
Here is a metaphor:
Live your life like a wise captain who is steering the boat, and setting the course when necessary, but also letting the wind, waves, and currents do most of the work.
If you stand at the helm, and try to force the rudder against every wave, gust of wind, and current,
you will be miserable, stressed out, anxious, frustrated, restless, and probably seasick.
You will burn a lot of energy, and yet the boat will still go the way it is going to go.
That does not mean that the captain must be passive, and go below the deck to party with the crew.
What Zen is proposing:
Zen is advocating to install a new navigation system for your ship’s journey, that is your way through life and its quality.
However, Zen does not ignore the importance of basic human skills such as knowledge, courage, patience, determination, social skills, tolerance, acceptance, etc…in quest for achievements.
This new GPS is designed to work with the ocean rather than against it, to work with Life rather than against it . Forget the whole” sailor conquering the sea” which is mostly a self-generated goal.
The captain (you), and the sea ( life ) become one.
This concept of pure connectedness between humans, life, and its surroundings is very alien to our Western super individualistic driven culture ...and yet look around and observe how plants and wildlife are perfectly connected to their surroundings.
What living Zen does mean?
Among other things, living Zen means opening yourself to a full awareness of your surroundings, its contents, and you, and accepting them.
Only then, and besides your own personal attitude, and skills you use the storms, winds, waves, and currants to propel you through life, rather than fight them try to master them, or even pretend they are not there.
Any good sailor knows that she/he must lose herself/ himself and become one with the boat, sea, wind, and currents to achieve goals. To lose self means to lose most of our ego.Not an easy task.
We cannot plot an hour-by-hour course during life because conditions, events, and people change every second w/o any of our control regardless of inner skills.
If you say: “ I will go to X”, and struggle to get there, using your specific ways in some sort of
bubble vacuum, you will be the last one to arrive.
In other words:
New things happen all the time, changes are permanent whether we like it or not.
Recognize them, be mindful of them, accept them, and adapt to them.
Besides your skills, and attitudes use their momentum to propel you rather than resisting, controlling, and fighting them all the time.
1 Does that mean being passive, lazy, docile, resigned, or living alone in a cave?
2-It does not mean either to ignore the basic skills, and attitudes needed in life.
Of course not, it simply means wisdom because, eventually, it will bring serenity, and equanimity rather than having your mind seeking, permanent fight, permanent control, ongoing restlessness, and complaining states.
A restful mind is far more effective than a frustrated, upset one. Thanks, Arnaud
