Zen

Let go and be.

I was a linear thinker, and according to Zen linear thinking is nothing but a delusion, one of the many that keep us unhappy. Reality is nonlinear, Zen says. No future, no past. All is now.

Phil Knight • Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Some Zen Buddhists hold that the entirety of human suffering can be boiled down to this effort to resist paying full attention to the way things are going, because we wish they were going differently (“This shouldn’t be happening!”), or because we wish we felt more in control of the process. There is a very down-to-earth kind of liberation in grasp... See more

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Zen can essentially be reduced to three things.

Everything changes;

everything is interconnected;

pay attention to it.

What the Dzogchen teachings make clear, however, is that thinking about what is beyond thought is still thinking, and a glimpse of selflessness is generally only the beginning of a process that must reach fruition. Being able to stand perfectly free of the feeling of self is the start of one’s spiritual journey, not its end.

Sam Harris • Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

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