Drawing on centuries of wisdom, renowned Zen Buddhist priest Shunmyo Masuno applies the essence of Zen to modern life in clear, practical, easily adopted lessons – one a day for 100 days.
From this book you will learn 100 ways to bring yourself true happiness and calm.
You will earn how to exhale deeply to eliminate negative emotions, to arrange your house simply to clear your thinking, to line up your shoes at night to bring order to your mind, to plant a single flower and watch it grow, to worry less about what you cannot control.
This summary contains direct quotes from the books and my thoughts about it.
100 life-changing lessons from Zen – The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyo Masuno
1. Make time for emptiness
2. Wake up fifteen minutes earlier
3. Savor the morning air
4. Line up your shoes when you take them off
5. Discard what you don’t need
6. Organize your desk
7. Make a delicious cup of coffee
8. Put pen to paper with care
9. Try using a loud voice
10. Do not neglect your meals
11. When eating, pause after every bite
12. Discover the benefits of a vegetable centric diet
13. Seek out your favorite words
14. Pare down your belongings
15. Arrange your room simply
16. Try going barefoot
17. Exhale deeply
18. Sit zazen
19. Try a standing practice
20. Seek out the sunset
21. Don’t waste time worrying about things you cannot control
22. Become adept at switching modes
23. Breathe slowly
24. Don’t think of unpleasant things right before bed
25. Join your hands together
26. Make time to be alone.
27. Create a small garden on your balcony
28. Get in touch with nature
29. Don’t put off what you can do today
30. Try your best to do what you can now
31. Discover another you
32. Don’t be troubled by things that have not happened yet
33. Take pleasure in your work
34. Do not feel put out by the tasks before you
35. Don’t blame others
36. Simply immerse yourself
37. Don’t compare yourself to others
38. Seek not what you lack
39. Every so often, try to stop thinking
40. Try attending a zazen meeting
41. Plant a single flower
42. Make distinctions
43. Make a proper start
44. Cherish your own self
45. Think simple
46. Do not fear change
47. Feel instead of think
48. Notice changes
49. Don’t let things go to waste
50. Think with your own head
51. Don’t be bound by a single perspective
52. Believe in yourself
53. Instead of worrying, get moving
54. Get active
55. Maintain a supple mind
56. Wait for the right opportunity
57. Appreciate your connection with things
58. Try just sitting quietly in nature
59. Try clearing your head
60. Enjoy a Zen garden
61. Serve people
62. Cast away the ‘three poisons’
63. Cultivate your sense of gratitude
64. Demonstrate, rather which assert, how you feel
65. Express your mind, but not in words
66. Focus on others’ merits
67. Deepen your connection with someone
68. Fine-tune your timing
69. Don’t fixate on right and wrong
70. Give up the need to be liked by everyone
71. See things for what they are
72. Skillfully detach
73. Do not get caught up with mere words
74. Do not think in terms of loss and gain
75. Do not be swayed by the opinion of others
76. Have faith
77. Have a conversation with a garden
78. Find occasions to get together with family
79. Make someone happy
80. Appreciate all the people who come before you
81. Be here now
82. Be grateful for every day, even the most ordinary
83. Recognize that you are protected
84. Be positive
85. Do not covet
86. Accept reality for what it is
87. There is not just one answer
88. There is not just one way, either
89. Don’t be a show-off
90. Do not divide things into good and bad
91. Believe in yourself, especially when you feel anxious
92. Notice the changes of the season
93. Try taking care of something
94. Free yourself from money
95. Listen for the voice of your true self
96. Cherish being alive, every single day
97. Make every preparation
98. Contemplate how to die
99. Put your everything into the here and now
100. Make the most of life
Further Reading...
- Featured In -
This post contains affiliate links. Read my Disclosure Policy.