Oakville Zen Meditation
How to stay serene
The following are so-called “virtues” or skills that one should learn and practice in order to remain serene in most situations.
What is happening is meant to be even if we don’t get what we want or if we get what we don’t
want. Can we fix it? Only if we have the tools to do so. Otherwise, let them go.
That most of our negativities are self-generated such as desire, hatred, and delusion.
That our mind is friend and foe.
That we are alive only in the present moment
Being mindful of the present moment, its content including our body, what we do, think and
the current surrounding w/o analysis nor decision.
Being in the past or future should be minimized as much as possible because fictional
That is being able to differentiate the following:
-What is important, and what is not?
-What we control and not control. We control only our bodies, what we do, and think, and our
self-expression. We cannot control what people are, think, do, and react.
-What is fictional vs. what is real in our mind and outside of it?
-that we are not a separate, independent, unique self-entity but an interconnection.
-That happiness comes from inside, and never from outside.
4) Adaptability:
- Being able to adapt to ongoing change regarding self, others, and events.
-Impermanence is the basic nature and law of the Universe.
-Having an open mind rather than one made of frozen ideas, beliefs, and opinions.
-No need to have an opinion on everything. 5) To live in accordance with Nature, respect life, proper ethics, good intentions, and courage
Where these virtues/skills are coming from?...........Zen literature? …..Not at all!
They were written by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in his “ Meditations”. He died in 180 that is before the birth of Zen. He is considered as one of the fathers of Stoicism.
Stoicism philosophy was created by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium around 300 BC.
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic ( Greek) philosophy that flourished in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The Stoics believed that the practice of these virtues/skills is enough to achieve a well-lived, flourishing, and serene life.
