Based on Principles by Dean Sluyter, The Zen Commandments

Based on Principles by Dean Sluyter, The Zen Commandments

1. Rest in Openness/Stillness 2. Act With Kindness 3. Notice the Moment 4. Recognize Teachers 5. Keep it Simple 6. Be Devoted 7. Let Go of Clinging Expectations 8. Bless Everyone 9. Disconnect the Dots 10.Be a Mensch and Laugh

Take it easy alertly, repose in wide-awakeness; rest in openness. Because we're so used to speeding along on the expressway of doing, we can start with a bit of breathing practice as a sort of deceleration lane, an off-ramp to nondoing. Take a slow, full breath, hold it for a few moments, then let out a deep sigh, as if breathing out through all your pores, letting go of everything, all burdens and decisions, stress and distress: We can develop a new habit of attentive tranquility. 1

It s true that in spite of all our efforts to be compassionate, including meditation, we sometimes fall short we just have to keep choosing kindness. There's always a range of actions of which we're capable. Above a certain threshold we can't be that saintly (yet), and below another threshold we can't be that vicious (anymore). The trick is to keep leaning, gently but steadily, toward the uppermost level of your range. That way you re always doing the best that can be done by the person you are today and pushing your upper threshold a little higher for tomorrow. 2

Living meditatively thus helps us cultivate a mental garden full of love, compassion, and wisdom, thus giving the weeds of anger, jealousy, and self-[indulgence] less and less room to grow. In peaceful abiding we become familiar with the ground of basic goodness. This is how we turn the mind into an ally. 3

To embrace eternity, we can start by changing, some of the habits we ve developed to distract ourselves from it. Don t automatically turn on the radio every time you get in the car, don t turn on the TV the moment you find yourself home alone. 4

Recognize all teachable moments. Learn from them. In time, you can practice in the most challenging situations, seeing the sullen supermarket checkout clerk, the incompetent driver blocking your lane, the telemarketer who interrupts your dinner as [teachers]. You can see problems and illnesses as [teachers] instructing through tough love. Eventually every situation, even the most disastrous, becomes not a matter of Why is this happening to me? but What is my teacher teaching me? 5

Let s be honest; it s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives. 6

Preparation, Love, Concentration, Right Intention, Priorities Truth, Enlightenment, Virtue, Compassion, Kindness Mindful Rather Than Haphazard Living, Deliberate Verses Default

Stop Demanding and Grasping Plan But Don t Obsess Surf, Don t Carve Peace in Emptiness Disillusionment

Life is short and we never have enough time for gladdening the hearts of those who travel the way with us. Oh be swift to love! Make haste to be kind. 7

Even if any given terminology is a reflection of reality, by its very nature as a terminology it must be a selection of reality; and to this extent it must function also as a deflection of reality. 8

No Unreasonable Demands I may not be perfect, but parts of me are excellent. Takes care of business, dependable High yield, low maintenance Professional, no excuses Serious but not self-important

1. Dean Sluyter, The Zen Commandments. Los Angeles: Tarcher, 2001: 13 2. Dean Sluyter, The Zen Commandments. Los Angeles: Tarcher, 2001: 13-15 3. Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind into an Ally. New York: River Head Books, 2003: 93-94 4. Dean Sluyter, The Zen Commandments. Los Angeles: Tarcher, 2001: 48 5. Dean Sluyter, The Zen Commandments. Los Angeles: Tarcher, 2001: 75

6. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Of Things That Matter Most, November 2010 Ensign 7. Henri Frederic Amiel 8. Burke, Kenneth (1937). Language as symbolic action. Berkeley: University of California Press.