Tag Archives: focus

Bushido Focus

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Take the time to concentrate on the task that you are doing. Multi-tasking and incompetence permeate our world and mistakes are becoming more frequent and consequential. Zen Concentration on the now means, not only the awareness of the moment, but the discipline to be awake to the people, environment, tasks, and the next twinkling of the universe. How can you reach this level of awareness if you do not take the time to stop, look, listen, deliberately think, and are multi-tasking?

 

A Brooklyn Zen Buddhist arrives at an extremely ancient monastery. Because it is only his retreat, and he is a sculptor/writer, he is assigned to helping other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. Being aware and in the now, he soon notices that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from original manuscripts. So, he goes to the old head abbot pointing out, that if someone made an error in the first copy, it would be continued in all of the subsequent copies. The head monk, says, ‘We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.’ The head monk goes down into the dark recesses underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are archived in a locked vault that hasn’t been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go by. The Zen Buddhist gets worried and goes down to the caves. He sees the head monk banging his head against the wall and wailing.

“We missed the R! We missed the R! We missed the fu%@#ing R!”

His forehead is bruised and he is crying.

The Brooklyn Zen Buddhist asks the old abbot, ‘What’s wrong, father?’

With a choking voice, the old abbot replies,

‘The word was…CELEB R ATE

Focus

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You want to relax. You are tired and watch TV. Your mind is open and receptive. If you watch the news on television you must be aware that what you are seeing, that directly affects your mood, psyche, outlook, disposition, and modifies your ability to reach a higher plane, is condensed negativity.

Your focus determines your reality. Where focus goes energy flows. So become more aware and you can realize your goals. But, you must write a plan and take action. Stop waiting, work is more fun than fun. Satoru

 

Zen Focus

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Serenity and efficiency go hand and hand. When you are relaxed you think clearly. When you are overloaded your thoughts become frenetic. Sometimes taking a deep breath is all it takes to relax and focus. Sometime a walk around the block or a break is necessary. Knowing yourself and what produces efficiency is part of the every day battle. Satoru

 

Focusing Your Mind

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Zen Swim

The sky, beach and tops of the white caps all turned pink as the fireball dipped below the trees. The long crash of the waves intermingled with the howling of the wind and the storm music was strong and compelling. I’m so burnt out I have less love to give and my heart is paper-thin but the sorrows of my heart vanish when I swim. I plunged into the water and was turned sideways, first by the undercurrent and then by the incoming wave. All the force of the slow moving hurricane seemed to be concentrated in the last fifty feet of the surf. The wave held the power of a thousand miles and a billion tons of Atlantic Ocean behind it so swimming to it was hitting a wall of liquid force. The only recourse was to dive to the sand, hold my breath as the weight of the wave hit, and advance a few feet at a time. Once I got out past the first few breakers the sea was manageable but rough and sandy. The storm was moving away. The ancient mariners’ adage was true. Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Satoru

If you let cloudy water settle, it will become clear. If you let your upset mind settle, your course will also become clear.