Zen at Work

on The Fun at Work Café 

There was no way out of my boring job;
Zen there was!
I read  Career Success WITHOUT a Real Job.
- Enlightened Zen master

No doubt some self-appointed critics will take no time in asking, "Where is the Zen on this webpage?"

As any Zen master would reply, "Zen is where you find it."

Here's a favorite story to get you tuned up for the rest of your life. I often share it with happy, leisurely individuals whenever they tell me that they may have become millionaires by now, if only they had sacrificed their balanced lifestyle to work a lot harder and at something more conventional.

The story helps them put life back in proper perspective. It may help you do the same.

A wealthy entrepreneur from New York went on a two-week seaside holiday on the coast of Costa Rica. On his first day there, he was impressed with the quality and taste of the exotic fish he bought from a local fisherman.

The next day, the American encountered the native Costa Rican at the dock, but the Costa Rican had already sold his catch. The American discovered that the fisherman had a secret fishing spot where the fish were plenty and the quality superb. He only caught five or six fish a day, however.

The New Yorker asked the local fisherman why he didn't stay out longer at sea and catch more fish.

"But Señor," the fisherman replied, "I sleep in late until nine or ten every morning; I play with my children; I go fishing for an hour or two; in the afternoon I take a one- or two-hour siesta; in the early evening I have a relaxing meal with my family; and later in the evening, I go to the village and drink wine, play guitar, and sing with my amigos. As you can see, I have a full, relaxed, satisfying, and happy life."

"You should catch a lot more fish," the American declared. "That way you can prepare for a prosperous future. Look, I am a businessman from New York and I can help you become a lot more successful in life. I received an MBA from Harvard, and I know a lot about business and marketing."

The American continued, "The way to prepare for the future is to get up early in the morning and spend the whole day fishing, even going back for more in the evening. In no time, with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat. Two years from now, you can have five or six boats that you can rent to other fishermen. In another five years, with all the fish you will control, you can build a fish plant and even have your own brand of fish products."

"Then, in another six or seven years," the American rambled on, while the Costa Rican looked more and more bewildered, "you can leave here and move to New York or San Francisco, and have someone else run your factory while you market your products. If you work hard for fifteen or twenty years, you could become a multimillionaire. Then you wouldn't have to work another day for the rest of your life."

"What would I do then, Señor?" responded the fisherman.

Without any hesitation, the wealthy American businessman enthusiastically proclaimed, "Then you will be able to move to a little village in some laid-back country like Mexico where you can sleep in late every day, play with the village children, take a long siesta every afternoon, eat meals while relaxing in the evening, and play guitar, sing, and drink wine with your amigos every night."

The moral of this story is straighforward: Most success, as defined in Western society today, costs too much in terms of blood, sweat, and tears. What's the point of working hard for many years, sacrificing happiness and well-being along the way, when you can have happiness and well-being today by not working so hard and at something you love?

 
The Best Things Ever Said about Work That Have Some Zen in Them

Here are some aphorisms with a Zen flavor to do whatever you want with them. Remember, however, the words of Karl Kraus: "An aphorism can never be the whole truth; it is either a half-truth or a truth-and-a-half."

Nothing is exactly as it seems, nor is it otherwise.
- Alan Watts

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
- Albert Einstein

Do every act of your life as if it were your last.
- Marcus Aurelius

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.
- Salvador Dali

The obstacle is the path.
- Zen proverb

Ultimately nothing matters and so what if it did?
- Unknown wise person

No man who is in a hurry is quite civilized.
- Will Durant

Understand the difference between being at work and working.
- Unknown wise person

When you get to the top of the mountain, keep climbing.
- Zen proverb

Don't overdo things that shouldn't be done in the first place.
- Unknown wise person

Doing a thing well is often a waste of time.
- Robert Byrne

If you burn the candle at both ends, you are not as bright as you think.
- Unknown wise person

Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow.
- Oscar Wilde

A good rest is half the work.
- Yugoslav proverb

How nice it is to do nothing all day and then rest afterward.
- Spanish proverb

If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
- Zen proverb

It is better to practice a little than talk a lot.
- Muso Kokushi

The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.
- Unknown wise person

So little time, so little to do.
- Oscar Levant

Away from work, do the simple things that are important for your happiness.
Spend time with the people who you like most.
Get involved in the activities that you enjoy most.
And totally avoid the people and activities that you like least.
Indeed, this strategy is so obvious, but few people use it.
- from The Lazy Person's Guide to Success

When you are sailing in the direction you want to go, any wind is the right wind.
- Author Unknown

The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.
- Robert M. Pirsig

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but merely concentration on our usual everyday routine.
- Shunkyu Suzuki

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.
- Shunryu Suzuki

Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
- Zen proverb

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Zen Habits: One of the Top 100 blogs on the Internet by Leo Babauta who lives on Guam and is the author of The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essentials … in Work and in Life. With a definite Zen flavour, this Blog covers subjects  such as achieving goals, productivity, being organized, motivation, eliminating debt, saving, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living frugal, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits.

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