Don t Worry: 48 Lessons on Relieving Anxiety from a Zen Buddhist Monk

Discover why 90% of your worries won’t come true in this highly practical, internationally bestselling guide by the renowned Zen Buddhist author of The Art of Simple Living and How to Let Things Go.

Think of a time when you were worried about something, but then you suddenly realized how insignificant it was. Isn’t it amazing how much lighter you felt? The key is to focus only on the here and now. By doing so, you free yourself from unnecessary anxiety, and your mind will be at peace. In Don’t Worry, you will learn to:

• Lesson #1: stop comparing yourself to others—90% of your obsessions will disappear;

• Lesson #4: remove unnecessary things from your life and make your life absolutely simple;

• Lesson #10: stop seeking, stop rushing, stop obsessing;

• Lesson #11: interpret things positively—you are the one to decide whether you are happy or not;

• Lesson #14: stop taking in too much information;

• Lesson #19: take a break from competition—it’s the Zen way of avoiding anxiety;

• Lesson #24: act instead of worrying—things will definitely work out better.

By following this book’s 48 simple lessons—and taking to heart the nearly 30 zengo, or Zen sayings, quoted throughout—you’ll enjoy a calmer, more relaxed, more positive version of yourself.

A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE

Shunmyo Masuno, the head priest of a 450-year-old Zen Buddhist temple in Japan, is the author of the international bestseller The Art of Simple Living as well as an award-winning Zen garden designer for clients all over the world and a professor of environmental design at one of Japan's leading art schools. He has lectured widely, including at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cornell University, and Brown University.
 
Allison Markin Powell (translator) won the PEN Translation Prize for her translation of Hiromi Kawakami’s The Ten Loves of Nishino and is also the translator of Kawakami’s Strange Weather in Tokyo and The Nakano Thrift Shop as well as Shunmyo Masuno’s The Art of Simple Living and works by Osamu Dazai, Fuminori Nakamura, and Kanako Nishi, among others. She was the guest editor of the first Japan issue of Words Without Borders and maintains the online database Japanese Literature in English. She lives in New York.