Zen Wisdom for the Anxious: Simple Advice from a Zen Buddhist Monk

By dipping into this little book of simple Zen Buddhist sayings, you can calm your anxiety and return serenity to your soul.

Are you feeling stress and anxiety from the demands of daily life? Do you feel overwhelmed by your to-do list and the constant deluge of information from all quarters? Are you unhappy with your life and envious of those around you? At times like these it's important to step back and take a breath.

Zen meditation may conjure up images of sitting in silence for long hours, but according to Buddhist monk and author Shinsuke Hosokawa, Zen can be summed up as "the knowledge needed for a person to live life with a positive outlook." With this in mind, he has produced this charmingly illustrated collection of thoughts and sayings to help you live life with less stress and anxiety.

The sayings include:

• Pay attention to what is right in front of your eyes
• Nothing happens by chance. Every encounter has its meaning
• Be careful not to confuse the means and the purpose
• Keep flowing just like water
• Nothing will control you
• Even a bad day is a good day
• Check the ground beneath your feet when you're in trouble
• You'll never walk alone

These 52 mindful sayings mirror the 52 steps traditionally taken to achieve Buddhist enlightenment, and they also coincide with the 52 weeks of the year—passing through the seasons, both in the natural world and our lives. Each page has an illustration and a simple, meditative reflection to help you see into your own heart, accept your current state of being, reduce anxiety and find peace.

Whatever the time of year, whatever your time of life, by browsing the pages of this book you are sure to quickly find a piece of universal wisdom that will resonate with your soul.

Shinsuke Hosokawa, born in 1979, is the chief priest of Ryuun-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple in Tokyo. After graduating from Bukkyo University in Kyoto, a school for nurturing the Buddhist spirit, he embarked on a nine-year period of ascetic training with the Rinzai School Myoshinji Temple in Kyoto. He has been in his current position as the chief priest of Ryu-un-ji since 2013. His late grandfather was the renowned Zen Buddhist priest Taido Matsubara. His activities range from publishing Zen-related books to coaching actors who appear as Zen monks in TV dramas.

Official website of Ryuun-ji Temple: http://ryuun-ji.or.jp
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