be more zen

I was preparing dinner and was peeling carrots and chopping all my veg. I found it very zen – I could actually imagine doing food preparation as meditation.

I felt really calm and good. Life was making sense. (Almost) nothing could touch me.

But then my sister came back from holiday and I feel extremely un-Zen-like! We have a tricky relationship and I am finding it really hard to think and behave with compassion and calmness towards her.

I feel she just doesn’t understand me, makes assumptions about me, my motives, my thoughts and is very judgemental. I’ve been doing so well on my Buddhist path and I know that I have an opportunity to learn and practise compassion – but I’m so not there yet! I feel tearful and resentful after just about every interaction we have.

The thing is, I know she means no harm and she loves me. I’m going to take that as my starting point.

that I’m trying to practice zen meditation!

One thing that just hit me that I want to stop acquiring more “stuff”. It makes me feel bogged down and very un-Zen-like! And I really don’t need any more things.