With practice Zen becomes a way of life. The core of my practice is listening to the Zen Teisho every morning. I download them all every year and listen to the same ones over and over, adding the new ones when I get through the list.

There is always more in the teachings of the masters and the commentary than I can absorb. The commentary is encouraging, “great effort, no goal.” That is one of my favorites.

And who said, “find the root of the thought and crush it?” Our monkey minds keep us from perfect peace but there are techniques to help. For me mantra repetition is the easiest way to control those annoying thoughts, and I do not think it matters what mantra you want to use, or some simple prayer.

Another practice that has been a big help is to go about the day with patient awareness, not rushing, not reacting thoughtlessly. I am quite old so that might also be a good idea just from the aspect of safety. A beautiful thing about Zen is that it supports all spiritual practice, all ideas, and is humble and pure.

Ricker W