This is a Q & A from the Facebook group, Zen Buddhism Community.

 

Jamie Victoria shared her first post.
New Member · November 12 at 9:29 AM
Good morning everyone 🙏 my first post. Thank you for adding me to the group. I would like to seek refuge in Zen, maybe this isn’t the correct term. I’m sure you’ll know. How is this achieved?

from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/302084463267984/?multi_permalinks=1265525740257180&comment_id=1268037146672706&notif_id=1542348360677954&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic

To which I replied:

Three things come to mind. 1. Just be the best you you can be. 2. Just practice. 3. Don’t try to figure things out. 4. Find a teacher. Okay, that’s four. 5. Don’t take it too seriously. Laugh a lot. 6. Just sit. Sorry, I’m up to six now. 7. When in doubt, love more. 8. If you get confused by paradoxes, it’s not you. There’s a lot that is very poorly translated. For example, all this emptiness stuff. If you get hung up on that, I can steer you to some down to earth stuff that clarifies this. 9. Learn how to observe what you’re thinking and feeling. The process of observing yourself steals the power away from your thoughts and feelings. That can be very helpful. Okay, I’m up to 9. Sorry… I feel compelled to hit 10, but lists of 10 are so cliche, so I’ll stop.