Well, as opposed to so many other articles with such a blatant click-baity title, I’m not going to string you along here. While there are many secrets of zen, I’ll give you the answer to this one right now, right in the second sentence: STOP WANTING IT.
That’s it. Want nothing. Choose what shows up instead.
This is the very essence of zen. It is what is meant by the “surrendered state“. Do this, and persist in it long enough, and you will most likely find some incredible things unfolding in your reality, very possibly including those that you formerly really, really wanted. The irony? It won’t matter, because you won’t want them anymore! You’ll surely enjoy them while they last, but the terrible need you had for them to give you fulfilment will be gone, and you could honestly care less if they showed up or not.
Can you think of a more pure definition of freedom?
Yes, I know, this is the real world and things just don’t work like that. You’ll be a bum on the street before you know it. And besides, how are you supposed to ever achieve anything if you don’t want it? You’d just sit around wrapped in a sheet all day, wanting nothing, doing nothing.
As with so many secrets of zen, it is somewhat paradoxical. Yet all you have to do is look at certain practitioners themselves. A group like the Shaolin Monks, for example. They’ve achieved some incredible things: razor sharp mental and physical dexterity, various levels of inner peace, a deep understanding of themselves and the world. The list goes on.
So it’s both a very complex yet incredibly simple idea. To break it down again: future and past are mental concepts, which means you can never not be now. You wanting something in the only moment that exists equals just that: the experience of you wanting. As long as you continue wanting it, you’ll continue having that experience. You want more money? Yes you do. You want to be more attractive? Look in the mirror — fugly! You want peace of mind, security, love? Chase after everyone and watch how they run. This is how it works. The moment you express the emotion of wanting, you are confirming your lack of having.
Sure, there are examples of people out there who wanted something so badly they spent years working towards it, and finally did achieve it. Of course there are. But how did they feel as they were getting there? That’s the real question. Zen says it was impossible for that thing to manifest in their reality without at least an element of not wanting, and simply deciding instead. Everything else was stress and sweat.
The zen master, on the other hand, privy to the many secrets of zen, relinquishes all attachment to results and simply, pleasantly does the work involved in getting there. She has no need for anything else to show up, even as she builds mountains from mole hills. Her joy is %100 in the doing, in the creative act itself.
That’s the secret.
Now, can you apply it?
Kyle McMillan is the founder and managing editor of Wisdom Pills. He is a freelance writer and maintains a personal website as well.
Dear Mr Harper. While I support the message you’re trying to get across fully, it would really be beneficial to know the person who’s content you are posting. I knew Kyle for about 15 years, and we were very close. I’ve never known a more damaging human to have in my life. He has preached his Zen word for as long as I knew him, all the while taking what he wanted from everyone around him with no regard for those who he claimed to love. He loves himself, and I know him well enough to know that will never change. He wants a lot of things, and of opportunity presents, he simply takes them as it is Kyle 1st. If that is what he means by manifesting things and no longer wanting, that’s a crock. Even if you do know him, you obviously haven’t known him long enough yet. This is a highly narcissistic and toxic individual and I think it does not reflect well on you to post content that sounds great, but it is snake oil at best. The best thing I ever did was remove him from my life forever. A good mark of a decent being is how their friends view them, and nobody has known him as long I have. Then again, his reflection is something he has to reckon with daily, so I feel that it’s fitting enough, as he knows deep down he applies none of this in practice. Words sometimes make us feel good to write, but honesty feels even better. You’re being sandbagged here, but just reading his words he sounds very Zen. Anyone can write life advice, but you are reposting advice from someone who has never taken their own and hides behind these words while being a selfish, cruel, self centred child. If that’s your “Zen”, I’ve heard it Neville a hundred times.