A devotee of the master approached one day and explained, “Master I am bored.” He replied “Be useful.” Another devotee approached and said, “Master I feel lonely.” He replied, “Be Useful.”  A third approached and said, “Master I don’t feel loved.” He replied, “Be the greatest Lover that ever lived.”

Let me get right to the point. The world is never going to change waiting for someone else to change it. It’s entirely up to you. Become the change you want the world to be, and watch how your life will change. Authentic spirituality is far from easy; it requires a willingness to change everything you thought was so. We are witnessing today nothing more than a very old and worn carpet being pulled out from under all of us.

Small Steps with Great Potential:

Be Helpful. You can’t be bored or feel lonely when you are being useful. So help yourself to a longer life, get out and be helpful wherever you can.

Smile. Smile even when you are cleaning the toilet. Whatever you do, do it with gratitude and excellence. This practice cultivates confidence and the ability to see the sacred everywhere. No need to look for God or Buddha, they are within us, and are best realized in how we do whatever we are doing.

Eat only the foods that say, “I Love You”. The Buddha said, “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

Think about, Talk about, and act only on what is Necessary. Think for a moment about all the things we think about, talk about, and invest our energy into. Now consider how much of that is really necessary. Now consider how much more you would achieve when you focus on only what is necessary. Think about all of the stuff in your house. Now how much of it do you really require or need. Then think about how much money you would have today if you only purchased what you really needed. When you focus on only what is necessary, you make room for what is essential for your life, what is most important to you.

Always Love, Always Forgive, Always Learn. The three essential ingredients for what Buddhist call, “The Supreme Meal”.  Your Life. Always love yourself and others. Whenever you’re not loving yourself and others, you’re robbing yourself of the best things in life.  Always forgive yourself and others. Say to yourself the next time you are criticizing yourself or another person, “Just another lie.” None of us have a clue, so why pretend you do. Always be learning. “In the beginners mind there are many possibilities. In the experts there are few.” According to science, learning something everyday also adds years to our life.

I believe in you, still.

Seijaku Roshi, is the founder of The Zen Society and Abbot of Jizo-an Monastery/Pine Wind Zen Community in Shamong, NJ, where persons of all faiths and religions have travelled to learn to live a more meaningful life, what he calls a “Zen-inspired Life”.