Abstract

I want to be seen as capable, I don't have the time to look after my subordinates, I don't know why I work—
Zen will help you overcome these concerns about work and life. A temple priest who is also a world-renowned garden designer answers readers' questions.
Zen contains elements of philosophy in that it pursues the question of how to live and how to live in a way that leads to self-perfection. However, while philosophy seeks to prove truth as an academic discipline, Zen seeks to prove truth through physical practice. In other words, it is an action, and practising that action is training. This book takes the form of the author answering various questions about work and life. This is the difference between ‘academic study’ and ‘training.’
Zen is the act of seeking to embody through the body the truth of the world, the truth of the universe—that which remains unchanged regardless of changes in time or lifestyle.
By adopting Zen's mindset of ‘being unbound by anything’ and ‘living in the present,’ work and ways of thinking become easier. Life itself becomes easier. This book introduces how to practise this Zen mindset in modern society, drawing on the author's own experiences.

Author’s Information

Shunmyo Masuno (born 28 February 1953) is a Japanese Buddhist monk and garden designer. He is the chief priest of Kenkohji ZenTemple in the Soto Zen sect of Buddhism and director of the Soto Zen meditation centre. He is also the representative of Nippon Landscape Design, an honorary professor at Tama Art University. Daikyoshi.
Special Award of Merit, University of British Columbia, Canada
Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts, Japan
Minister of Foreign Affairs Award, Japan
Meritorious Service Medal from Canadian Government
Cross of the Order of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany
Chosen in 100 Japanese People the World Respects 2006, Newsweek Japanese Edition