Six simple Zen philosophy ideas that will make you more resilient than most

I lived in Japan for a year in 2012.

One of the main pulls of this country was its ancient philosophies and the beautiful aesthetic attached to it.

Zen is a stripped-down, practical approach to Buddhism that emphasises direct experience over theoretical knowledge.

Zen simply says: sit down, pay attention to this moment, and see truth for yourself.

Let’s see what we can learn from this, regardless of our background or faith:

1. Zhuangzi’s ‘Empty Boat Parable.’

“If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own boat, he won’t get angry, even if he has a bad temper. But if there is someone in the boat, he will shout at them to steer clear. The anger comes from thinking that someone is in the boat.”

This ancient parable teaches us that most of our emotional turbulence comes from attributing intention to events (and we take it personally).

When we see that many of life’s collisions are like empty boats — without malice or intent — we can…