Zen Buddhism can allow you to approach life with calm and serenity, and meditation is a vital component of developing this ability.
By stilling the incessant thoughts that are running through our minds all day, we can start to perceive the underlying unity of everyone around us.
So what is zen? It's a way of looking at, and more importantly experiencing life.
Sometimes people think that zen is detached, but it's actually being attached to the whole experience of life, not little parts of it.
But at the same time, being completely involved in life.
This can be a bit of a subtle distinction, but most of us spend a too much of our time and energy worrying about things that have little or no real impact on our life.
What's the point in being concerned about the thousands of things that we have no control over? We are bombarded by dis-empowering messages, so it's easy to be worrying about the state of the economy and not enjoying playing with your kids.
For hundreds of years zen monks have been using meditation as a vital part of their spiritual practice to still their minds and get a deeper insight into life.
As you shed the habitual stresses and concerns, you'll become more present to the moment and what's actually happening.
You can't affect anything except what's happening right now.
Our lives are a constant series of present moments and the more we can become aware of this, the more we can really live our life.
More and more people around the world are finding that the consumer lifestyle leaves them feeling empty.
So they embark on a search to find a sense of purpose.
If you can find beauty not only in the sweet fragrance of a flower on a clear spring day, but also in the dark storm clouds, you open up a whole new level of experience.
There is beauty in every moment if we are open and aware.
As we go through life, worrying a little less, seeing beauty in everything around us, we can't help but feel more connected to everything that makes up our world.
We experience deeper more meaningful relationships, not just with our family but with everyone we come in touch with.
As you start to live your life with more acceptance everyday.
We start to gain some perspective on the everyday events in our life.
It's only our interpretation that makes it negative.
The whole universe has performed a very specific series of events to bring about this very moment while you are reading this.
If you are resisting it, then you're pushing against the whole universe.
An exercise in futility if there ever was one.
There's a zen story about a farmer living in a village who has a horse that ran off.
The other villagers said what a shame.
The farmer just said "It is neither good nor bad".
His horse came back with a whole herd following, and making him very rich.
His response was "It is neither good nor bad".
Then when he was out riding one of the new horses, his only son falls to the ground, breaking his leg.
The other villagers all gathered around and commiserated with him, saying what a shame.
The farmer just said, "It is neither good nor bad".
A week later government troops came to the village conscripting all the young men, except for the son of the farmer because of his injury...
This may seem like a simplified way of looking at life, but it illustrates the way our reaction colors every event, even though we can never know what is about to happen and what the end result might be.
A less enlightened man would have been in raptures of joy and depths of despair at experiencing the exact same circumstances.
This is how most people experience life every day.
Meditation is an essential component of zen Buddhism, you could even say that it's the central part of Buddhist practice.
At the end of the day, we always have a choice about how we react to any circumstance.
It may not be easy to see, but we always have a choice.