Joko Beck
Joko Beck
Charlotte Joko Beckwas an American Zen teacher and the author of the books Everyday Zen: Love and Work and Nothing Special: Living Zen...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEducator
Date of Birth27 March 1917
CountryUnited States of America
trust years secret
Trust in things being as they are is the secret of life. But we don't want to hear that. I can absolutely trust that in the next year my life is going to be changed, different, yet always just the way it is.
sisyphus
None of us would choose to be Sisyphus; yet in a sense, we all are.
self joy body
Body tension will always be present if our good feeing is just ordinary, self-centered happiness. Joy has no tension in it, because joy accepts whatever is as it is.
spiritual compassion maturity
In spiritual maturity, the opposite of injustice is not justice but compassion.
paradise seeking
You cannot avoid paradise. You can only avoid seeking it.
meditation
Meditation is not about doing something
dream teacher compassion
Caught in the self-centered dream, only suffering; holding to self-centered thoughts, exactly the dream; each moment, life as it is, the only teacher; being just this moment, compassion's way.
dog blessing thinking
My dog doesn't worry about the meaning of life. She may worry if she doesn't get her breakfast, but she doesn't sit around worrying whether she will get fulfilled or liberated or enlightened. As long as she gets some food and a little affection, her life is fine. But we human beings are not like dogs. We have self-centered minds which get us into plenty of trouble. If we do not come to understand the error in the way we think, our self-awareness, which is our greatest blessing, is also our downfall.
life-is-like world judgment
To enjoy the world without judgment is what a realized life is like.
worry may way
To some degree we all find life difficult, perplexing, and oppressive. Even when it goes well, as it may for a time, we worry that it probably won't keep on that way.
vacation interesting car
There are many people in the world who feel that if only they had a bigger car, a nicer house, better vacations, a more understanding boss, or a more interesting partner, then their life would work. We all go through that one. Slowly we wear out most of our 'if onlies.
thumbs answers three
An old Zen rule of thumb is not to answer until one has been asked three times.
answers causes misery
We are caught in the contradiction of finding life a rather perplexing puzzle which causes us a lot of misery, and at the same time being dimly aware of the boundless, limitless nature of life. So we begin looking for an answer to the puzzle.
pain freedom waking
We're constantly waking up to what we're about, what we're really doing in our lives. And the fact is, that's painful. But there's no possibility of freedom without this pain.