Is there an invisible line that separates your work from your sense of compassion and kindness?
Do you become someone else when you cross the threshold of your place of work?
It might sound crazy, but I know from personal experience that you can find the same degree of fulfillment and meaning at work, just as you do in your private moments, by bringing your inner monk to work.
Bringing your inner monk to work isn’t about proselytizing or recruiting others to your way of thinking, it’s about finding meaning in your 9 to 5 gig by practicing mindfulness, kindness, and compassion.
Your inner monk
We all have an inner monk. You might call it your best self or your higher nature. Whatever you call it, it’s that part of your personality that you guard very closely, rarely allowing others to catch a glimpse of it.
I think that prevents you from truly enjoying and finding meaning in your work. It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do, if you bring your inner monk along, you will experience what I call the zen of work.
When you experience the Zen of work, it becomes possible for filing, email, even washing your coffee mug to become meaningful -even sacred- moments.”
Discovering the zen of work
As a modern Zen dude once wrote:
Before enlightenment, writing reports and processing email; After enlightenment, writing reports and processing email.”
When we nurture our inner monk through the practices of mindfulness and meditation, we bring out those aspects of ourselves that are kinder and more compassionate. When we engage these practices on a regular basis, it’s not our work that shifts, it’s us.
There is still email to answer and Type A bosses to deal with. Our work doesn’t shift, we do.”
In experiencing this shift, every day becomes an opportunity to see our work as a series of sacred moments. When we approach work in this manner, even slogging through email can become meaningful.
Are you in?
Would you like to experience this shift and witness firsthand a new level of meaning at work?
The first step is blurring the line between your work life and your life’s work through a simple practice of what I call sitting quietly and simply being.
When you join me here on Zen-Journal, you can download my free instruction manual, The Path of the Mindful Warrior, in just minutes by filling out the form below. It will guide you in the gentle practice of Zen meditation called zazen – or just sitting.
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