Zen No More

From the very beginning man has hungered for that epic journey, a trial that tests him to the very core of his being. We are a people that crave a challenge, be it physical, mental, professional or material.

It is that search for the highest peak, the deepest ocean, or the fiercest terrain. All kinds of people seek out challenges to overcome in their lives; it is the need to understand ourselves, to find out who we really are.  What is it that drives you?

You may climb Everest, explore the deepest jungles, or sail the world’s oceans, but when its all over and you come down off the mountain, out of the jungle, or back from the sea, you are still faced with the same problem that you had when you began.  YOU. 

There are a great many challenges out there ready for the bold, but there always remains one challenge that few dare to pursue. It is not found at the peak of Everest, or at the end of a solo ocean voyage, in fact it doesn’t even require a passport.

If you are searching for a challenge in your life, then you should ask why, look for the answers and follow the proof. Truly our greatest challenge is to answer the questions that we have regarding our social interactions, relationships, our place in the world and most importantly, what is the meaning of our life? 

OK, I’m not saying that this book answers all of our questions, but it does put the right questions in order to Find Your Way towards the answer. 

No one likes to ask the tough questions. The hardest thing in the world is to look at yourself and ask a question that you really don't want to know the answer to.  We dodge the obvious because of what we might find out about ourselves. 

It is the struggle between what we hope and dream, and denial is the obstacle of these hopes and dreams.  To look at the evidence of what is really happening, and to realize the truth about our circumstances is the first step in seeing the truth.

It is the old saying, if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, swims like a duck, more than likely it's a duck. 

The trouble is between what we want the situation to be and what is truly happening. The ability to deny the true situation and create what we want is incredible. Our outer world conditioning causes us to develop psychological defense mechanisms that we use daily to compete with others. At the unconscious level, we are all driven by the need to compete with each other to prove our value and worth.

It is truly the human condition to want to be special, but when we take a moment to look at ourselves we see that we are all special. Realizing this, it then becomes our personal responsibility to try and understand ourselves better, so that the world has one less dysfunctional person. Most of us feel shame when we see our dysfunctions, but really we should see them as a challenge, and systematically conquer them.

If we do not search out every opportunity to improve our life and resolve our dysfunctions, then we are subjecting the ones we love to our inadequacies by expecting them to live with them. This shows that we do not care enough to fight our own demons, and will subject the ones we love to our terrible personal inadequacies.

Tell me, does someone who won’t take on their personal inadequacies for the ones they love, truly love you? 

The healing of a dysfunction should take precedence over ourselves.  It is the first step to selflessness, and it shows true compassion and empathy for others. 

It is true love for others when we try to improve ourselves for everyone involved with us. It is our personal responsibility to comprehend and resolve our personal problems, and not to expect others just to live with them. 

The greatest challenge that we could ever undertake is to conquer ourselves. 

Once we defeat the selfishness of dysfunction, then we have defeated our greatest adversary, and nothing in this world can come close to hurting us.

This is our epic journey and the one true challenge in the world. It is the nuts and bolts of addressing the struggle with the ego, and subduing the power of the ego is a fierce battle, but a battle that can be won. 

Are you ready? .