Being Zen: Bringing Meditation to Life

We can use whatever life presents, Ezra Bayda teaches, to strengthen our spiritual practice-including the turmoil of daily life. In a gentle, direct, and eminently accessible style, Bayda explains how we can use techniques adapted from the Zen tradition to develop clarity and equanimity amid the stress and commotion of everyday living. All we need, Bayda explains, is the willingness to just be with our experiences-whether they are painful or pleasing-opening ourselves to the reality of our lives without trying to fix or change anything. Then we can awaken to the loving- kindness that is at the heart of our being. In this book Bayda blends storytelling, traditional Buddhist teachings, and a dose of humor to explore such topics as finding stillness, working with difficult emotions such as anger and fear, and living open-heartedly in the present moment. According the Bayda, the more the willingness to just be permeates every moment of our lives, the more we are liberated from the fears, disappointments, and self-judgments that cripple us-and the more we discover the sense of lightness, spaciousness, and compassion that surrounds every moment. This basic willingness to be present, Bayda explains, is not a kind of passive resignation to whatever comes our way, but rather a choice we make to actively examine our most deeply held beliefs and to open-heartedly embrace every moment of our lives.