Suzuki Roshi's 12 Guidelines for Zen in Everyday Life

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi was one of the pioneers who carried Buddhism and Zen practice into the Western world. The Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche respectfully called Suzuki Roshi his "spiritual father."

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind gathers the talks Suzuki Roshi gave while sitting with his American students, later compiled and edited by them. The book reminds us that the mind of Zen practice should always remain a beginner's mind — that boundless, open heart we began with, unburdened by the habits we've picked up along the way. Only then can we be true to ourselves, feel compassion for all beings, and walk the path in earnest.

This was, in fact, the very book that opened the door to Zen for Steve Jobs. The insights he drew from his practice — into how he lived and how he worked — shaped his entire life.

So here's the quiet question: might these twelve principles of daily Zen practice shape yours, too?

1. Do one thing at a time.

   When you walk, just walk. When you eat, just eat.

2. Do it slowly and deliberately.

   You could finish a task in one go — but you might also rush through it. Try not to. Take your time. Pay careful attention to what you're doing, without hurrying or acting on autopilot. It takes practice, but it helps you stay truly present with the work.

3. Do it completely.

   Put your whole heart into the task at hand. Don't move on to the next thing until you've finished what's in front of you. If something unavoidable pulls you away, at least take a moment to set things in order before you go.

4. Do less.

   When you take on less, you can give what you do more attention, more care, more depth. Fill your day with too many tasks and you'll just scramble from one thing to the next, never pausing to ask what any of it really meant.

5. Leave space between things.

   Closely related to "do less," this is really about how you shape your day so there's always enough room to finish what you start. Don't pack your schedule edge to edge — leave breathing room between tasks. It lightens the day, and gives you a cushion in case something takes longer than you expected.

6. Create rituals.

   Rituals give things a sense of importance. If something matters enough to deserve a ritual, then the doing of it matters too. You can build your own — for preparing food, for eating, for cleaning, for the things you begin, for what you do when you wake up and before you go to bed, for the way you warm up before exercise. Really, for anything you want to honor.

7. Assign time to specific things.

   Set aside certain parts of the day for certain activities. Time to bathe, time to work, time to clean, time to eat. This way the essential things actually get done, on a steady rhythm. You can assign time to whatever matters in your life — work, chores, exercise, quiet reflection. If something needs to happen regularly, give it a place on the clock.

8. Spend time each day sitting.

   Daily meditation is one of the most important parts of the day. Set aside dedicated time for it. Sitting quietly is, in the end, a practice of learning to live in the present. You can spend time in silent meditation, or you can do what I do — I use running as my way of training to stay in the here and now. Any activity will do, as long as you return to it often and keep practicing presence.

9. Smile and serve others.

   This is how humility is learned. It makes sure that life isn't only about "me and mine," but also about giving to others. If you're a parent, you've probably already spent time serving your family. If you're not a parent, you've almost certainly found your own ways to serve, too. A smile and a little kindness go a long way toward brightening the lives of the people around you. Volunteering for charitable work is worth considering as well.

10. Turn cleaning and cooking into meditation.

    Beyond the sitting practice mentioned above, cleaning and cooking are some of the most honorable parts of the day. Both are wonderful ways to train your concentration — and both can become daily rituals. If cooking and cleaning feel like drudgery, try approaching them as meditation. Do the work wholeheartedly, with full attention, slowly and thoroughly. It will change the shape of your day — and leave you with a clean room.

11. Think about what is necessary.

    In the life of a Zen monk, almost everything is pared down to what is necessary. There's no closet bursting with shoes, no wardrobe full of the latest fashions. No fridge or cupboard stuffed with junk food. No shiny new gadgets, cars, televisions, or iPods. There's warm clothing, a roof that keeps out the rain, the essential utensils, the tools that can't be done without, and enough simple food to keep going — their meals are modest indeed, mostly vegetarian: rice, miso soup, vegetables, and pickles.

    Now, I'm not suggesting you should live exactly like a Zen monk — I certainly don't. But it's a good reminder that we carry around a lot of things we don't actually need. It's worth asking what we truly require, and whether the things cluttering our lives really matter the way we think they do.

12. Live simply.

    To live simply is to let go of as much as you can — the unnecessary, the unimportant — so that there's room for what does matter. And what matters differs for everyone. For me, it's family, writing, running, and reading. For someone else, it might be nursing, volunteering, going to worship, or collecting comic books. There's no rule about what should be important to you — but it's worth pausing to ask what matters most in your own life, and to clear away the rest so those things have room to breathe.