The Origin of Zen Psychology

The Origin and Foundation of Zen Psychology

A Concrete Treatment Plan: problems are the by-products of a complicated life.

1. reduce your thoughts

2. reduce your needs

3. reduce your ego

4. identify maladaptive thoughts

5. identify maladaptive behaviors

6. work to reduce and then control your
maladaptive thoughts and maladaptive behaviors

7. increase your physical health and well-being

8. add to your body of knowledge, read and study,
think but do not think in a flippant manner

9. obtain gratification via your own efforts

10. strive to benevolently help others

11. eliminate an egocentric way of viewing the world

Note: the spiritual self will not emerge until the aforementioned are rigorously met.

The present problem for me and perhaps this is the case for you too, is before I really discovered the way of the world and what I really wanted to do, I had boxed myself in. I made relationship choices and career decisions that were not based on enlightenment. What you will read below are my thoughts. I do not seek to change you nor do I seek to hear too much of your opinion of how I should think or of how I should feel. I formulated this philosophy of life because for many, many, years I have lived by the golden rule and I have found that the golden rule and many other rules have not really worked for me. I am not saying that life has not worked for you or others; I am saying it has not worked for me. For me and just for me, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for a cheese sandwich is not what I had envisioned or what I want to continue doing.

You may replace Mount Kilimanjaro for the holidays and things we celebrate and enjoy. Of course there is nothing wrong with the holidays and other life distractions; I have just done them enough to realize twenty more years of doing these things will not make my life that much better. I thought, is this it? Is this all there is to life, pizza, turkey, an SUV, a few failed relationships, a redeemable gift card and a 14-karat gold pen and watch at retirement?

Well if it is, it sure has not kept people who have this good life from killing wife and family after a bad, sad, day at the office. We must work, we must eat and we must live. However, how I choose to now go about 'doing my life' cannot be like how I have been doing it. It cannot be. It is my present wish with the remaining of my human life to do things a little bit differently. I am not looking to divorce myself from society or the greater world but to just go about living my life in a manner that is less driven by external influence.

If you are seeking a better mental, physical and spiritual self then read on. If you want to get involve in a dialectic discourse you are wasting your time. I write not to persuade but to motivate and remind myself to perform the necessary tasks I must do to improve my human condition. In short, I like most of you, do not care for hypocrites. I write so I might, in my thought and on paper, remind myself to abide my own ramblings.

But in Zen Psychology as it is in life, all is not black and white. There is some gray matter. One area of question is why Zen Psychology? Why not find God and my true self in a house of worship? True, as I have stated in previous essays, our religious beliefs are good in and of themselves, the problem occurs when self-serving people are present in a place of worship.

I cannot speak for you nor can you talk for me, I started Zen Psychology because I wanted a discipline where I could be me. I wanted a philosophy where I could process a multitude of thoughts. Science has exceeded our human interaction because scientists do not hold anything back. If an idea comes to the scientist he or she will ponder it and ultimately look to test it.

There was a time in our history when it was deemed morally and legally wrong to perform autopsies now, Jews, Muslims and Gentiles alike, benefit from the courage of those early thinkers.

In some places of worship, I have found the same vile that exist in the world also exists in a house of sanctuary. Why would it not? Humans cause harm, not holy books, not candles and crosses, but humans.

Zen Psychology incorporates that which is spiritual in addition to positive, time-tested and relevant practices, which are known to increase our well-being. ZP incorporates these necessary things of life without the after taste of ill will. One does not need to follow or practice ZP to be a moral person. In the best situation, one would all ready be well-trained in his or her chosen belief and thus be in a better frame of mind to utilize the pragmatic tools found in Zen Psychology.

I will tell you today; despite my own pessimism there is a higher power. There is a God.
As mentioned before, I cannot speak for you nor can you talk and think for me. When I have attempted to worship with other believers of my own Christian faith, I have grown farther away than closer to God. My repulsion was not due to my particular religion, but to the behavior of those I broke bread with.

Do realize and accept that I know that I am far from being a saint. I formed Zen Psychology because I needed something that could keep me sane, grounded and free from malice. It was thirty years ago when a minister while smiling and while still shaking my father's hand, said: "Maybe you folks would be more comfortable attending a church down the street."

There are of course more poignant experiences I have had as a result of socializing with a group of believers. A social scientist would not base any opinion on one incident or one occurrence; we search for and require a frequent number of experiences and behaviors. Regardless of the ethnicity of a place of worship and regardless of the religious doctrine, where there are humans, there are bound to be false believers.

Growth in Zen Psychology comes from individualized work. It borrows a bit from all that is noteworthy and it examines the things that are not topics of polite conversation. I realize and I believe you realize what people say is quite different from what they do. If this was not the case, I would not be writing this essay and you would not be reading it.

Before I digress to discussing concrete lessons let me say, if a person seeks to save 100 out of 100 people he will fail. If a teacher seeks to pass all of her students with an A, she will fail. ZP is not looking for a movement and television airtime. Practitioners of ZP are looking to sweep their own porch steps before they worry about someone else's dirt. Those that do look to sweep someone else's porch before they sweep their own; they have some serious issues and would need to seek counseling.

Some basic concepts:

If a male practitioner of Zen Psychology were working out, he would keep his shirt on. Why would someone remove his shirt to work out - if it was not an ego thing?

Likewise, if a female practitioner of Zen Psychology were working out, it would be better if she did not wear sexually revealing clothes. Why would a woman wear such an outfit - because it is more comfortable? Whatever did women wear before? I could be wrong but let me say, comfortable clothes like gray sweats. ZP is not about being politically correct. Being politically correct has not kept our children from walking into school and blowing their classmates away. Maybe guns are a new wonder, something invented in the Y2K generation and not in mine?

Really, a person can wear whatever he or she wants to wear. I am heterosexual, I truly love women, they make the world go round, but I will say, do not wear sexually provocative clothes and then demand that men see your intelligence. What most men will see is the sexually revealing person, not the unique, intelligent one. Zen Psychology is not into crazy-making whims. At the core of self-exploration is asking your self, why am I thinking this way? Why am I doing this?

A beautiful person is a beautiful person. An attractive man is an attractive man and a pretty woman is a pretty woman. I am attracted to fit, intelligent, women. I do not need any given woman to wear spandex for me to recognize her sexuality or her gender. A fit, intelligent, woman who is wearing overalls will catch my eye. The garments we wear are just that, garments, but our bodies and our minds are real. I like real. What do you like? Has what you like given you a life of bliss? Has what you and l like curb the divorce rate? Has what you and I like kept our kids safe? If it has, this is good, if it has not why perpetuate something that does not work?

Ego-driven behavior is evident in all things not just in the clothes we wear but in all things. How can you or I even attempt to become a better person when the formula we are using to reach our goal is flawed? Outside of a schizophrenic ward, 1 + 2 will never equal 4.

Practitioners of Zen Psychology continually monitor their motives. The practitioner of ZP contemplates like this: "Is this a self-serving, notice "ME" thing or is this thing I am doing something that can make me a better person in my spiritual, physical and cognitive domains? Will this thing I am doing hurt other people?"

I like learning and I still remember a young student who asked me what radio station I listened to. I was momentarily taken I told the lad that I listened to a few stations. He told me that he listened to WIFM. I had not heard of WIFM so I asked him if the station was new. He said no, WIFM, which he said stood for What Is In It For Me, has been around for a while.

I was born in Nigeria, Africa. Wearing a dashiki or the traditional African garment does not make me a better person. I become a better person by working at becoming a better person. A job title is just a job title. When I teach, I teach but after I am done teaching, I can take off my college instructor hat. I can talk in a non-scholarly way. A rich man and a pretty woman with halitosis are people with bad breath. The man's wealth and the woman's beauty does not circumvent the fact that they have bad breath.

A practitioner of ZP knows if he or she is faking it, the penalty in wasting time and ultimately failing is a huge price to pay.

A practitioner of ZP has problems. He has credit card bills. She has family problems. However, he or she does not continue on a path that has not worked. He or she is now ready to live life without Novocain.

Practitioners of ZP communicate with authenticity. If we cannot do the latter with the people "we" have surrounded ourselves with, we move on. We do not look to throw in the towel after one day or one week, but we critically examine our problems. We examine how long we have struggled with a certain problem. If our problem has gone on for years we realize it may be time to try a different formula.

Practitioners of ZP inherently know if a person was addicted to heroin or alcohol but has cease using these substances but now smokes cigarettes, we would not frown on that person but recognize that this is a positive step. If we take all that people do away from people, we may see these people return to their previous behavior of using and abusing with twice the vigor.

Practitioners of ZP are far from being perfect - who is? But we know this world we live in is not healthy. We do not seek to change things external to us but instead work to become better at living in a dysfunctional world.

Practitioners of ZP know the things that are primary reinforcers and the things that are secondary reinforcers. Food, water and sex are primary reinforcers. When people without a thorough counseling program attempt to cease doing the things that are primary reinforcers they get into trouble. A salary raise, a new car and a new house are secondary reinforcers. It is easier for us to say no to secondary reinforcers than it is to negate primary reinforcers. Practitioners of ZP realize that our present religious beliefs sweep certain subjects under the rug - as if they do not exist - and police agencies and municipal authorities pump more money into stopping that which they cannot stop.

Practitioners of ZP look to explore the things we do and struggle not to do than to leave our woes in the hands of authority figures who have proven to be ineffective. I do not believe spending a billion dollars to bust 10 drug pushers is cost effective. In fact, when we populate the moon the problems we have on earth will be seen on the moon. Show me a great man or a great woman and I will show you someone who needs a bodyguard.

Practitioners by-and-large know that the benevolent are benevolent despite the evil done to them and the evil are evil in spite of the good done for them. This of course is not always true but it is generally true. If you disagree, no problem, although I do not know you and you do not know me, watch where you park your car and lock your home, or you may just discover what many of us have known for some time, the Great Pumpkin is never going to come.

If you think I am being too dramatic or too dark, I am sorry but please do not cry and yell when something bad happens to you. Something bad has been happening to many people for many, many, years. Just because it did not happen to you does not mean it is not happening to someone else. 9-11 shocked and frightened many people. It was a sad day but I was not shocked, what we Americans suffered many other people have been suffering for a long time. No one gets out of this world without a scratch.

In closing, practitioners of ZP do not need to be told it is wrong to rape, rob and murder. We intuitively know this. We also know critical cognitive thinking is not something every one can attain if it was, I would not be writing this essay and you would not be reading it.