The Zen Path of Intentional Transformation

 

Few Fears this New Year’s

Exploring New Year’s resolutions through a Zen perspective:

The main thing is to have, develop, and nurture (or return to) a Discipline. Let’s walk this path in the healthiest manner, wherever it leads us. #GoallessPath

 

 

The Zen Path of Intentional Transformation

As another year dawns, many of us approach New Year’s resolutions with a mix of hope and resignation. We envision grand changes in ourselves, our families, our professional lives, and perhaps the greater world. We set ambitious goals that often dissolve long before Spring seedlings erupt from thawing soils. Understandably, we re-enact the age-old saga of hope rotting into disappointment. Feeling dejected, we are left with a much degraded and deflated sense of self-confidence. In contrast, the Zen approach to personal transformation presents a fundamentally distinct perspective. An approach characterized by gentle awareness, compassionate self-observation, and mindful intention.

In Zen Practice, resolutions are not about forced, radical changes but about cultivating a deep, moment-to-moment awareness of our inner landscape. Instead of creating rigid plans that demand immediate and radical shifts, the Zen adept learns to approach personal growth as a nuanced journey of understanding.

 

 

Consider the metaphor of tending a garden. Traditional resolution-making is akin to violently uprooting existing plants and demanding instant blooms. In stark contrast, however, the Zen approach nurtures roots, shoots, and fruits as well as the garden and gardener. A Zen gardener will value time spent getting to know the garden’s soil, the sun’s contribution, and the water’s paths through the gardenscape. In time, well-considered sowing of seeds, transplantations, pruning, and fertilizing may take place…but only after quiet time for communing and considering. This more refined and reflective approach is akin to carefully nurturing the soil, observing each seedling, understanding its needs, and allowing natural growth to unfold with patience and care.

In this way, our resolutions become less about strictly defined achievements and more about cultivating intention, presence, and sincerity of purpose. Rather than declaring (to ourselves and others), “I’m going lose 20 pounds by Spring,” a Zen practitioner might focus on the How of Self Improvement and set aside the What. We might expect the Zen student to set an intention of developing a more compassionate relationship with their physical body, to invoke curiosity about their eating and drinking habits, and to approach mental health (such as with consumption of media) with lovingly mindful attention.

 

 

Meditation plays a crucial role in this transformative process. By sitting quietly and observing our thoughts without judgment, we begin to understand the patterns that often sabotage our best intentions. Understanding our challenges helps us sharpen our efforts and refrain from self-defeating criticism. The challenges facing a meditator are real. And…they are really powerful and really, really common. We learn that change isn’t about willpower but about cultivating awareness and self-directed empathy around our well-honed and habitual responses.

Attachment – to outcomes, to specific results – is another area where Zen wisdom offers profound insight. Many resolutions fail because we become fixated on a particular endpoint. Goals, especially ones on the list that have yet to be checked off, serve to create tension and thus resistance. Zen, on the other hand, encourages us to focus on the present moment. A Zen adept embraces the journey itself…with gentle curiosity and profound openness.

This doesn’t mean eschewing goals altogether but rather holding them lightly. If your resolution involves learning a new skill, a Zen approach would emphasize the enjoyment of the process of learning itself and celebrating smaller moments of discovery. At the outset of studies, a Zen proponent would be sure to release all expectations of mastery.

Compassion is the cornerstone of this Practice. When we inevitably stumble – and we will – instead of harsh self-criticism, we meet ourselves with kindness. Kindness is the superpower of all Zen adherents. Each moment becomes an opportunity for renewed intention, not a cause for senseless criticism, self-doubt, ineffective and cruel punishment or even final defeat.

As we step into the new year, consider cultivating intentions that feel more like invitations than demands. What qualities would you like to embody and express? Tranquility? Adaptability? Curiosity? Resilience? Cultivating well-considered prescriptive qualities can be far more nourishing than hoping to enforce proscriptive goals that often simply serve to create internal stress, strain, and struggle. Rather than, “I will not swear this year.” we might decide, “When I am feeling explosive, I will try to remember to pause, take stock of my blessings, and connect to the world in a kind and curious manner.”

Practical Zen-inspired Practices might include daily meditation, strolling around the neighborhood after reading a poem while trying to enjoy each breath, mindful breathing when feeling overwhelmed, or simply pausing to notice your inner experience without immediate judgment. These small, consistent acts support the creation of more sustainable transformation than any sweeping resolution is likely to.

Remember, in Zen philosophy, every breath is a new beginning. We are never impossibly stuck, never truly failing – we are simply learning, growing, and unfolding moment by moment. Fail your way to success and know that success is a way of Practicing rather than a result of Practice. This year, let’s not fight ourselves, but rather walk alongside ourselves in order to nurture profound awareness and necessary kindness.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

 

The author, Stephen Watson, will be offering many introductory sessions this year through his studio, Someday Farm. Most will be available via Zoom and archived on Patreon.com/SomedayFarm. Introductions to Stretching, Breathing, & Meditation are in the works. Find out more and enroll by following the links here: https://linktr.ee/SomedayFarm