The word “zen” comes from the oringinal Chinese “chán,” meaning “meditation, contemplation, focus on one thing.”
This resonates with me completely, in that reducing noise and distraction can greatly improve the capacity to understand and get work done. Work can be in many different forms, from learning and understanding, to doing tasks as part of a job or duty.
The interesting thing about the concept of zen is that it partially replaces language, or at least puts experience and understanding at a higher level than mere language and words, which are just copies of experience, and usually a pale comparisons at that. A famous example is asking what is the moon, and as answer simply pointing at it - the experience of seeing the moon provides more understanding of what the moon is than all the words that anyone can provide.
Zen also positions experience as a good answer to any question, so asking how the day is going could get an answer like “the sky is blue and the birds are active.” Or “water in the jug, clouds in the sky.” These oblique answers never the less convey the day in quite broad terms, maybe providing a more immersive and encompasing understanding than a typical answer such as “fine, very busy, lots of work.” The first answers offer something of the world, while the second answer is firmly rooted in the self, which while true for the person answering, is conveying less interesting information to the questioner.
The world is large, experience is vast and deep, while words are small, cramped and less than ideal for conveying the fullness of the act of living.
So in my daily life I would like to embrace more of the fullness of experience, and less of the pale copies through words. Looking, observing, conveying more than cheap copies of experiences when someone asks me a question. Show and don’t just tell, give a glimpse at the wonders of understanding, of a full understanding, and not just a cheap summary that misses most of what makes an experience unique and special, just as all experiences are in fact. So the words cheapen and distract from what is rally going on.
See, listen, think, point, speak with intention and direction, and not with empty words.