Daily Zen May 27 2026

The fundamental teaching of Buddhism is nothing but the doctrine of One Mind. This Mind is originally perfect and vastly illuminating. It is clear and pure, containing nothing, not even a fine dust. There is neither delusion nor enlightenment, neither birth nor death, neither saints nor sinners. Sentient beings and Buddhas are of the same fundamental nature. There are no two natures to distinguish them. This is why Bodhidharma came from the west to teach the Ch’an method of “direct pointing” to the original true Mind.

- Han-Shan Te-Ch’ing

JUST FOR TODAY - April 11 2026

A Closed Mind

A new idea cannot be grafted onto a closed mind… Open-mindedness leads us to the very insights that have eluded us during our lives.

~ Basic Text p. 93 ~

We arrived in NA at the lowest point in our lives. We’d just about run out of ideas. What we needed most when we got here were new ideas, new ways of living, shared from the experience of people who’d seen those ideas work. Yet our closed minds prevented us from taking in the very ideas we needed to live.

Denial keeps us from appreciating just how badly we really need new ideas and new direction. By admitting our powerlessness and recognizing how truly unmanageable our lives have become, we allow ourselves to see how much we need what NA has to offer.

Self-dependence and self-will can keep us from admitting even the possibility of the existence of a Power greater than ourselves. However, when we admit the sorry state self-will has gotten us into, we open our eyes and our minds to new possibilities. When others tell us of a Power that has brought sanity to their lives, we begin to believe that such a Power may do the same for us.

A tree stripped of its branches will die unless new branches can be grafted onto its trunk. In the same way, addiction stripped us’ of whatever direction we had. To grow or even to survive, we must open our minds and allow new ideas to be grafted onto our lives.

Just for today: I will ask my Higher Power to open my mind to the new ideas of recovery.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc 

EMMET FOX - April 9 2026

THE BIBLE HAS THE ANSWER

Don’t try to straddle the fence. If you wish to accomplish anything, you must be single-minded. It will be going the long way around if you first turn left and then right when you really want to go straight ahead. Let nothing turn you from the path. The Bible says,

A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8)

© 1931 by Emmet Fox 

DAILY ZEN - April 7 2026

When everything is clean-clear in your own mind,
nobody can create obstacles for you.

-Lama Thubten Yeshe, "The Bliss of Inner Fire" 

Daily Zen - 6th September 2025

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,
there is no objection to anything in the world;
and when there is no objection to anything,
things cease to be—in the old way.
When no discriminating attachment arises,
the old mind ceases to exist.



Let go of things as separate existences
and mind too vanishes.
Likewise when the thinking subject vanishes


so too do the objects created by mind.    

Daily Zen #essentialsofrecovery

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,
there is no objection to anything in the world;
and when there is no objection to anything,
things cease to be—in the old way.
When no discriminating attachment arises,
the old mind ceases to exist.



Let go of things as separate existences
and mind too vanishes.
Likewise when the thinking subject vanishes


so too do the objects created by mind.   

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Daily Zen - Enlightened Mind #essentialsofrec #Zen

"Zen says the ordinary mind is the enlightened mind. You don't go anywhere; the ordinary world is paradise. Here and now, everything is there! you need not go anywhere.

For the first time you become aware of the beauty of the world...everything is young and fresh and alive and God is here! if you think your God is somewhere else you are still listening to the mind, because that is the language of the mind: "Somewhere else, somewhere else! Never here!" - and he is always here.



Meditation reveals you the here and now. And then the ordinary mind becomes the most extraordinary. And the ordinary life becomes the supreme, the ultimate. The only difference is of a closed and open mind. When thoughts are there, the clouds are not there and the mind is open. And when the mind is open the old part has fallen, the water has flowed out, the reflection disappears, no water, no moon!"

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A WOMAN’S SPIRIT #essntialsofrec #Recovery #Minds

I wonder what my life would be like if I were to focus my energy and thoughts only on things that really matter.
~ Robbie Rocheford ~

We spend much of our precious time spinning our wheels. Our minds wander from thought to thought and person to person with no real sense of direction. Fortunately, we can develop the discipline of taking charge of our thoughts. We have merely to pause, quiet our minds, and focus. It’s a technique that we can hone, and practicing it empowers us. It also frees us to spend our precious moments on beneficial ideas or activities.

Our attitude about a task will determine our approach to it. It may seem impossible to be in charge of our thoughts, but that’s because we have never understood that we could responsibly and actively take control. Any negative thought can be stopped, even in midstream. And a replacement thought, such as “God is in charge,” can be substituted. The exhilaration we will feel at realizing the power of this technique is astounding. Our recovery will be enhanced many times over as we grow in our reliance on this tool.

I will pause throughout the day to clear my mind. Taking charge of my thoughts will be enlightening.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

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THE EYE OPENER #essentialsofrec #Greed #Happiness

The mind of man is unable to approximate the untold millions of dollars that have been spent by us alcoholics in the futile chase after happiness, only to find what we purchased was not happiness but misery, want, illness and despair.

By calling off off the hunt, by quitting our quest for fun that we had always believed hid in the bottom of a bottle, we found happiness. The price of this happiness was only that we give happiness to others and we learned that the more we gave the more we had. We could eat our cake and have it too.

Published by Hazelden

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KEEP IT SIMPLE #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Problems

Little things affect little minds.

~ Benjamin Disraeli ~

Before recovery, we liked things our way. We thought every new thing we tried should go right the first time. Little problems could really upset us. We let little things spoil our day. We let little things affect big things—our entire lives. And our bad moods affected people around us.

Funny how we have fewer of those problems now. The program is teaching us to let go. What a relief when we know we don’t have to control every little thing! How nice when things get done without our “expert advice”! We are starting to see what’s really important, and what’s not. One promise of the program is coming true: we know how to handle situations better.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me see what is really important for me today. Help me to stop worrying about what’s not.

Action for the Day

When I’m upset. I’ll ask myself, Is this problem really so bad? If I can’t change it, I’ll let go.

Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation

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EASY DOES IT #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Openmindedness

OPEN MINDS

Minds are like parachutes. They won’t work unless they are open.

~ Anonymous ~

Unless we maintain open minds, e cannot hope to make attitude changes for the better. Open-mindedness will prevent selfishness and reduce the possibility of painful resentments by not allowing intolerance and prejudice.

It is fortunate that we are individuals with personal opinions and that we can express different views without causing problems. We can disagree without being disagreeable. Besides, variety in viewpoints keeps recovery from being dull or boring.

In our Program, open minds remind us that common welfare comes before personal wishes.

When I lock the doors of my mind, I am keeping more of value out of my heart than can ever be harboured in a tightly closed mind.

©1990 by Anonymous. All rights reserved. Published by Hazelden.

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AROUND THE YEAR WITH EMMET FOX #essentialsofrec #Emmet #Fox #Recovery #Open-Mindedness

OPEN YOUR MIND

Have you an open mind? Is the window of your soul open for fresh air and the sunshine of Truth to come in, or is it closed and shuttered by mental laziness or the emotional congestion that we call prejudice?

None of us knows how many fine things we have missed through being self-satisfied and cocksure. No one can be considered really intelligent who does not have a readiness to examine new ideas with an open mind.

The history of scientific discovery shows that almost every new step was opposed by the very people who should have welcomed it.

Harvey was denounced for claiming that the blood circulated through the body; Galileo was persecuted for saying that the earth went round the sun; Pasture was branded a quack for advancing the germ theory of disease; Jenner was threatened with the police for pioneering vaccination. The finality of the atom, which was a scientific dogma in the childhood of most of us, has been completely discarded.

Probably the only incorrigible fool is the man who says that anything is impossible, or that there is any limit to the conquests that divine Intelligence working in mankind can achieve.

The Lord is able to give thee much more than this (2 Chronicles 25:9).

© 1931 by Emmet Fox

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Daily Zen #essentialsofrec #Zen #Buddhism

Calming the Mind

Too much knowledge
Leads to overactivity;
Better to calm the mind.
The more you consider,
The greater the loss;
Better to unify the mind.

– Shih Wang Ming (6th c)

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Daily Reflections #essentialsofrecovery

HEALING HEART AND MIND

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 55

Since it is true that God comes to me through people, I can see that by keeping people at a distance I also keep God at a distance. God is nearer to me than I think and I can experience Him by loving people and allowing people to love me. But I can neither love nor be loved if I allow my secrets to get in the way.

It’s the side of myself that I refuse to look at that rules me. I must be willing to look at the dark side in order to heal my mind and heart because that is the road to freedom.  I must walk into darkness to find the light and walk into fear to find peace.

By revealing my secrets – and thereby ridding myself of guilt – I can actually change my thinking; by altering my thinking, I can change myself. My thoughts create my future. What I will be tomorrow is determined by what I think today. 

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Daily Zen #essentialsofrecovery

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,
there is no objection to anything in the world;
and when there is no objection to anything,
things cease to be—in the old way.
When no discriminating attachment arises,
the old mind ceases to exist.



Let go of things as separate existences
and mind too vanishes.
Likewise when the thinking subject vanishes


so too do the objects created by mind. 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Daily Zen #essentialsofrecovery

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,
there is no objection to anything in the world;
and when there is no objection to anything,
things cease to be—in the old way.
When no discriminating attachment arises,
the old mind ceases to exist.



Let go of things as separate existences
and mind too vanishes.
Likewise when the thinking subject vanishes


so too do the objects created by mind. 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Daily Zen #essentialsofrecovery

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,
there is no objection to anything in the world;
and when there is no objection to anything,
things cease to be—in the old way.
When no discriminating attachment arises,
the old mind ceases to exist.



Let go of things as separate existences
and mind too vanishes.
Likewise when the thinking subject vanishes


so too do the objects created by mind.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Daily Zen #essentialsofrecovery

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,
there is no objection to anything in the world;
and when there is no objection to anything,
things cease to be—in the old way.
When no discriminating attachment arises,
the old mind ceases to exist.



Let go of things as separate existences
and mind too vanishes.
Likewise when the thinking subject vanishes


so too do the objects created by mind.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Daily Zen

Like molding dough in your hand you can definitely turn your mind whichever way you want.

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

A Closed Mind

“A new idea cannot be grafted onto a closed mind… Open-mindedness leads us to the very insights that have eluded us during our lives.”

Basic Text p. 93

We arrived in NA at the lowest point in our lives. We’d just about run out of ideas. What we needed most when we got here were new ideas, new ways of living, shared from the experience of people who’d seen those ideas work. Yet our closed minds prevented us from taking in the very ideas we needed to live.

Denial keeps us from appreciating just how badly we really need new ideas and new direction. By admitting our powerlessness and recognizing how truly unmanageable our lives have become, we allow ourselves to see how much we need what NA has to offer.

Self-dependence and self-will can keep us from admitting even the possibility of the existence of a Power greater than ourselves. However, when we admit the sorry state self-will has gotten us into, we open our eyes and our minds to new possibilities. When others tell us of a Power that has brought sanity to their lives, we begin to believe that such a Power may do the same for us.

A tree stripped of its branches will die unless new branches can be grafted onto its trunk. In the same way, addiction stripped us’ of whatever direction we had. To grow or even to survive, we must open our minds and allow new ideas to be grafted onto our lives.

Just for today: I will ask my Higher Power to open my mind to the new ideas of recovery.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery