a student asked the guru, “how can i cheer myself up when i am down?”
“the breath of zen,” the guru replied.
“how does that work?”
“you close your eyes and take a breath. while you inhale, you think, ‘be.’ while your exhale, you think ‘zen.’ if you do that three times, you will feel better.”
the student tried the breath of zen and was surprised when it worked: he felt better, perhaps not happy, but better.
so he opened his eyes and said, “guru–”
but the guru had already run away.
—
try the breath of zen today.
