I find it interesting that the word Zen is often used to illustrate the perfect mastery of an art and the state of consciousness and calm that entails. As in the example here in the video Miyoko Shida is a master of balance and stillness. This is truly beautiful.
But calm, stillness and balance are not to be confused with zen. Flow would be a better term. Zen is another thing. Sit and breathe for 30 min in front of a white wall. It’s not about comfort or balance. it’s not about focus or calm. It’s about having an open mind and being mindful.
Between flow and zen, i find flow more interesting. If i had to decide between devoting my life to Buddha or Csíkszentmihályi, i would choose the later.
Flow is related to mastery and this is a subject i could devote my life to because there is much happiness in the quest for skill and mastery.
According to Wikipedia “Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.
Six factors as encompassing an experience of flow.
1. intense and focused concentration on the present moment
2. merging of action and awareness
3. a loss of reflective self-consciousness
4. a sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
5. a distortion of temporal experience, one’s subjective experience of time is altered
6. experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience “
A Great book on the subject Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Originally posted on Facebook, Mai 2013
Martin Pham Dinh 