Living the Zen Life

Nonviolent resistance

Nonviolent resistance

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.

I

n honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I’d like to share this special cartoon with you.

As you may know, while I trained at the Zen monastery, I created a cartoon series about the voices in our heads called The Voices.

Every Monday for several years, I released a new cartoon to subscribers. These cartoons depicted, through humor, how the voices of resistance created suffering in our lives.

Commentary

A few weeks before drawing this cartoon, I released one entitled, “How would the world be different if these people had listened to the voices in their heads.” This cartoon poked fun at how the voices may have tried to stop influential history makers like Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Jesus, The Buddha, and Einstein.

In “Nonviolent Resistance,” I continued this theme. But I also added parallel “then and now” voices (of urgency, fear, and procrastination) to show how they may have tried to stop Martin Luther King Jr., and how they may try to stop dedicated Zen practitioners. The cartoon was going out to Sangha from the Monastery, and so the theme of the voices stopping them from meditating or joining a sitting group would have been relevant to them.

I wanted to show the process of saying, “No,” to the voices is the same — whether you’re changing the outer world in a big way or your inner world in a big way.

In fact, being able to say, “No,” to the seductive ploys of the voices in the smaller areas of our lives is the start of being able to say no to them in ALL areas of life.

The voices are liars that talk us into doing what will not serve us and talk us out of doing what will. The refrain of “nonsense” emphasizes the clarity with which all the characters in the cartoon see this lie, and therefore choose the opposite.

The “peaceful sit-in” is a play on both the traditional nonviolent resistance tactic and Zazen (formal sitting meditation).

By-the-way, if you can’t tell what that is under Suzie’s arm, it’s a Zafu meditation cushion.

May you create the peace you seek now in this moment.
 

In lovingkindness,


If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, Living the Zen Life: Practicing Conscious, Compassionate Awareness (Volume One).

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, Living the Zen Life: Practicing Conscious, Compassionate Awareness (Volume Two).

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, Living the Zen Life: Practicing Conscious, Compassionate Awareness (Volume Three).

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, A Shift to Love: Zen Stories and Lessons by Alex Mill.

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, Meditation and Reinventing Yourself.

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, The Zen Life: Spiritual Training for Modern Times.

 


  Alex Mill trained in a Zen Buddhist monastery for nearly 14 years. He now offers his extensive experience to transform people’s lives and businesses through timeless Zen principles.

He is the creator of three powerful 30-day programs, Heart-to-Heart: Compassionate Self-Mentoring, Help Yourself to Change, and Your Practice, as well as the online Zen meditation workshop, Taming Your Inner Noise (now offered as The Zen Workshop).

Alex has also written seven books on Zen awareness practice. The latest are entitled A Shift to Love: Zen Stories and Lessons (Get some FREE sample chapters here) and the 3-book series Living the Zen Life: Practicing Conscious, Compassionate Awareness.

He is a full-time Zen Life Coach who offers guidance and life-changing support to his private clients worldwide. Book a call.