Dealing with Anxiety - Bodhidharma and Zen Buddhism.

Zen Buddhism is said to have originated with a monk named Bodhidharma, who had a student named Huike. One day, Huike shared his troubles with Bodhidharma - “My mind is always filled with anxiety. Please tell me how I can make it calm and rid of this anxiety.”

Bodhidharma said, “Sure, I will calm these anxieties for you. But first, will you bring them to me? If you can set them before me and say, ‘These are the anxieties that burden me,’ I will be surely be able to calm them for you.”

Hearing this, Huike realized something for the first time. “Anxiety” was a thing within his mind. In reality, it was intangible. His fears were intangible, and yet he clung to them. He recognized the futility in this.

There is no need to be troubled by things that have not yet happened. Think only about what is happening right now.

Almost all anxieties are intangible. They are the invention of your own mind.