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Zenhabits has always been one of the fluffiest of the original 'productivity' blogs. For years they've found the lowest common denominator self-help/productivit
by crux 16y ago
Zenhabits has always been one of the fluffiest of the original 'productivity' blogs. For years they've found the lowest common denominator self-help/productivity inspirational approach—follow your dreams! Write! Do, live, drive, discuss!—And wrapped it in a veneer of trendy aesthetic signifiers. As some who tries to practice Buddhism I find their wholly superficial co-option of the word 'Zen' to be irksome, but even past that, they always seem to have the most banal, uninsightful take on whatever the self-help blogger concept of the moment is, whether everyone's agreeing this week that you should write something every day, or use a full-screen text editor, or work _less_, or get rid of all your possessions... Frankly, it's a cushy gig.
- billswift 16y agoI agree they aren't very Zen. But Zen isn't very Buddhist either, it's more Taoism with a Buddhist gloss.
- crux 16y agoCan't argue with that. I'm a Thai Forest Tradition man myself. But I have a soft spot in my heart for Zen, formed back when I was a teenager and in the thrall of the exact same aesthetics that have made it such a buzzword on the internet today.
- gruseom 16y agoZen isn't very Buddhist either, it's more Taoism with a Buddhist gloss. Are you sure? That doesn't sound right to me. Zen is traced back to Bodhidharma, who came from Southern India. Taoism certainly didn't come from India. Moreover, Zen's almost nihilistic austerity seems at odds with the back-to-nature lyricism of, say, the Tao te Ching. It is difficult to imagine Lao Tse beating disciples with sticks.