If you like this article, you’ll love my new book,
Half Asleep in the Buddha Hall,
a guide to using Zen principles to re-create your life.
This article was greatly expanded upon in the book!
Life According to Zen Master Yogi Berra
Used with permission, Jerry Breen, of newbreen.com
The following quotes are from one of the most Zen guys
of the 20th century-Yogi Berra
10. “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
Most do not get this, and give up way too early. You’re not done until you die-or give up.
This quote is from 1973. Berra was managing, and his New York Mets trailed the Chicago Cubs by 9½ games in the National League East. Berra realized that no matter how hopeless a situation seemed, the season did not end until the last out. The Mets rallied to win the division title on the next-to-last day of the season.
To be down seven runs with one out to go is no more significant than any other point in the game. Your duty is to act-in this case, to ‘play ball devotedly.’ The outcome is whatever it is. However, if you don’t swing the bat with the intention of winning, you doom yourself. So, you set an intention (in this case, to win) and you work toward it with full effort, until the very last.
Most give up a moment or so too soon-typically when the going gets tough, and the fog rolls in. Here’s a story: [story in my book, Half Asleep in the Buddha Hall]
Often, decisions to ‘stop,’ to ‘pull up,’ are made in a similar fog, just a few feet from success. Far better to continue walking, and to make course corrections as we go.
Zen considers only the present moment. What I choose to do in this moment is not pre-determined by anything. Blaming your mommy or your past relationships, your genetics or your lack of understanding is just an excuse for not swinging for the fence, right now.
Remember: the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, but only if you take it. And, of course, each step is a first step.
9. “You can observe a lot just by watching.”
This might seem nonsensical until you see the underlying rhythm:
You can observe a lot by “just watching,”
as opposed to judging.

Observing is something we have talked about at length. To observe is to detach from interpretation. When you ‘just observe—just watch,’ everything means nothing, and nothing is permanent. On the other hand, if I see something and immediately go into my head, and start making distinctions, all I will do is find evidence for what I already believe.
Shifting to simply observing requires that I uncritically watch the situation as it unfolds before me. As my mind struggles to create a drama to judge, I observe my mind playing games, and then have a breath and let go of that game. In this clarity, I can choose a way to respond that is appropriate to the current moment and situation, without getting tied up in the games and dramas my mind loves.
[story in my book, Half Asleep in the Buddha Hall]
The centered life (“observing by just watching…”) is about acting in a way that is consistent with your most deeply held understandings. You cannot be peaceful by yelling… you cannot solve complications by creating chaos. The job of life is to become consistent, persistent, and resistant.
Remember: in every area where you think you are stuck, you are stuck because you are holding on to something that does not work. Let go, observe, move on.
8. “Think? How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time?”
This is the follow-on to the last point. From a practical perspective, Berra was spot on. When a pitcher throws a baseball at 95 miles per hour, it takes the ball only four-tenths of a second to reach home plate. That gives the batter about two-tenths of a second to decide to swing or not to swing.
Thus, when hitting a baseball, thinking gets in the way of acting.
This is true with learning most things. As we learn something, we move from complex and slow to easy and fast. (Think back, for example, to how hard riding a bicycle was, until it wasn’t.)
I’m not saying that hitting a 95 mile an hour fastball is easy. I am saying that if you are going to learn this skill, you had better give up thinking you can reason your way through it. All you can do is swing a bat, again and again. Once your body ‘gets’ the idea, you can then practice elegant hitting, until it becomes instinctual.
[story in my book, Half Asleep in the Buddha Hall]
In Zen, we speak of discipline. The key discipline is ‘non-following,’ or non-attachment. You let each non-helpful thought go by not clinging to it. Now, of course, as with Beth, such thoughts will arise until you die.
Following such thoughts leads to paralysis by analysis. This paralysis seems inevitable, until I notice that repeating dysfunctional thought patterns causes the paralysis. I am ‘lost in thought,’ and the cure is to stop myself—not by more thinking, but by acting. Less thought, more action.
Remember: you cause yourself problems by over-thinking and under-doing. Pick a way to be, and then just be it. Swing for the fences, letting the critical thoughts fade into background noise.
7. “If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.”
I used to have a poster on my counselling wall that read,
“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it.”
Berra presents the same idea.

Many are the clients who whine about their lives, their relationships, etc. I say, “Well, what do you want?” They reply, “Here’s what I don’t want…” Phooey. Stating what you do not want, or where you are not going, or who you are not is futile and lazy. Oddly, most see this as progress.
“I never want to be in a relationship like this again!” OK, so the next one is worse. You got what you asked for. This happens all the time.
If you think about it, defining what you do not want is impossible, as you cannot cover everything.
[story in my book, Half Asleep in the Buddha Hall]
There is nothing more important than identifying the territory (what I want) and procuring a map (how to behave so as to get there.) It is like using a foreign subway system. If you have a destination, all you have to figure out is the map, how to get to the right platform, and which car to enter. If you have no destination, you are going to end up ‘wherever.’
Sure, life is hard. There are the bad breaks we create, and bad breaks that just happen. So what? The only way to really live is to focus on what you want, as you drop your attachment to what you don’t want. Then, start. Sounds easy, but it takes discipline. Is it worth it? “Yes!”
Remember: your job is to state, clearly, who you are, what you are about, and where you are. From ‘here,’ you choose your next action. Next, see to it that you have integrity. Integrity means that your actions match what your mouth is saying. Wandering around all confused and lost, while griping about how hard you are working at defining what and where you aren’t, is the height of dumb.
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Tagged with: Buddhism • Communication • equanimity • self-mastery • This-Endless-Moment • Zen Approaches • zen living • zen principles








[…] Read it all here. […]
[…] C Allen puts an amusing and insightful spin on the Law of Attraction with his 10 Zen Principles to Help You Live Life Better as interpreted through the great Yogi-isms of baseball legend Yogi […]
Read it… will realy try to know, what you are?
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it,.
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[…] 10 Zen Principles to Help You Live Life Better | The Pathless PathLife According to Zen Master Yogi Berra … Zen considers only the present moment. What I choose to do in this moment is not pre-determined by anything. Blaming your mommy or your past relationships, your genetics or your lack of understanding is just an excuse for not swinging for the fence, right now. […]