Don't Eliminate. Illuminate

Both Zen and stoicism remind you to calmly and carefully observe not merely reality, but the way that reality is reflected in your mind.

“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them,” said the Greek philosopher Epictetus. “Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.”

“Zen meditation is often misunderstood as a practice of stopping thoughts or having no thoughts, but it’s actually a practice of noticing thoughts,” author Kim Boykin observed. “Zen is not about eliminating thoughts, but illuminating them.”