Zen and the Art of Happiness

Seven Questions with Chris Prentiss, Author of “Zen and the Art of Happiness”

Q: In your book, you reflect on the idea that everything that happens to us is the best possible thing that can happen to us. Can you talk about that?

Chris: The Universe doesn’t make mistakes. Everything is happening just as it should. It’s only our perception of difficulties that causes us the distress and the difficulty we experience. Everything that happens to us is for our complete benefit. Even if an incident hurts us, shames us, or takes something from us, it will always work to our benefit since the Universe will not let anything bad happen to itself, and we are part of “itself.”

Put another way, knowing that you are part of the Universe and that the Universe is aware, acutely aware, of you is more empowering than any other single aspect of your life. It means that the most powerful force that exists is aware of you, and it is as concerned for your welfare as it is for its own because you are its own.

Q: Why did you write this book?

To help people all over the planet to live a better life. I want to share what I’ve come to learn through years of searching and testing in my own life. We are powerful beings, but many of us have learned to think and act in just the opposite way, as if we are not in control. We do control the events in our life by the kind of personal philosophy we adopt, because our philosophy determines how we respond to events. We can learn to be happy. Events are just events. How you perceive those events and respond to them determines their outcome in your life.

Q: Can you talk about thinking in terms of good or bad and how the way we see things matters so much?

Shakespeare said it best: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Our tendency is to see the events in our lives through our own lens and our own expectations. To change the conditions in your life, begin by changing how you see your world and how you think about what you see.

Here’s a simple example I use in my latest book. Suppose you and I decided to see a movie. We have been told it is a great thriller, the best one ever made. We go to the cinema, buy our tickets, find seats, and the film begins. We sit there looking for clues—a murder, a theft, a plot, a crime of some kind—but we don’t see any of that. After twenty minutes of watching, we are confused and baffled. It’s definitely not what we were told to expect. Nothing we are seeing makes sense. Then the person in the next seat leans over and whispers, “Isn’t this a wonderful love story?” Suddenly, everything makes sense. All the events of the film fall into place because we are seeing it for what it really is rather than what we were told it was. That’s the same kind of transformation that will occur as you start seeing yourself, the world, and its events for what they really are rather than what you were told they were.

Q: Can you talk about conditioning yourself to see beyond the events and find power in everything that happens?

Because of the way we’ve been trained, we think that some of the unpleasant things that happen to us are “bad.” But have you ever had anything happen to you that seemed really bad at the time but later turned out to be beneficial? Everyone I’ve ever posed that question to has been able to remember several events like that. Start to look at all events like that. If you can condition yourself to see that truth—that everything happens to benefit you—at the moment each event occurs, happiness will become your constant companion. And you will save countless hours, days, and weeks of useless lamenting over situations that will always turn out to be for your benefit.

I have had seemingly bad things happen to me: beatings, abandonment, lying, cheating, deception, betrayal, lost opportunities, lost money, position, power, respect, and all the thousand and one things that come into the average person’s life. As I look back on them, each brought its benefit, its wisdom, its information, its strength. A diamond is polished by grit and a man by adversity.

Q: Can you talk more about how we create events and situations?

You are always using your power to create and influence events. You’re like a radio station that constantly transmits. Whatever you broadcast goes out over the airwaves in every direction, affecting everyone and everything around you. If you’re broadcasting fear, fear is projected to everything around you, and your fear brings to you those things that are attracted by fear. If you’re broadcasting power and confidence, everything and everyone around you is affected positively, and you draw to yourself the things that are attracted by power and confidence. The conditions of your life are not the result of what is happening “out there” but what is happening inside of you

This story from my book shows the power of our beliefs. Max owned a thriving sandwich shop. People were almost always waiting in line to eat there. He gave away free pickles, free potato chips, sometimes a free soft drink, and his sandwiches were famous for being overstuffed. One day his son came to visit and told his father, “I have to tell you for your own good that you’re making a big mistake giving away all those extras. The country’s economy is in bad shape. People have less money to spend. If you don’t cut back on the free items and the portions, you’ll be in a bad way before long too.” After his son left, Max followed his advice. Before long, after many of his disappointed customers had stopped coming, he wrote to his son: “You were right! The country’s economy is in bad shape, and I’m experiencing the results of it right here in my sandwich shop!”

Q: What do you believe is the most important law in the Universe?

The most basic, most important law in the Universe is “cause and effect.” Very simply, every action produces a reaction, and the reaction is in exact accord with the action that caused it. Based on that law, you cause the effects that come into your life by how you are being at every moment. The way I like to say it is: You are the author of every next moment.

Q: In your book, you talk about stress, fear, and our imaginations. How can we begin to look at fear in a more healthy way?

One of the greatest obstacles to happiness is stress—that feeling of fear, anxiety, or foreboding. Yet many fears are born in your imagination and have no basis in real life. Beyond that immediate feeling of fear is your expectation of a bad result. If you were completely certain that the situation would turn out perfectly—in fact, to your greatest benefit—fear would be absent. You would proceed with confidence. Is fear present within the situation itself? Of course not. Without you using your imagination, fear cannot exist. So stress comes from the way you relate to situations. The next time you feel fear, imagine a beneficial outcome rather than the one that is causing your fear. Say to yourself: “The fear that I feel is aimed at my weak area so I can strengthen it. There is some information in this situation that I need, and I will get it by going through this. Even though I’m afraid, I have enough courage to act.”

END

Don't miss Chris' latest book, "Be Who You Want Have What You Want", it's brilliant, insightful and a MUST READ!

Skip Press Interview

Skip Press On Creative Writing

Skip Press writes screenplays, novels and non-fiction guide how-to books on the writer's craft.

In this interview, he gives us the scoop on creativity, writing and what makes a good premise.

Q. Describe what you think creative writing is?

Press: Coming up with ideas or new slant on ideas that people have not seen before.

Telling a story – getting people engaged in the story –
Better start with a good premise whether it’s revealed immediately or not. You have to know what the story is and what the premise is.

Some people will argue and they’ll say just write and let whatever comes to mind flow out but I’ve never known anyone who is a successful writer who has done that. Maybe they’re out there, I’ve just never met them.

Q. How do you describe the term “premise”?

Press: An immediate and compelling hook, the best, premise I ever heard in a Hollywood movie was Ghostbusters.

Ghostbusters – immediately knew what it was about when I saw the poster with those three guys, knew it was complete goofballs and I knew it would be fun.

Another good example is with “The Firm”, one line explained it all, “The mafia had its own law firm and it’s in Memphis, Tennessee.”

A good premise is all right there or it’s so intriguing you have to find out about it.

Q. What about in reference to business writing?

Press: You either have to say “here’s what we do” right up front, or you say, “Are you tired of those other insurance companies that lied to you?” you’re intriguing them and you’re making them want to listen to you or find out what it is you’re offering.

Q. What is a common mistake that most writers make?

Press: From my experience the biggest one is not acting on a good idea when it’s the right time. That means there have been many instances where someone will say, “Oh, I had that idea.” And they didn’t act on it.

There are authors won’t act and there are great ideas that float around in the ether and someone else will get there before you because they acted on them. If you have an idea that is truly excellent, jot it down and figure out a place you have that you can sell it.

Q. What do you tell people who ask how to make a living as a writer?

Press: Keep regular office hours, be a fulltime writer even if you’re not a full time writer. Find a way to set aside an hour that you can write no matter what.

You have to keep doing it and after awhile people around you will leave you alone and you can do your writing.

It’s almost like the Universe will nod down on you and give you the ability to do it.

There are so few people that will take on great tasks that it becomes highly visible when you do it personally. And that’s why those people who know you well might have similar aspirations who like to think you’re no more talented than they are, they will notice you first and they might be kidding around as they put you down, but they see the Universe in you.

You will find out in the world other people who have tried what you’re doing and failed and you need to avoid them or ignore them. You might run across people who have accomplished things and didn’t achieve it and are not bitter and they will see a spark in you and think “wow” maybe that person can achieve that and I will help them.

Q. How do good ideas come to you?

Press: The ideas are your vision of the world, Richard Donner when asked, “What makes you want to create a certain movie?” said, “If I really wanted to see it.”

Nora Ephron said the same thing, she picks movie projects that she feels no one else could make the movie that she wanted to see. She was talking about the movie “Michael.”

If I have an idea that I think is really obvious or really good and I’m fascinated by it – then that’s a keeper.

There’s no such thing as no ideas left. That’s ridiculous. You’ll see this books that say all the ideas have been used and I say that’s baloney. There are certain genres and rules and story structures but there is no lack of ideas and I don’t think there ever will be. Media saturation is possible, but we haven’t even come close to reaching a death of new ideas in this world.

Q. What other tips do you have for writers?

Press: If you stay ready, the opportunity will present itself even when you think you're out of opportunities.

Great things manifest in just the right time in the world for people. The Beatles would not have been as big a thing in the U.S. if they had not arrived right after JFK was assassinated. They really buoyed everyone’s spirits because they were young, talented and humorous. They let people find a way to be happy again and I think a lot of the media products come along and fill a necessary void.

Q. What are you working on right now?

Press: I’m writing the biography of Carmine Appice, who is the godfather of rock drumming.

Just finished Patti Page’s biography and writing a novel set on Wall Street and I’ve got a screenplay that I just rewrote that is a western, last screenplay written by Bill Kelly who wrote “Witness.”

Q. Thanks for the inspiration Skip.