Thought of the Day: Cease to seek and you will see. (Zen saying)

September 27, 2025

The Zen masters have a way of taking something that sounds simple and making it hit like a quiet thunderclap. Cease to seek and you will see.

For most of us, life is defined by seeking. We’re seeking the right career, the right house, the right school for our kids, the right way to balance a million spinning plates. We’re conditioned to believe that if we just keep searching, harder, faster, longer, we’ll find clarity. But Zen says the opposite: stop the seeking, and clarity will appear.

It’s a lesson I get reminded of every time I misplace my keys. I’ll tear apart the kitchen, muttering under my breath, accusing small children and house pets of being thieves, only to find the keys sitting in plain sight on the counter. My seeking blinds me. But the second I pause, breathe, and look, really look, I see what’s been there all along.

That’s the sneaky wisdom here. Seeking can create a kind of tunnel vision. The harder we chase, the more we convince ourselves that the answer is somewhere out there, hidden. But most of the time, what we need is already in reach. We just need the patience (and humility) to stop grasping for it.

I notice this in bigger parts of life, too. With my kids, if I spend all my time seeking the “perfect” parenting strategy, I miss the messy, imperfect joy of just being with them in the moment. With work, if I’m endlessly seeking the next tool, the next idea, the next “hack,” I can miss the fact that I already know what I need to do.

It’s uncomfortable advice in a culture that thrives on goals, lists, and hustle. But the Zen approach reminds me that stopping, pausing, isn’t quitting. It’s clearing space for seeing.

So maybe today the challenge isn’t to push harder or seek more. Maybe the challenge is to stop seeking and let yourself notice what’s already there. What happens when we simply open our eyes instead of chasing with them?

🧠 Read the full blog post where I explore this Thought of the Day and the Question of the Day

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