Zen Cart truly is the art of e-commerce; free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart software. The ecommerce web site design program is developed by a group of like-minded shop owners, programmers, designers, and consultants that think ecommerce web design could be, and should be, done differently.

Some shopping cart solutions seem to be complicated programming exercises instead of responding to users' needs, Zen Cart puts the merchants and shoppers requirements first. Similarly, other shopping cart software programs are nearly impossible to install and use without an IT degree, Zen Cart can be installed and set-up by anyone with the most basic web site building and computer skills.

There are hundreds of shopping cart programs available, but none come close to offering the level of options, features and support available with Zen Cart. Even the commercial programs have a hard time competing.

Freely Customizable Zen Cart is Free Open Source software. It is licensed under GPL2, meaning you are free to modify the source code in whatever ways your application requires.

Easily Integrate with your Payment Gateway With many popular payment gateways built-in, you can start accepting payment immediately. And if you need to integrate a custom module, there are hundreds of community-contributed payment modules to select from, or from which to build your own.

Works with any* hosting company You may install the software on any hosting service you prefer &emdash; Zen Cart will run on servers with relatively simple requirements of PHP, Apache, MySQL. *Keep in mind the Server Requirements for Zen Cart

Use your own domain name Your website will be at whatever domain you choose. You will create and configure your domain with your hosting company.

Ready immediately! Zen Cart is ready to run immediately. You can start accepting payments immediately. Just create your products and go!

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Zen Cart Support - Zen Cart - Putting the dream of your ...

By Leo Babauta

Our lives get so complicated not overnight but gradually.

The complications creep up on us, one insignificant step at a time.

Today I order something online, tomorrow someone gives me a gift, then I get a free giveaway, then I decide I need some new tools. One item at a time, the clutter accumulates, because Im not constantly purging the old.

Today I say yes to an email request, tomorrow I say yes to a party invitation, then I get asked to a quick cup of coffee, then I decide to be a part of a project. One yes at a time, and soon my life is full and I dont know how I got so busy.

I look at a news site, then a social media site, then my email, then read an interesting article, then watch an online video someone sent me and soon my day is gone, and I didnt get much done, and my life gets eaten away in minuscule bites.

How do we protect against this feature creep, this complication creep? We have to take a step back, regularly.

Instead of thinking, How can I get rid of this complicated mess? lets ask, What if I started with a blank slate?

What would you do if your life was a blank slate?

If it were an empty container, with limited space, what would you put in it?

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Zen Habits

El zen es una escuela del budismo mahyna.

La palabra zen es la pronunciacin en japons de la palabra china chan (), que a su vez deriva de la palabra snscrita dhiana, que significa meditacin. Cabe destacar que el maestro japons Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki iguala el dhyana con el zazen[1] (en chino zuchn, meditacin sentado).

Apartndose del conocimiento terico o intelectual, el zen busca la experiencia de la sabidura ms all del discurso racional.[2] Las enseanzas de zen incluyen varias fuentes del pensamiento mahyna, incluyendo la literatura Praj-paramit como el Praj-paramit-sutra y las enseanzas de Yogacara y de la escuela tatha-gata-garbha.

El zen emergi desde distintas escuelas de budismo y fue registrado primero en China en el siglo VII, luego se dispers hacia el sur a Vietnam y al este a Corea y Japn. Tradicionalmente se da el crdito de traer el zen a China a Bodhidharma, un prncipe convertido en monje proveniente de la Dinasta pallava (de India del Sur), que lleg a China para ensear una:

transmisin especial fuera de las escrituras, no encontrada en palabra o letras.

El zen es una de las escuelas del budismo ms conocidas y apreciadas en Occidente. Con el popular nombre japons zen suele aludirse en realidad a un abanico muy amplio de escuelas y prcticas de este tipo de budismo en toda Asia.

Como toda escuela budista, el zen tiene su raz en la India, aunque slo en China adquiere su forma definitiva. La palabra zen es la lectura en japons del carcter chino chn (), que a su vez es una transcripcin del trmino snscrito dhyna, traducido normalmente como "meditacin". La influencia de esta escuela lleg hasta Corea, en donde se llama son, y tambin hasta Vietnam, en donde se conoce como thin. Ntese que los nombres antes mencionados (a excepcin del snscrito) son distintas pronunciaciones del mismo ideograma chino.

En los sutras del budismo mahayana se recomienda el cultivo del dhyana como la va preferente para conseguir el nirvana.[3] En su versin india, se observaba una progresin en distintos estados de la meditacin o jhanas[4] que se suceden en un cultivo gradual. El Chan chino le aporta como novedad la idea de un acceso directo y espontneo al estado ltimo y superior de todos ellos - aquel que precede inmediatamente a la experiencia del nirvana - sin necesidad de experimentar los anteriores, mediante vas de acceso espontneas. El Chan es por antonomasia la tradicin budista de la intuicin y la espontaneidad.

El chan se desarroll en China. All el budismo se asent desde el siglo I. Al principio era una mera transposicin del budismo indio, entre cuyas principales actividades estaba la traduccin y el estudio de textos. Progresivamente se desarrollan varias escuelas del budismo, una de las cuales es la escuela Chn.

Se considera que las formas tempranas del budismo Chn surgen en el siglo VI a partir de la influencia de diversos stras o textos sagrados del budismo mahyna, todos ellos de procedencia india, a los que ms tarde se les aadir una serie de apcrifos.

See more here:
Zen - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Zen-Buddhismus oder Zen [zn, auch tsn] ist eine in China ab etwa dem 5. Jahrhundert der christlichen Zeitrechnung entstandene Strmung oder Linie des Mahayana-Buddhismus, die wesentlich vom Daoismus beeinflusst wurde. Der chinesische Name Chan (chinesisch,Pinyin Chn) stammt von dem Sanskritwort Dhyana (), das in das Chinesische als Channa (, Chnn) bertragen wurde. Dhyana bedeutet frei bersetzt so viel wie Zustand meditativer Versenkung, was auf das grundlegende Charakteristikum dieser buddhistischen Strmung verweist, die daher auch gelegentlich als Meditations-Buddhismus bezeichnet wird.

Der Chan-Buddhismus wurde in Sdostasien durch Mnche verbreitet. Es entstand daraufhin eine koreanische (Seon, korean. ) und vietnamesische (Thin) Tradition.

Ab dem 12. Jahrhundert gelangte Chan auch nach Japan und erhielt dort als Zen eine neue Ausprgung, die in der Neuzeit in wiederum neuer Interpretation in den Westen gelangte. Die in Europa und den USA verwendeten Begriffe zum Zen stammen meistens aus dem Japanischen. Aber auch koreanische, vietnamesische und chinesische Schulen haben in jngerer Zeit Einfluss im westlichen Kulturkreis erlangt.

Der Zen-Buddhismus lsst sich seit der Song-Zeit durch die Zeilen charakterisieren:

1. Eine besondere berlieferung auerhalb der Schriften, 2. unabhngig von Wort und Schriftzeichen: 3. unmittelbar des Menschen Herz zeigen, - 4. die (eigene) Natur schauen und Buddha werden.[1]

Die vier Verse wurden gemeinsam als Strophe erstmals 1108 in dem Werk Ztng Shyun () von Mn Shnqng () Bodhidharma zugeschrieben. Einzeln oder in verschiedenen Kombinationen tauchten die Zeilen bereits frher im chinesischen Mahayana-Buddhismus auf. Die Zuschreibung an die legendenumwobene Grnderfigur sieht man heute als Festlegung des Selbstverstndnisses nach einer Phase des Richtungsstreites.[2]

Der vierte Vers liest sich auf Japanisch als: "kensh jbutsu ()". Die programmatische Aussage gilt als charakteristisch fr Chan/Zen, erscheint erstmals aber bereits frher (um 500) in einem Kommentar () zum Nirvana-Sutra.[3]

Oft wird gesagt, dass Zen nichts biete: keine Lehre, kein Geheimnis, keine Antworten. In einem Kan () spricht der Zen-Meister Ikky Sjun () zu einem Verzweifelten:

Ich wrde gerne irgend etwas anbieten, um Dir zu helfen, aber im Zen haben wir berhaupt nichts.

Es bedeutet, das Leben zu leben in seiner ganzen Flle. Der unmittelbare Zugang zu diesem Einfachsten von allem ist dem Verstandeswesen Mensch jedoch versperrt es scheint so, als ob die niemals schweigende Stimme der Gedanken ihn durch hartnckige Ideen und urteilende Vorstellungen blockiere. Die Anhaftung an die Illusion eines Ich jedes Einzelnen verursacht immer wieder nur neues Leiden (Dukkha). Zen kann diese Verwirrung lsen zuletzt vermag man sogar zu essen, wenn man hungrig ist, zu schlafen, wenn man mde ist. Zen ist nichts Besonderes. Es hat kein Ziel.

See the article here:
Zen Wikipedia

In this simple but informative TED Talk, Julian Treasure offers up seven things that effective communicators must exclude from speech. This list of seven is a kind of "bad habits to avoid" list. They are not the only elements that can derail effective communication, but it is a good list from which to start. "I call them seven sins somewhat tongue in cheek," Julian says in the comments section on the TED Website. "I am not saying these things are bad or wrong, simply that they tend to make it harder for people to listen, especially when they become habits." Yes, suggesting that one avoid these behaviors always and forever can become a sort of dogma as well. However, he is right that these behaviors are for the most part injurious to our reputations, credibility, and over all effectiveness.

Julian's presentation is short, clear, and concise. Still, to help you remember the contents after you've watched the talk, I summarize the key points below and include a few of his slides that display the key points. The last one (number 8) is one I have added to the list. You surely may have some more to add.

7 (or 8) things to avoid when speaking Here are the seven (well, I added one of my own). These can be applied to any context from banter with friends, meetings with coworkers, and of course, presentations in all their myriad forms.

(1) Gossip Yes, we all do it from time to time. But there are some problems with it. For example, says Julian, "we know perfectly well the person gossiping five minutes later will be gossiping about us." This reminds me of that Eleanor Roosevelt observation: "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

(2) Judging "It's very hard to listen to somebody if you know that you're being judged and found wanting at the same time," Julian says. Judging, of course, is very human and is not necessarily a bad thing. Context is important. But when judging gets in the way of honest dialog, then we have a problem. Judging can be a great barrier to the receiver actually hearing what is really being said.

(3) Negativity It's very hard to listen to someone who is seemingly always negative or has a great habit of looking on the bad side of things. When one's default reply or approach is to focus on the negative, it becomes hard to take their words seriously. Negativity, of course, is not to be confused with critical thinking or even skepticism. Negativity keeps us from seeing the possible in the seemingly impossible.

(4) Complaining This one is very close to negativity above. We all hate "the complainers" even though we may find ourselves in this role without knowing it. We must be mindful that we do not enter into a kind of downward spiral of negativity and complaining. Complaining is different from venting feelings or frustrations with a trusted friend. This can be quite healthy for getting things off our chest. Complaining refers to, I think, an approach to daily living with is always "glass half empty." Chronic negativity and complaining does not help anyone. Most importantly, it does not help you. As the Dalai Lama says "Your sadness will not solve the problem. More sadness, more frustration only brings more suffering for yourself. No matter how tragic the situation, we should not lose hope."

(5) Excuses "Some people have a blamethrower," Julian says. "They just pass [blame] on to everybody else and don't take responsibility for their actions, and again, hard to listen to somebody who is being like that." It is a natural thing to want to make excuses for our failings. After all, no one knows our inner struggles or our external antagonists better than we do. But deep down we know better: We must take full responsibility for our mistakes and our failures. Far from being a kind of acquiescence, it takes courage to admit failure and to apologize without making even a single excuse.

(6) Exaggeration Embroidery and exaggeration, says Julian, demeans our language. For example, he says, "if I see something that really is awesome, what do I call it?" Exaggeration can become out and out lying, and we don't want to listen to people we know are lying to us." A lot of this depends on which culture we find ourselves in, however. Julian called this bad habit lying, but I have listed it as exaggeration. We know lying is wrong, obviously, but we should be careful too when our enthusiasm results in the kind of exaggeration that distorts facts. (7) Dogmatism Julian refers to dogmatism as "the confusion of facts with opinions." And he says, "when those two things get conflated, you're listening into the wind. You know, somebody is bombarding you with their opinions as if they were true. It's difficult to listen to that." I would add to this deliberate obfuscation. For example, when an individual will not answer a simple question clearlyone that everyone knows the answer tobecause they fear notadhering to a predetermined narrative.

Julian Treasure's slide listing the 7 bad habits in communication.

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Presentation Zen

Lindsay learns lifeboarding lessons, including safety is not second.

Published Oct. 27, 2014 at 1:37 p.m.

Always listen to your mother.

And to your husband. And friends. And especially to your "gut." Really, just listen to anyone who knows you well enough to know better - more on this in a bit.

After I learned to surf in Maui two years ago, Ive been obsessed with the feeling I caught riding those waves. The athleticism. The freedom. The relaxation I felt combined with an endorphin releasing excitement that I have since to match. I have craved a piece of that lifestyle that merges sport with ocean.

But, I dont live near any body of water that has waves worthy of more than a leisurely canoe outing. I do have Apple TV though. And while streaming ABC News I overheard the term "landsurfing." That was all it took.

I was instantly glued to a piece on KOTA Longboards, a Colorado-based company owned by a former US Navy Pilot that manufactures longboards right here in the USA.

KOTA stands for Knights of the Air, paying homage to military aviators and honoring the veteran hiring practices that are part of the company.

What exactly is a longboard? Well, it sure looks like a skateboard. But, its longer and wider with larger wheels. The sport originated in Hawaii and was called "sidewalk surfing," by the surfers who created it as a way for them to cross train in the off- season and on crappy wave days.

If a connection between Wisconsin and longboarding seems impossible, think again. Every KOTA longboard is born from Wisconsin wood. According to their website, "Only the best Hard Rock Maple becomes a KOTA longboard. We specify American Hard Rock Maple from Wisconsin for its strength, durability and beauty. Each veneer is individually inspected. If it makes the grade it becomes a KOTA deck."

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Zen and the art of longboarding

Updated May 16, 2014.

You hear a lot about living a healthy lifestyle, enough that the phrase 'healthy lifestyle' may be one we'd like to permanently retire. The problem is, that phrase describes the life we need to live if we want to feel good and look good. So, what does it actually mean? Well, there are the obvious things that describe a healthy person: He or she doesn't smoke, is at a healthy weight, eats healthy foods and exercises on a regular basis. It sounds so simple, it's funny just how hard it is to do all of those things in our current world.

The good news is, you don't have to change everything at the same time. In fact, the trick to healthy living is making small changes. Take more steps each day, adding fruit to your cereal, having an extra glass of water or saying no to that second helping of buttery mashed potatoes. So, what else can you be doing to live healthy? Your first order of business is to start exercising.

Exercise

One of the biggest reasons we're have a weight problem these days is because we sit around too much. We know we need to exercise, but we have so many excuses not to do it. We're too busy, don't know where to start, we're not motivated or we're afraid we'll injure ourselves or we're afraid that exercise has to be vigorous for what our bodies can handle. The truth is, everything counts and the more you move, the healthier you'll be.

It's great if you can spend time exercising - Meaning you're sweating, working in your target heart rate zone and/or doing something to strengthen your body. But it doesn't always have to be that way. Moderate activities like chores, gardening and walking can make a difference.

Just adding a little movement to your life can:

So, even if you opt for small changes and a more modest weight loss, you can see the benefits are still pretty good. One study has found that just a 10% weight reduction helped obese patients reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and increase longevity. In fact, you don't even have to have a goal to lose weight, especially if you have trouble stick to a program. Why not focus on being healthy to start and worry about the weight loss once you've got some healthy habits under your belt?

Simple Ways to Move Your Body

You can start the process of being healthy and weight loss now by adding a little more activity to your life. If you're not ready for a structured program, start small. Every little bit counts and it all adds up to burning more calories.

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Simple Ways to Live a Healthy Lifestyle - About