--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Although profoundly \"inconsequential,\"…" description: "\"Although profoundly \"inconsequential,\" the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable hum..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/alan-watts-587_activity_although-profoundly-inconsequential-the_43568.jpg" --- # Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience… ![“Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work.” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/alan-watts-587_activity_although-profoundly-inconsequential-the_43568.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/alan-watts-587_activity_although-profoundly-inconsequential-the_43568.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/alan-watts-587_activity_although-profoundly-inconsequential-the_43568.jpg) > “Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Zen mindset, though seemingly trivial, can be infused into any human endeavor, imparting a distinct character to the outcome. **In simple terms:** Zen adds a unique quality to any work. Key Takeaway Zen’s influence is universally applicable. Themes mindfulness universality quality application philosophy Mood contemplative inspired focused Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - creative projects - business strategy - personal development - teaching - meditation practice Key Concepts presence non-attachment intentionality Practical Applications - enhancing design thinking - improving leadership presence Questions to Reflect On - How does Zen alter the perception of routine tasks? - In what ways can Zen improve collaborative work? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequences/) [Human activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-activity/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [“I'm profoundly attracted to classical Zen literature, I have the gall to lecture on it and the literature of Mahayana Buddhism one night a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-m-profoundly-attracted-to-classical-zen-literature-i-have-the-gall/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“...my life itself couldn't very conceivably be less Zenful than it is, and what little I've been able to apprehend - I pick that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/my-life-itself-couldn-t-very-conceivably-be-less-zenful-than-it-is/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [Zen is not a morality. It never talks about right and wrong. It never talks about the saint and the sinner. It is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/zen-is-not-a-morality-it-never-talks-about-right-and-wrong-it-never/) [OSHO](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [Surfing soothes me, it's always been a kind of Zen experience for me. The ocean is so magnificent, peaceful, and awesome. The rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-walker/surfing-soothes-me-it-s-always-been-a-kind-of-zen-experience-for-me/) [Paul Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-walker/) > [“In order to live Zen, we must experience every moment fully while engaged in it. This concept seems so simple, yet it had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-tuhovsky/in-order-to-live-zen-we-must-experience-every-moment-fully-while/) [Ian Tuhovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-tuhovsky/) > [A long walk and grooming with a well-mannered dog is a Zen experience that leaves you refreshed and in a creative frame of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/a-long-walk-and-grooming-with-a-well-mannered-dog-is-a-zen-experience/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Everyone will experience the consequences of his own acts. If his act are right, he'll get good consequences; if they're not, he'll suffer for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-browne/everyone-will-experience-the-consequences-of-his-own-acts-if-his-act/) [Harry Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-browne/) > [Only by being permitted to experience the consequences of his actions will the child acquire a sense of responsibility; and within the limits marked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-lindner/only-by-being-permitted-to-experience-the-consequences-of-his-actions/) [Robert M. Lindner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-lindner/) > [Every choice that we makes creates consequences, consequences in the lives of others and we experience them in ourselves, those same consequences, every choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/every-choice-that-we-makes-creates-consequences-consequences-in-the/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [With each of the choices that we make, we create consequences and we ourselves experience those consequences. If you harm another soul. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/with-each-of-the-choices-that-we-make-we-create-consequences-and-we/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [ \[A\] private property regime makes people responsible for their own actions in the realm of material goods. Such a system therefore ensures that people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bethell/a-private-property-regime-makes-people-responsible-for-their-own/) [Tom Bethell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bethell/) > [“It’s a basic reality that if you don’t experience the consequences of your actions, you’ll take less ownership of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-dalio/it-s-a-basic-reality-that-if-you-don-t-experience-the-consequences-of/) [Ray Dalio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-dalio/) > [We are learning, day by day, about the gift of agency that allows us to experience the consequences, good and bad, of our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-hales/we-are-learning-day-by-day-about-the-gift-of-agency-that-allows-us-to/) [Robert D. Hales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-hales/) > [You can make any human activity into meditation simply by being completely with it and doing it just to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/you-can-make-any-human-activity-into-meditation-simply-by-being/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The greater part of human activity is designed to make permanent those experiences and joys which are only lovable because they are changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-greater-part-of-human-activity-is-designed-to-make-permanent/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More by Alan Watts > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-more-we-try-to-catch-hold-of-the-present-moment-the-more-elusive/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-universe-is-the-game-of-the-self-which-plays-hide-and-seek/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Don't hurry anything. Don't worry about the future. Don't worry about what progress you're making. Just be entirely content to be aware of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/don-t-hurry-anything-don-t-worry-about-the-future-don-t-worry-about/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) Gero Miesenbock > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Although profoundly \"inconsequential,\" the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Watts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Activity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/alan-watts-587_activity_although-profoundly-inconsequential-the_43568.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/alan-watts-587_activity_although-profoundly-inconsequential-the_43568.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/alan-watts-587_activity_although-profoundly-inconsequential-the_43568.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Although profoundly \"inconsequential,\" the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be…” — Alan Watts", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Watts", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Although profoundly \"inconsequential,\" the Zen experience...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```