This talk is a commentary of the four practice principles developed by Charlotte Joko Beck and her students when she formed the Ordinary Mind Zen School. These were later revised by my teacher Barry Magid, who changed the second principle. The principles are a contemporary reworking of the four noble truths and capture the essence of Joko and Barry’s teaching in four lines. We chant the four principles at the end of a formal period of zen practice or at the end of the day when on retreat.