What is Meditation?
We all have different ideas about what meditation is, even if we've practiced for decades. How we relate to meditation reflects the many...
Two Levels of Consciousness
We seem to operate at 2 very different but complimentary levels of consciousness: 1) The common, default, symbolic egoic level...
"Don't Take it Personally - But ..."
As soon as we hear that, we know we're about to be hit with a real zinger. Even if the advice comes from a trusted friend, and even -...
Defensive Reactions to Healthy Evolution
Our fight-flight-freeze reaction pattern to stress also affects how we manage the evolution of our own consciousness ("spirituality" for...
The Middle Way
"In Zen, one of the definitions of enlightenment is the harmonization of body and mind. This also means the harmonization of spirit and...
Wisdom or Despair?
Many (most?) people come to mindfulness (MBSR) because they find life unpleasantly stressful and understandibly want to be more...
Essence of Practice
Zen stories always intrigued me - I started reading them when I was 18. Thirty years later, I finally started to practice meditation -...
Processing in Zen
“You deal with your shit in Zen by sitting with it. By breathing right into it. You don’t try to ignore it with pleasant thoughts or...
Zen & MBSR
Below is part of the introduction to an interesting book about one man's early experience in a Zen monastery. Mindfulness-based Stress...
