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Zen
Woof woof, bark bark
Had a really good meditation today, but it’s oh so hard to just let go.
The mind plays the trick of noticing that you are just sitting and there you go:
“Am I just sitting now?’”
“Yes, I am”
“Are you sure?”
And poof, you’re back to struggling.
I tend to just take it in my stride and it goes away,… »
Misconceptions about Meditation
There are still a lot of misconceptions about Buddhism and meditation.
Most people who hear that I meditate on a regular basis react by going into a closed eyed, hands open on knees stance and humming “OMMMMM” and then winking.
They are frequently under the impression that meditation is something you do on the side, probably to… »
Pictures of the Ox
Today, the pictures of the Ox, explained by a meditation teacher I just discovered and found much to my liking.
Shinzen Young is a Buddhist monk and a self confessed skeptic. As you can see from the RSS feeds I have to the left of this post, I have both a Buddhist as a skeptic feed…. »
Great Expectations
Patience is difficult for me, although I rarely get what I am supposed to be wanting.
In the clinic, all I wanted was to be normal again, and get on with my life.
I used to become terribly frustrated when a session didn’t produce something that I regarded as progress, and I would consider a day worthless… »
Just a Quote Today
ZEN AND E X C I T E M E N T
“Zen is not something to get excited about. Some people
start to practice Zen just out of curiosity, and they only
make themselves busier. If your practice makes you worse,
it is ridiculous. I think that if you try to do zazen once a
week, that will make… »
Arbitrary World
I have a little challenge for you.
Go out, find a tree or bush and observe it for one minute. Count the different lifeforms you see. Plants, animals, fungi, everything.
If your count was below twenty either the bush was sprayed with insecticide or you didn’t observe closely enough.
We are surrounded by life and yet, we don’t… »
Be obvious!
As a teacher and director I used to impress on my students that trying to be “original” is one of the biggest killers of creative energy and they should instead of trying to be “original” try to be obvious and authentic.
I have learned this in my work on improvisation theatre, which is mainly based in… »
Unlearning
“The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue.” – Antisthenes
I don’t like to make sweeping generalising statements, but I think one of the things everyone of us would like is to sometimes get rid of superfluous junk in their brains and start over freshly. Just chuck… »
Zen and Art
Today, I am going to do a relatively easy update, at least for me, as I am very tired. I’ve been working all day making meditation cushions at Lotus Design, and we had a lot of orders to fill. On the plus side I have learned to work a sewing machine, though! I have always… »
Beginner’s Mind
I thought it would be informative for my non-Zen readers to start writing some articles about what this Zen malarky is about and why I find it so rewarding, when it is only sitting on a cushion for a set period of time.
Please bear in mind when reading these articles that I while I practice… »
Listed on
