Download or read book Hidden Zen written by Meido Moore and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover hidden practices, secretly transmitted in authentic Zen lineages, of using body, speech, and mind to remove obstructions to awakening. Though Zen is best known for the practices of koan introspection and "just sitting" or shikantaza, there are in fact many other practices transmitted in Zen lineages. In modern practice settings, students will find that Bodhidharma's words "direct pointing at the human mind" are little mentioned, or else taken to be simply a general descriptor of Zen rather than a crucial activity within Zen practice. Reversing this trend toward homogeneous and superficial understandings of Zen technique, Hidden Zen presents a diverse collection of practice instructions that are transmitted orally from teacher to student, unlocking a comprehensive path of awakening. This book reveals and details, for the first time, a treasury of "direct pointing" and internal energy cultivation practices preserved in the Rinzai Zen tradition. The twenty-eight practices of direct pointing offered here illuminate one's innate clarity and, ultimately, the nature of mind itself. Over a dozen practices of internal energetic cultivation galvanize dramatic effects on the depth of one's meditative attainment. Hidden Zen affords a small taste of the richness of authentic Zen, helping readers grow beyond the bounds of introspection and sitting to find awakening itself.
Download or read book Nothing Is Hidden written by Barry Magid and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-09-16 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this inspiring and incisive offering, Barry Magid uses the language of modern psychology and psychotherapy to illuminate one of Buddhism's most powerful and often mysterious technologies: the Zen koan. What's more, Magid also uses the koans to expand upon the insights of psychology (especially self psychology and relational psychotherapy) and open for the reader new perspectives on the functioning of the human mind and heart. Nothing Is Hidden explores many rich themes, including facing impermanence and the inevitability of change, working skillfully with desire and attachment, and discovering when "surrender and submission" can be liberating and when they shade into emotional bypassing. With a sophisticated view of the rituals and teachings of traditional Buddhism, Magid helps us see how we sometimes subvert meditation into just another "curative fantasy" or make compassion into a form of masochism.
Download or read book The Zen of Therapy written by Mark Epstein, M.D. and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A warm, profound and cleareyed memoir. . . this wise and sympathetic book’s lingering effect is as a reminder that a deeper and more companionable way of life lurks behind our self-serious stories."—Oliver Burkeman, New York Times Book Review A remarkable exploration of the therapeutic relationship, Dr. Mark Epstein reflects on one year’s worth of therapy sessions with his patients to observe how his training in Western psychotherapy and his equally long investigation into Buddhism, in tandem, led to greater awareness—for his patients, and for himself For years, Dr. Mark Epstein kept his beliefs as a Buddhist separate from his work as a psychiatrist. Content to use his training in mindfulness as a private resource, he trusted that the Buddhist influence could, and should, remain invisible. But as he became more forthcoming with his patients about his personal spiritual leanings, he was surprised to learn how many were eager to learn more. The divisions between the psychological, emotional, and the spiritual, he soon realized, were not as distinct as one might think. In The Zen of Therapy, Dr. Epstein reflects on a year’s worth of selected sessions with his patients and observes how, in the incidental details of a given hour, his Buddhist background influences the way he works. Meditation and psychotherapy each encourage a willingness to face life's difficulties with courage that can be hard to otherwise muster, and in this cross-section of life in his office, he emphasizes how therapy, an element of Western medicine, can in fact be considered a two-person meditation. Mindfulness, too, much like a good therapist, can “hold” our awareness for us—and allow us to come to our senses and find inner peace. Throughout this deeply personal inquiry, one which weaves together the wisdom of two worlds, Dr. Epstein illuminates the therapy relationship as spiritual friendship, and reveals how a therapist can help patients cultivate the sense that there is something magical, something wonderful, and something to trust running through our lives, no matter how fraught they have been or might become. For when we realize how readily we have misinterpreted our selves, when we stop clinging to our falsely conceived constructs, when we touch the ground of being, we come home.
Download or read book The Hidden Lamp written by Zenshin Florence Caplow and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-10-21 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hidden Lamp is a collection of one hundred koans and stories of Buddhist women from the time of the Buddha to the present day. This revolutionary book brings together many teaching stories that were hidden for centuries, unknown until this volume. These stories are extraordinary expressions of freedom and fearlessness, relevant for men and women of any time or place. In these pages we meet nuns, laywomen practicing with their families, famous teachers honored by emperors, and old women selling tea on the side of the road. Each story is accompanied by a reflection by a contemporary woman teacher--personal responses that help bring the old stories alive for readers today--and concluded by a final meditation for the reader, a question from the editors meant to spark further rumination and inquiry. These are the voices of the women ancestors of every contemporary Buddhist.
Download or read book The Rinzai Zen Way written by Meido Moore and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first accessible beginner's guide to Rinzai Zen practice. The recognition of the true nature of oneself and the universe is the aim of Rinzai Zen—but that experience, known as kensho, is really just the beginning of a life of refining that discovery and putting it into practice in the world. Rinzai, with its famed discipline and its emphasis on koan practice, is one of two main forms of Zen practiced in the West, but it is less familiar than the more prominent Soto school. Meido Moore here remedies that situation by providing this compact and complete introduction to Zen philosophy and practice from the Rinzai perspective. It’s an excellent entrée to a venerable tradition that goes back through the renowned Hakuin Ekaku in eighteenth-century Japan to its origins in Tang dynasty China—and that offers a path to living with insight and compassion for people today.
Download or read book Ending the Pursuit of Happiness written by Barry Magid and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-10-08 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspires us - in wryly gentle prose - to outgrow the impossible pursuit of happiness, and instead make peace with the perfection of the way things are. Including ourselves! Magid invites readers to consider the notion that our certainty that we are broken may be turning our (3z(Bpursuit of happiness(S3(B into a source of yet more suffering. He takes an unusual look at our (S2(Bsecret practices(S3(B (what we?re REALLY doing, when we say (S2(Bpracticing(S3(B) and (S2(Bcurative fantasies,(S3(B wherein we have ideals of what spiritual practices will "do" for us, "cure" us. In doing so, he helps us look squarely at such pitfalls of spiritual practice so that we can avoid them. Along the way, Magid lays out a rich roadmap of a new "psychological-minded Zen," which may be among the most important spiritual developments of the present day.
Download or read book The Secret Power Within written by Chuck Norris and published by Harmony. This book was released on 1997-01-06 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chuck Norris has spent a lifetime studying the martial arts, earning several black belts and world championships. Now, through anecdotes about his own personal struggles and triumphs, Norris explains how the ancient system of Zen--the core philosophy behind the martial arts--can help each of us achieve spiritual tranquillity and self-confidence. The Secret Power Within is both a highly accessible lesson in Zen philosophy as well as the compelling story of Chuck Norris's own remarkable success. In this highly entertaining and inspiring account, Norris shows how Zen can be applicable to everyday situations, from the conference room to the living room. Chapters include: * Winning by Losing: If you have nothing to prove, you have no need to fight. * Complete the Wheel: How to balance your life to achieve success. * Your Master, Your Art: To maintain self-respect you must respect the work you do, and do it as well as possible. * My Way of Meditating: Norris's personal technique for achieving tranquillity under pressure. The message is simple: There are no limits for the person who refuses to accept them.
Download or read book Zen and the Brain written by James H. Austin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1999-06-04 with total page 876 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A neuroscientist and Zen practitioner interweaves the latest research on the brain with his personal narrative of Zen. Aldous Huxley called humankind's basic trend toward spiritual growth the "perennial philosophy." In the view of James Austin, the trend implies a "perennial psychophysiology"—because awakening, or enlightenment, occurs only when the human brain undergoes substantial changes. What are the peak experiences of enlightenment? How could these states profoundly enhance, and yet simplify, the workings of the brain? Zen and the Brain presents the latest evidence. In this book Zen Buddhism becomes the opening wedge for an extraordinarily wide-ranging exploration of consciousness. In order to understand which brain mechanisms produce Zen states, one needs some understanding of the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain. Austin, both a neurologist and a Zen practitioner, interweaves the most recent brain research with the personal narrative of his Zen experiences. The science is both inclusive and rigorous; the Zen sections are clear and evocative. Along the way, Austin examines such topics as similar states in other disciplines and religions, sleep and dreams, mental illness, consciousness-altering drugs, and the social consequences of the advanced stage of ongoing enlightenment.
Download or read book Hidden Zen written by Meido Moore and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover hidden practices, secretly transmitted in authentic Zen lineages, of using body, speech, and mind to remove obstructions to awakening. Though Zen is best known for the practices of koan introspection and "just sitting" or shikantaza, there are in fact many other practices transmitted in Zen lineages. In modern practice settings, students will find that Bodhidharma's words "direct pointing at the human mind" are little mentioned, or else taken to be simply a general descriptor of Zen rather than a crucial activity within Zen practice. Reversing this trend toward homogeneous and superficial understandings of Zen technique, Hidden Zen presents a diverse collection of practice instructions that are transmitted orally from teacher to student, unlocking a comprehensive path of awakening. This book reveals and details, for the first time, a treasury of "direct pointing" and internal energy cultivation practices preserved in the Rinzai Zen tradition. The twenty-eight practices of direct pointing offered here illuminate one's innate clarity and, ultimately, the nature of mind itself. Over a dozen practices of internal energetic cultivation galvanize dramatic effects on the depth of one's meditative attainment. Hidden Zen affords a small taste of the richness of authentic Zen, helping readers grow beyond the bounds of introspection and sitting to find awakening itself.
Download or read book Ordinary Mind written by Barry Magid and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-08-20 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is meditation an escape from--or a solution to--our psychological problems? Is the use of antidepressants counter to spiritual practice? Does a psychological approach to meditation reduce spirituality to "self-help"? What can Zen and psychoanalysis teach us about the problems of the mind and suffering? Psychiatrist and Zen teacher Barry Magid is uniquely qualified to answer questions like these. Written in an engaging and witty style, Ordinary Mind helps us understand challenging ideas--like Zen Buddhism's concepts of oneness, emptiness, and enlightenment--and how they make sense, not only within psychoanalytic conceptions of mind, but in the realities of our lives and relationships. This new paper edition of Magid's much-praised book contains additional case study vignettes.
Download or read book Omori Sogen written by Dogen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Download or read book One God Clapping written by Alan Lew and published by Jewish Lights Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Zen Buddhist practitioner to rabbi, East meets West in this firsthand account of a spiritual journey. Rabbi Alan Lew is known as the Zen Rabbi, a leader in the Jewish meditation movement who works to bring two ancient religious traditions into our everyday lives. One God Clapping is the story of his roundabout yet continuously provoking spiritual odyssey. It is also the story of the meeting between East and West in America, and the ways in which the encounter has transformed how all of us understand God and ourselves. Winner of the PEN / Joseph E. Miles Award Like a Zen parable or a Jewish folk tale, One God Clapping unfolds as a series of stories, each containing a moment of revelation or instruction that, while often unexpected, is never simple or contrived. One God Clapping, like the life of the remarkable Alan Lew himself, is a bold experiment in the integration of Eastern and Western ways of looking at and living in the world.
Download or read book Silent Illumination written by Guo Gu and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2021-03-09 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our natural awakening—or buddha-nature—is inherent within all of us and waiting to be realized. Buddha-nature has the qualities of both silence and illumination, and by working with silent illumination meditation you can find your own awakening. Distinguished Chan Buddhist teacher Guo Gu introduces you to the significance and methods of this practice through in-depth explanations and guided instructions. To help establish a foundation for realizing silent illumination, he has translated twenty-five teachings from the influential master Hongzhi Zhengjue into English, accompanied by his personal commentary. This book will be an indispensable resource for meditators interested in beginning or deepening their silent illumination practice.
Download or read book Practical Zen written by Julian Daizan Skinner and published by Singing Dragon. This book was released on 2017-06-21 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zen master Julian Daizan Skinner guides the reader through a sequence of meditation techniques that can safely lead even a complete novice through to advanced levels. Based on his own long experience of the Rinzai Zen tradition, as taught by the great seventeenth-century masters, Hakuin and Bankei, Daizan highlights the key points for success and addresses the pitfalls. Structured around a traditional teaching framework called "The two wings of a bird," Daizan clearly lays-out how these methods build and combine to create a transformative and sustaining practice. The book contains an extremely useful section describing the experiences of western practitioners who have successfully applied this framework within the pressures of modern life. The final section features key source texts in translation, making the book a complete introduction and guide to Zen meditation. The work of a master, the book speaks at a deep level, with utmost simplicity.
Download or read book The Undying Lamp of Zen written by Zen Master Torei Enji and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2010-10-26 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Undying Lamp of Zen is a pure and powerful distillation of Zen doctrine and practice written by Torei Enji (1721–1792), a Zen master and artist. Torei was best known as one of two "genius assistants" to Hakuin Ekaku, a towering figure in Zen Buddhism who revitalized the Rinzai school, which focuses on koan practice. Torei was responsible for much of the advanced work of Hakuin’s later disciples and also helped systemize Hakuin’s Zen teachings. The Undying Lamp of Zen includes a range of principles and practices, from the most elementary to the most advanced. It is an indispensable aid to the practice of Rinzai Zen, while also providing tested traditional techniques for public access to Zen experience. Premier translator Thomas Cleary provides a thorough introduction and illuminating footnotes throughout, and his masterful translation lets Torei’s distinctive voice shine through; Torei is energetic, no-nonsense, and full of personality. No other English translations of this classic are available and Zen aficionados will want to add this to their collection.
Download or read book Zig Zag Zen written by Allan Hunt Badiner and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2002-04 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buddhism and psychedelic experimentation share a common concern: the liberation of the mind. Zig Zag Zen launches the first serious inquiry into the moral, ethical, doctrinal, and transcendental considerations created by the intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics. With a foreword by renowned Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor and a preface by historian of religion Huston Smith, along with numerous essays and interviews, Zig Zag Zen is a provocative and thoughtful exploration of altered states of consciousness and the potential for transformation. Accompanying each essay is a work of visionary art selected by artist Alex Grey, such as a vividly graphic work by Robert Venosa, a contemporary thangka painting by Robert Beer, and an exercise in emptiness in the form of an enso by a 17th-century Zen abbot. Packed with enlightening entries and art that lie outside the scope of mainstream anthologies, Zig Zag Zen offers eye-opening insights into alternate methods of inner exploration.
Download or read book Hidden in Plain Sight written by Ellis Amdur and published by Freelance Academy Press. This book was released on 2018-04-27 with total page 495 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ellis Amdur's writing on martial arts has been groundbreaking. In Dueling with O-sensei, he challenged practitioners that the moral dimension of martial arts is expressed in acts of integrity, not spiritual platitudes and the deification of fantasized warrior-sages. In Old School, he applied both academic rigor and keen observation towards some of the classical martial arts of Japan, leavening his writing with vivid descriptions of many of the actual practitioners of these wonderful traditions. His first edition of Hidden in Plain Sight was a discussion of esoteric training methods once common, but now all but lost within Japanese martial arts. These methodologies encompassed mental imagery, breath-work, and a variety of physical techniques, offering the potential to develop skills and power sometimes viewed as nearly superhuman. Usually believed to be the provenance of Chinese martial arts, Amdur asserted that elements of such training still remain within a few martial traditions: literally, 'hidden in plain sight.' Two-thirds larger, this second edition is so much more. Amdur digs deep into the past, showing the complexity of human strength, its adaptation to varying lifestyles, and the nature of physical culture pursued for martial ends. Amdur goes into detail concerning varieties of esoteric power training within martial arts, culminating in a specific methodology known as 'six connections' or 'internal strength.' With this discussion as a baseline, he then discusses the transfer of esoteric power training from China to various Japanese jujutsu systems as well as Japanese swordsman-ship emanating from the Kurama traditions. Finally, he delves into the innovative martial tradition of Daito-ryu and its most important offshoot, aikido, showing how the mercurial, complicated figures of Takeda Sokaku and Morihei Ueshiba were less the embodiment of something new, than a re-imagining of their past.
