In Japan in the monastery I used to go out into the kyudo area behind the Hondo on the free days before the 6pm mandatory dinner. I wanted to take some time to address what was happening inside of me in an unstructured way. Try to allow it to sort out if I gave it…
Tag: zen
Little Tidbits from Class: Non-Directed Explorations
Just now in class, at the end with the non-directed standing, I try to let go of my intentions. I try to let go of that “fix-it” head. I try to feel the actual present reality. What is happening?? And my head moves forward on my neck, bobbling over the edge. A little voice says,…
Internal Alchemy: When It is Too Much
A couple of people in my classes have asked what to do when, while doing the Qigong or Zhan Zhuang, the energetic internal process is too much? This is a really good question, and for some people it will make complete sense, while others will have no clue what we are talking about, as we…
Zen Embodiment Bare Bones Conversations: Episode 3 Mark Doyu Albin Part 1
In this episode, I am joined by my good friend Mark Doyu Albin (Yusan), who was my first head monk. An American now living in Germany, he discusses what brought him to Japan in the 80s and what life was like in the early days of Sogenji with Shodo Harada Roshi. He also describes the…
Zen Embodiment Bare Bones Conversations: Episode 2 Laura Cleveland
In this episode with Zen practitioner Laura Cleveland, we hear her story, what brought her to Zen, and about her time at Tassajara. In the second half we discuss topics such as: Why would a young person go to a monastery, feeling energy in zazen, accessing the tanden, as well as what drew her to…
Zen Embodiment Podcast Episode 1 Genryo Bradley Jones
I have begun doing these simple conversations with fascinating people about Movement, Meditation, and Internal Process. Here is the Zen Embodiment Podcast Episode 1 with my very good friend Genryo Bradley Jones. Genryo Bradley Jones went from a punk rock skateboarder to a Rinzai Zen Monk. Now he is a husband and a father. We…
Wuji: Beyond Good and Bad
This post is about something I was trying to talk about in class the other day. When we meet a realized teacher, we see that they are living beyond good and bad. We observe that part of their liberation from suffering is that they are not constantly a slave to the mind’s grasping after…
Internal Process Incomplete Recommended Reading List
I’ve been teaching these Internal Process classes for the last few months. I put together a very incomplete reading list for the people joining the class and in the group on Facebook. These books have been helpful to me in my internal process work. I’ll add to it over time. Please suggest books in the…
Deeper Dimensions of Non-Directed Body Movement
I have written about Non-Directed Body Movement before. As I have been teaching more classes lately online, and we’ve been doing it together, I’d like to give a bit more detail of how it helped me and still helps me to go deeper into my process. I hope it gives some of you permission…
Hopes for Zen in the West
When Teresa and I first went to Tahoma One Drop and experienced Zen we were so shocked by how good it felt there. And how unmistakably cool the head monk was. Teresa was coming directly from college and I was drifting around aimlessly. I guess I kind of expected the head monk to be…
