Category: advanced
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Unfiltered Vision: Perception Merges Back Into the Perceived
Slowly but surely, we have been pecking away at the nature and causes of awakening. Today we shall consider the concept of unfiltered vision. We should always remember that our inherent tendency to view the world through the lens of duality is the greatest culprit in preventing us from experiencing our already enlightened state. In high…
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Spontaneous Mind: The Paradox Of An Actively Passive Existence
I heard an interesting anecdote from former professional QB Hugh Millen. One day his teammate, hall of fame QB John Elway, gave him some simple but important advice, “You don’t want to be thinking out there. You just want to be reacting.” High level quarterbacking involves processing and acting. The margins of error are measured…
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Unknowing Into The Peace of No-mind: Who Knows?
We have been winding our way through a few of the seemingly endless dualities which arise with Zen thought and practice. Along the way we have seen that many of the concepts overlap each other. Such is the case with today’s topic of no-mind. I like to think of experiences of no-mind as little, momentary…
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Wu Wei: Self-reliance As Radical Liberation
Wu wei is a prevalent and important Taoist concept. Wu wei can be defined as non-action, effortless action, or action through inaction. It is possible that you have come across this concept before. So, with that in mind, let’s explore a bit of a different take on this idea and consider it within the context of…
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Unconditional Trust: A Leaping Embrace Into Uncertainty
Today we are going to explore the being/becoming paradox of the present moment more deeply. To do so, we will need to recall the lessons contained within the paradox of simplicity and complexity. The goal is clear. In learning to increasingly invite presence into our lives, we also invite an unconditional trust along with it.…
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Koan Practice: Self-discovery And The Virtue of The Unknown
We have been discussing the role that paradox plays in our journey toward obtaining a more permanent and complete Zen mindset. We dipped our toes in the water by exploring some of the various paradoxes that arise during practice. As such, let’s take a small step back, and reexamine the concept of paradox itself. For…
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Impermanence and the Paradox of Being/Becoming
Today we move our discussion regarding the nature and relevance of paradoxes one step forward. In our last lesson, we looked at the paradox of everything and nothing, or absence and presence. Now we are going to discuss presence, not in the context of the presence or absence of a thing or experience, but rather,…
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Everything and Nothing: The Paradox of Empty, Pure Potentiality
Over the course of the next few weeks we will be dissecting the concept of paradox by considering it in its many forms. Today we discuss the paradox of everything and nothing. Nothingness contains within it the potential for everything. Yet if we focus on this aspect of nothingness then we continue to be lost…
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Paradox: Embracing Simplicity To Make Room For Complexity
Looking back on the lessons shared so far, I am once again reminded of the power and effectiveness of simplicity. There is a complexity to the teachings that some find appealing. Yet others might find it all a bit time consuming and overwhelming. Luckily there is something inherent within simplicity that satisfies the needs of…
