Category: Authentic Self of Tao
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Spontaneous Mind: The Paradox Of An Actively Passive Existence
Read time 4 minutes. Spontaneous Mind is a stand alone article in our series regarding paradox. Former pro quarterback Hugh Millen once told a story about John Elway, who gave him a deceptively simple piece of advice: “You don’t want to be thinking out there. You just want to be reacting.” At the highest level of the…
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Unconditional Trust: A Leaping Embrace Into Uncertainty
Read time 6 minutes. Unconditional Trust is a stand alone article in our series regarding paradox. Today we turn again to paradox. Specifically, the paradox of being and becoming, and how this dance reveals the deeper presence of trust. In doing so, we must also recall the earlier lesson of simplicity and complexity—because unconditional trust, like…
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Become a Verb: Practice of Self-inquiry in Review
Read time 5 minutes. Become a Verb is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. Our exploration into the practice of self-inquiry has stretched across ten lessons—sometimes direct, sometimes meandering, always circling back to the same essential question: Who am I? The aim has not been to collect more theories but to transform intellectual understanding…
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The Illusion of I and the Burden of Concepts and Ideas
Read time 5 minutes. The attached video opens with a quote from One Dharma by Joseph Goldstein: “Thoughts themselves are the thinker.” The Illusion of I is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. At first glance, this statement is almost disarming in its simplicity. But if we sit with it, the implications unravel the very core…
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Empty Awareness: Presence Dwarfs the Identity Center
Read time 6 minutes. Empty Awareness is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. Our last lesson on self-inquiry ended with a warning. The question Who am I? is powerful, but it is not meant to become a lifeless mantra, repeated without presence. Nor is it meant to be dissected endlessly until we obsess and overthink.…
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Ultimate Reality: Truth That Transcends Linguistic Expression
Read time 5 minutes. Ultimate Reality is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. At the heart of self-inquiry lies the question Who am I?—a question that immediately collides with the mother of all dualities: the false self of the ego and the true self of Tao. Yet here we run into a paradox. Our…
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Fearless Mind and the Advantage of Uncertainty
Read time 4 minutes. Fearless Mind is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. Early in his book China Root, David Hinton suggests that Zen, “…demands a wild and fearless mind.” Just hearing these words is enough to stir something within us—an invitation to step beyond control and embrace the unknown. Cultivating a wild and fearless mind…
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Self-Inquiry: The Direct Simplicity of “Who Am I?”
Read time 4 minutes. Self-Inquiry is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. In earlier lessons, I introduced the practice of self-inquiry and its central question: Who am I? Over the next few writings, we will explore the nuances of this approach, why it is so effective, and how it can be applied in practice.…
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Who Am I?: Making Sense of A Practice of Self-Inquiry
Read time 4 minutes. This is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. In our recent discussions, we’ve been unpacking the Zen ego in order to better recognize the false sense of self. Now, as we turn toward realizing our true nature, the question naturally arises: Who am I? Self-inquiry is often presented as one…