Category: Observing Thoughts and Emotions
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Unknowing Into The Peace of No-mind: Who Knows?
Read time 7 minutes. Unknowing is a stand alone article in our series regarding paradox. We have been winding our way through the endless dualities that rise up in Zen thought and practice. Each step reveals how overlapping, how intertwined, these ideas actually are. Such is the case with today’s topic: no-mind. I like to think of…
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Resonance With Life: Symmetry, Synchronicity And Flow
Read time 4 minutes. Resonance With Life is a stand alone article in our Blocked Energy series. We often construct walls inside ourselves that prevent the natural processing of experience. When we step into the seat of the neutral observer—when we stop resisting and start going with the flow—we begin to experience resonance with life. Recently, I…
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Abundance: Receiving Life In The Face of Unrestful Distress
Read time 5 minutes. Abundance is a stand alone article in our Blocked Energy series. Some weeks press harder than others. Noise in the world multiplies, and our minds run with it. Today let’s expand the meaning and definition of blocked energy. There is something we often overlook, though it never stops offering itself: abundance. Life, meaning,…
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Blocked Energy: The Birth of Unfinished Business
Read time 4 minutes. This is a stand alone article in our Blocked Energy series. The teachings speak often about the benefits of remaining open to whatever life throws our way. We hear it said: let go, don’t cling. But the deeper message is not to become some idealized open person. The invitation is to practice in…
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Easing Inner Turmoil: Ride The Wave
Read time 3 minutes. Easing Inner Turmoil is a stand alone article in our Everyday Zen series. A Zen practice is not about eliminating every thought or silencing every emotion. It is aimed—indirectly—at easing inner turmoil. Three quotes say it best: “The mind is a beautiful servant, but a dangerous master.” — Sadhguru “…there is no such thing…
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Nonacceptance: Acceptance’s Uneasy Bedfellow
Read time 4 minutes. Nonacceptance is a stand alone article in our series regarding Acceptance. Today we continue the discussion of radical acceptance, and what we find may be unsettling. Zen suggests that acceptance is the goal, but paradoxically, the entry point is nonacceptance. It is only by becoming intimate with our refusal to accept that…
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Radical Acceptance: Is It Just A Bit Too Radical For Me Right Now?
Read time 3 minutes. Radical Acceptance is a stand alone article in our series regarding Acceptance. When we talk about radical acceptance, it’s tempting to frame it as an all-or-nothing proposition. Zen teachings certainly suggest as much. Accept everything, without exception. But what if you’re not ready for that? What if the very idea feels…
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Neutral Observation Meditation in Review: Taking Back the Reins
Read time 3 minutes. Neutral Observation Meditation is a stand alone article in our series regarding mindfulness and meditation. In recent lessons we’ve explored what I’ve loosely called active meditations. One of the most accessible of these is neutral observation meditation—learning to step back and watch our thoughts and emotions even as we’re caught up in stories, games,…
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Active Meditation Practice: The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Read time 3 minutes. This active meditation practice is a stand alone article in our series regarding mindfulness and meditation. In earlier lessons I spoke at length about the practice of letting go. Today we merge that theme with our discussion of active meditation. The practice I’ll outline is simple: it can be done in leisure time,…