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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…
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Launch Spiritual Awakening By Taking The Seat of The Witness
Read time 3 minutes. Launch Spiritual Awakening is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. A quick sidebar in our discussion of the ego. One of the core premises here is simple: self-inquiry can serve as a powerful launch point for spiritual awakening. Letting go of the ego—remembering who you are beneath it—eases mental…
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Zen Ego: Me Against The World
Read time 5 minutes. Zen Ego is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. As we touched on in the last lesson, the practice of self-inquiry begins not by asking who am I? but by clarifying who I am not. Any honest attempt will inevitably circle back to our old companion: the Zen ego. By this I mean…
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Discover Your True Self By Understanding Who You Are Not
Read time 3 minutes. Discover Your True Self is a stand alone article in our Who Am I series. In the next series of writings, we’ll step deeper into the distinction between the true self of Tao and the false self of ego. There are many approaches to truth, but one path stands out for its…
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Balance and Harmony: The Middle Way of Mindfulness
Read time 3 minutes. Balance and Harmony is a stand alone article in our Everyday Zen series. This practice of looking within, subtle and nuanced as it is, leads to balance and harmony. Over time, it deepens into a recognition of the balance and harmony already present all around us. But to realize transformation, one condition must…
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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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A Knowing Glance Within: I See You
Read time 4 minutes. A Knowing Glance Within is a stand alone article in our Everyday Zen series. Let’s pick up where we left off with Everyday Zen. Today I want to focus on the act of a knowing glance within—a glimpse of allowing. Why another lesson on this? Because if you’ve been following these practices, the…
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Practical Mindfulness and The Art of Experiential Knowing
Read time 4 minutes. Practical Mindfulness is a stand alone article in our Everyday Zen series. In the last lesson I borrowed Charlotte Joko Beck’s phrase everyday Zen. I described it as daily, practical mindfulness—practical meaning seasoned, trained, skilled. The more often we weave moments of awareness into ordinary life, the more real shift we begin to notice: in…
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Everyday Zen: 5 Tools Of Awareness Beyond Conditioning
Read time 7 minutes. Awareness Beyond Conditioning is a stand alone article in our Everyday Zen series. Today’s lesson is one we can get excited about. It’s where the knowledge we’ve been gathering begins to shift into practice—into something lived. Many of Charlotte Joko Beck’s teachings turn on Zazen, the seated meditation practice central to…