Tag: allowing
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Fuhgeddaboudit: Zen Drop 20—The Undeniable Presence of No One in Particular
Read time 1 minute. When you let it go and fuhgeddaboudit, you embody the undeniable presence of no one in particular. I seem to have forgotten something.I have to remember. What did I come in here for?What was I about to say? It’s on the tip of my tongue. What is this nagging feeling?I just…
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Active Awareness: Interested In Everything
Read time 5 minutes. Zen in not disinterested. Disinterest numbs. Active Awareness sharpens. Last week, while looking at acceptance, we discovered how easy it is to slip into subtle bias. We may force a kind of enthusiasm that isn’t really there, and when we can’t maintain it, frustration follows. Neutrality offers relief—but if we swing…
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Acceptance As Awareness: Goldilocks Gets It Just Right
Read time 4 Minutes. Acceptance reframed as awareness. In the ongoing effort to simplify the teachings, acceptance seems—at first glance—like the simplest lesson of all. Familiar, gentle, obvious. Yet if taken too literally, acceptance can lead to confusion or frustration. I know it did for me in the early stages of practice. So let’s revisit…
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Mindful Listening: A Meditation Game
Read time 4 minutes. Mindful listening is a stand alone article in our Blocked Energy series. We’ve spoken often about the importance of accepting and allowing. Most of the time the focus has been on mental attitude—how we relate to thoughts, how we lean into letting go. Today, let’s turn the lens slightly and look at the…
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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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Perfect Composure: An All-embracing Remedy
Read time 3 minutes. See how presence and perfect composure dissolve ego’s clouds, offering both daily relief and lasting transformation Some of us arrive at practice with a burning hunger for enlightenment. Others simply want to find a way through the difficulties of the day. Both positions are valid. Both are human. From the stance…
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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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The Purpose-Driven Life of Zen: The Freedom of Allowing
Read time 3 minutes. Exploring the simplicity that accompanies the purpose-driven life. Arnold Schwarzenegger once described how his career began with a simple, uncompromising purpose: to win Mr. Universe, then build from there into celebrity. That clarity gave him parameters. He no longer had to question whether to get to the gym. He became, in…
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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,…