ZenLife Blog
Monk’s Reflection
I walk through the gate
wrought of iron and complication
Not a saint nearby to claim
my unformed simplicity.
Mindfulness: Mystery and Not Knowing
In Foundations of Mindfulness, Class 4: Living a Life of Openness, we speak about the first of the three tenets of a Zen Peacemaker: Not Knowing. What it is to not know something? In this culture of quick response time that technology demands, we react fast and faster.
Mindfulness Road Map
At the Zen Life and Meditation Center we speak of mindfulness meditation as intentional awareness that is embodied and non-judgmental.
Mindfulness: Clarity vs. Certainty
I told my friend that direct experience is what Living a Zen Inspired Life simply is. Embodied. Direct. On the ground. Domestic. He wanted an example of being Zen and I told him: wash a plate. Is it that simple? Yes.
Mindfulness and the Gap
Mindfulness, our practice of meditation, helps us learn to stop, pause, breathe, and pay attention. We learn to swim in the gap. Bask in it if we like palm trees and warm waters,
Mindfulness: Ephemeral Art
I place one flower in the center of the given space - yard, floor, table - and make concentric circles until I have used up my materials. Two feet to twelve feet in diameter for various kinds of celebrations and rites of passage: an eightieth birthday, a wedding, a passing, a remembrance. After I sit with the completed piece, I sweep up the component parts, put them in a woven bag, and release it all into a nearby river, ocean, lake or pond.
Mindfulness: Facing Fear
Some decisions are met with a turn-on-a-dime reflex - our brain stems takes care of that. Others require clear communication as well as thoughtful and skillful means to best sort through possible outcomes.