• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to footer

Hazy Moon Zen Center

Koun-Ji Temple Los Angeles

  • About
    • History
    • Teachers
    • Affiliates
    • Contact
  • Schedule
    • Calendar
    • Classes
    • Retreats
  • Teachings
    • Dharma Talks
    • Practice & Traditions
  • Sangha
    • News
    • Student Talks & Essays
    • Meet Us
    • Membership
  • Support
  • Search

Michael Isshin Spiller

FeatureThe Top 10 Reasons I Appreciate the Zen Buddhist Training Program

The Top 10 Reasons I Appreciate the Zen Buddhist Training Program

by Michael Isshin Spiller

The Top 10 Reasons I Appreciate the Zen Buddhist Training Program

NUMBER 10: It’s so time-consuming. For a lot of people this is an obstacle to establishing a practice. We have so many conflicting commitments: partner, family, career, interests. I too used to have lots of people and ideas and projects competing for my attention – I was quite frenetic and scattered. But one day a big […]

Book ReviewHappy Brain

Happy Brain

by Michael Isshin Spiller

Happy Brain

A Review of Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body by Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson.

If you are a practitioner of Buddha Dharma for whom the pillar of great faith is unshakeable, I predict you will have no interest in this book. It is not really a book about the Way, as Zen refers to itself. An alternate title might be “This Is Your Brain On Meditation.”

Book ReviewA Physicist Encounters Naked Awareness

A Physicist Encounters Naked Awareness

by Michael Isshin Spiller

A Physicist Encounters Naked Awareness

A review of The End of Suffering: Fearless Living in Troubled Times by Russell Targ

For a number of years at the Hazy Moon, Nyogen Roshi has been talking about science. Specifically how a number of scientists from different disciplines increasingly are hitting upon a track that parallels the insights of classical meditative or spiritual practices…

Voices of ZenAffirmations Work

Affirmations Work

by Michael Isshin Spiller

Affirmations Work

“When he began talking about affirmation practice, I told Nyogen, this is so long overdue for me personally. This habit of negative thinking of mine is poison, and I have been poisoning myself with it for years.”

Voices of ZenAffinity

Affinity

by Michael Isshin Spiller

Affinity

In a recent talk about his affinities with Zen practice, Michael Isshin Spiller’s inventory began with a pair of items that will be familiar to any regular student at the Hazy Moon. “The first thing that occurred to me,” Isshin said, “was that I have an affinity with sitting. If you don’t cultivate some sort […]

Book ReviewBeliefs and Brains

Beliefs and Brains

by Michael Isshin Spiller

Beliefs and Brains

A review of My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D. and Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander, M.D. Those of us who spend a lot of time at the Hazy Moon regularly hear Nyogen Roshi ask “Do you really believe …?” followed […]

Book ReviewWhere Am I? What Time Is It?

Where Am I? What Time Is It?

by Michael Isshin Spiller

Where Am I? What Time Is It?

A review of Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe, by Robert Lanza, MD, with Bob Berman There are periods when I read from this book every morning, in the same way that I read Song dynasty Ch’an masters like Ta-Hui or Yuan-wu. I read for […]

Footer

Hazy Moon Zen Center • Koun-Ji Temple

1651 S. Gramercy Place, Los Angeles, CA 90019
323-735-7564
  • EMAIL US
  • NEWSLETTER SIGNUP
  • SUPPORT HAZY MOON
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2017 - 2020 Hazy Moon Zen Center. Designed by Beneluxe.