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 […]
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.”
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…
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.”
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
