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"As a young, dissolute man, Ray Brooks set off from his native England and embarked on a path of self discovery. Through a series of serendipitous and often humorous events while living in Tokyo, Ray stumbled upon and began to study the ancient art of shakuhachi, and extremely difficult Japanese bamboo flute. With intuition as his guide, he found the heart of Zen through focused shakuhachi practice."--P. [4] of cover.
Note: The Blowing Zen Companion CD is available through Kunaki and Amazon http://bit.ly/abbottkunaki http://www.amazon.com/Blowing-Zen-Companion-Carl-Abbott/dp/B00BW6S9N6 The Shakuhachi is an ancient flute that captivates many who cross its path. Hidden in its simplicity is profound possibility. The windy, resonant sound of the Shakuhachi brings deep serenity to sympathetic ears. For the devoted player, it is also a spiritual tool for training the mind and breath. Most notably, Zen monks have using the Shakuhachi for centuries to train mind and breath through the practice of Sui Zen (blowing Zen) using Buddhist music composed specifically for the Shakuhachi. "Blowing Zen" guides you step-by-step from producing sound to playing Buddhist Meditation music. Also included are detailed build-your-own shakuhachi instructions. The Blowing Zen Companion CD (sold separately) contains the Japanese folk tunes, chamber music and Buddhist composition "Hi Fu Mi" taught in the book. It also includes examples of timing and standard Buddhist music phrases.
Discover how mindfulness can help you resolve the inevitable problems that arise in your personal and professional relationships in this “groundbreaking, creative” guide to Zen-based conflict resolution (Jan Chozen Bays) Conflict is going to be part of your life—as long as you have relationships, hold down a job, or have dry cleaning to be picked up. Bracing yourself against it won’t make it go away, but if you approach it consciously, you can navigate it in a way that not only honors everyone involved but makes it a source of deep insight as well. Seasoned mediator Diane Hamilton provides the skill set you need to engage conflict with wisdom and compassion, and even—sometimes—to be grateful for it. She teaches how to: • Cultivate the mirror-like quality of attention as your base • Identify the three personal conflict styles and determine which one you fall into • Recognize the three fundamental perspectives in any conflict situation and learn to inhabit each of them • Turn conflicts in families, at work, and in every kind of interpersonal relationship into win-win situations Full of practical exercises that can be applied to any kind of relationship, Everything Is Workable gives readers the tools they need to cultivate dynamic, vital, and effective relationships in their personal lives and at work.
A Heart Blown Open chronicles the extraordinary journey of Zen master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi, whose life landed him in prison long before he landed in a monastery. Experience the successes and failures that led him to found an entirely new form of Buddhism called Mondo Zen. Starting from an abusive and alcoholic home in Wisconsin, Kelly becomes a major force in the counterculture of the 1960s and one of its biggest manufacturers of LSD. He ends up on the run for five years before serving time in a federal prison, and then goes on to spend six years in a Zen monastery. In his fiftieth year, he becomes a recognized Zen master in his own right, but the real journey is just about to begin. Extraordinary in their playfulness, depravity, and liberating insight, Jun Po's life events swirl together to underscore and illuminate the environment from which one of the most controversial masters of the American Zen scene has emerged. A Heart Blown Open constitutes a powerful synthesis of Eastern contemplative wisdom and Western psychological insight and is as entertaining as it is inspirational.
A compelling history of the contradictory, often militaristic, role of Zen Buddhism, this book meticulously documents the close and previously unknown support of a supposedly peaceful religion for Japanese militarism throughout World War II. Drawing on the writings and speeches of leading Zen masters and scholars, Brian Victoria shows that Zen served as a powerful foundation for the fanatical and suicidal spirit displayed by the imperial Japanese military. At the same time, the author recounts the dramatic and tragic stories of the handful of Buddhist organizations and individuals that dared to oppose Japan's march to war. He follows this history up through recent apologies by several Zen sects for their support of the war and the way support for militarism was transformed into 'corporate Zen' in postwar Japan. The second edition includes a substantive new chapter on the roots of Zen militarism and an epilogue that explores the potentially volatile mix of religion and war. With the increasing interest in Buddhism in the West, this book is as timely as it is certain to be controversial.
The perfect gift for fans of The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges's "The Dude", and anyone who could use more Zen in their lives. Zen Master Bernie Glassman compares Jeff Bridges’s iconic role in The Big Lebowski to a Lamed-Vavnik: one of the men in Jewish mysticism who are “simple and unassuming,” and “so good that on account of them God lets the world go on.” Jeff puts it another way. “The wonderful thing about the Dude is that he’d always rather hug it out than slug it out.” For more than a decade, Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges and his Buddhist teacher, renowned Roshi Bernie Glassman, have been close friends. Inspiring and often hilarious, The Dude and the Zen Master captures their freewheeling dialogue and remarkable humanism in a book that reminds us of the importance of doing good in a difficult world.
“In this, his final work, American senior Zen Roshi Robert Aitken lovingly ties together two threads, Zen practice and haiku.” —Spirituality & Health Known to many as the study of quiet stillness and introspection, Zen Buddhism distinguishes itself through brilliant flashes of insight and its terseness of expression. In River of Heaven these concepts and pillars lend themselves to an exploration of Haiku, one of the most delicate and interpretive poetic forms in the world. The haiku verse form, with its rigid structure and organic description is a superb means of studying Zen modes of thought because its seventeen syllables impose a limitation that confines the poet to vital experience. In Haiku as in Buddhism, the silences are as expressive as the words. In this volume, American Senior Zen Roshi Robert Aitken gives new insight into Haiku by poetic masters Basho, Issa, Buson, and Shiki. In presenting themes from Haiku and from Zen literature, Aitken illuminates the relationship between the two. Readers are certain to find this an invaluable and enjoyable experience for the remarkable revelation it offers. “I am grateful for Robert Aitken’s enthusiastic sharing of poems in The River of Heaven, together with his rich personal and cultural perspectives. It is a book where the author joyfully calls each of us as readers to share in the transcendent joys of haiku.” —Juxtapositions “Aitken mines the meanings in these brief gems about nature, impermanence, travel, awareness, silence, beauty, being present, the turn of the seasons, and much more.” —Spirituality & Practice
A classic story of one man's confrontation with the self through Karate. In 1962 at age twenty-two, C. W. Nicol left Wales to study Karate in Japan. He quickly found that the study of the martial art engaged his whole being and transformed his outlook on life. Moving Zen is the multifaceted story of a young man who arrived in Japan to study the technique of, and spirit behind, Karate. Joining the Japan Karate Association, or Shotokan, Nicol discovered that Karate, while extremely violent, also called for politeness and a sense of mutual trust and responsibility. He learned that the stronger the Karateka, the more inclined he was to be gentle with others. Those who have gained a measure of skill but have not yet achieved spiritual maturity are the dangerous practitioners. Studying kata, Nicol came to realize that these forms are, in essence, moving Zen and that the ultimate goal of all the martial arts is tranquility. Through the help of many gifted teachers, C. W. Nicol gained his black belt, and moved progressively closer to his goal of tranquility. His story, Moving Zen, was first published in 1975 and has achieved the status of a modern classic.
Zen Driving can make each driving experience enjoyable, whether it’s a daily hour-long drive to work, or a ten-minute run to the local Safeway. You may well ask, what is Zen driving? The Japanese word zen literally means meditation, and meditation means being fully aware, fully in touch with your surroundings. When you are in a meditative state, you are in your natural self, your Buddha self—and you can do it while driving. But why Zen driving? The purpose of Zen Driving, the book, is to introduce you to your natural self, which is what remains when you still your mind and ignore your chattering ego. When you do this, you gain confidence in your ability, and finally you are that ability. The frustrations of other drivers cutting you off or causing you to sit through two red lights because they’re too timid to make a left turn on yellow will no longer make your blood pressure explode. Zen Driving will teach you to look, simply observe without qualification, and then make your move. Zen driving is effortless, spontaneous, nondeliberate. It is being one with the road. And in turn, driving becomes a pathway to consciousness, an activity that clears the mind and soothes the soul, something to take with you all those other times when you’re not behind the wheel.
An uplifting story of enlightenment that reveals simple yet profound truths about our true nature, set amidst the atmospheric banks of the River Ganges that will appeal to both the self-help, non-duality, and "Eat, Pray, Love" travel markets. "No effort is necessary, Ray, no new knowledge required or acquired. No transcendental experience or higher consciousness needs to be achieved. When the recognition of what you are is seen - nothing at all happens. Why would it? You simply find yourself as you already are." It is widely thought that finding peace, happiness and freedom requires tremendous effort - that in order to achieve a state of contentment and harmony in life, a journey must be taken, or someone or something must be awakened or overcome. After a chance encounter with an Anglo-Indian holy man on the ghats of the sacred River Ganges, Ray Brooks discovers through the course of nine conversations that his quest for wholeness has been futile: no such journey was necessary, and, just like a shadow that seeks the sun, he had been searching for a self that had never been lost in the first place. After acknowledging that simple yet profound truth - that the seeker and that which is sought are one in the same - the search for "oneness" is complete. This book offers no systems of belief or promises. Instead, it clearly points to that which is ever-present yet completely overlooked: the ordinariness and beauty of our true nature.