Of “Zombies & Zen”

• Of “Zombies & Zen”
• Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche on “The Dangers of Tantra”
• Allen Ginsberg’s birthday: even China is celebrating!
• Compassion Meditation Month: August 2013
• The Dharma of Difference: Awakening in Diverse Community
• Wednesday Nights: Grace Within Groundlessness Living with Security in an Insecure World
• Back To Basics: The Eightfold path of Awakening
• Beginners Mind: Weekly Intro to Meditation classes

Of “Zombies & Zen” Posted: 04 Jun 2013 08:00 AM PDT A guest post by Konchog Norbu Periodically—blame it on the fevers of spring, perhaps—academics seized with whimsy loosen their collar buttons and scamper off into the wildflower meadows of popular culture. Such appears to be the case in the May/June issue of Philosophy Now magazine, in which various deep thinkers plumb the urgent matter of zombies and zombification. Hey, we all gotta get our ya-ya's out somehow, but what cocked this reader's brow was the header "Zombies and Zen," in Prof. Dien Ho's essay, "What's So Bad About Being a Zombie?" After cataloguing the crummier aspects of zombification, Prof. Ho continues thus: "But in other respects, the life of a zombie has characteristics many of us strive mightily to achieve. Their lives are highly centralized and simplified, since their needs and wants often revolve around just a few things, like brains or human flesh. They are largely indifferent to pain and suffering. Short of severe head injuries, zombies enjoy a type of immortality. Zombies do not care about most of the pesky concerns that fill our daily lives: they do not care about the weather, their appearance, their social status, their retirement plan, their morning commute, and petty office politics. They are not concerned about the threat of terrorism, floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes. And they certainly do not become jealous, depressed, worrisome, or suffer the other anxieties that regularly plague our waking moments. Indeed, if we focus on just these qualities, the life of a zombie resembles the ideal state of a disciplined Zen Buddhist monk who has managed to let go of his earthly concerns." Prof. Ho appears sympathetic here, so let's just hope it's unwittingly that he perpetuates one of the more persistent and misleading clichés about Buddhist monastic life in general, and Zen discipline in particular: that the strived-for result is the snuffing out of all human feeling, leaving one in a state that must be, well, zombie-like. This is common, because even among philosophers, there are few who can imagine pure awareness liberated from our conditioned states of mind, who can separate wisdom from indifference. Let's let Dogen take it from here: "The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the Dharma gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality. Traps and snares can never reach it. Once its heart is grasped, you are like the dragon when he gains the water, like the tiger when she enters the mountain. For you must know that just there (in zazen) the right Dharma is manifesting itself and that, from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside." Does that sound zombified to you? Tibetan Buddhist monk Konchog Norbu says that while his mental state frequently could be said to resemble the undead, his actual experience with zombies if limited to a lifelong obsession with the band Chrome, and attending the original theatrical release of The Evil Dead. Read More @ Source

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche on “The Dangers of Tantra” Posted: 04 Jun 2013 07:00 AM PDT "The teachings of the Buddha are a treasury of wisdom that has been passed down from teacher to student for over 2,500 years. Many styles of teaching have developed, but all of the schools of Buddhist present the means to realize the awakened state of mind. And all of them emulate the example of the Buddha, the Awakened One. This is a very important point to realize in the context of presenting tantra, or the vajrayana teachings of the Buddha. It is both dangerous and fruitless to attempt to practice tantra without first establishing a firm ground in the basic Buddhist teachings."– from Journey Without Goal: The Tantric Teachings of the Buddha, via Ocean of Dharma: The Everyday Wisdom of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche To learn more about the vajrayana path, see Judy Lief's Shambhala Sun article, "Journey to Awakening," now online in its entirety. And for more from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, visit the Shambhala Sun's Spotlight page of his teachings. Read More @ Source

Allen Ginsberg’s birthday: even China is celebrating! Posted: 03 Jun 2013 07:00 PM PDT Today is the late Allen Ginsberg's birthday, and people around the world are commemorating the poet and Buddhist icon with readings of his poetry and other celebrations. In Shanghai, people celebrated with what's said to be China's first-ever bilingual public reading of Howl, in English and Chinese (the poster at left is from the event.) As Beatdom editor David S. Wills notes, the Chinese don't often see translations of Beat writers' works because of their often controversial subject matter. For more about Ginsberg from in his own words, click here to read his spiritual autobiography, "The Vomit of a Mad Tyger," from the Shambhala Sun archives. Read More @ Source

Compassion Meditation Month: August 2013 Posted: 03 Jun 2013 06:00 PM PDT If we allow ourselves to believe that compassionate people just "are that way," without any work, without serious development both on and off the cushion, then we abdicate responsibility for our own mental fitness.  — Ethan Nichtern, IDP Founder and Senior Teacher Compassion Meditation Month starts at the Interdependence Project on August 2013. The Four Immeasurables (also known as the Four Sublime States, the Divine Abodes, or the Brahmaviharas) are awakened qualities of heart and mind that all people naturally possess. This month-long series will consider Lovingkindness, Compassion, Appreciative Joy, and Equanimity, and teach us to identify and cultivate these ideal mind states. Learn to transform your relationship to yourself, your family, your community, and your world with contemplative techniques designed to exercise the heart and open the mind. August 5:  Lovingkindness August 12: Compassion August 19: Appreciative Joy August 26: Equanimity Registration for online and in-class sessions may be found here. Read More @ Source

The Dharma of Difference: Awakening in Diverse Community Posted: 03 Jun 2013 05:00 PM PDT change your mind to change the world So, here we are.  Sharing this world, this city, this contemplative community.  With people we know and people we don't know.  People we like, people we don't like — and people we don't even notice.  People we share backgrounds and interests with.  People with whom we have almost nothing in common.  All of us.  Together. The teachings of the historical Buddha suggest that we're meant to awaken in spiritual community, or sangha, and that in times of doubt or distress we can turn to the sangha for strength, support, and inspiration. Our relationships with fellow meditators and practitioners on the spiritual path are of great mutual benefit.  And, as we may have experienced, they can also be a great mutual pain in the neck.  We make assumptions about another's experience and we our foot in our mouth.  Someone offends us, we feel hurt or threatened, but we don't know how to address it. Lucky for us, many of the qualities of mind and heart that we develop through our practice of meditation can be applied to our social interactions.  In fact, bringing them into the room can make the difference between an impossible obstacle to being in community and an opportunity to grow in wisdom and compassion. How can our differences be our teachers? Dharma of Difference meets 7-9 Wednesday nights 5/29-6/26 2013 at The Interdependence Project. This is a drop-in event, and advance registration is not necessary. We're offering it on a donation basis and ask each participant to contribute $ 10 – $ 20 to support our teachers and other initiatives offered by The Interdependence Project. You can also register online for either the whole series or a single class, selecting your donation level from the drop-down menu. If you are registering for a single class, please note the date of the class you will be attending when you are checking out. Thank you! Read More @ Source

Wednesday Nights: Grace Within Groundlessness Living with Security in an Insecure World Posted: 03 Jun 2013 04:00 PM PDT change your mind to change the world "Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one." Voltaire "Everything is always changing moment to moment. We don't have to be mystics or physicists to know this. Yet at the level of personal experience, we resist this basic fact."  Pema Chodron Today our lives are filled with new and better technology, more and more information, endless ways to communicate, and greater demands for protection and law-enforcement.   Though these advances may seem to offer more control and certainty to our situation, impermanence is a fundamental fact of existence, and our need to create security in the face of continual change is the cause of much anxiety, fear and depression.   Rather than continuing our frustrating and ultimately futile attempts to control the uncontrollable and predict the unpredictable, we can change our relationship to the flux and flow of life simply by recognizing the facts of our circumstances, and opening to the possibilities inherent in change. Join us for this exciting new eight-week course, which will lead us to understand, both intellectually and experientially, the ways in which our grasping at security interferes with our personal happiness, limits our connections with other people, and undermines our society. 7/10 – Class 1 – The Myth of Security 7/17 – Class 2 – Identity but Non-self 7/24 – Class 3 – Relationships and Impermanance 7/31 – Class 4-  War & Peace 8/7 –   Class 5 – Personal Engagement – An Experiential Lab 8/14 – Class 6 – Interpersonal Relationships- An Experiential Lab 8/21 – Class 7 – Collective Action – An Experiential Lab 8/28 – Class 8 – Grace within Groundlessness - Putting it All Together. Registration & Homestudy available here  Read More @ Source

Back To Basics: The Eightfold path of Awakening Posted: 03 Jun 2013 03:00 PM PDT change your mind to change the world Join Shastri Ethan Nichtern and IDP Lineage Mentor Sharon Salzberg in this exciting online summer series. This course is only offered as part of IDP'sunique Home Study program, and will provide you with everything you need to deepen and support your studies. Along with eight insightful lectures from two highly regarded meditation teachers, IDP's Home Study offers weekly readings and practice guidelines to help you begin, deepen, or sustain your practice. Sharon and Ethan will be available via the online discussion board, where you can post comments and questions.   Wherever you are and wherever you'll be this summer, you can join us for this enlightening and enriching series! Classes will be posted online each Thursday, no lat er than 7 PM. Week 1 – Thursday July 11 – Introduction – What's My View of Life? Week 2 – Thursday July 18 – Clarifying My Intention Week 3 – Thursday July 25 – Speaking Well, Speaking Compassionately Week 4 – Thursday Aug 1 – Being an Ethical Person on the Path Week 5 – Thursday Aug 8 – Working It Out: Right Livelihood in the 21st Century Week 6 – Thursday Aug 15 – Effort, Stress, and Laziness Week 7 – Thursday Aug 22 – Mindfulness in Every Part of Life Week 8 – Thursday Aug 29 – Concentration and Awakening Classes will be posted online each Thursday, no later than 7 PM. Registration can be found here Read More @ Source

Beginners Mind: Weekly Intro to Meditation classes Posted: 03 Jun 2013 02:00 PM PDT Join us every Sunday at The  Interdependence Project  from 3pm - 5pm for meditation instruction and sitting practice led by IDP teachers David and Heather.   Appropriate for beginners as well as experienced meditators, this afternoon session offers guided instruction, discussion, and opportunity for questions and comments in an encouraging and compassionate environment.  Beginner's Mind at IDP is a perfect introduction to our community and our unique multi-lineage, secular approach to Buddhism– allowing the chance to create or explore  the basic foundations of our practice. http://tinyurl.com/9pqg2f8 http://theidproject.org/events/2013/01/06/sundays-beginners-mind-weekly-guided-meditation Read More @ Source