ZenLife Blog

Roots
Zen, Meditation, Buddhism Robert Althouse Zen, Meditation, Buddhism Robert Althouse

Roots

From the still silence of a single, small seed, come plants, trees, humans, and animals. From a plant seed first comes a tap root, reaching down into the cool dark earth. Here the root gathers water and nutrients to sustain the plants growth upwards towards the sun. The leaves of the plant in return help strengthen the roots to grow further. Did you know that the roots of a cereal rye plant grow 3 miles of roots a day in good soil? In a single season it grows 387 miles of roots and 6,603 miles of root hairs. For a stationary creature, it sure gets around!

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Gratitude and Living a Life of Openness
Zen, Compassion, Mindfulness, Meditation Robert Althouse Zen, Compassion, Mindfulness, Meditation Robert Althouse

Gratitude and Living a Life of Openness

Our Foundation of Mindfulness classes start soon, offering a comprehensive set of teachings on mindfulness and how to begin living a Zen-inspired life that leads to a deeper love and resilience based on joy and compassion. In these classes you will discover that meditation may not be easy to do. It requires patience. And patience is based on trust. To find the deeper truth and love of who you really are, requires letting go and trusting that life is enough. Your life is a seed that will flower if you take good care of it.

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Meditation from the Inside–Out
Meditation, Mindfulness Robert Althouse Meditation, Mindfulness Robert Althouse

Meditation from the Inside–Out

In our beginning classes at Zen Center, we teach “meditation from the inside out”. When beginners think of meditation they may imagine someone sitting in full-lotus in some exotic place. This externalized, ideal image is not helpful, because meditation takes place where you are, in your domestic situation. It is not a vacation. It is not a luxury.

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Mindfulness in an Age of Distraction
Meditation, Mindfulness Robert Althouse Meditation, Mindfulness Robert Althouse

Mindfulness in an Age of Distraction

If you don’t take back your attention, others will do it for you. Mindfulness is an embodied awareness that can help you be intimate with yourself and others. It takes intention. It takes practice. It’s not a technique. It’s an act of courage in which you decide once and for all, to reclaim your life.

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Spiritual Practice for Difficult Times
Zen, Meditation, Mindfulness Robert Althouse Zen, Meditation, Mindfulness Robert Althouse

Spiritual Practice for Difficult Times

So here's the strange thing about this. I know that bag is still there though I can no longer see it and something about that breaks my heart. It's like the sickness of this planet. I know the planet is unwell, though I can not always see it. So when I open to that my heart breaks open. And what follows after that is tenderness. I don't have to try and be good or kind. That is already here in full measure. I just have to be willing to not look away. It may be the bag in the tree. It may be a homeless person on the street. It may be bleached and dead coral reefs. It may be a brutal war in Ukraine.

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If Only We’re Brave Enough To Be It
Psychology, Hula, Meditation, Mindfulness June Tanoue Psychology, Hula, Meditation, Mindfulness June Tanoue

If Only We’re Brave Enough To Be It

When a storm comes and confusion or strong emotions arises we lose our way. With practice we have the presence of mind to pause and reflect. We dance asking Kaiona for help, for insight to point out the pathway. We practice patience through sitting or dancing and we find that we are the flower most fragrant right before a storm. We sense a deep stirring of courage and love within. We see that our sparkle, our light, has always been here, and we have always been it.

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Meditation And Creativity
Meditation, Zen, Art Christian Solorzano Meditation, Zen, Art Christian Solorzano

Meditation And Creativity

Creativity is perpetually defined — it deals with problem solving but it also deals with romance and beauty. The design of locomotives is just as creative as Caravaggio’s depiction of Salome holding the head of John the Baptist. Whether we are photographing a flower with a smartphone or blowing on a soup to cool it off—we are performing creative rituals daily.

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10 Tips for Meditating at Home
Meditation Robert Althouse Meditation Robert Althouse

10 Tips for Meditating at Home

Given the chaos, turmoil, disruption, fragmentation and disorientation many are experiencing in our society, mindfulness has become a much need tool for grounding ourselves and strengthening the quality of our attention. Mindfulness can help you in many ways, but it will only help you if you do this kind of meditation regularly. And yes, it’s not so easy. There seem to be numerous obstacles. You are too busy and kind seem to find the time to sit still for 20 minutes each day.

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Turn the Face to the Wall
Meditation, Mindfulness June Tanoue Meditation, Mindfulness June Tanoue

Turn the Face to the Wall

I've learned through my mindfulness practice that our bodies always remember feelings that haven't been resolved or integrated. If we stamp down our feelings and distract ourselves from emotional pain, the pain will return. My practice of meditation gives me space and time to build courage to face feelings that are uncomfortable.

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Getting Started with Meditation
Meditation Robert Althouse Meditation Robert Althouse

Getting Started with Meditation

So don't turn your meditation into a further struggle and war with yourself. Relax and begin to notice how your thoughts arise; how they come and go. You can't really pin them down. Awareness helps you to appreciate the greater environment in which your thoughts and emotions arise.

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Setting Sail in Stormy Waters
Zen, Meditation Robert Althouse Zen, Meditation Robert Althouse

Setting Sail in Stormy Waters

We are living through chaotic, unprecedented and unstable times. It can be hard to find your bearings. It seems we may have taken the values of our democracy too much for granted and now they need to be defended. We need to stand not only for core values but for each other.

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Seeking Refuge
Buddhism, Precepts, Meditation, Mindfulness Guest Author Buddhism, Precepts, Meditation, Mindfulness Guest Author

Seeking Refuge

I drove down Lake Street in our worn, twelve-year old mini-van. Hot fury heaved in my chest and shoulders and transformed into a high-pitched scream that poured out of my throat for two whole blocks. I screamed until I had no more energy. I screamed until my voice was hoarse. Had I been a superhero, Wonder Woman say, the scream would have been a siren shattering every van window. But I was just a regular woman, terrified and furious and grieving, trying not to speed or do something reckless as I drove.

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Cracked Bell
Zen, Meditation Robert Althouse Zen, Meditation Robert Althouse

Cracked Bell

I'm turing 68 in a few days, and I'm afraid my body is also falling short of the mark. It's so easy to gain weight, and a nerve in my neck and right arm get's easily inflamed making it difficult for me to sit meditation at all.

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Normalize Discomfort
Meditation, Zen, Buddhism, Mindfulness Robert Althouse Meditation, Zen, Buddhism, Mindfulness Robert Althouse

Normalize Discomfort

So when things arise in your practice and your meditation that disturb you, you may easily get discouraged. This isn't what you signed on for. So I want to suggest that you normalize discomfort; that you proceed by allowing and acknowledging that suffering is part of your life and to walk on a spiritual path means to engage and transform this suffering, but not to avoid it.

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Beyond Hope and Fear
Zen, Meditation Robert Althouse Zen, Meditation Robert Althouse

Beyond Hope and Fear

So let go of hope and fear. Do you really need either to live your life? Do you need either one to fix your breakfast in the morning? Perhaps it would be helpful to reduce your life down to small steps. Pay attention to what is happening in front of you.

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