Ordinary Mind Zen School

A talk about how painful self-beliefs form in infancy and the survival strategies that follow. It explores how caring relationships and parenting shape resilience. The piece links sitting practice to directly facing fear, shame, and worthlessness rather than just thinking about them. It stresses long-term, steady practice as the path to soften deep-seated patterns.

A reflective recounting of learning about a friend's death and the calm acceptance that followed. A camping trip in a rainforest brings rich sensory detail of river, light, and birds. The Taoist mountains-and-rivers practice and digital disconnection deepen presence. Interconnectedness and life’s transience are explored through nature’s rhythms.

A lively dive into how hunter-gatherer childhoods shaped human psychology and modern suffering. Talks about integrating developmental psychology and neuroscience with Buddhist practice. Explores attachment styles, the evolved nest, and how agricultural life changed wellbeing. Suggests blending emotional understanding with traditional contemplative methods.

A clear reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s revision of the Heart Sutra opens the conversation. Discussion covers why the sutra was rewritten and the pitfalls of treating emptiness as an abstract concept. They explore emptiness as non-separateness, a koan story about sudden understanding, and what reaching the 'other shore' means in lived practice.

A talk about learning to respond to life in real time, using sailing and sitting as metaphors. It contrasts clinging to calm with skillful, adaptable presence. It critiques how language traps fixed ideas and points to Taoist-style empirical attention. It frames practice as an unrehearsed, moment-to-moment responsiveness grounded in simplicity.

A talk about extending practice beyond sitting into everyday life and outdoor moments. Taoist influences and classical translations are explored as roots of the approach. The presenter describes dismantling fixed identities and returning to embodied, present-moment experience. Immersion in landscapes, gardens, and encounters with wildlife are offered as practical ways to loosen egoic habits.

A talk about applying the Daoist idea of non-doing to loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. It contrasts Zen approaches with other traditions and questions deliberate trying to manufacture feeling. It explores how grasping, aversion, overthinking, and identity-formation block natural kindness. It invites letting neutrality and ease be the ground where caring qualities arise.

A clear look at Taoist metaphors for handling conflict, using water and mountain images. Short lessons on when to yield and when to stand firm. Guidance on sensing authentic bodily signals for boundaries. Practical links between sitting practice and staying steady amid disturbance. Exploration of yin and yang balance in responses.

Taoism's influence on Zen and how Chinese nature religion shaped practice. The meaning of wu-wei, framed as effortless action rather than passivity. Practical examples: zazen, koan study, swimming, prayer, and everyday tasks. Cultural contrast between striving and non-doing and how embodied practice brings ease and presence.

A discussion of how native Taoist ideas shaped Chan (Zen) in China. Exploration of wu-wei and the water metaphor alongside impermanence. Consideration of attachment, identity-centres, and abstract thinking. Guidance on meditation as returning to the body and leaving the self-centred dream. Reflections on the fleeting, insubstantial nature of moments and consciousness.