In the Midst of All Things
A 4-Week Course with Henry Shukman
June 18, 25, July 2 & 9
Sundays, 10am – 12pm MT
(Course is Online Only. All sessions are recorded if you’re not able to attend live.)
A welcome message from Henry:
There’s a well known story of a Zen nun, Teijitsu, who was the abbess of a monastery in 18th century Japan. She is said to have had a sore hip much of her life, and used to walk around the temple using a cane.
One day she experienced a deep, clear awakening. The record says:
“She clearly saw that all phenomena arose, abided, and fell away. She saw that even the knowing of this arose, abided, and fell away.
Then she knew there was nothing more than this, no ground, nothing to lean on, stronger than the cane she held. Nothing to lean upon at all, and no one leaning.
And she opened the clenched fist in her mind and let go, and fell into the midst of everything.”
Zen teaches us to open to the world, to find that we are not separate from the world. It’s of course a Buddhist tradition, it’s about training the mind, and discovering the nature of mind. But where it differs from most other Buddhist schools is in having a stronger emphasis on our lives in the world, as part of the world. It emphatically loves the world. It believes in the end that the world is our great teacher. That’s why so many koans are about the things of the world: mountains, rivers, trees, brooms, cats, dogs, wild ducks, autumn leaves and a human hand.
Yes, Zen does help us make discoveries through introspective meditation – about self, about awareness, about the nature of conscious experience. But they are really in service of the discovery that we are inseparable from the world we find ourselves in. We are part of this world. In the end, we are this world, and this world is us.
How do we get closer to our true intimacy with all manifest things?
By becoming mindful of the full range of sense-experience going on in any moment, we start to rest into a sense of being held by all experience, then into becoming absorbed in it, and finally dissolving into a selfless space in which all things are present.
In this course, we learn to:
- get grounded in outward sense experience
- become absorbed in the soundscape, in seeing, and in body sensation
- rest in the awareness that recognizes all outward sense experience
- diminish, dissolve and release the sense of a self in the middle of sense experience
As we become more intimately mindful of the full range of outward sense-experience, we sink more deeply into a whole experience of Now. At the same time, we start to discover the restfulness that comes with being held by all experience. This can morph into becoming absorbed by the whole field of awareness and experience, and even into dissolving into selfless space in which all things are present.
In this course we will let practice lead us into greater intimacy with the world, and will explore some Zen koans to help in this process.
Guest Teachers for the
In The Midst Of All Things 4-Week Course
Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D. is a Buddhist teacher, Founder and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a social activist, and author. She is a pioneer in the field of end-of-life care and has lectured on the subject of death and dying at many academic institutions and medical centers around the world. Her newest book is Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet. Roshi Joan will be teaching the July 9 course session.
Kelly Boys is a mindfulness trainer and author of The Blind Spot Effect. She has created mindfulness programs for UN humanitarians and veterans with PTSD, and directed the first teacher training for Google’s Search Inside Yourself program. She has taught yoga nidra, a form of “non sleep deep rest,” for 15 years. She is the founding advisor for the Simple Habit meditation app and currently works with the Foundation for a Mindful Society helping to grow their Mindful Cities program. Kelly will be teaching the July 2 course session.
FREE 15-MINUTE GUIDED MEDITATION
We're excited to share a new 15-minute guided meditation on sitting with challenging conditions of the mind and heart that Henry has created.
The early Buddhist tradition identifies several states that tend to make it difficult to meditate. But these can be transformed into opportunities for growth. They can come to nourish our practice.
Discover how to transform challenges in meditation in ways that help to break old patterns. Learn to practice acceptance, welcoming, and self-love, by mindfully tending to disruptive thoughts and emotions. By inviting vulnerability, by letting ourselves be the way we are, and even loving the way we are, we can expand our self-acceptance, our self-understanding, and our capacity for love, peace and wonder.
In the Midst of All Things 4-Week Course
(Please note, this 4-week course is designed for all levels. We invite you to dive in, whether you’re new to meditation, or many decades down the path…)
By becoming mindful of the full range of sense-experiences going on in any moment, we start to rest into a sense of being held by all experience, then into becoming absorbed in it, and finally dissolving into a selfless space in which all things are present.
In this course we learn to:
- get grounded in outward sense experience
- become absorbed in the soundscape
- rest in awareness that recognizes all outward sense experience
- diminish, dissolve and lose the sense of a self in the middle of sense experience
As we become more intimately mindful of the full range of outward sense-experience, we tend to sink more deeply into a whole experience of now. At the same time, we start to discover the rest that comes with being held by all experience. This can morph into becoming absorbed by the whole field of awareness and experience, and even at times into dissolving into selfless space in which all things are present.
We hope you’ll join us!
Questions about the course? Please feel free to email Jeremy, the Original Love Program Manager.
Guided Meditations
Henry will be recording 1 guided meditation per week, and each week, we’ll send out that meditation mid-week. These guided meditations can serve as touchstones in your week, helping you deepen your exploration of the themes in the course.
Course information
Schedule:
Sundays June 18, 25, July 2 & 9, 10am – 12pm MT
For those of you in different time zones, or who can’t make the scheduled meeting times – all Sunday sessions will be recorded, and you will have access to recordings shortly after each event.
Original Love is 100% online, there are no in-person events scheduled this year as of yet.
Course components:
1. Sunday Sessions
Live sessions with Henry and Guest speakers include guided meditations, talks and Q&A.
2. Guided Meditations
Henry will be recording 1 guided meditation per week, and each week, we’ll send out that meditation mid-week. These guided meditations can serve as touchstones in your week, helping you deepen your exploration of the themes in the course.
Cost:
4-Week Course: $175
Scholarships
We have a limited number of scholarships available. We don’t want anybody not to be able to take the program because of financial need. If you need financial assistance, please contact Jeremy, the Original Love Program Manager.
If you have any questions, please contact Jeremy. We’re happy to answer any questions and look forward to having you join us!