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The Positive MindLove and Zen, Interview with Dr. Brenda Shoshanna Ph.D, Part 1This week Kevin and Niseema welcome Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, Ph.D, psychotherapist, Zen practitioner, speaker and author of the book, “Zen and the Art of Falling in Love.” Brenda shares with us her journey and understanding of how every person we meet can teach us how to love. In sharing this, she shows us ways that we can love without judgment, shame, or blame._________________________________________________For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly n...2022-09-1158 minThe Positive MindLove and Zen and Interview with Dr. Brenda Shoshanna Ph.D.,Part 2Kevin and Niseema welcome Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, Ph.D. back to discuss her book, “Zen and the Art of Falling in Love.”Following up on last week's show, Dr. Shoshanna talks about how everyone says they want to be in love but are addicted to the habit of staying separate. Brenda talks about the practice of "Zazen," which is simply sitting still, noticing your breath, watching and not reacting to your passing thoughts. Similarly, in love, Brenda teaches us not to react to our passing feelings and emotions of the moment, but to simply commit your spirit to a flo...2022-02-1358 minThe Positive MindLove and Zen: An Interview with Dr. Brenda ShoshannaThis week Kevin and Niseema welcome Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, Ph.D, psychotherapist, Zen practitioner, speaker and author of the book, “Zen and the Art of Falling in Love.” Brenda shares with us her journey and understanding of how every person we meet can teach us how to love. In sharing this, she shows us ways that we can love without judgment, shame, or blame._________________________________________________For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly n...2022-02-0657 min
Good News To Go: Peace, Love & HOPEWhat Does Peace Mean To Brenda Shoshanna?Find out what Peace means to Brenda Shoshanna...for video and more info, go to http://goodnewsplanet.com/what-does-peace-mean-to-brenda-shoshanna/2021-01-1201 min
Good News To Go: Authors"Everyday Is A Good Day" Brenda Shoshanna, Ph.D. Speaker, authorBrenda is a psychologist, and long term practitioner of Zen, Judaism and Theater. Her work focuses upon integrating Eastern and Western practice and principles and making them real in our everyday lives. An award winning author, speaker, playwright, and workshop leader she runs The New Moon Zendo, (for those of all faiths). She is also a long term practitioner of releasing.Brenda provides ongoing podcasts. Zen Wisdom For Your Everyday Life, One Minute Mitzvahs, and Turning The Tide, (The Practice of Releasing). These podcasts share universal teachings for healing, uplifting and fulfilling in your life. They explore the heart...2021-01-1223 min
Zen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHE UNDIVIDED HEARTUsually we live our lives in division, unable to decide what to do, what is right and where to go next. Most of our time we regret past choices or are unable to make new ones. But there is another way to procede. The undivided mind and heart, take us where we belong without fail and without stress. It shows us life from a new vantage point, allows us to feel at home with ourselves and taste and see that life is good.!2020-08-2617 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeWHEN YOU BECOME YOU, ZEN BECOMES ZENFrom the Zen point of view, all the suffering and struggling in life comes because we constantly strive to be different or better than we are. While who we are is already perfect, complete and valuable, we cannot taste the joy of that. Zen practice therefore is the road not to getting, learning or fulfilling a dream or some ideal. It is the road to let go of all unnecessary baggage and meeting ourselves just as we are. Living a life of wholeness and truth.2020-08-1816 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeOPEN EYES, OPEN ARMSIt's so easy to go through life with our eyes closed, dreaming, hoping, planning for better days. Of course as we do so, we not only miss what's here right now, but have no idea how to greet the next day when it comes. Not only are our eyes shut, our arms are often closed as well. We use our arms to push things away, or make ourselves safe, holding on for dear life. Our arms are used to fight the world, not to welcome and embrace it. But, a combination of open eyes and open arms whatever comes...2020-08-1117 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHIS MOMENT WILL NOT COME AGAINWe cling to one moment and turn away from the next, wanting to hold onto what we consider desirable. Our wish is to keep things the same, feel stable ,as if we know what is coming and how to handle it. But life itself is nothing but change, including our very body. When we fight against this powerful truth, not only does it cause suffering, but we fail to realize that nothing lasts long, including hard moments. And we lose the precious joy of discovering new moments, again and again.2020-08-0418 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTASTE YOUR LIFE COMPLETELYIn our lives one experience after another arises, some bitter, some sweet. And many experiences, naturally, contain both. Rather than pick and choose what we wish to have, the great Zen secret is to taste your life completely, eat it up, digest the nourishment from everything and discard the waste. Come find out how.2020-07-3116 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeDON'T WALK AWAY FROM YOURSELFIt's so easy to get caught up in the many drama's of life. All kinds of situations, relationships and events come and suck us in. Before we know it we are entangled in our own automatic reactions, hopes, and fears. We thrash about in the situation, barely knowing what we're doing. It is so easy then to get lost and disappear. Zen practice comes to ask us to stop, be silent, be present! Don't get lost in the situation. Don't walk away from yourself. Be present to both the situation and your self. Stay grounded, let it pass through...2020-07-2117 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUWe all suffer greatly from the idea that something is wrong with us, and everyone else! Most of our lives becomes about improving, changing twisting ourselves into an image of what we believe we should be. This twisting and condemning is what causes the pain we live with. When we see the perfection and beauty of life as it is, including ourselves, we can live with thanks and fullness and offer it to others as well.2020-07-1717 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeWHERE IS THE ROAD TO HANSHAN? THERE IS NO ROAD TO HANSHANWe all search for the right road to our destnation, or goal. It seems as if there is a road out there which will take us where we want to go. But the further we look, or tread on roads that have long been traveled, the further astray we go. Not only must we find our own path, but the deeper truth is that the road is not somewhere else. It is not outside us in the world. Zen practice asks us to sop wandering, stay quiet where we are and find that we are exactly where we belong. B...2020-07-0818 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeLEAVING THE CAVE OF DISCONTENTWe are all living hidden away in a cave of discontent. This cave is filled with thoughts, desires, demands, fantasy and disappointment. Gripped by this we often see no way out. However, this cave has also been called the cave of unawareness. Once we shine the light of awareness within, the bars on this prison start to open, and endless life begins to shine through.2020-06-3017 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTOMORROW NEVER COMESMost of our lives is lived waiting for tomorrow. We plan, prepare, dream and hope that our dreams will come true. Or, the opposite happens, we live in fear of what may be on the way , become frozen, and lose this precious moment now. Zen practice turns this all around, plants us deeply in this moment, where all is fine, and we can handle and enjoy whatever is.2020-06-2517 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeYou Never Ask The Meaning of Life When You're In LoveMost of us do not see the connection between Zen practice and love. But Zen is the practice of being in love with all of life, becoming one with it, no separation. Though we look for meaning everywhere, once we feel a sense of deep connection, no judgment, just oneness, that is the experience of love, which fills us completely and makes each moment whole. Zen practice shows us how to experience this every moment of our lives.2020-06-1718 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeNOW IT'S REALLY PERFECTWe have so many ideas about how things should be and what is good, right, and perfect. Much of our life is about striving to make our lives better, beautiful, perfect in our eyes. And in the eyes of others. When change happens uncontrollably, our sense of order, perfection and beauty disappears. Great anxiety and upset can follow. But there is another way to look at what perfection and our lives truly are. Zen practice invites us to look at it through new eyes.2020-06-1017 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeIN ZEN WE DON'T HAVE A THINGAll of us want answers. We look for explanations, understanding. We develops beliefs to cling to and ways to behave. When we follow the guidance of others there's a sense of security and relief in belonging to a group. We feel we know who we are then and the direction in which we're headed. But in Zen Practice, we let go of all that. Instead, we stay fully present in the moment and become able to radically trust our inner wisdom, and clarity to guide us on how to respond right now. Each moment is different. Each person's need...2020-06-0218 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHIS VERY PLACE IS THE LOTUS LAND OF PURITYWe are all searching for the perfect place to visit, live in, spend time. It seems as if things will go better somewhere else. Or go better in a different relationship. Even when we are in one place, so much time is spent dreaming of another. Waiting for our journey there. But this episode differs. It shows us how where we are right now is perfect, and the beauty that can be found.2020-05-2617 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeLET IT ALL BE REVEALEDWe enter Zen practice the way we enter our lives, trying to do it well, figure it out, please our friends and teachers. We judge and push ourselves endlessly, determined to Master the Way. But this is the opposite of true training. The Way Masters us, whether we like it or not. The Way is Our Master and as we train, we simply let go of our mad need change the world, dominate others, and refuse to enjoy the great banquet set out before us.. 2020-05-1916 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeYOU'RE NOT DISAPPOINTED ENOUGHWe all want things to work out exactly as we want them to. When they don’t we try again, or develop new strategies. If that doesn’t work, we start blaming others, or ourselves. The great Zen teacher Joko Beck said that practice only begins when you’ve been disappointed enough. When that happens, you’re willing to give up all your strategies, stop imposing your will on life and to open to a harmonious life, lived from the bottom of your heart.. 2020-05-1317 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeA Perfect AfternoonWe all want life to be perfect, work as as we wish. We will do anything possible so that we can experience a perfect afternoon, relationship or venture. And all the time we do not see that life is perfect as it is. Instead we hold fixed notions about how everything must work out. When it doesn't grief arises, shame, sorrow, anger. These fixed notions not only ruin our lives, but prevent us from seeing the amazing gifts we receive moment by moment.2020-05-0717 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeBowing To Everyone All Day LongLife presents many different kinds of moments and situations to us, but there is basically On Way to respond. In zen practice we bow a great deal. Sometimes we bow to the floor, making an offering of ourselves to life. Other times, we bow to our cushions, another person, a flower or to a moment of kindness we have received. Bowing says many things. It says thank you deeply, it says I acknowledge you, I honor the moment we are sharing now. When we truly bow to another, although they may not see it, they will feel it right...2020-04-2818 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeThe Great WayThe Great Way is all around us, and as we walk on it, we cannot stumble or get lost. Zen practices takes us right there, clears the weeds from the other paths we follow, opens our eyes, our minds and hearts. Especially in times of uncertainty The Great Way is a deep refuge from pain. It opens the door to life as it is, removes pointless daydreams and fantasies and helps us see what is truly needed right here, today.2020-04-2117 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeWhen The Word DisappearsWhat happens when the world as we’ve known it suddenly vanished and much of what we’ve held onto for security and identity slips away? This is a great Zen moment. An opportunity to look deeply at where true security waits and what the world really is. Then as a new moment arises we can be at home wherever we are.2020-04-1317 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeDon't InterfereUsually we feel it's up to us to make everything right. We have something to say about everything, decide what is and isn't right. But as we interfere, we often take actions that get in the way and mess things up. In this beautiful, simple step, we learn how to take our hands off, step back, not interfere. We stay present, do not withdraw, but allow the natural intelligence of life and events to hold sway.2020-04-0716 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeThe Art of Allowing2020-04-0317 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeOne Who Is Not BusyIn the midst of our endless rush to do something, change life, stay safe and protected, there is one within who is "not busy", not rushing around. And yet this one, takes care of everything. It hears all our cries, meets all our needs, allows us to see clearly and respond constructively. Zazen practice takes us directly to the one who is not busy, as we stop our mad dashing around and rest in its wisdom. Find out more on the podcast.2020-04-0316 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeMOVE THE MOUNTAIN WITHOUT USING YOUR HANDSZen koans are a wonderful way to address problems. We cannot understand them logically or figure them out. Just like the times we are now faced with, we must find a new way to respond to them. To discover an answer that frees us all. The koan above is a homegrown koan, for today. When a mountain of fear, difficulty or unknown pain accosts us, when we handle it in the usual way, more frustration and difficulties arise. There is another way however, to allow ourselves to be with the problem. This way provides strength, courage and even happiness...2020-03-2418 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeBECOMING YOUR OWN BEST FRIENDIt is said that the real cause of all suffering and hardship is that we are not able to be in a room alone with ourselves for an extended time. How easy it is to see that now that the usual routines of our lives have been disrupted. Much that we have depended upon is being taken from us now. Not only are we forced to live more simply, but also see who we truly are. A lot of panic arises, not only from fear of illness, but from facing ourselves and those we are close to. When we d...2020-03-1719 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHE TEACHINGS ARE EASY TO FOLLOW, THOUGH NO ONE FOLLOWSThe big joke of practice, is that the simpler it is, the harder for us to grasp and live it. We yearn for difficulty, challenge, obstacles to prove how smart and strong we are..Zen practice, which is the plainest and simplest practice of all, makes this dilemma apparent. It returns us to the simple moments and facts of our lives. Rather than follow the mad mind within, we turn ourselves to what is here now, and to the one within who always knows the way. You have all your answers and all the direction you need right now...2020-03-0919 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeFIND LOVE BY DOING NOTHINGHow do we find the balance, harmony, health and love we are all seeking. Usually, we struggle, scramble and feel it is up to us to make everything right. Yet to find a state of true love and oneness, that kind of doing is not necessary. All that is necessary is to deeply center ourselves and say No, to the waves of panic, anger and obstacles we usually get swept into. It is a state of trust and inner strength, where everything works well, we become strong and healing happens most readily.2020-03-0317 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeAN END TO SUFFERING, IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERINGOur entire lives are organized around avoiding suffering. We grab moments of happiness and demand more. When things don't go our way we declare ourselves failures, and are in pain. As if we were in charge of how things go. Yet, it is entirely possible to live a life of happiness and enjoyment, even in the midst of pain. It is not what happens to us that hurts so much, but the way we respond to it. Come learn new ways of being with difficulty that will open up your life and heart.2020-02-2519 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifePLAYING WITH TOYS, (THE GAME OF LIFE)From the time we are born we want stimulation, enjoyment, distractions of all kinds. Our whole life becomes about playing with toys, winning at the game of life. As we get older our toys change and we throw away the broken ones. Our games also grow more complicated and dangerous. Soon, we live in anguish, struggling not to be a loser, trapped in the game we ourselves have chosen to play. But Life is not a game. When we stop seeing and using others as toys, and hunger only for distraction, not only will our problems unravel, but the...2020-02-1819 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeLETTING LOVE LIVEHere we are at Valentine's Day, many wondering who their Valentine is, if they are loved, wanted or special in anyway? Or will they ever be? And all the time love is all around us, just waiting to be welcomed into our lives, to have the opportunity to come alive. What is it that keeps this love away? How do we get caught going around and around on a merry go round of relationships that never takes us where we want to go?2020-02-1119 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHE BITTER PILL (Temporary Comfort)We come to life and relationships hoping all will be well, beautiful, just as we want it. When, despite all our efforts, things do not go as we wish, it's so easy to lapse into disappointment, anger, blaming of ourselves and others or the craving for temporary comfort. Instead of doing this, it is fascinating to realize that we've simply been handed a bitter pill. A pill is medicine to cure illness. What is the illness this bitter experience has come to heal? How can it benefit all?2020-02-0319 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHE POWER OF NO POWERWe all want to be powerful, strong, in charge. Life often seems to overpower us, and in response we fight it off, try to change, control, or dominate it. We want things to go as planned, are frightened of unexpected events, or change. This kind of power is Self Power, exerted by the will. Although we can get our way at times, the price we pay for a life like this is great. The battle does not end. It takes a large toll.However, there is a larger power that guides, provides and laughs with us. Let us t...2020-01-2818 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeDO NOT BE DECEIVED BY OTHERSIt's so simple to be drawn in to the voices, demands and excitement of the world. We turn to others for so much, for comfort, clarity, and help. Yet, there is a deeper source of wisdom and well being, just waiting for us to be with it. As we leave the tangled mass of voices that call us, and learn to listen to the voice within, we cannot be deceived any longer or lose our way home. 2020-01-2017 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHE DOOR IS ALWAYS OPENMost of our lives we grapple with problems, going back and forth, hitting our heads against one obstacle or another. It is as though we were locked in situation with no way out. Why can't we stop a moment to go to the door and realize it is open. We can walk right through. The way to see the larger picture, the way to a life giving solution is waiting for us right where we are. 2020-01-1418 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday Life"THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM, NOR ARE THEY OTHERWISE"In our world of confusion and holding on, we long for things to stay stable. We need to know what we can count on, what is real and dependable. Yet Zen practice tells us to look beneath the appearance of things if we want to find what we can truly count on. That which comes must go, that which appears, changes. Constant change is inevitable and as we accept it and live as change itself, our life opens us, eases and a deeper reality appears.2020-01-0617 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeAN UNDEMANDING HEARTAs the New Year approaches, we review the year, make lists of how we succeeded and what went wrong. We list our failures, and resolve to improve next year. We do not see that it is not what went wrong that made us unhappy, it is our endless judgments of ourselves and others. And our ceaseless demands that everything turn out the way we like it. When we can learn, enjoy and be grateful for whatever happens, then true happiness begins. When we decide to share our growth, insights and gifts, rather than focusing on what we're getting, then a...2019-12-3018 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeYOU ARE THE LIGHTAs the year ends and the days grow darker, holidays come to bring light and love into the world. We do all we can to light candles, give gifts, decorate the world with . We crave the warmth and glow of light. And yet, the deepest light we all search for, the light that sustains us through all our lives, is who we basically are. Let us taste, shine and share the light of our being and truly light up the world.2019-12-2417 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHE KOAN OF YOUR EVERYDAY LIFEWe think our everyday lives are ordinary, nothing much going on. Yet Zen practice tells us that right in the middle of our days, we are being given a huge koan. A koan cannot be figured out, or explained rationally. Yet when we discover how to be with our koan, to keep it warm and play with it, it blooms and comes to live. Then every moment becomes a wonder. We become fully alive.2019-12-1719 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeDon't Be Confused By Your Confusiont's so easy to get caught in endless mixed messages, hopes and dreams and not know what to believe, or where to go. But Soen Roshi told us that it is easy to step out of confusion, and showed us how. First step is not to be confused by your confusion, see it what it is. Then he showed how to return to this very moment and our original guidance and experience.2019-12-1117 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeNo More ComplaintsMost of our lives are spent in disappointment. We complain about everything, try to turn things to our liking, constantly. But even if we succeed, something else arises to disappoint us again. The great surprise and gift of life comes, when we let all that go, and become fully available for everything, just as it is. No fights, no complaints, only deep appreciation, acknowlegment and thanks. This practice of thank you is endlesss, can be applied everyday, everywhere.2019-12-0218 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeNo Snowflake Falls In An Inappropriate PlaceEspecially on holidays, memories of past years return strongly, including remembering those who are gone. It’s easy to compare one year to another, our lives with others, and wish we were somewhere else now. But we are always where we belong, in the perfect place for us right now. Each encounter is the one which can bring us the most growth and joy. .2019-11-2617 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeMessy Shoes, Messy MindHow do we heal the inner confusion, distraction, and conflict we live with? In Zen practice the answer is startlingly simple. Not only do we pay radical and loving attention to whatever appears in our lives, we take good care of it. When we take off our shoe, rather than throw them helter skelter, we carefully place them just where they belong. Same with everything in our lives, including the people we interact with. As we make sure our shoes and enviornment isn't messy and disordered, we are simultaneously straightening our messy minds. 2019-11-1917 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeWHEN YOU'RE SICK, BE A SICK PERSONWe all strive to be better and better to live up to an ideal or image of how we should be, or what we want in the moment. When conditions change, and we cannot achieve it, we fight what is present, reject it, demand things go our way. But the heart of a joyful life is being what we are fully moment by moment, no matter how we wanted things to turn out. Not only accepting it, but enjoying it thoroughly.2019-11-1218 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeIS THAT SO?t's so easy to react to the endless changes we go through day by day. Some changes are wonderful, others distressing. When something comes along that we don't like, we'll fight it to fiercely, trying to change or fix whatever happens. Or agreeing with it.But there is another way to receive whatever comes along. This other way keeps us centered, lively, joyous even, not caught in the rip tide of life. A simple Zen teaching can turn our entire lives around.2019-11-0318 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifePICK UP YOUR COAT FROM THE FLOOR AND PUT IT WHERE IT BELONGS, THIS IS ZENWe think that Zen practice is mysterious and difficult, requires that we sit still for hours and become more and more enlightened. But zazen is only part of it. The very heart of Zen is to "Pick up coat from the floor and put it where it belongs. Take care of our life, notice when something, or someone has fallen down and pick them up, put them and ourselves where we belong. Life constantly presents opportunities to interact with it, to be aware of what is needed and give it with open hands.2019-10-2718 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeRiding On A Donkey, We Search For A DonkeyMost of our lives we are searching for something we haven't quite found. The search goes on endlessly, and others tell us, "Not Yet", or "Keep Searching," - one day you'll make it. Yet, seated on a donkey, we search for a donkey, do not see that all we are searching for is right here, where we are. Once we stop searching, life changes and we can enjoy the ride..2019-10-2119 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeYou Are Not OutsideWe all long to be close to someone we care about, belong to a group of place of meaning. An endless search goes on in our lives to be welcomed and invited in. To find the person, teaching or place which will put our longing heart at ease. But when a monk finally found a great teacher, inside a hut and begged to come in, the teacher wisely said, "You Are Not Outside." 2019-10-1417 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeIs That So?It's easy to get caught in the whirl of changing conditions, one minute we're praised, the next blamed. We receive wonderful gifts and then they're taken away. But a wonderful teaching from the great Zen Master Hakuin, shows us how to receive whatever comes wholeheartedly, and not get caught in the pain of change. Whatever happens, he remarks, "Is that so?" He takes a moment to see the full array of life as it comes and goes. He does not ascribe the usual meaning to passing events, just remains centered, cares for what comes and asks, "Is that so?" 2019-10-0818 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeWhen It's Soup, It's SoupWe are all so incredibly impatient to get where we’re headed, (even though we have no idea what is waiting for us there). Our days, actions and attention are deeply focused upon where we’re headed. Some days we Pass, other days, Fail, in our estimation. Nevertheless we keep rushing uncontrollably, piling up one task after the next. But, there is a larger timing in which everything is done, all is cooked naturally. When it’s soup, it’s soup. When you’re cooked, you’re cooked. When you’ve digested your life, you’re nourished. When you let thing...2019-10-0217 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeThe Best Instruction Is No InstructionWe all search for answers relentlessly, hoping to be guided about what our problem means, how to procede, what's right or wrong to do.There's no end to the instruction we look for. And yet, none of this brings the true insight and aliveness we crave. After one problem seems to be solved, it pops up again in a different form.As we discover a totally different way of approaching difficulties that come our way, not only do we enjoy each seeming problem, but amazing possibilities and contentment appear all by itself.2019-09-2320 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifePainted Cakes Do Not Satisfy HungerWhen we're hungry and go into a restaurant, no matter how long we read the menu, it does not fill us up. We must order the food, eat it and be satisfied. Same with our lives, just thinking about life, fantasyzing, analyzing, hoping, imagining, leaves us empty and alone. Instead, Zen practice leads us to taste our lives directly, receive the nourishment and discard the waste.2019-09-1719 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeZen Play (Instructions on Becoming Fully Alive)It's easy to go over the same inscrutable problem or question, again and again. Doesn't seem to have an answer. These are called koans. Using our logical mind, we create plans, strategies and hopes that only bind us further. By embarking upon the great art and joy of Zen Play, we learn not only how to engage with koans, but how to make our entire life a Zen koan, discover new perspectives and solutions, and live with delight.2019-09-1017 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTHROW AWAY THOUGHTS OF IMAGINARY THINGSThese days there is so much confusion and what is true and real. Yet the more we think and dwell upon it, the more confused we can become. There is another way to find our direction and live clearly with that which is beneficial for all. As we learn to throw away thoughts of imaginary things, the real appears all by itself. 2019-09-0318 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeThis, Too, Is Beautiful (Just As It Is)We love what is beautiful and reject what is ugly, not realizing that all appearances are flashes across the sky of our lives. But, instead of grappling with what happens, trying to change and fix it, make it benefit us, if we step back and see the vastness of the larger pattern a miraculous thing happens, we see the beauty and perfection of all.2019-08-2817 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeLIFE IS ONE CONTINUOUS MISTAKENight and day we strive for perfection, fear making a mistake or doing something wrong. These fears can freeze us in our tracks, stop us from moving forward and living a fulfilled life. But Zen practice shows us how to make friends with our mistakes, how important and precious they are. Wrong turns to right and the other way around. And ultimately we see the great harmony of our lives, where nothing was ever wrong or out of place.2019-08-1917 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeComing From Nowhere I Ring The BellAll summer long, coming and going. All our lives long, coming and going, but what is our ultimate destination? What do we hope to find when we get there, and what actions will be beneficial as we travel along? When we open to the vastness of our lives, to the great mystery we are embedded in, as we walk along, we Ring The Bell, take clear, full hearted, spontaneous action that arises from the moment itself and reverberates everywhere. Bringing clarity and joy to all..2019-08-1217 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeGive No Thought Of RecevingThere are so many ways we get trapped in life, take the bait. We all want so much from others, and when we give there's always the thought of what will come back. This craving to get something in return actually hooks us in another direction and ruins the joy available in just giving with open hands. No thought of receiving anything back. In Zen practice, we learn how not to take the bait! To be with each moment and action fully, wanting nothing more in return.2019-08-0419 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeWhat's Most Important Is What You're Doing At The MomentWe all want to do what we feel is important and meaningful, will make our life worthwhile. Along with goals of all kinds, we have endless to do lists. But no matter what we achieve, it is never enough. We push ourselves again and again without feeling complete. This is because our focus has been mistaken. What you are doing right now is most important. There are no significant or insignificant acts. It is How you are doing it that matters.When you value each act and give each act your wholehearted attention, a brand new life opens up. 2019-07-2918 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeClinging Is Never Kept Within Bounds: Away With It, Once And For AllWe all cling to something, hoping it will make us feel safe and secure. But the opposite is true, the more we cling, the more we crush whatever is in our hands. And holding on never stops the endless flow of life and change. There is a great art of letting go, of trusting life and welcoming all that comes and all that goes.2019-07-2221 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeThe Coin Lost In The River Is Found In The River As the seasons turn, year after year, we experience so many change. Many experience a sense of loss, as if something precious has vanished. Where has it gone? How can we find it again? But the coin lost in the river is found in the river. It is not lost really, can always be found. The river will return it to us. All we must do is stop looking everywhere else for it and return to the river. 2019-07-1717 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeNo Enlightened Men Or WomenAll of us try so hard to become enlightened, wise, all knowing. But there are no enlightened men or women, only enlightened moments. Come find out how to live a life of true clarity and joy, whatever moments come, and to stop struggling unnecesssarily.2019-07-1017 min
Let Your Ears Do the Reading, Full Audiobook Are the LeadingYour Best Self: Letting Love Find You Audiobook by Brenda ShoshannaListen to this audiobook in full for free onhttps://hotaudiobook.com/freeID: 400022
Title: Your Best Self: Letting Love Find You
Author: Brenda Shoshanna
Narrator: Brenda Shoshanna
Format: Unabridged
Length: 0:42:18
Language: English
Release date: 07-02-19
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Genres: Non-Fiction, Self Development, Health & Wellness, Philosophy
Summary:
The search for love can feel endless. We tend to create mental lists of what we want; when someone meets our demands and expectations, it works for a while. Then, when things change or wear out, its on to the next. LETTING LOVE FIND YOU, offers a totally different way. On this new path...2019-07-0242 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTaste And See That Life Is GoodThe Fourth of July celebrates freedom and independence, something we all long for. Most feel we have to fight for this, oppose others, struggle for power and control. But this very state of mind keeps our freedom and independence from us. It binds us and prevents the joy and fullness we desire. However there is a different way of approaching life that turns that all around. We can see that Life is fundamentally worthwhile, and taste it fully. When we stop fighting and opposing experience, all the freedom and joy we desire comes naturally. 2019-06-3019 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeWhen The Heat Turns UpThe heat turns up in all our lives in so many ways. Usually we seek cool breezes, comfortable conditions, good friends and ease. But rather than be on edge and try to always adjust conditions to keep ourselves comfortable, why not jump in. Jump into the heat, rather than resist life, become one with whatever comes. Don't run from anything. Be at home wherever you are. Right there is true wisdom, and ultimate happiness.2019-06-2318 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeTrue Generosity Is Not Wanting To Possess AnythingMost of us give wanting something back in return. And to hold onto it tightly. Our generosity revolves around ourselves, feeling what's in it for me? This is not generosity but simply barter. As we hunger for a reward we are not aware of what we are receiving constantly and that nothing belongs to us. The flow of life brings what it does and then takes it. When we can give with truly open hands, we are always filled with goodness, which it is a joy to freely share.2019-06-1821 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeIf You Live Truly, You Will See TrulySo many are searching for the truth. There are endless pathways, talks, books, practices. which can be comforting and fulfilling, but are they real for us? Do we say one thing and live another? There is one sure way which cannot fail and is open to everyone. Live truly and you will see truly. Be true to yourself and one another. We can only see what we are. We can only receive what we give.2019-06-1120 minZen Wisdom for Your Everyday LifeThere's No Such Thing As Garbage: A Weed Is A TreasureWe are so occupied with pulling up the weeds in our lives, discarding that which no longer works or makes us happy and replacing it with something shiny and new. Including people. But that never works. There is no such thing as garbage, each weed is a treasure, and can fertilize the soil of our lives. Letting go can never take place fully, until we are able to honor, respect and appreciate whatever has come into our lives, including the weeds.2019-06-0420 min