Justin Stone Speaks: Track 5
It is true that in meditation and in T’ai Chi practice we are building habits, and they are constructive ones. The Vasanas, the habit energies, contribute to our lives. When these habit energies, may they be constructive or destructive become overly strong they develop [...]
Sound
In India the people speak of “vibration before sound,” the catalyst for the beginning of creation. This probably has the same meaning as, “In the beginning was the Word.” Almost all beliefs agree that sound is the matrix of creation. The fanciful phrase “music of [...]
The Silent Sadhu
The lengthening twilight seemed almost interminable as the old car plowed along the dismal roads east of Baroda. Indian sunsets are particularly spectacular where there is flat country and few trees or buildings to break the magnificent vista of pink, orange, and purple sky. These [...]
Spiritual Stories of the East: Hakuin’s Enlightenment & Final Thoughts at Death
Volume 1, Track 4 Overjoyed at his experience, which he later classified as a great Satori, or enlightenment experience, Hakuin turned and ran back up the hill to tell his master. But as he did so, Shōju, his teacher, came running out of the [...]
The Great Secret: Chi! Your Heritage
The Indian people speak of Shakti, Kundalini, and Prana. Japanese call it Ki as in aikido. And the Chinese speak of Chi, the Vital Force, or Intrinsic Energy, that makes us one with the universe. We are born with the Chi energy; indeed, we [...]
Chanting
There are innumerable types of chanting, and the practice is very strong and beneficial, whether we chant in Latin (Gregorian Chants), in Sanskrit, in Chinese, in Tibetan or in Japanese. Generally we chant in groups, gaining strength from others in the assemblage. The author, when [...]
Meditation & Concentration
Concentration and meditation are two, but they are often linked together under the heading meditation. Concentration is intense focus on an object, often until one becomes the object and the mind is one-pointed. Zazen in Zen is like this, as is the practice of the [...]
The Personal, Part 3
Each time I go to Kyoto, I visit Honen-in to pay my respects to old Honen, the teacher of Shinran. Honen-in is a small Buddhist temple with beautiful grounds, located on the "Tetsugakusha na Michi" ("Philosophers' Walk") in the eastern mountains (hills, really) of [...]
To Cling Or Not To Cling
"You’ve been on the spiritual path for 40 years. What have you learned?” “I’ve learned that there is nothing to be done.” “Ah, but if you hadn’t been on the path for 40 years, you wouldn’t know there’s nothing to be done!” It is hard [...]