The Impersonal, Part 2
Frequently, followers of the Spiritual Path reach a joyous feeling of Unity — and then get hung up there. Unless they can come full circle, back to the ordinary life, it will be practically impossible for them to function in this world. What do [...]
Breath
Let’s consider the breath for a bit. Nothing is as vital to life as breath, yet we take it for granted and breathe unconsciously. This is probably for the best, for when breath is regulated or made the object of concentration; it tends to become [...]
The Self Of All Things
The great Indian sage, Ramana Maharshi, told his followers to ask themselves the question, “Who am I?” A psychiatrist or psychoanalyst might also want to know the answer to that question, but the purpose of these two people is widely different from what Ramana Maharshi [...]
The Way of Mindfulness
Now we come to the Way of Mindfulness (Satipatthana in the ancient Pali language), the Buddha’s great meditation that directly led to his all-encompassing enlightenment 2500 years ago. Only one man in historical times has been called Buddha, meaning Fully Enlightened One. Other epithets have [...]
Spiritual Stories of the East: Ordinary Teaching & Empty Cup
Volume 1, Track 6 Zen masters use ordinary, everyday incidents as opportunities to teach, and it is usually difficult to realize they are teaching. One time, when my Zen teacher was in America, I took my friend Dick and his wife to see the [...]
Spiritual Stories of the East: Carrying Nothing & Oneness
Volume 1, Track 1 Here are a few of my favorite spiritual stories of the East, many of them from my own experience. Now, quite a few so-called spiritual stories of the [East] have a humorous side. This is particularly so with Zen and [...]
Justin Stone Speaks: Track 1
A Chinese monk once said, “When the mind is transparent and pure as if reflected on the mirror-like surface of the water there is nothing in the world you would dislike. When it is serene as the light breeze in the sunshine there will [...]
Spiritual Stories of the East: Swami Krishnanand
Volume 2, Track 6 I once asked the remarkable karma yogi known as Swami Krishnananda, whom I had surprisingly heard referred to as Saint Krishnananda in Gujarat, India, whether he had ever seen a human body flying through the air. He answered no. “Had [...]
Justin Stone Speaks: Track 2
One is naturally gratified to receive these benefits from the regular practice of T’ai Chi Chih, but there are deeper effects that must be experienced personally. The practicing student will first notice a tingling in the fingers, and soon a slight shaking of the [...]