The path of aliveness : a contemporary Zen approach to awakening body and mind

by Christian Dillo

Paperback, 2022

Publication

Imprint: Boulder, Colorado : Shambhala, 2022. Edition: First edition. Responsibility: Christian Dillo. Physical: Text : 1 volume : xiii, 319 pages ; 23 cm. Features: Includes bibliography, index.

Call number

GT-B-Z / Dillo

Barcode

BK-08550

ISBN

9781611809978

Collections

Your library, Adult Materials, The Great Traditions, New Arrivals

CSS Library Notes

Description: Buddhism aims for the development of a flexible mind and skillful responsiveness—whether toward problems in one’s personal life or broader issues like the ecological crisis. But in a culture now saturated with cliches about mindfulness and unrealistic fantasies about happiness, what does it truly mean to walk this path? The key practice is that of embodied aliveness.

In The Path of Aliveness, Zen and Taoist Qigong teacher Christian Dillo offers a path of meaningful transformation tailored to our times. Through potent conceptual work and practical examples, he shows how to carefully examine the interrelationship between our senses, body energy, thoughts, and emotions so that we can transform our lives in the direction of less suffering and more freedom, wisdom, and compassion. This secular reconstruction respectfully plumbs Buddhist tradition—including classic teachings such as the foundations of mindfulness meditation, the four noble truths, and the practice of lovingkindness—while encouraging practitioners to rely on their own embodied experience for maintaining an alive and engaged presence no matter the circumstances. -- from publisher

Table of Contents: Introduction: Being fully alive
Transformation. Ingredients of transformation ; The physical posture of seated meditation ; Mental postures of transformation ; Mindfulness and bodyfulness ; The four gates of mindfulness ; Interlude: transformative phenomenology
Liberation. What is liberation from suffering? ; The four enactments ; Intimacy with the field of mind ; Bodyfulness, kindness, presence ; Emotional freedom ; Habits and karma ; The path of nourishment ; Interlude: Buddhism and psychotherapy
Wisdom. What is wisdom? ; Reality is withdrawn ; The two truths ; The relinquishing of all views ; Consciousness and self ; Undivided activity ; Wisdom as expression ; Interlude: felt sense
Compassion. What is compassion? ; The role of ritual ; Unlimiting mind ; Independence and connection ; Ethics as investigating aliveness ; Ecological compassion
Epilogue

FY2023 /

Physical description

xiii, 319 p.; 23 cm

Description

"The experiential practice of Zen Buddhism can be truly transformative at this very moment here and now. Zen Body, Zen Mind presents a Buddhist path requiring neither belief in something transcendent (the usual requirement of religion) nor postponement of transformation until one is a better person (the basic stance of psychotherapy). The book dives deeply into an exploration of the human body-mind based on traditional Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, the Five Skandhas, the Eight Vijnanas, the Two Truths, the Five Dharmas, and the Bodhisattva Ideal and Bodhisattva Precepts. Zenki Dillo's transformative yet secular approach to Buddhism does not advocate for the abolishment of Zen rituals or forms of practice that have a religious appearance. To the contrary, he reconstructs rituals as forms of embodiment training that are essential for transformation. This contemporary reconstruction of the teachings is always in the service of helping the reader make experiential distinctions in their own body-mind. Based on these distinctions, Buddhist practices appear as intentional cultivations of the body-mind, moving us toward experiences of personal and transpersonal freedom, wisdom, and compassion"--… (more)