10. ZalthoLIVE: Giving witness, Living Zen out loud, Setting daily priorities

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand the trappings of a deluded mind more deeply.

Here brief notes about this episode's themes:

Giving witness/bearing witness - Encourage to be revealing of oneself, to not skate around on the surface of things, to explore the depth of our conditioning in a verbal way

Recognizing excuses for not-practicing meditation

Living practice out loud - It’s about sitting, it’s about pausing before eating - application of meditation in all of my daily affairs, not hiding my commitment, for instance in my case wearing robes - being more slow, talk less, be more deliberate

Working with the feelings connected with the trauma of injuring your hand – re-visiting using the saw

Memories that touch sadness - learning to hold the feelings

Perceiving interconnectedness in life – having a keen awareness, not always possible to put into words

Decisions on setting priorities - a big part is accepting life as it is - going ahead with what wants or needs to be done - to not over-think things

For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/

If you want to ask a question: [email protected]

Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations:

• Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice
• AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003)

https://zaltho.org/en/media/books.html