Being Zen (eBook)

Ezra Bayda (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2003 | 1. Auflage
144 Seiten
Shambhala (Verlag)
978-0-8348-2340-2 (ISBN)

Infos

Wecan use whatever life presents, Ezra Bayda teaches, to strengthen our spiritualpractice—including the turmoil of daily life. What we need is the willingnessto just be with our experiences—whether they are painful or pleasing—openingourselves to the reality of our lives without trying to fix or change anything.But doing this requires that we confront our most deeply rooted fears andassumptions in order to gradually become free of the constrictions andsuffering they create. Then we can awaken to the loving-kindness that is at theheart of our being.

Whilemany books aspire to bring meditation into everyday experience, BeingZen givesus practical ways to actually do it, introducing techniques that enable thereader to foster qualities essential to continued spiritual awakening. Topicsinclude how to cultivate:

Perseverance:staying with anger, fear, and other distressing emotions.

Stillness:abiding with chaotic experiences without becoming overwhelmed.

Clarity:seeing through the conditioned beliefs and fears that 'run' us.

Directexperience:encountering the physical reality of the present moment—even when that momentis exactly where we don't want to be.

LikePema Chdrn, the best-selling author of WhenThings Fall Apart, EzraBayda writes with clear, heartfelt simplicity, using his own life stories toillustrate the teachings in an immediate and accessible way that will appeal toa broad spectrum of readers.

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A “straightforward, simple, and wise” guide to living an awakened life through mindfulness and meditation (Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart)We can use whatever life presents to strengthen our spiritual practice—including the turmoil of daily life. What we need is the willingness to just be with our experiences—whether they are painful or pleasing—and open ourselves to the reality of our lives without trying to fix or change anything. But doing this requires that we confront our most deeply rooted fears and assumptions in order to gradually become free of the constrictions and suffering they create. Then we can awaken to the loving-kindness that is at the heart of our being. While many books aspire to bring meditation into everyday experience, Ezra Bayda's Being Zen gives us practical ways to actually do it, introducing techniques that enable the reader to foster qualities essential to continued spiritual awakening. Topics include how to cultivate:    •  Perseverance: staying with anger, fear, and other distressing emotions.    •  Stillness: abiding with chaotic experiences without becoming overwhelmed.    •  Clarity: seeing through the conditioned beliefs and fears that "e;run"e; us.    •  Direct experience: encountering the physical reality of the present moment—even when that moment is exactly where we don't want to be. Like Pema Chödrön, the best-selling author of When Things Fall Apart, Ezra Bayda writes with clear, heartfelt simplicity, using his own life stories to illustrate the teachings in an immediate and accessible way that will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers.

Textauszug

Chapter1: Skating on Thin Ice

Ihave a picture on my wall of a girl ice-skating. She's gliding along, arms heldhigh and head thrown back. Seemingly carefree, she's oblivious to a nearbysign: BEWARE OF THIN ICE. Does this sound familiar?

Mostof us cruise through life on automatic pilot. Perhaps things are going well, orat least our life is currently disaster-free. We may have a decent job,supportive relationships, and good physical health, yet even as we glide along,we have an intangible sense of how thin the ice beneath us is. We can sense theanxious quiver that vibrates with vague dissatisfaction, fields of unhealedpain, and unaddressed fears. Yet most of the time we choose not to look beneaththe surface.

Whenour life takes a turn for the worse, when we start encountering cracks in theice, what do we do? We try to clean up the surface, making our usual efforts topush away or overcome the difficulties. Or we might try to skate around thecracks by ignoring or suppressing our reactions to unpleasant events.

Inan attempt to keep from falling through the cracks in the ice, we choose ourstrategy, either working harder at maintaining control of our lives or makingmisguided attempts to escape from our difficulties with diversions, pleasures,or busyness. Rarely do we question our strategies, which are always rooted infear. We believe in them as the unquestioned truth. Yet in doing so, we defineour own boundaries, our own restrictions. Consequently our life narrows down toa sense of vague dissatisfaction.

Whatare these strategies that we use to erect a seemingly solid ground in order toavoid facing our fears? They are as varied as people's personalities. Some arestrategies of control—,trying to maintain order to ward off a sense ofimpending chaos. Some are strategies of success involving the drive to getahead, to be on top—,geared to override that nagging inner compulsion to proveour worth. There are strategies of conformity that seek the imagined comfort offitting in, and strategies of nurturing—,hoping to find security in beingneeded and appreciated. There are also strategies of neediness, in which weassume the identity of weakness and desperately attempt to be saved by aperson, a group, or an institution, and strategies of diversion—,seeking onepleasure after another to fill the deep holes of longing and loneliness. Thelist goes on and on.

Sometimeswe have to fall right into the icy water, unable to move or breathe,overwhelmed and drowning, before we're forced to deal with the deep-seatedconditioning that runs our life—,all the land mines of anger, fear, andconfusion. It might take an illness, a financial upheaval, a relationshipfailure, or the death of someone close to us to wake us up and force us to justbe in that icy water.

Whenwe fall into these unwanted situations, we can no longer strategize to avoidfacing our pain. It's right in front of us! The loss of financial security, ourhealth, or a relationship, for example, will bring fear right to the surface,and we're likely to feel anger, self-pity, depression, and confusion. How wework with these will be a measure of how we understand what our life is trulyabout. The good fortune of having a strong and genuine spiritual practice mayenable us to do something besides just seek comfort and escape when we're hitwith one of life's inevitable blows.

Inthe early seventies I bought a house with a little land in northern California.For eleven years we cultivated an extensive organic garden. Our goal was tolive from the land, which included raising goats for milk and chickens andsheep for meat. It was a nice life, and...

Produkt-Details

• Vorwort: Charlotte Joko Beck
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Buddhismus
• ISBN-10: 0-8348-2340-3 / 0834823403
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8348-2340-2 / 9780834823402