Best Unminding Podcasts (2024)

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161: Election Year Zen part 6 16:53

11d ago16:53

16:53

Following on the previous UnMind series of three segments on aging, sickness and death, the Three Marks of Buddhism’s worldview, we will expand our scope to the broader world of international conflict, characteristic of our modern world, where Buddhism’s three conditions of existence are also manifested, if in a more universal form. Traditional def…

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160: The Three Marks of Dukkha part 3 16:31

25d ago16:31

16:31

Closing out our exploration of the “three marks” of dukkha, in this episode we will take a look, close-up-and-personal, at death. In summary, our confrontation with and embrace of the three marks varies according to their universal natures, as well as to our personal nurturing in their recognition and acceptance. Aging is predictable, but typically…

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Ep66 - The Breakfast Club! 1:15:19

25d ago1:15:19

1:15:19

Send us a Text Message. In this episode, we look at how we apply meaning to our lives rather than meaning being intrinsic them. When we free ourselves from believing in everything we feel and think we find a new freedom in our lives. It also turns into one of our funniest spaces when we open to the audience at the end and things get a little bit cr…

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159: The Three Marks of Dukkha part 2 13:38

28d ago13:38

13:38

Continuing with a consideration of the realities of day-to-day Zen practice in the context of Buddhism’s central teaching of dukkha – natural suffering writ large – the second of the “three marks,” or characteristics of existence from a human perspective, is usually named as “sickness” or “illness.” Please note in passing that illness, from the per…

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158: The Three Marks of Dukkha part 1 17:01

1M ago17:01

17:01

Returning from the political fray to the realities of daily life on Earth 2 — as the current popular trope would have it — I would like to delve into one of the teachings of Buddhism and Zen that may contribute to its misperception as being overly pessimistic. The “three marks” of dukkha, the Sanskrit word usually translated as “suffering,” or “uns…

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Ep65 - The Essence of Mind 1:02:04

1M ago1:02:04

1:02:04

Send us a Text Message. Welcome back to OneMinding. In this episode we explore the depths of human consciousness and how it shapes our minds and our worlds. We look at an understanding that unlocks the secrets of the human experience and the essence of the mind. When we look in this direction we find we can be transformed and have a deeper sense of…

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157: Election Year Zen part 5 17:46

2M ago17:46

17:46

Once again, allow me to address the sentiment prevalent amongst many Zen groups that the political realm is, and should remain, outside the pale - when it comes to topics appropriate to the scope of Buddhism and Zen. The “tongue of the Buddha” represented by the short, curled ceremonial stick carried by Zen priests (J. nyoi or katsu) is said to be …

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156: Design of Future Zen part 4 17:32

2M ago17:32

17:32

In looking forward and anticipating the future of Zen in America, once again it may behoove us to take a look in the rearview mirror. According to research reported by one of my future lineage successors – in a years-long series of talks he gave on the history of the transmission of Zen – things did not always go swimmingly when the big cheese fina…

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155: Design of Future Zen part 3 18:47

2M ago18:47

18:47

We closed the last segment with a quote from Master Dogen from Shobogenzo Zuimonki, regarding monastic practice in 13th century Japan: How do we practice the Way without being disturbed by the slandering remarks of others, and without reacting to the resentment of others, or speaking of the right or wrong of others? Only those who thoroughly devote…

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154: Design of Future Zen part 2 15:04

2M ago15:04

15:04

Continuing with our theme: the importance of independent thought and interdependent action to the future of Zen in America, we must define the design intent of our program in the current context of uncertainty. The accelerating pace of change, including geometrically expanding attractions and distractions in the secular and now digital world, gives…

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153: Design of Future Zen part 1 15:30

2M ago15:30

15:30

In the last UnMind segment on “Election Year Zen,” we stressed Zen’s emphasis on thinking independently and acting interdependently, as a kind of rule of thumb for approaching the quadrennial campaign and politics in general. Returning to the main theme running through the UnMind podcast, the intersection of design thinking and Zen, the importance …

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152: Election Year Zen part 4 18:56

3M ago18:56

18:56

In the last episode of UnMind, we concluded our review of the design intent of the Three Treasures of Buddhism. In this segment, we return to the current state of the campaign for political leadership of the country. My intent in these essays regarding the practice of Zen in an election year cycle is not to persuade or convince anyone of anything, …

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151: Three Jewel Design part 3 20:03

3M ago20:03

20:03

In the last two episodes of UnMind, we continued our review of the design intent of the Three Treasures of Buddhism, first focusing on joining the Sangha, or Zen community; then on studying the Dharma. In this segment, we will analyze practicing what Buddha himself did, the central and indispensable method of Zen’s meditation. I have written extens…

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150: Three Jewel Design part 2 19:30

3M ago19:30

19:30

In the last segment of UnMind, we took up the most social of the Three Treasures: Sangha, or community. In this segment, we will continue with our analysis of the design of Dharma study; and in the next, that of Buddha practice, Zen’s unique meditation, or zazen. These three constitute the highest values and manifestations of Buddhism in the real w…

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149: Three Jewels Design part 1 19:11

3M ago19:11

19:11

In the next three segments of UnMInd we will take up the Three Jewels, Gems, or Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha - the highest values of Buddhism - from the perspective of their design intent. Buddha practice - time on the cushion dedicated to recovering our original, awakened nature ‑ is the most important dimension in the Zen, or meditation …

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148: Election Year Zen #3 15:13

4M ago15:13

15:13

In this segment, as promised, we will return to the seemingly zero-sum game being played out in the political arena, under the rubric of “Election Year Zen,” episode #3. As I pointed out in closing the second segment: This, too – “politics” is the Dharma. While the course of action that Buddha and the Ancestors of Zen undertook, within the constrai…

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147: Zen and Zero 21:35

4M ago21:35

21:35

Monday, March 11, was my birthday, as I mentioned in the last segment of UnMind. Wednesday, March 27th, happens to be my late brother’s birthday. So in his honor, let us continue exploring the theme of Time — its seeming passage and constant presence. He was a professional jazz pianist and teacher of music, and so was fully immersed in time. Once u…

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146: Zen and Design Thinking 21:40

4M ago21:40

21:40

BRINGING ORDER OUT OF CHAOS It might be said that the function of the discriminating mind (S. citta), in the most general sense, is to render what is perceived as chaos into what may be perceived as order. Of course, this is not an original idea, and has an associated idea that chaos, as we perceive it, may be thought of as a higher level of order,…

1
145: Time and Zen 17:09

4M ago17:09

17:09

Monday, March 11, 2024 is my 83rd birthday, and coincidentally the deadline for this segment of UnMind, in order to drop on Wednesday the 13th. I did an exercise in visualizing my personal timeline this last year, and will share it with you in this installment. You will have to visit the website to see the illustrations (link), but for now, as we s…

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144: Election Year Zen part 2 17:25

5M ago17:25

17:25

As promised, at the beginning of each month in 2024, we return to the topic of “Election Year Zen,” with my “DharmaByte” column (DB) for the Silent Thunder Order monthly newsletter, followed by my first subsequent “UnMind” podcast (UM) of the month. To review the underlying rationale for this approach to a topic most practitioners would prefer to a…

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143: Zen = More is Less 17:49

5M ago17:49

17:49

In our last segment of UnMind, on the meaning of “less is more” — a central axiom of design thinking coined by the famous architect, Mies van der Rohe — I introduced the notion that this adage may be usefully applied to Zen, as well. The simplicity of lifestyle and paucity of possessions surrounding the history of Zen, in China and Japan in particu…

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142: Zen = Less is More 14:20

5M ago14:20

14:20

In the last segment of UnMind, the second installment discussing the sameness and differences I have noted in teaching Zen or design as a profession, I wrapped up the essay by mentioning the concept of “control,” as it might apply to either or both: In meditation circles, we often hear phrases such as “controlling the breath” or “emptying your mind…

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141: Teaching Design and Teaching Zen 15:04

6M ago15:04

15:04

If you are paying an undue degree of attention to the details of my UnMind podcasts, you may have noted that the last segment was titled “Teaching Zen & Teaching Design,” while this one is “Teaching Design & Teaching Zen.” A trivial difference without a distinction, you might say. The emphasis on design thinking may have been a bit confusing, and Z…

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140: Teaching Zen and Teaching Design part 1 12:52

6M ago12:52

12:52

As I mentioned in one of the prior segments of UnMind: In zazen, as well as in Zen writ large, we embrace a directive from the first great Ch’an poem by Master Kanchi Sosan: To move in the One Way Do not reject even the world of senses and ideas Indeed embracing them fully is identical with true enlightenment This is the most direct testament I hav…

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139: Zen and Politics 15:22

6M ago15:22

15:22

After taking a holiday hiatus from my DharmaByte column and UnMind podcast, in collaboration with my publisher and producer, we have determined a new direction for 2024, or a new way of extending our past direction. As this is the quadrennial election year in the American national political cycle, we feel it is time, and timely, to address the rela…

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UnMind December 2023 Announcement 2:05

7M ago2:05

2:05

This is UnMind, and I am producer Shinjin Larry Little. After restarting the UnMind podcast in April of 20-23 with episode 106, we’ve met you almost every week for the past 33 weeks with fresh insights and teachings from Great Cloud Michael Elliston Roshi. Due to multiple competing priorities at this time of year, we will take a brief and well-dese…

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Ep64 - Anxiety & The Lies Your Mind Tells You 55:31

7M ago55:31

55:31

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to OneMinding, in this episode we take a deep dive into the human experience. We will be exploring a topic that touches the lives of so many: anxiety. We'll unravel the intricate web of thoughts that cause us to feel anxious and look at the tricks our minds play on us. We explain how anxiety is a temporary experience…

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138: Zen and Zazen 19:35

8M ago19:35

19:35

In this segment of UnMind, I would like to return to the basics of Zen, after a foray into some of the darker topics of the times, in particular the horrific conditions of global strife in which we find ourselves immersed these days. It’s a bit like being trapped in the middle of a train wreck where we cannot turn our gaze away. Life has always exi…

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Ep63 - A Revolution For The Mind 55:55

8M ago55:55

55:55

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to another episode of OneMinding. Today, we're diving into a topic that might just reshape the way you see the world: "A Revolution Of The Mind. We look at how we can wake up from the illusions that our mind creates and the thoughts and beliefs that shape our world. The story we live in is the one we tell ourselves a…

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Ep62 - The Missing Link In Mental Health 58:54

8M ago58:54

58:54

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to OneMinding, in this episode, we explore The missing link in mental health We look at the common misconception that the thoughts racing through our minds are undisputed truths.we'll dive deep into the concept that thoughts are not facts; rather, they are fleeting visitors in the vast landscape of consciousness. By …

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137: Compassion and Passion 15:03

8M ago15:03

15:03

I sometimes ask the producer of the UnMind podcast whether there is any subject he would like me to address, that he thinks is timely, and that others might find to be of interest. He sent me the following note: I was re-reading notes I've made in a Brad Warner book (“It Came From Beyond Zen”) and he made two points that are hitting me today. He in…

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136: War and Karma 16:42

8M ago16:42

16:42

I hesitate to add yet another voice to the cacophony of cries of agony, suffering, outrage and acrimony emanating out of Israel, Gaza, and surrounding Arab states, exacerbated by the 24/7 chattering class. Not to mention the ongoing carnage in Ukraine, which seems to have slipped under the global radar. But I fear that if we in Zen do not try to ad…

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135: Updated Noble Path part 2 16:00

9M ago16:00

16:00

In the last segment we ended with the suggestion that you, dear listener, might construct your own Noble N-fold Path based on your vision of the Noble Truths, with the proviso that you may have to articulate what the existence of suffering means to you, and how you might pursue a path to its cessation in modern times. In doing so you may discover t…

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134: Updated Four Noble Truths part 1 13:58

9M ago13:58

13:58

To elicit the bigger picture of the place of Zen and zazen in our world of practice, I would like to refer you to a couple of semantic models illustrating the interrelationships, or operative interfaces, of the various components of the Four Noble Truths, along with the dimensions of the Noble Eightfold Path that we all encounter on a daily basis, …

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133: Human Nature vs Buddha Nature 2 16:00

9M ago16:00

16:00

In the next two segments: number 132 and 133 in the sequence, we repeat a subject that we took up in number 113 and 114; namely the buddha nature versus human nature; some of the sameness and differences between what we refer to as “human nature” and what we refer to in Zen as our “original nature,” or “buddha-nature,” “buddha” meaning “awakened on…

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132: Human Nature vs Buddha Nature 1 13:58

9M ago13:58

13:58

In the next two segments: number 132 and 133 in the sequence, we repeat a subject that we took up in number 113 and 114; namely the buddha nature versus human nature; some of the sameness and differences between what we refer to as “human nature” and what we refer to in Zen as our “original nature,” or “buddha-nature,” “buddha” meaning “awakened on…

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131: The Noble 'N' Fold Path 17:24

9M ago17:24

17:24

The Noble Eightfold Path, the fourth of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, amounts to a prescription for practice, an octet of dimensions of daily life to pay strict attention to, in order to bring about Right View and Right Understanding, the dyad which, in combination, comprise Buddha’s idea of Right Wisdom. Right, or correct, wisdom in daily lif…

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130: Personal vs Communal 20:02

10M ago20:02

20:02

Continuing with our discussion of various turning points in living the Zen life, we will examine the Buddhist tradition of “leaving home” to become a mendicant, with its unexamined but intrinsic root question of what, exactly, we mean by “home.” The monastic ideal of “leaving home” is repeatedly praised by Master Dogen in the ordination ceremony kn…

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129: Turning Points in the Zen Life part 2 16:07

10M ago16:07

16:07

In the last segment of UnMind, we touched on the typically fraught turning points in normal life of changing jobs, going through divorce, and becoming empty-nesters when and if the kids finally move out. And if they don’t move back in again. They say you should write what you know, so I am living up to that dictum. In this installment we will touch…

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Ep61 - Do we have a 'Psychological Immune System'? 55:37

10M ago55:37

55:37

Send us a Text Message. In today's episode, we're diving into a fascinating topic: The Psychological Immune System. Just as our bodies have a powerful immune system to protect us from physical ailments, our minds also possess a remarkable defense mechanism to safeguard our mental well being. At the core of this understanding are the Three Principle…

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128: Turning Points in the Zen Life 14:53

10M ago14:53

14:53

In the last several series of the UnMind podcast, we have been exploring some ways of intentionally bringing Zen practice to bear on various situations and circumstances of daily life in America. By extension these might apply anywhere on the globe today, where revolutionary changes in technology and exploding population growth have taken hold. Aga…

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Ep60 - Your Mental Health Questions Answered with Molls & Mindful Monkz 1:09:45

10M ago1:09:45

1:09:45

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to Oneminding. In this episode, Molls takes the stage as she engages in a captivating Q&A session for an innovative online NFT mental health initiative known as "MindfulMonkz." During this insightful interview, she delves deep into The Three Principles, sharing their profound role in nurturing mental well-being. She …

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127: Karma & Koans 20:23

10M ago20:23

20:23

Continuing with the drive-time focus from the last segment is in keeping with the current thrust of UnMind. Each segment consists of a dissertation on issues typical of the USA, and coping with the international scope of global citizenship. Such concerns as over-consumption and the cult of the individual, plus lingering hangovers from 19th- and 20t…

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Ep59 - Staying Sane in a Mad World! 1:01:33

10M ago1:01:33

1:01:33

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to this weeks OneMinding where we look at how to stay sane in a mad world. In the modern world, where chaos, uncertainty, and madness seem to lurk around every corner we can often feel helpless and insecure. In this episode we explore how we all have an inner space where the world cannot touch us. Where peace lives a…

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126: Stress and Choice 16:19

11M ago16:19

16:19

Continuing with our exploration of how to actualize a thoroughgoing Zen practice in the midst of life in the 21stCentury, we will take a closer look at one of the situations in which many of us find ourselves: the daily commute. Which would have been the furthest thing from the mind of Shakyamuni Buddha, or his descendants in India, China, and Japa…

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Ep58 - FFS Just Listen! 45:24

11M ago45:24

45:24

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to this weeks Oneminding where we explore the topic of Listening… What does it mean to truly listen and what can we hear when we do? In a world filled with noise and distractions, it's easy to forget the power of listening, not just to those around us but also to the depths of our own being. When we get quiet we can …

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125: Zen at Home 16:21

11M ago16:21

16:21

ZEN AT WORK, AT HOME, AT PLAY Following on the last segment of UnMind, this one is based on questions raised by the same member of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center community. She moved here from India, and later moved out of the Atlanta area. If you are interested having in a regular online dharma dialog with me, as she does, let me know. And If you hav…

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Ep57 - Ready or Not? 1:03:22

11M ago1:03:22

1:03:22

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to OneMinding, today we're diving deep into a thought-provoking subject that might just transform the way you view readiness and taking action. We will challenge the notion of waiting until we feel "ready" to live our lives, pursue our dreams and do the things we would love to do. Is this concept of being ready merel…

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124: Zen at Work 14:22

11M ago14:22

14:22

ZEN AT WORK, AT HOME, AT PLAY This segment of UnMind is based on some questions raised by one of the members of ASZC. While she moved out of the Atlanta area, she stays in touch through weekly participation in my Online Dharma Dialog program. As an aside, if you think you may be interested in establishing a dialog about your practice, let me know v…

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123: Zen versus Daily Life part 7 16:35

11M ago16:35

16:35

THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO In one of the recent segments of this podcast, titled “What if This is Hell?” I indulged a “what if” conjecture, speculating that this earthly life may not be some kind of test, as many religions conceive of it — wherein those who pass the test go to their reward in heaven, while those who fail are condemned to an eternity i…

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