Henry Shukman - Zen Awakening: It's Not What You Think

ManTalks Podcast

Connor Beaton

Relationships, Mental Health, Education, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 591 Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You hear it all the time: enlightenment, awakening, expansion, liberation. Yadda yadda yadda. But...what is it really? Is it even possible to describe? This week, I sit with acclaimed Zen teacher and poet Henry Shukman to try and get the actual Zen take on things. We dig into his own spiritual journey, how to meditate in the Zen way, and how chasing after something can sometimes prevent you from ever getting it. Henry Shukman is a mindfulness teacher and the spiritual Director of Mountain Cloud Zen Center. He has been trained by Zen several teachers, particularly the roshis Joan Rieck, John Gaynor, Ruben Habito, and Yamada Ryoun Roshi, as well as by teachers and mentors in other traditions. Henry has an MA from Cambridge and an MLitt from St. Andrews, and has written several award-winning books of poetry and fiction. He currently guides a wide range of students from all walks of life. He received dharma transmission (inka shomei) from Yamada Ryoun Roshi, the abbot of Sanbo Zen, and is a Zen Master of the Sanbo Zen lineage of Kamakura, Japan. Henry's struggles as a youth, combined with a spontaneous awakening experience at age 19, paved the way for Henry to develop a well-rounded approach to spirituality and meditation, under the guidance of his teachers – one that includes both compassionate concern for the sufferings of the world and the great liberative power of awakening as its foundations. Connect with Henry -Website; Mountain Cloud Zen Center: https://www.mountaincloud.org/ -Website; Original Love Meditation: https://originallove.org/ -Book; One Blade Of Grass: https://bit.ly/3CFLuFz -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mountaincloudzencenter/ Did you enjoy the podcast? If so, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Podchaser. It helps us get into the ears of new listeners, expand the ManTalks Community, and help others find the self-leadership they’re looking for. Are you looking to find purpose, navigate transition, or fix your relationships, all with a powerful group of men from around the world? Check out The Alliance and join me today. Check out our Facebook Page or the Men's community. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify For more episodes visit us at ManTalks.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right, team, welcome to the man talk show. I'm Connor Beaton. Glad to have you here again. Thank you so much for tuning into the show. It's been wonderful to have so many of you sharing the episodes lately on Instagram
0:23.1	and on different platforms. I appreciate you tagging me in them. And just really grateful for the
0:28.1	messages that you've been sending me, letting me know what conversations you've been enjoying,
0:33.1	the guests that I should have on the show, and the many episodes that I've been putting out that you've really enjoyed. So as always, feel free to send me a message on the show and the many episodes that I've been putting out that you've
0:38.3	really enjoyed. So as always, feel free to send me a message on Instagram, DME, and I'm happy to
0:43.7	hear about who you'd like to have on the show or just fire me off an email info at mantox.com.
0:49.9	And I'd love to hear a little bit more about the guests that you'd like to have on the show
0:54.4	and maybe the questions that you'd like me to answer.
0:57.2	So joining me today is a guest that I wanted to interview for a while.
0:59.9	His name is Henry Shookman.
1:01.6	And he is the spiritual director at Mountain Cloud Zen Center.
1:05.3	And I wanted to have Henry on the show for a number of reasons.
1:08.5	I wanted to talk about koans and and what zen is what the sort of
1:12.3	misconceptions of zen are what a zen practice looks like and this is going to be a two-part
1:19.3	conversation one part now and one part in a in a month or two we didn't get around to co-ons we
1:24.5	actually just got into what zen is and what it's not and a little bit
1:28.3	about the practice. But let me tell you about Henry. So he has been taught and trained by several
1:34.9	Zen teachers. The Roshi's, the Roshi is sort of like a master within the Zen practice.
1:42.4	Joan Reich, John Gaynor, Ruben Habito, and Yamada Rion Roshi,
1:48.5	as well as by many of the teachers and mentors in other traditions.
1:51.7	He currently guides a wide range of students from all walks of life.
1:55.1	He has received Dharma Transmission or Inka Shomei from Yamada, Rion R, the abbot of Sanbo Zen and is a Zen master of the Sanbo Zen lineage of Kamakura, Japan.
	...

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