“It is a form of generosity, how we show up.”

What do we do with the stories we often tell ourselves about ourselves? Many of us worry, ‘Am I good?’ or think, ‘I am no good’. Many of us feel, ‘No one sees me,’ or are sure that ‘Everyone is judging me.’ These stories are not new or unique. They are very human. What if we stopped telling them?

In this recent dharma talk, Koshin Sensei invites us to engage with our stories in a new and playful way. Drawing on Kodo Sawaki’s assertive teachings, Koshin shows us how we get caught up in our little dramas, in yet another “scene in the play of self-deception.” The teachings of the Buddha, like the lion’s roar, arrives to completely focus our attention to the way our “little personal problems” block us from fresh possibilities. Can we be more open and expansive? If we engage with one another and remain playful within ourselves, something new can happen. Koshin asks us to imagine: “What would it be like to see your little personal problems as not that interesting?”

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, leader in contemplative care, and co-founder of an educational non-profit called the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. His books, grounded in Buddhist wisdom and practice, have gained national attention. Through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices, the New York Zen Center touches thousands of lives every year.

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

• Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book
  
• Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t
  
• Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL
  

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The post Engaged and Playful | Koshin Paley Ellison appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.