Heart Stuff
Heart Stuff is a place where I post different expressions of my practice and life in general. Some of these posts originate in moments of clarity after having been buried in deep darkness, and others originates from times of inspiration.
Being a human being is a profound mystery, that we may never fully comprehend. However, when we approach life without the need to understand, we can embrace, appreciate, and love our experience. Instead of resisting, we can learn to be one with it.
Reflecting on my life, I recognize that without meditation practice I wouldn’t be where I am today. I began meditating in my thirties, following simple instructions: Sit still, stay alert, relax and let everything be as it is. It is simple, how-ever it works. It takes full focus, perseverance and faith and our true mind will reveal itself.
Taking this practice to heart makes it possible to go through any emotional storm and confusion you can encounter in this life. Without it I could not have learned to let go of my story line and become one with the full experience instead of fighting it. Just by doing that, everything opens. Instead of feeling locked in and stuck you are at peace and infinite. It is not that the pain goes away, or a difficult life situation is solved; but it’s possible to be present with the pains and difficulties. With trust the next step will reveal itself and you take it.
The human experience is a mystery. But what I know is we are vulnerable, and we care, and we love. Life can be very painful at times and hard to see clearly, but underneath all the hurt, pain and confusion resides our true heart and open-ended presence.
My fundamental perspective on life and work with people has been inspired by years of Zen training. In Zen we have a metaphor for a self-actualized life, it is called the hazy moon of enlightenment, which I find deeply inspiring for how to relate to life and my work. The moon symbolizes our true nature,...
There is a difference between feeling lonely and being alone, they point to two different states of mind. Feeling lonely, there is a feeling of something is lacking, and not right. The pure experience of being alone is experiencing complete intimacy with one self. Something is missing. I'm lonely. It's a kind of blues. You...
For the last six years, I've have focused on the phenomena I call a core contraction, which usually in psychology is called a negative self-belief. A negative self-belief points to one primary fear we have about, our self, our identity, our existence, which is the fear of not being good enough or not being worthy...
Most of our adult life, we are occupied with searching for our true self. Many people come to me with the question: "I don’t know who I am – can you help me?" It’s a raw and vulnerable state of mind. It is what is known as an existential crisis in the Western psychological world,...
The feeling of having a meaningful life, or that there is a meaning, gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of direction, a sense of knowing why you get up in the morning, why you're doing what you're doing and going through what you go through. Somehow you feel there is this current underneath...
A certain level of boredom can happen after spending a lot of time alone, not working or engaging in daily activities with others, no TV, reading books or surfing on the internet. This was written a few months into a two-year retreat: I am bored. It's been like this for some time now. Nothing is...
This path, the Zen path, is far beyond what I ever imagined it to be or what it might mean to walk this path for real. I don't even know what ‘for real’ means. ‘Knowing’ – that way of thinking – doesn't apply, because it is actually going absolutely, utterly and completely to the end...
Reflections on My Vision for the Future of the Sangha in the West. When people gather with the shared intention to awaken, something extraordinary begins to unfold. Through meditation and intention to awaken, a collective field of awareness forms, both holding and amplifying each individual's practice. Within this shared presence what we in...