In this episode we talk to Michael McCord, president of San Francisco Zen Center, on bringing Zen practices into daily life and work, and how enlightenment is seen as an ongoing process of increasing awareness, not a fixed end state to achieve.

• Includes a guided meditation introducing the Zen practice of breath counting.

To learn more about Michael McCord, please visit these San Franciso Zen Center pages:
https://www.sfzc.org/
https://blogs.sfzc.org/blog/2024/09/10/meet-sfzcs-new-president-michael-mccord/
https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/sozan-michael-mccord
and on YouTube:
@SFZenCenter

The Zen manual discussed in this episode is the Tenzo Kyokun (Instructions for the Cook).
This site has links to a few translations:
https://www.themathesontrust.org/library/instructions-cook-tenzo-kyokun

Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature.

NEWS:

Awareness Explorers has made the following top listener charts on Goodpods:
# 6 in the Top 100 awakening All time chart
# 8 in the Top 100 joy All time chart
# 6 in the Top 100 awareness All time chart
# 8 in the Top 100 consciousness All time chart
# 47 in the Top 100 meditation All time chart

To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:
https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/

If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z

Or on our Awareness Explorers website:
https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations

To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:
https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers
NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one.

To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit
https://findinghappiness.com/
and
https://www.playawarenessgames.com/

You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n

Enjoy,
Jonathan and Brian

In this episode we talk to Stephen Zerfas, co-founder of Jhourney, which offers retreats facilitating rapid access to jhana meditation states, described as positive feedback loops between attention and emotion, offering profound states of gratitude, peace and non-duality.

• Includes a guided meditation focusing on relaxing the body while turning our attention to positive concepts such as gratitude and wishing for the well-being of all others.

To learn more about Stephen Zerfas, please visit:
https://www.jhourney.io/
and on X:
@jhanatech
https://x.com/jhanatech?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

The Oxford professor Stephen mentions in this episode is Shamil Chandaria. To learn more, please visit his YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/@ShamilChandaria

And the books recommended in this episode:

Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhānas, by Leigh Brasington

The Path to Nibbāna. How Mindfulness of Loving-Kindness Progresses through the Tranquil Aware Jhānas to Awakening, by David C. Johnson

Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature.

NEWS:

Awareness Explorers has made the following top listener charts on Goodpods:
# 6 in the Top 100 awakening All time chart
# 8 in the Top 100 joy All time chart
# 6 in the Top 100 awareness All time chart
# 8 in the Top 100 consciousness All time chart
# 48 in the Top 100 meditation All time chart

To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:
https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/

If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z

Or on our Awareness Explorers website:
https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations

To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:
https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers
NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one.

To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit
https://findinghappiness.com/
and
https://www.playawarenessgames.com/

You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n

Enjoy,
Jonathan and Brian

In this episode we discuss strategies for handling bad news as an awakening person, balancing awareness and action..

• Includes a guided meditation addressing the dichotomy between taking action and acceptance, and how to bring these two seeming opposites into a workable equilibrium.

Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature.

NEWS:

Awareness Explorers has made the following top listener charts on Goodpods:
# 6 in the Top 100 awakening All time chart
# 8 in the Top 100 joy All time chart
# 6 in the Top 100 awareness All time chart
# 8 in the Top 100 consciousness All time chart
# 47 in the Top 100 meditation All time chart

To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:
https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/

If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z

Or on our Awareness Explorers website:
https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations

To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:
https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers
NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one.

To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit
https://findinghappiness.com/
and
https://www.playawarenessgames.com/

You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n

Enjoy,
Jonathan and Brian

Photo by Egor Vikhrev on Unsplash