Aug 31, 2021
Today, we explore the benefits of meditation and why meditation is the best tool for evolving human consciousness. Award-winning author and teacher Sean Murphy joins me. Sean is a fully authorized Zen teacher in the American White Plum lineage. He's also the founder and director of the Sage Institute of Taos, New Mexico, which hosts an innovative meditation and mindfulness training program.
Sean’s the author of One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories as well as three novels with another one in the works. He also teaches creative writing, meditation, and literature for the University of New Mexico in Taos.
[PLEASE NOTE: the starting date for Sean's 200 hour Sage Institute online/zoom
Meditation & Mindfulness Leader Program has been moved back to Sept. 7.
Spaces are still available. For more info, see www.sagetaos.com.]
What You Will Hear/Learn/Discover
[0:36] Guest introduction
[2:23] Sean answers the question, “What part of teaching brings you the most joy?”
[5:20] Mag and Sean discuss his Write to The Finish program.
[7:34] Sean talks about the Sage Institute and the work they do there.
[10:46] Discover how even children can practice mindfulness.
[16:35] Sean explains how his Zen training pulled him out of deep depression and helped him manage his anxiety.
[21:58] Learn how Zen embraces the mystery of life and lets you build your own beliefs.
[29:28] Sean talks about his upcoming fourth novel, Wilson’s Way.
[39:15] Sean explains how meditation gives you a more profound understanding of life.
Quotes
“There were points in my 20s and 30s that if … I went to a psychiatrist, I'm sure I could have gotten a clinical diagnosis for depression or anxiety. And I would have been medicated and all that. Instead, I did Zen, which as it turns out, really gave me this way to handle these things internally.”
“But finally, I have to say that it's about becoming comfortable, and I'd say, intimate with the mystery of life. We penetrate life ever more deeply through Zen practice. And we become so intimate with the mystery of life, that what naturally grows is compassion, gratitude, and appreciation for the beauty of simply living.”
Resources
One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories
Website: https://www.murphyzen.com/
https://www.sagetaos.com/
https://www.facebook.com/newweather
From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for being here. If you haven’t already, come join the community!
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