A Cup of Zen

The first cup of coffee in the morning is a beautiful, enjoyable thing. You're not quite awake and your mind is open and receptive to the thoughts you drink in. As you enjoy your Zen Coffee first thing in the morning, allow the coffee to fill you with a wonderful feeling of calm and peacefulness to set the tone for your day.

Zen Coffee... Review

Since my last several posts have been about reviewing Zen books, I thought I'd share a review, written by Cassie Bendel of Espresso Machine News about my own book, Zen Coffee: A Guide to Mindful Meditation.

Author Gloria Chadwick has released a book that seems like an oxymoron: Zen Coffee. But her aim is to teach you how your favorite drink can help calm you down.

Many people approach coffee drinking as a means to an end. They're tired and they need to get the caffeine in the coffee into their system as quickly as possible so that they can wake up, or at least feel like it, and rush on to the next part of the day. This, in my opinion, is why God and the good people at Red Bull invented energy drinks.

While I can't claim that I don't benefit from coffee's energizing purposes, it's always been something different for me. It's meant a chance to slow down. A chance to stop and notice what's around me. So imagine my delighted surprise when I came across the book, Zen Coffee: A Guide
to Mindful Meditation by Gloria Chadwick.

Chadwick's approach to coffee leans more towards seeing the world's #1 beverage as a way to bring a sense of mindfulness and peace to your life rather than something to chug down on your way out the door. However, on her blog, she explains that the book is also for busy people who need the chance to slow down and literally drink in all that life (and coffee) has to offer.

While I haven't read Chadwick's book, her ideas seem quite appealing. According to her, the book can show the average coffee drinker how to utilize their favorite drink and translate those experiences into lowering stress. Chadwick claims you needn't become a Zen expert to experience the calming effects the practice can have on your mind and spirit.

We can all use a little more mindfulness in our daily lives, whether it means committing to a few moments in meditation or simply just taking a second away from the noise of appointments and technology to really stop and see ourselves more clearly. Though I've already found my own approach to coffee as a reason to embrace these moments, I hope to pick up a copy of Chadwick's book and see what a fellow coffee lover thinks about it too.

The book is $9.95 and is available on Amazon.

Answers from the Heart

When Bodhipaksa of Wildmind asked me to review Thich Nhat Hanh's new book, Answers from the Heart: Practical Responses to Life's Burning Questions, I immediately said yes. I've read many of his books and found them to be loving and peaceful.

In the spirit of honesty, I must say that I was disappointed with this book. It seems vague; most of the responses to questions asked are answered with an all-encompassing response
of basically to be mindful of the emotion you
are feeling. In my opinion, Thich Nhat Hanh doesn't offer concrete--or practical--answers to questions in the chapters about Daily Life, Family, Parenting, and Relationships, Spiritual Practices, Engaged Buddhism, Sickness and Health, Death and Dying, and Children's Questions. But perhaps this is the purpose of Answers from the Heart. To offer us koans to help us create our own answers, to look within for our own compassion and understanding.

Here's an excerpt from the chapter on Family, Parenting, and Relationships: Question: My teenage son and I argue all the time. How can I stop these fights? Answer: The first thing you can do is to look at yourself, to see whether you have enough calm energy to help calm him when he is in your presence. The problem may not only be with the child, but within the parent. If the parent is not peaceful, this can trigger negative emotions in the child, especially if there are negative seeds planted in him. In the past there may have been times when you got irritated and reacted in a state of annoyance--this has deposited those seeds in him. You have to undo this in the present moment. Being loving and calm and having the capacity to listen can absorb a lot of suffering. If you can engage him to talk to you about his difficulties by practicing deep, compassionate listening, that will help remove the kinds of energies that are making him suffer. If you have loving kindness and the energy of peace in you, even without speaking you can influence another person and he or she will feel better just sitting with you.

The book is $12.95 and is available from Amazon.

I had a bit of a dilemma about whether to post this review since it's negative and I have so much respect for Thich Nhat Hanh. I've read many of his books and enjoyed them tremendously, but I didn't enjoy this book and would not recommend it. I decided to post this review (obviously, since you're reading it) because it is my honest opinion of
the book. Have you read this book? What did you think about it?

Still the Mind

I had the pleasure of reviewing Bodhipaksa's new 2-CD set, Still the Mind: Simple Breathing Practices for Inner Peace, published by Sounds True. Bodhipaksa is a Buddhist teacher and runs the online meditation center, Wildmind, a wonderful website. The
CD retails for $19.95 and is available
on the Wildmind website for $15.96.

I totally loved Still the Mind. I felt as
if I was listening to a very kind, gentle teacher who was speaking with me, a teacher who truly wanted to share the peace and joy that meditation brings. Bodhipaksa makes meditation available and easily accessible to everyone who wants to meditate. I loved it because it's so real, so practical, and so down-to-earth.

He starts off with an introduction, then suggests we start where we
are, because it's the only place we can start, then guides us through a short meditation of simply following the sensations of the breath. This, in and of itself, is very beautiful. We accept where we are and simply begin our practice of meditation to begin to still our minds. If our thoughts stray as we begin to meditate, we treat ourselves with kindness, returning our attention and focus to our breath.

The CD continues in a gentle, conversational style, as if you and Bodhipaksa are sitting together, just discussing mindfulness and how
to achieve inner peacefulness. He answers all questions almost before you can ask them and covers any doubts you may have that could hinder your practice. After listening to both CDs, you feel empowered to begin
a life-long meditation practice.

Rather than meditation becoming a goal or something you achieve, he encourages you to allow meditation to become a natural part of your life... as natural as breathing.

If you're looking to begin a practice of mindful meditation, Still
the Mind: Simple Breathing Practices for Inner Peace takes you on a peaceful journey into the Buddha-nature within, into the gentle, quiet place of inner peacefulness, and the experience of a still mind. I highly recommend this CD set.

The back cover blurb reads as follows:

Find the stillness behind every breath with this step-by-step guide to meditation. The average person has 12,000 thoughts per day--most of them a recurring handful of unwelcome distractions. On Still the Mind, master meditation teacher Bodhipaksa offers an essential program for anyone looking to move beyond the chatter of a too-busy mind, while laying the foundation for a daily meditation practice.

Two CDs of instruction and guided sitting sessions will help you discover the breath as an untapped source of mental clarity and inner peace, as you transcend the hectic demands of everyday life and learn to settle into the deepest parts of yourself. Bodhipaksa's gentle teaching style and straightforward delivery take the mystery out of meditation. His step-by-step instruction will help you cultivate your own daily practice right in the middle of your busy life, as you explore:

• The 1-2-3's of sitting practice, from the best times to meditate to what you can expect in your first few days, weeks, and months;
• How to evolve a spontaneous and self-motivating practice that is both joyful and empowering;
  
• Using the breath as a natural gateway to your inherent wisdom and clarity; and
  
• How to channel your new-found mindfulness into your relationships, career, and creative pursuits.

Whether you're a first-timer or a seasoned meditator, Still the Mind gives you easy access to greater self-awareness and self-confidence, increased calm in any situation, and harmony within and without.

You can visit Bodhipaksa at Wildmind.

Your Mind is Magical... You Are Magical

Last week, I posed a coffee question asking how you meditate, so I thought I'd share some of the ways I meditate. There are no rules to meditation; whether you meditate zazen, sipping your coffee, or just becoming calm and quiet, you always arrive at the same benefits--a peaceful place in your mind.

I often meditate by inner journeying, by creative visualization, by embracing my Zen coffee and the calm it brings to me, and by opening up the magical power of my mind to explore my true spiritual nature.

I have another blog--Magical Mind--and I'd like to invite you to explore more ways to meditate, to explore your inner, magical self.

Coffee Question

How do you meditate?

Holding a steaming mug of coffee while breathing in the ethereal essence and aroma of the coffee?

Sitting quietly, clearing your mind of all thoughts?

Creatively visualizing on a pleasant image?

Actively journeying within your mind and traveling through the thoughts and images that arise?

There are so many ways to meditate. How do you like to meditate?

Meditate for Earth

Next Saturday, March 28th, at 8:30 P.M., millions of people everywhere around the world are turning off their lights for one
hour to Vote for Earth, and to help bring attention and mindful awareness to the
global warming crisis.

Zen carries with it a respect for all of life;
we can all respect the Earth by turning off our lights for one hour. I'll
be lighting a few candles, drinking some Zen coffee, and meditating during this hour, sending love vibes and healing to the Earth.