Ep. 235 - Dance & Zazen: Finding Joy in Practice with Anusha Enryu Fernando and Vincent Moore

Exploring the connections between Bharata Natyam dance and zazen, Anusha Enryu Fernando helps listeners remember the joy of practice.

This conversation was originally recorded on the Paths of Practice Podcast. Listen to more episodes HERE.

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This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Anusha and Vincent discuss:

• Zen practice and doing full-body meditations
• Bharata Natyam: a sacred and ancient dance that focuses on the mind-body connection
• Paying attention to the body so intently that there is no space for thought
• The non-abiding mind and continuing to move through human experience
• Understanding the devotional gestures that are built into zen practice
• Anusha’s profound experience learning Sanskrit for both ancient dance and studying the dharma 
• The most important vow: to really be alive in this life
• Food preparations, making offerings, and connecting with the ancestors through food
• How people get stuck on the first noble truth and forget that there is joy in practice

Check out The Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon and learn more about residencies, workshops, and more.

About Anusha Enryu Fernando:

Anusha Enryu Fernando was born in Sri Lanka to a Theravadin Buddhist family. Her grandparents founded the Vipassana Meditation Centre located in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1957. She began practicing Zen Meditation with Hogen and Chozen Roshi in 2007, and became a dharma holder in 2021. She holds a BA in Religious Studies, specializing in Buddhism and Hinduism from McGill University, and a Masters of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of British Columbia, specializing in Sanskrit. In her dissertation, she translated a Sanskrit poem of the life story of the Buddha, called the Padyacudamani. Enryu has been a teacher and performer of Bharata Natyam, a form of Indian Classical Dance, for the past thirty years and is the founder and Artistic Director of Shakti Dance Society. She has also been the book purchaser at Banyen Books and Sound, Vancouver’s iconic spiritual and metaphysical bookstore, for the past twenty-eight years. She is the mother of an adult daughter and lives with her husband, parents, and multiple furry friends in Vancouver, Canada. Read more about Anusha’s work in Shakti Dance HERE.

"Movement is a huge part of the experience of zazen. You're not sitting there like a fallen rock. The connecting with just the aliveness of that experience, that juicy, wonderful aliveness which is movement, is the practice.” –Anusha Enryu Fernando

About Vincent Moore:

Vincent Moore is a creative and creative consultant living in San Francisco, California, with over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry and holds a graduate degree in Buddhist Studies. For years, he performed regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, an improv and sketch comedy theatre based in New York and Los Angeles. As an actor, Vincent performed on Comedy Central, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Seth Meyers, Above Average, and The UCB Show on Seeso. As a writer, he developed for television as well as stage, including work with the Blue Man Group, and his own written projects have been featured on websites such as Funny or Die. Additionally, he received a Masters of Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies with a Certificate in Soto Zen Studies and engages in a personal Buddhist practice within the Soto Zen tradition. Vincent is also the creator and host of the podcast, Paths of Practice, which features interviews with Buddhists from all over the world. Learn more on Vincent’s website HERE.

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