The Essence of Zen: One Heart One Mind, Waking Up, Working Through Grief & What Women Want From Men with Diane Hamilton

Ep. 14 (Part 1 of 2) | Zen teacher Diane Musho Hamilton brings us home to the simple essence of Zen: to practice as one, without reference to past or future. This heartfelt conversation covers many topics: waking up to our true nature, grief and practices that help us work through it, the tension of “difference,” healing the rift between female and male, the role of ayahuasca and peyote, the ever more subtle process of purification, and a beautiful recitation of 14th century Sufi poet Hafiz’s poem, “I Have Learned So Much.” Allow yourself to be reminded how simple things can get if you let them and how, as Diane says, “We’re all just growing up together.” Recorded on September 13, 2021.

Diane Musho Hamilton is an award-winning professional mediator, author, and teacher of Zen meditation. She has been a practitioner of meditation for more than 30 years and is a lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition. As the first Director of the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Utah Judiciary, Diane established mediation programs throughout the court system and won several prestigious awards for her work in this area. She is the Executive Director of Two Arrows Zen, a practice in Utah, and offers training programs oriented to personal development and advanced facilitator skills. Diane is the author of Everything Is Workable and The Zen of You and Me. Her latest book is Compassionate Conversations: How to Speak and Listen from the Heart, co-authored with Gabriel Wilson and Kimberly Loh.

“What does it mean to be human?”

Topics & Time Stamps - Part 1

• Diane’s opening at seventeen to “what does it mean to be human?” (02:43)
• Buddhadharma, Integral, and Big Mind (05:10)
• The urgent need for us to wake up to our fundamental unity (10:37)
• How Ken Wilber’s developmental stages and states fit in (15:20)
• The heart of Zen Buddhism: an utterly coherent reality, free of separation (19:37)
• Differences between Diane’s teachings & practice and traditional Zen: creating space for ego development (20:51) 
• Zen’s contribution to conflict resolution: radical first person, sitting together as one (24:11)
• Looking at climate change in an Integral way, from 1st-person, 2nd-person, and 3rd-person perspectives (26:21)
• Zen teaches peace is in the present without reference to past or future (29:33)
• The difference between meditation and flow states, and manifesting from the place of Big Mind (33:57)

Resources & References - Part 1

• Diane Hamilton, Compassionate Conversations: How to Speak and Listen from the Heart*
• Gabriel Wilson, Kimberly Loh
• Diane Hamilton, Everything is Workable*
• Diane Hamilton, The Zen of You and Me*
• Two Arrows Zen, Salt Lake City Artspace Zendo
• Two Arrows Zen, Torrey, Utah
• Chögyam Trungpa
• Gail Hochachka, “Finding Shared Meaning in the Anthropocene: Engaging Diverse Perspectives on Climate Change”
• Dennis Genpo Merzel, Big Mind Big Heart*

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos

Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell