The Talk Nobody Wants to Hear ~ Charlotte Joko Beck ~ Zen Buddhism
Jan 9, 2025
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Charlotte Joko Beck, a renowned American Zen teacher and author, shares profound insights from her talk rooted in 'Everyday Zen'. She discusses the evolution of spiritual practices, shifting from mere comfort to genuine transformation. Joko highlights common misconceptions newcomers have about Zen, emphasizing that true fulfillment goes beyond material gains. The significance of selflessness and compassion in personal growth is also explored, stressing the journey of understanding through meditation and the importance of patience in navigating emotional landscapes.
Initial Zen practice often focuses on self-benefit, leading to disappointment when personal goals aren't met, revealing a need for deeper understanding.
A shift towards altruism enhances commitment to serving others, demonstrating that personal desires can hinder collective growth and harmony.
Deep dives
Shifting Perspectives on Practice
The initial viewpoint of practice often centers around personal benefit and comfort, with individuals seeking immediate improvements in their lives, such as happiness, control, and rewarding experiences. Many practitioners enter with the expectation that practice will alleviate discomfort and lead to a better life, feeling disappointed if these demands aren’t quickly met. This self-focused approach assumes that achieving personal goals—like a fulfilling job or loving relationships—is the ultimate aim of practice. However, true understanding requires a deeper shift, moving from this self-centered attitude toward recognizing the broader purpose of practice as a means to serve and create harmony for all.
The Complexity of Practicing Selflessness
As practitioners begin to adopt a more altruistic perspective, they experience a growing commitment to serving life rather than prioritizing personal comfort. This transition involves embracing challenging situations and responsibilities, even when they are inconvenient or arise from interactions with difficult individuals. Through consistent practice, individuals learn that the fulfillment of personal preferences can often conflict with the greater good, and they become willing to relinquish their immediate desires for more meaningful contributions to their communities. Ultimately, the essence of practice lies in recognizing how self-centered actions can hinder both personal and collective growth, pushing practitioners towards an enlightened view where self-interest recedes in favor of broader connections.
This is a reading of extracts of a talk given by Charlotte Joko Beck taken from the text 'Everyday Zen'.
Charlotte Joko Beck (March 27, 1917 – June 15, 201) was an American Zen teacher and the author of the books Everyday Zen: Love and Work and Nothing Special: Living Zen.
Born in New Jersey, Beck studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and worked for some time as a pianist and piano teacher. She married and raised a family of four children, then separated from her husband and worked as a teacher, secretary, and assistant in a university department. She began Zen practice in her 40s with Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi in Los Angeles, and later with Hakuun Yasutani and Soen Nakagawa.Beck received Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi Roshi in 1978, but broke with Maezumi over his actions and opened Zen Center San Diego in 1983, serving as its head teacher until July 2006.
Beck was responsible for a number of important innovations in Zen teaching. Because she was adept at teaching students to work with their psychological states, she attracted a number of students who were interested in the relationship between Zen and modern psychology.
🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.