Everyday Buddhism: Making Everyday Better Episode 117 - The Way with Henry Shukman
I am excited to share this conversation with Henry Shukman, a Zen master in the Sanbo Zen lineage and spiritual director emeritus at Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Henry is the co-founder of The Way meditation app and founder of the Original Love meditation program.
He is the author of the books, Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening and One Blade of Grass: A Zen Memoir, among other award-winning and bestselling books of poetry and fiction.
He has taught meditation at Google and Harvard Business School and taught poetry at the Institute of American Indian Arts. His poetry has appeared in the New Yorker and the Guardian and his essays in the New York Times, Outside, and Tricycle. Henry has a master's degree from Cambridge and a master of letters degree from St. Andrews.
As this biographical summary makes obvious, it's not like Henry hasn't been quite "discoverable", as a writer and meditation teacher but I only recently "discovered" him. And once I did, he has had a profound influence on me, as both a teacher and writer. In my conversation with him, I'll talk more about how I discovered him on Sam Harris' Waking Up app and how he became a primary teacher to me—even though we've never met—so stay tuned.
In the conversation we talked about a wide range things, including:
- The "Four Inns on the Path of Awakening", the subtitle of his book Original Love (that is "Inns", as in lodging, or in this case, a refuge or shelter on the path of meditation): Mindfulness, support, absorption, and awakening.
- Meditation as a journey, or path, rather than an intervention—as Henry said, "a journey of a lifetime."
- Kensho or seeing the timeless, primordial or non-dual awareness that is the core of our very being.
- The importance of support in your practice, whether it is a teacher, community, or friend.
- Absorption or flow states in meditation.
- And the "love" Henry refers to as something "endemic to our existence" … A great sense of belonging or union with everything.
… And much more
I know you will enjoy this conversation and Henry's clear, authentic, and gentle teaching style that I suspect will influence you, too, to bring more of Henry's guidance into your Dharma and meditation practice.
Learn more about Henry: https://henryshukman.com The Way Meditation app (12 free guided meditation sessions): The Way meditation app Buy his books, including books mentioned on podcast: Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening and One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir All books: Amazon author page Original Love: Original Love One Blade of Grass: One Blade of Grass Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/henryshukman/ Become a patron to support this podcast and get special member benefits, including a membership community, a virtual sangha, and a subscription to my Everyday Buddhism Substack:https://www.patreon.com/EverydayBuddhism Check out my Substack for ongoing chapter releases of my new serial book, Living Life As It Is and the podcast, Words From My Teachers: https://wendyshinyohaylett.substack.com/ If this podcast has helped you understand Buddhism or help in your everyday life, consider making a one-time donation here: https://donorbox.org/podcast-donations Support the podcast through the affiliate link to buy the book, Everyday Buddhism: Real-Life Buddhist Teachings & Practices for Real Change: Buy the book, Everyday Buddhism Support the podcast and show your support through the purchase of Everyday Buddhism merch: https://www.zazzle.com/store/everyday_buddhism NOTE: Free shipping on ALL (unlimited) items (Everyday Buddhism merch or gifts from other stores) if you join Zazzle Plus for $19.95/year: