Original Love is an essential meditation guide for the twenty-first century. Henry Shukman, a spiritual director and mindfulness teacher, provides a way forward based on four paths—Mindfulness, Support, Absorption, and Awakening—that promote growth and healing through meditation. The book includes inspiring stories from his students and weaves together teachings from Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and other contemplative traditions. It aims to help readers create peace by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, relaxing the mind and body, easing feelings of worry and anger, and improving decision-making and executive functioning. The book emphasizes the importance of direct experience over intellectual understanding and encourages readers to explore meditation to discover the transformative power of mindfulness and awakening.
In this book, James H. Austin combines his expertise in neurology with his personal experiences in Zen Buddhism to explore the neurological mechanisms underlying meditation and consciousness. The book delves into topics such as the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain, and how these aspects are affected by Zen practices. It also covers related subjects like sleep, dreams, mental illness, and the social implications of advanced stages of enlightenment. Austin's work is notable for its rigorous scientific approach and clear, evocative descriptions of Zen experiences.
In this deep conversation, two “happy" masters of meditation, Loch Kelly and author of Original Love, Henry Shukman, explore their similar and unique approaches to awakening. With delight and curiosity, they share some of their own initial awakening experience. They also discuss their process of discovering and unfolding and how they share it with students.
To this end, they unpack and illuminate the contemplative art and science of Inquiry and Koans as ways to shift out of the chattering mind and into our already awake heart mind. Henry talks about his experience with Zen Koans and Loch shares his Mahamudra approach to inquiry. Loch calls this Glimpsing, and it emphasizes immediate experiential pointers which help practitioners directly realize their already awake nature. Henry and Loch also lean into questions around the importance of integrating ancient wisdom approaches with contemporary models of psychology and human development.
Other key areas of their trans-traditional dialogue include recognizing ordinary experiences and pain as opportunities for awakening. They also talk about the role of personal loss in awakening and the role of personal storytelling in teaching. They both agree that awakening is the discovery of what Henry calls Original Love (instead of Original Sin) and what Loch calls Unconditional Love, which allows us to live from Awake Loving Flow.
Mindful Glimpse
The episode features Loch offering a guided practice called “Compassion Is Already Here.” These mindful glimpses serve as invaluable tools for experiencing ways to access the awake consciousness that is already here within all of us.
You can now explore all of Loch Kelly’s practices and teachings on the new Mindful Glimpses app, found at https://lochkelly.org/mindful-glimpses. This innovative meditation and wellness app offers daily micro-meditations, step-by-step programs, and simple-yet-advanced tools for awakening.
EM+IFS Training
If you want to explore today's topic in more depth, shifting from small self to authentic Self, please check out the Effortless Mindfulness and IFS training program.
Loch Kelly Bio
Loch is the creator of the Mindful Glimpses app, and an award-winning author, psychotherapist, and nondual meditation teacher. He is also known for his unique practical methods that support awakening as the next natural stage of human development. Backed by modern neuroscience and psychology, Loch introduces Effortless Mindfulness, which combines an ancient form of nondual meditation and IFS psychology that allows immediate access to our embodied awake nature which arises as our calm, clear, and compassionate healing capacity.
Connect with Loch:
Mobile App: https://lochkelly.org/mindful-glimpses
Website: https://lochkelly.org/...
Effortless Mindfulness with Loch Kelly 
