Beyond Zen…

Inner Smile on a Cold Day

Yesterday was one of those days, you wake-up completely on the wrong side of the bed. Tripping, spilling, cursing the morning away. I thought for sure it was going to be a horrible day. To boot, I’m late and there is ice all over my car. So, after de-icing the car and cranking up the [...]

Continue reading...

Update “Spread the Love NOW! Group Writing Project”

Photo Credit As many of you know we were part of a wonderful project called “Spread the Love NOW! Group Writing Project“. Created by those wonderfully enlightened folks at [The Middle Way], [Zen-Inspired Self Development], and [UrbanMonk.net]. The project was fantastic and led me to a whole new group of enlightened ones to read and [...]

Continue reading...

Bardo, Death, and a Moment of Transition

Often when I tell a story I shy away from those in which I was part of or a party to, to me it smacks of ego-center and self-serving. Yet this story, as it happened to me, was one of great compassion and love for my family. I did nothing but be present and party [...]

Continue reading...

Popularity of Manifesting With Elephants

By far the post on Manifesting With Elephants has been the most popular as of late on Beyond Zen. Since that post I myself see the little guys everywhere from my dreams to stickers on a car. Is the message that I need to be more like Elephant or that I am like Elephant and [...]

Continue reading...

Awakening the Heart

The pic above is of a lotus flower, a sacred and meaningful flower to Buddhists and other Eastern Philosophies. The reference to the lotus flower is a wonderful icon that describes the path we take to become enlightened. A lotus flower is the icon of purification of the body, the speech, and the mind; blossoming [...]

Continue reading...

Ego, Human, Moment of Connection

We humans are an interesting lot, there is a raw and knowing inside that is guided, ruled, and directed by that all interesting ego. We repel feelings of connection as much as we repel that moment of nothing in our meditation. Fears of letting go, fears of feeling that nothing, all fueled by the ego [...]

Continue reading...