Zen Bones : Ancient Wisdom For Modern Times

We Are All Poets

We begin today's episode with a short guided meditation focused on being present, fully here with nothing to accomplish. I give a short talk on embracing the mind of the poet and the mind of the business person, exploring these distinctions and lack of distinctions and how we can live and work and play with more meaning and connection. 
Today's Zen Puzzler comes from a traditional koan about a buffalo jumping through a window. The aim of this puzzler is about letting go of our predicting minds and instead seeing the world as fresh and mysterious.

Money As a Force For Positive Change

Kristin is founder and CEO at Nia Impact Capital. She is a pioneer in the field of impact investing. She is devoted to re-envisioning capitalism, to changing the face of finance, and to promoting inclusion and diversity in leadership.
In our conversation we talk about the importance of understanding money, finance, and investing and the life-changing force that money has. We speak about creating healthy cultures and how Kristin is on the front lines of gender lens investing, both through leading a women-owned company and supporting women-owned companies.

The Power of Priming

Today's podcast features The Power of Priming. We begin with a short meditation. Then Marc talks about how the world tends to prime us for anxiety and speed. As an antidote and practice, we can prime ourselves to be present, open, curious, and creative. Meditation practice is a form of priming. We can utilize priming in all parts of our days, from waking up to starting meetings.
Today's Zen puzzler is based on a quote about staring and impermanence.

The Power of Grace with Henry Shukman

Henry Shukman is a poet, writer and Zen teacher. He has written a best selling Zen memoir called One Blade of Grass. He is a guiding teacher of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.In this episode we talk about grace: the grace of acknowledging and living from the perspective that everything is gift. We address the tension of practicing with money, success and failure and working skillfully with our many motivations - all in the context of grace.

What Is My Offering? Guided Meditation, Talk and Zen Puzzler

What is my offering is today's episode. We begin with a short guided meditation on warmhearted curiosity. Then Marc talks about the difference between helping, fixing, and serving - with an emphasis on practices for discovering your own offering.
Today's Zen puzzler is using this phrase, What is my offering, as a Zen koan, or a support for going deeper into this realm of discovery.

I’m Doing What I Can: Guided Meditation, Talk and Zen Puzzler

I'm doing what I can is today's episode. We begin with a short guided meditation. Then I give a short talk about pessimism, optimism, grief, and joy, and address ways of cutting through the dualities of our modern life and doing what we can, with spaciousness and possibility.
Today's Zen puzzler is Pai Chang's fox, a traditional Zen koan, about not avoiding cause and effect, or finding our freedom while being fully immersed in the world.

More Acceptance, Less Unnecessary Effort: Guided Meditation, Talk and Zen Puzzler

This episode is More Acceptance and Less Unnecessary Effort. We begin with a short guided meditation, followed by a talk on the practice of saying yes - opening and accepting whatever comes our way. It means noticing and saying yes to the pains and possibilities, our resistance and our joy.
Today's Zen puzzler is based on a traditional Zen dialogue. What is the Way? Everyday mind is the way.

Say Yes To Everything, Part 2: Guided Meditation, Talk and Zen Puzzler

In this episode, Say Yes to Everything, we begin with a short guided meditation, followed by a talk on the practice of saying yes - opening and accepting whatever comes our way. It means noticing and saying yes to the pains and possibilities, our resistance and our joy.
Today's Zen puzzler is based on a traditional Zen dialogue. What is the Way? Everyday mind is the way.

Appreciating Change, Uncertainty, and Transitions: Guided Meditation, Talk and Zen Puzzler

In this practice episode Marc talks about working with change, uncertainty, and transition. He unpacks the teachings of Zen teacher Dongshan who describes 3 strategies for working more skillfully with change: the bird path, the mysterious way, and the open hand. -- leaving no trace, appreciating the unknown, and living with an open hand instead of a closed fist.
Today's Zen puzzler is about control, and letting go of control as a path to finding greater ease and freedom.

Awe in Everyday Life with Dacher Keltner

Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center. 
 
In this episode we unpack the power of awe - seeing the world fresh and new and how it can benefit our well being, our relationships, and help heal the rifts in our culture. Dacher tells heartfelt personal stories about his own life and the role of awe. We touch on the relationship of mindfulness and awe at work and leadership and in all parts of our lives.