Thanks for posting this. Someone gave me a copy of The Spirit of Zen many years ago now, and it was transformative for me. I ended up sitting zazen for a long, long time, and it helped me see my inner demons as helpers.
Sure thing, I've always loved that video as well. His voice is very soothing message is amazing and the music and the images seem appropriate. I've not read the Spirit of Zen, shall I check it out?
I think (if I remember correctly) that Spirit of Zen is Watts' first book on Zen, actually his first book on anything. And, as such, it doesn't have the breadth and depth of his later works. It's a short book, and a simple book. When I read it, I must have been about 23, and having grown up Catholic, I had never been exposed to Eastern thought, so it kind of exploded in my brain and mind and body. I would probably recommend some of his later works, honestly, even though this one stimulated in me the inner knowledge that there was more to existence than Sunday Mass.
Hey littlebirdie, it's been a while but I thought I'd throw a comment your way. First of all, I miss seeing you around Hubski. One summer when I was about 10 years old the old woman who lived across the street's grandson came and stayed with her for a summer. He was my age and had awesome toys, stories and games. We became good friends and then he had to go back to Florida and I never saw the kid again. Hopefully, I'll see you again here. I'm not sure about your toys/games, but you have great stories :) Anyways, I thought of you after seeing this post and thought you'd enjoy it. Hope you are well.
I have! I read his The Power of Now a while back. He gave me a lot of new insights! I am not a deep believer in any one philosophical view or person, I'm still discovering (and probably will be for the rest of my life), but he has certainly taught me the power of living in the moment. It feels absolutely great! If it wasn't for him, I would now not be looking at trees in complete awe and joy when I'm waiting for the bus to arrive (for example). Sadly I'm not always living in the moment, there tend to be specific moments, usually when I'm waiting for something/someone. It's so easy to "forget" about living in the moment.. There should be a post specifically about this! (Maybe there is one already :o ) Have you read any of Steve Pavlina's articles? (stevepavlina.com) He has a bunch of great material as well. He writes about a bunch of different topics, but they're all related to "personal development". Maybe I'll post something about him. Also one of my current favourites is the law of attraction. I have begun to experiment with it lately. Steve has plenty of articles on that too. Or maybe you've read Rhonda Byrne's books as well?
I've not read any of Steve or Rhonda's work, but I'd be interested to check some out. Tolle does a nice job of presenting presence in an accessible way. He also is good about saying it's the teaching not the teacher. I don't "believe" in Tolle and that which his teaching point towards could hardly be called "his". He's just a messenger, but a good one imo. Presence is a difficult thing. I find it's easiest after a run or when I am quietly by myself.
I'm not sure what to link you from Steve Pavlina because he writes on such a large range of subjects, but The courage to live consciously is always a good place to start! Ah- I just remembered which of his articles was the first one I'd read, someone linked it to me: How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes
It worked wonderfully for me, though it took me about an hour to find it out, by then I was crying of joy. I still feel like the purpose I discovered that day some years ago holds true for me now. If you're going to read Rhonda Byrne's book(s) (I listened to her audiobook: The power), beware, she repeats things often and literally keeps repeating one particular word in her sentences and it almost drove me crazy, but I did enjoy her message and the insights she gave me very much. It basically all comes down to the law of attraction. There is also a movie, The Secret, which is a great motivator imo. I agree, being present is certainly not easy! I find it particularly difficult (almost impossible) when with other people. Glad that you have the same views towards people like Tolle! Some are very much "believers" in one thing or person while firmly disregarding anything else. It is really all about what you can gain personally from people like Tolle, Steve, Rhonda, Alan, ... the list could go on forever.
Okay, I spent over 20 minutes on this exercise.... and no tears.
I spent over an hour on it! For some it takes even longer ;o I shut out all external distractions and focused solely on the exercise until I knew I'd completed it. You have to want to do it / be open for it though, or you'll just block yourself along the way convincing yourself that "it's not going to work", and in that case it won't!