If someone asks you, where are you going? And you say, I'm going to Johanneshof. Isn't that a practice center, a Zen center or something? And you'd say, well, yeah, I think it is. And then they'd say to you, are you a Zen Buddhist? And you'd say... Geez, I don't know, maybe. And then they might say, what is your practice these days? Yes, so if someone asks you, where are you going? And you say, yes, in the Rangeshof. And then the person asks, isn't that a kind of practice or Zen practice place? Yes, and then, yes, how do you practice there nowadays? Yes. So if you would answer the question, yes, I guess I'm a Zen Buddhist, and then they said, what is your practice?

[01:07]

So I'm asking each of you to start with you. What is your practice? If you would answer the question, yes, I'm a Zen Buddhist. If not, out! By the way, I don't know what I would answer, but anyway, that's later. In three minutes or less. All right. Well, good. Zazen, every morning, is my practice, mich niederzulassen.

[02:57]

Zazen, every morning, is my practice, mich niederzulassen. To settle down. Und wenn die Dinge mal schwierig werden, erinnere ich mich an... And when things become difficult, I remember the practice of acceptance. I remember to do one step after the other while I try. And one distinct point within my practice is to find my spine into or let my spine come into the upright position. And it took me quite a while to really understand how important it is to repeat the repetition of things.

[04:24]

And I also understood that it is necessary to refresh the practice again and again, the beginner's spirit. And I also realized that it is really necessary for me to refresh practice over and over again and to cultivate beginner's mind. Do we have a fan somewhere? Could we turn it on? Pretty please. The focus in my practice at the moment is to find a balance in zazen, a balance between receptivity and activity. And the focal point of focus during zazen is the spine and breath.

[05:49]

And I also explore and experience the spine through yoga. And I explore and bring to aliveness my spine through yoga practice. That is more the active part. And Wenn die Dinge kompliziert werden, dann erinnere ich mich immer wieder an das Wendewort, nur dies. And when things start to get complicated, I remember the turning phrase, just this. Und dieses dies ist etwas, was erstmal die Worte und Erklärungen abzieht.

[06:57]

And this is something that takes away words and explanations? And then on a deeper level it is just that which is really unnameable and simply the silence of the mind with which I can then sometimes connect with something. And on a deeper level, it's this realm of non-graspable, not to be named, and at times it is possible for me to connect with stillness within. Ich hatte vor zwei, drei Wochen das Bild bei dem Umstülpen meiner Einkaufstüte.

[08:03]

Two, three weeks ago, when I turned my shopping bag upside down or inside out, I had an image. Dass wir genau wissen, oder zu wissen scheinen oder meinen, was draußen ist, und ein wahres Verständnis davon haben, was innen ist. that we seem to think that we have a good knowledge about outside, what is outside, and sometimes only a vague idea of what is the inside, or what is inside. So I'm trying to switch it like a beautiful outside and a slightly raw inside shopping bag at the moment. So I'm trying at the moment to turn inside out the nice outside of the shopping bag and the inside being sewed a bit on the rough side.

[09:03]

And to work with the concept to only have a vague knowledge of what is outside and a precise knowledge of what is inside. And to the precise within, I say to myself, fake it or? Fake it till you make it. Fake it till you make it. Philip Wayland, the poet, used to say, when in doubt, fake it. And the poet Philip Whelan used to say, if you have doubts, then do as if. Thank you. Is that from the sender? Okay. Yeah. Please, next.

[10:29]

Can you speak a little more louder? I count my out-breaths until ten. And I have a question at the time being about attention. Does it mean also the perception through the senses? If that is the main part of consciousness. Yes. Is that the meaning of attention?

[11:43]

Trying to settle in each I try to let myself down in every unit, in every moment with the consequences of this decision. And try to make the units smaller. Sometimes it goes to one breath. Sometimes it goes to one day. I assume that I'm not a Zen Buddhist.

[13:09]

Although I think that the... the realm of Zen Buddhism and all the thoughts in Zen Buddhism have had a great influence on me. There are certain things that can't be voiced in such a loud voice. Like confessions. Well, but we're only halfway through the story.

[14:22]

Many aspects of Zen Buddhism have been important to you, but then the story stopped. My practice begins in the morning with making breakfast, preparing breakfast. And at some time during the day, my practice is to play the saxophone. Sometimes it's archery. Those are my fields of practice.

[15:30]

Thanks. My practice is to sit on the cushion once a day. And it's a great fortune if I'm able to make that. And it's a wonderful time that is exclusively for myself and I'm very grateful to have that. And sometimes those are just a few moments during the day where I have the chance to be with myself in such an intense and intimate way. And often when I sit down on the cushion, I have the feeling, oh, I have to hurry now.

[16:52]

And that's why when I sit down, I let everything drop away immediately. And when I sit down, I let everything go immediately. And I tune into the field of awareness immediately. And I tune into the field of awareness immediately. Big relief. And then if I have a little more time, some stuff comes on the stage of mindfulness. Watch the breath, observe the breath.

[17:55]

To observe the body or to just be within my body? My practice is My practice is during meditation to concentrate my mind and to focus on my breathing. and to transfer mindfulness and concentration into my daily life as best as I can.

[19:06]

My practice at the moment is the connection with all beings. My practice at the time is to give space to feeling connected and the connectedness with everything, to give that an experienceable space. And a balance... And to find a balance between compassion or... Just suffering. To be compassionate when somebody suffers. To feel that.

[20:15]

And also find a balance to find and hold a space of acceptance. and to discover a quality of being held and continuity to discover that in this space. quality of being held and continuity. My practice in the last time has been noticing.

[21:21]

The realization of every moment I go through during the day, no matter how often I repeat things, whether I always walk down the same path or always do the same thing, just to experience it again and to experience it as if it were the first time, with no associations, no categorizations. to walk with every step notice and despite repeating the path I'm going on all the time and to try to cultivate a mind as if this was the first time without any categories and any associations. And I'm practicing also unlimited friendliness and kindness. And sometimes it doesn't work so well. and of course darshan i focus on my breath and try to experience my body as a whole and also space or room the space around me

[23:03]

If someone asked me what I do and what my practice is, I would first say that I sit still. If somebody would come up and ask me, well, what do you do? And so what do you do there? I would say first thing, well, I'm just sitting still. And that allows me to experience space. And that things can settle down. And apart from that, I always appreciate what I hear here right now. And besides that, I take to my heart whatever I hear here. And the priority is breath, spine and mind. And to be really present.

[24:22]

And I welcome anything that arises within meditation, during meditation. And I try not to manipulate anything. And my experience is that I find it very satisfying, blissful, and that I'm really curious and I really want to find out what is the meaning of life. And that makes me more kind and friendly towards people and the world. Um.

[25:41]

Generally, I've noticed that, of course, practice topics... Deutsche? Oh, sorry. Generell habe ich bemerkt, dass Praxisinhalte sich natürlich verändern. Generell, I noticed that the content or topics within practice change. Sometimes they stay a little longer, sometimes shorter. And my greatest practice is, my main practice is to work with the limitations, my physical limitations and to find a balance within that. Yoga is a big part of my practice.

[26:47]

In Sasyan of course. And in yoga, my body is actually my greatest teacher, because through my body I am forced to be in my body at every moment and to correct my attitude, not always constantly, if it works. And my body is my greatest or biggest teacher because through the situation of my body I'm forced to continually find my posture and be in the present moment. In yoga, there is repetition as well. And through the repetition of the asanas, I dig down or I enter deeper and deeper within my body.

[27:53]

And into the details. And into the details, yes. So for me, there is the physical practice through the asanas and then the same thing during the sasana, where it is also the body, but also the spirit. So it's a practice of the asanas and in zazen where there's also the practice of body and mind. So it's a physical, it's a very physical practice or practice with physicality, body. And through my body, it is very clear to me that whatever someone experiences is within the body and the sense organs, within that realm. And I can't really share the way my body feels for me.

[29:29]

The other practice is just this is it. acceptance, and also to accept this body with its limitations. And I did that some years ago, and now I started to pick it up again, this idea of everybody's Buddha. Thank you very much. I am a student of Diamond Approach.

[30:49]

Our practice is meditation and exploration. I'm a student of the Diamond Approach, from the Diamond Path. Or Diamond Approach, yes. Oh, Rosenblums. His wife is a teacher in the Diamond Approach. Paul Rosenklub's Frau lehrt den Diamond Approach. Und da geht es um Erforschung und... What did I say? I'm supposed to translate in English, right? Yeah. Yeah, but I said it in German. I just want my ears to listen. Yeah, okay. So it's about exploration and... and meditation. And I feel there's more concentration within my meditation practice.

[32:08]

To try to practice to sit regularly and to be in silence, in stillness. My mind is very active. And it's very beneficial for me to be here. I would like to say something to the situation. What can I say that would be helpful towards the one who is facing me? I would say a few words and then I would expect that the other person would ask some more questions.

[33:26]

And in the core I would say what I'm doing is to perceive what is, to notice what is. And while doing that, to have in the background mind continuously the teachings. And depending on the situation, there are many different aspects that have been brought up already here. And over the course of my days, I get up very early, I sit. I do practice a kind of yoga.

[34:42]

I read some. I do some Buddhist studies. And then the day can start. If it's all right, I'd like to say it first in English and then I can do the German. If it doesn't work, you can help me. Well, I wouldn't say that I'm a Zen Buddhist, I think. I would say that I have gotten into the habit of doing some things that are associated with Zen Buddhism. And those are, I sit every morning, usually 45 minutes, and sometimes an hour, and sometimes more, sometimes 70 minutes.

[35:49]

By then, of course, the media does start to hurt, so I usually get up after that amount of time. Read, buy all the books that you recommend and read them. Sometimes not for hours at a time, sometimes I need to think about a sentence for quite a while before I find any entry to it. So, in any case, I would perhaps not say that I am a Zen Buddhist, but that I... That has become a habit for me, certain activities that are associated with Zen Buddhism. I sit here every morning for at least three quarters of an hour, sometimes an hour, sometimes 70 minutes, depending on the situation. So if it really hurts, then I get up.

[36:50]

But I hold on to it well. And I read, I buy the books that Becker-Rosch recommended and I am then recommended and I read them mostly several times a day, sometimes not very much, sometimes it's just a sentence and then I think, no, I have to digest it somehow. I do yoga in the afternoon. It becomes sort of a very personal thing. I do the classical asanas, but I pay attention to how I move from one asana to the other. That is very important. I do a lot of stretching. in preparation for the asana, and I do that very slowly. I think of it sort of as a dance, moving from one asana to another, and all the time articulating my breath in various stretched positions that I feel like I can breathe.

[38:02]

into my lower left abdomen or my right knee. I do yoga, which has become a little unusual. I pay a lot of attention to how I come from one asana to the other and see it as something like a dance. and then I articulate my breathing as a preparation for the asanas, and then I have the feeling that I can breathe into all body parts. And when I'm doing yoga, I also vocalize, not constantly, but explore the resonance rooms of my body, my chest and my head. with tones and see, yeah, see what that feels like, see how I can vary the tone.

[39:09]

I vocalize in between with yoga and see how it feels, how it feels when the tone develops in the chest area or in the head area. I... touch on the koans every day, not on all of them every day, but on some of them. I usually get around to at least touching the koans that I know, and every once in a while I take up a new one. I deal with the koans. I would say at least touch every Quran that I know. Touching means maybe just one sentence. And from time to time I go on and look at a new Quran. Wenn ich warte, if I ever have to wait, what might be considered waiting, where I'm in a position where there's nothing active I can do, then I return to my breath and try to articulate very clearly.

[40:46]

Exactly. When I have to wait in a situation where I can't do anything, then I return to breathing. Basically, I'm a materialist Christian. That's how I grew up. And I think that what I'm interested in doing is cracking that open and to become receptive for other world views and to see in which way that is a hindrance to me, these prejudices that I have, these ideas about what's going on. I think basically I was raised as a Christian materialist and I want to break that down now and just expand my worldview and see how far my prejudices hinder me and what can be changed.

[41:51]

You said you were a Christian materialist. Did I understand correctly that you were a Christian materialist? Yes, I think so. I think most of us are. Materialist in the philosophical sense. I have a question about this Christian materialism. In the philosophical sense, it's not that my family was so greedy, no more than any other family, I guess. Maybe after you we can take a break because we've gone more than half the circle. My day starts with sitting almost every day. And something changed there.

[43:02]

Life challenged me and demanded me to switch from the cushion to a stool. And I think I accepted that, but I haven't really found the... What is selbstverständnis? like this is my position, this is my posture. I really haven't found that on the chair yet as I had it sitting on the cushion. I haven't really succeeded yet in having the same experiences with breathing, with breath and spine.

[44:05]

And maybe I shouldn't achieve that. Maybe I should just accept that now I'm in a different realm of experience is opening up. And the second important practice is that I try to do or transfer into my life what you told me last Sashin. Three words, last Sashin. And it's very difficult for me. And I have the tendency to interfere and control and do something. But there's a lot of freedom when I don't do it.

[45:14]

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