Jan 30 2025 67 mins 4
In his new book, Original Love, Zen meditation master, award winning author and poet, and renowned spiritual teacher Henry Shukman offers a tantalizing proposition.
At any moment there is a powerful possibility available to us.
A possibility of piercing the illusion of separateness,
And experiencing a profound sense of connection.
In these moments which are deemed by some as ‘awakening',
it can seem almost as if a spell is broken.
That we are waking up from a sort of dream.
As we see, feel, and know (in our bones) that there is in fact no separation.
That at some level everything and everyone are connected.
Henry argues that these experiences can be the single most healing, positively life-transforming events that can happen to us.
Well documented for centuries, across different wisdom traditions, and now explored through scientific inquiry,
Experiences of waking up to our interconnected nature often lead to large positive shifts in our priorities.
We tend to move from self-protection and self-promotion toward a natural flow of compassion and concern for others and the world.
This boundless interconnected experience is what Henry calls Original Love.
In today's conversation Henry and I will explore this possibility in depth,
As we unpack what might lead us back to Original Love.
Including practices we can bring into our lives, our work, and our relationships.
Practices like :
- Letting go
- Allowing what’s here to be here as it is
- Loosening the grip of control and learning to relax into uncertainty.
And Henry will share some of his hard earned insight about meditation as a path toward greater wellbeing, connection, and awakening.
For more on Henry, including his new book Original Love, please visit henryshukman.com or check out The Way, his popular meditation app - which you can find at thewayapp.com
Enjoying the show? Please rate it wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Did you find this conversation inspiring? Here are other episodes we think you'll love:
On Imperfectionism and the Art of Living Well with Oliver Burkeman
Strong Back, Soft Front: The Practice of a Lifetime with Elizabeth Lesser
About Henry Shukman:
Henry Shukman (IG: @henryshukman) is an authorized Zen Master in the Sanbo Zen lineage, and is spiritual director emeritus of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
He is the co-founder and lead meditation teacher for The Way, a meditation app that provides a modern update to the ancient path of meditation training. He also leads meditation courses and retreats.
Henry is an award-winning poet and author, whose memoir One Blade of Grass recounts his own journey through meditation practice. His new book Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening is a manual and map describing the four key zones of meditation practice.
Thanks for listening!
For Joshua's live events, coaching, and offerings please visit: practicingcourage.com
For more about Executive Producer Matthew Donner visit: matthewpatrickdonner.com
