My pen is an artery, my heart is a fountain
Different schools of Zen have evolved, principally the Rinzai and Soto orders. A whole hierarchy has developed for the teaching and practice of Zen. Zen has become, to a certain degree, institutionalized.
The balance and patience factors are much more critical in surfing than they are in snowboarding. . . if you're out surfing serious waves and you wipe out, you don't land on soft snow. It's usually either very sharp coral, or you get raked across the beach gravel and sand while you're tumbling underwater.
As the kundalini energy increases, as the energy of the psyche becomes more pronounced, which it does as thought becomes eclipsed by silence, all the variant mind states burn away.
Energy is gained by giving energy. When we give energy, we gain energy. This is different than having someone manipulate you and take your energy.
The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time -- a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken.
Samadhi is not going to take away your humanity. It will give it to you. You will become more cosmopolitan, more conscious, and more infinite.
I've been very lucky. Directors I've worked with have been very amenable to changes.
My wife and I just started listening to the late Beethoven Quartets together, an activity I recommend for all married couples, but that doesn't really mean that I'm finished reading.
The Constitution of the United States allows us to change; I don't have a problem with that.
Creativity is energy being put to work in a constructive fashion.