Contains an overview of spiritual practice as I offer it and as I practice it myself. The podcast begins with a description of our fundamental effort in practice to reside in a place of simple being and pure awareness. I then go on to outline the Five Centering Tools we may use in order to free ourselves from the various fictions and illusions we are subject to when we become entangled within conditioned mind. Simple, practical, and easy to remember.

Is it possible to live in peace in in this terribly confused and troubled world? Yes, it is--though that effort requires, for most people, a radical reorientation. In this podcast I explore that reorientation, and the one simple but difficult way we may save ourselves from suffering as individuals, and also as a species, if we choose. For information about the practice David facilitates, about the community, and about the supports for awareness practice that are available,...

In our practice we often talk about conditioned mind (the set of unconscious processes that create and maintain the illusion of a "self" that is separate from Life) in a way that implies it has real agency. We'll say stuff like "conditioned mind wants this" or "conditioned mind is doing that", as if it has actual intelligence, an independent will, and the desire to cause us suffering in a myriad of ways. People sometimes balk at that sort of language, and they ask me if I actually see c...

How did it come to be that we, as individuals and as an entire species, have traded our innate capacity for joy, happiness, and connection for the survival system we call "conditioned mind"? What are the origins of the separate self? And what might we learn from our origins about the future of humanity? Check out this podcast for an exploration of these and other related topics. For information about the practice David facilitates, about the community, and about the supports for ...

Is thinking useful? At first glance the question seems ridiculous, but if we look into the effects of our habitual ways of thinking on individual human happiness (really detrimental), and on our ability to live in harmony with each other and with the other living beings on our planet (really, really detrimental), the question becomes more and more relevant. Thinking is useful, in the sense of helping us to live happy, healthy, deeply experienced lives--but only if it's coming from a centered ...

An interview with Rich Ray: former monk, yogi extraordinaire, wise being, and all-around great guy. Rich tells us the story of his life before and during his time at the monastery (which I found to be very interesting and helpful), and he talks about the intersection between his yoga practice and Zen awareness practice. Not to be missed! Check out Rich and the good things he's up to: His website: https://www.ashtangaportlandme.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.ray.165 On...

About one of the trickiest and most subtle spiritual traps we can fall into. The basic work of our survival system is to create an identity to hide from Life within. It doesn't matter at all what that identity is, so long as we are being an imaginary "self," with all of its prejudices, it's egotistical desires, and it's destructive behaviors. One of the most difficult "selves" to recognize, often, is a "self" that has put on a spiritual outfit and uses spiritual language: an "enlightened ego,...

The Buddha taught that suffering is caused by "desire". But what does that mean, exactly? What is the trouble with wanting things? Is there a good and natural way to want? The question arises from a question someone had about bringing children into this world. Over the course of the podcast I discuss the conditioned, suffering-producing sort of desire the Buddha talked about, and also the sort of wanting that is simply a part of being human. Then I apply those ideas to the possibility of havi...

In this episode our friend Janet helps us explore the process tool we call "The Battering Cycle". We begin talking about Janet's work to lose weight (and so if you're someone who would like to lose weight--or would like to do anything healthy and good and difficult--this is the episode for you) and we end talking about how to lose weight. In the middle, however, we discuss the processes within conditioned mind that cause us to do what we don't want to do, and which create and maintain unhappy...

About the classic and nearly universal conditioned mind scam that has us believe that "there isn't enough time". Over the course of this podcast I get into the relative nature of time, the difference between linear time and sacred time, and then I get down into the nitty-gritty and talk about to-do lists, overwhelm, distraction and the other various ways we contract our sense of time. And then of course I consider the alternative: how we may experience spaciousness within the ever-unfolding p...

The title says it all. Enjoy! For information about the practice David facilitates, about the community, and about the supports for awareness practice that are available, go to: website: www.theoneopendoor.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoneopendoor Daily Dharma private Facebook group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/dailydharma YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_edOCF0OcOdyCqIcFK_IbA Instagram: @theoneopendoor David McKay entered a Zen Buddhist monastery at the age of ...

This podcast is something of a follow-up to the previous one. This time I go deeper into the ways in which we may live as Life Unfolding. The backbone of the podcast is some text from a book by Thomas Merton (the Jesuit monk, mystic, and writer) about Chuang Tsu (the ancient Taoist master). I hope you will find it to be interesting.

About the art of making decisions from the place of consciousness and awareness. How to practice letting go of conditioned mind and follow the Guidance of Life moment by moment. For information about the practice David facilitates, about the community, and about the supports for awareness practice that are available, go to: website: www.theoneopendoor.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoneopendoor Daily Dharma Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dailydharma YouTube: http...

About the Divine Essence that rests behind all appearances; the truth that this essence is who we each most fundamentally are; and about the profound teaching that emptiness (the Divine Essence) is not different from form, and form is not different from emptiness.

Containing the abbreviated story of my spiritual life before, during, and after my time at the monastery, plus some thoughts about what spiritual practice is and has been for me.