The Craft of Habit Transformation

This talk was given to kick off this year's fall course on 'Transforming Habits.' It considers Ken Wilber's distinction between 'waking up' and 'growing up.' It then asks how being intimate with the field of mind (open awareness) can be used to facilitate the transformation of unwholesome habits, which is essential for the process of growing up. In contrast to popular self-help approaches to habit change, which aim for becoming our best selves, Buddhism emphasizes freedom (without dismissing self-improvement altogether). The talk considers and uses three mental postures derived from (slightly modified) statements made by Suzuki Roshi: (1) You are all Buddhas just as you are, and there is room for improvement. (2) What is more real, your problem (bad habit) or you yourself? (3) The best way to control your cow is to give her a large spacious meadow.

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Zenki Roshi's 6-week practice course, "Transforming Habits" explores how we can discontinue dysfunctional habits, and instead, form habits that create a wholesome, nourishing life. The course is now available in a self-paced, online format! Learn more here: https://www.boulderzen.org/transforming-habits.

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Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the the guiding teacher at the Boulder Zen Center in Colorado, USA. This podcast shares the regular dharma talks given at the center. Zenki Roshi approaches Zen practice as a craft of transformation, liberation, wisdom and compassionate action. His interest is to bring Buddhism alive within the Western cultural context, while staying committed to the traditional emphasis on embodiment.