ZalthoLIVE - Claude AnShin Thomas

You can find ZalthoLIVE on all major podcast channels: Apple, Google, Spotify, AmazonMusic, and Audible. These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 1:15 What is the significance of breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth? 2:07 What kind of internal dialogue or questions did you have when you began with sitting meditation? 3:01 Do you want to control processes sometimes? 4:22 Was there a difference for you between following instructions in the military and following instructions when you started in that first monastery? 5:42 What is the difference between control and discipline? 6:45 What do you do if a situation or a person is emotionally challenging you? 7:39 How long did it take for you to learn to sit in meditation (facing the wall) without worrying what might be coming from behind you? 8:29 What does time mean for you in your daily life and also in a Buddhist context? 11:43 When you went from practicing in the first monastery to the second monastery, under a different teacher and somewhat different school, how did you deal with any differences in the instructions you were given? 12:54 What was necessary to leave the life on the street? 13:51 Can you explain the statement that you said earlier that control is being forced into something that one is not comfortable with? 15:02 Do you find that the practice of paying attention is generally adequate to lead to the most appropriate response, for instance in a difficult situation? 16:20 Has anger also a good side? 16:53 Is there a difference between controlling someone when you are a like teacher or a parent with a child or student instead an adults when they are on the same level?

On Vietnam Veterans Day, 29 March, Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, Vietnam combat Veteran, and author - gave a talk to the employees of a cancer-biotech company. Their interest was that Claude AnShin Thomas’ own journey of healing and transformation of the wounds of war mirror the turbulences and peace finding efforts in high stakes crisis and hardship of many people, to include cancer patients. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ Contact Email: info@zaltho.org Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind. This episode was recordedon online zoom retreat session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 1:09 Would you share what a byproduct as a result of practice is for you? 2:58 A question about the bells at the altar. 3:30 Did you have moments when you thought you cannot continue on with this practice? 3:52 What do you do for fun and relaxation? 5:45 About regret: can it be to be present to our past actions, to our errors, and in a way to not repeat them? 7:04 Would you share a little bit with us about how you relate nowadays to your hand that is missing a piece of a finger? 8:23 Sometimes I feel like I am surrounded by people who suck energy. Is that just my fantasy? 12:02 Do you think it is important or valuable to travel to new countries and cultures? 13:30 As you mature, is there anything now that seems urgent that wasn’t in the past? 14:45 How do you work with the news? Especially when it is disturbing, when you hear or read about things that are just full of violence or craziness? 19:18 Do you yourself also have the possibility to ask questions like in the setting we can do it right now? 19:38 In order to become more aware of the reality of life, do you find it valuable to also study science, for instance physics, astrophysics, biology, or chemistry? 20:37 Do you sometimes still have strong emotions, like a rush or wave of emotions? 20:48 With every week that passes by, when I do meditation it seems like I meet fewer people. Am I getting funny? 22:51 Is sports in the dynamic of winner and loser another way of war? 24:28 Would you say that distractions got more with smart phones? 24:58 Going back to the athletics: when you watch football, what’s that experience like for you? 27:21 How would you respond to someone who is reaching the end of their life and their mind is filled with thoughts of disappointment? 29:41 Men are mainly responsible for war. Is war is an expression of the way men think? 32:21 Would you have some examples of how you have dealt skillfully or not skillfully with people who try to force their agenda on you? 34:19 Do you have any sense about where we are now in our evolution as a species?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 1:14 With the death of animals occurring all the time everywhere around you, how do you determine which animal you formally mourn when they die? **** 2:08 How are you dealing with restless energy when you have a situation where you can rest and want to rest but there is this restless energy? **** 2:36 What are your thoughts at the moment, on the situation that there is a common narrative that one is either for one side or for the other side but you cannot be both. Do you think one needs to take sides? **** 4:03 What do you think are the roots of antisemitism over the centuries? **** 6:05 What would you say to someone who tells me that they are sad that Muslims are often portrayed as terrorists or backward in conservative news cycles and a certain segments of public opinion in the US? **** 8:51 Today, Veterans Day in the U.S., is there anything special or specific that you do? **** 9:54 In newspapers and on television the focus seems to be primarily on the civilians that die during war. I don’t read or hear too much about the soldiers that die. How do you respond to this focus? **** 11:16 My question is similar: with going to war, women are being raped as part of it and also this is not being talked about. Do you think that this is out of similar reasons? Because it is a topic that is filled with shame? **** 12:27 AnShin, are you aware of the trend to speak about moral injury and moral distress in the world of health care and health care workers? What do you think about the application of these terms 'moral injury' and 'moral distress'? **** 14:03 In the military, a soldier is obligated to follow orders unless those orders are against human rights. Isn’t that a little bit much responsibility to ask of them? **** 15:30 Do you think that the people who give orders to the soldiers suffer moral injury? **** 17:03 When I am speaking with my Israeli friend whose relatives are fighting in Gaza, whose family members are being bombed in Tel Aviv, is my perspective meaningless and irrelevant or should I share it?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 1:10 How do you manage it to be light on your feet during challenging times? 1:48 Is there a way to deal spiritually healthily with fame and gain? 2:54 How do you practice forgiveness? 4:46 Last week something happened in my life where it happened that this person created harm for me. I did speak with this person, but the person doesn’t see it this way. Now I catch myself wishing a similar situation to happen to her. How can I deal with this? 7:35 Could you speak about why in practice one should not settle? 8:48 What is your process around “letting go” for, say, something you are chewing on? 9:49 Do you have any idea or thought how we could be of service to a quarreling city government? 10:21 How could you meditate when you feel really sick, can hardly breath, cough and everything? 11:35 Are there people that you have problems working with because maybe they evoke old behavior patterns in you. Like they remind you of your mom or dad? 12:42 In your life how do you practice the slogan, “how important is it?”14:42 Do you sometimes remember for yourself what you can be thankful for or are you naturally thankful for all kinds of things? 16:36 Do you have actually an alive teacher? 16:50 What do you think about the scientific pursuit to possibly extend human life indefinitely that at this time is attracting significant investment?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 1:12 What would you say to somebody who says:“I like to smoke pot every day. It makes me happy, productive, and I relate better to other people.. What’s wrong with that?" **** 2:35 You are recommending that people sit twice a day. What would you say if someone was asking you what for? **** 3:38 How do you know and then how do you respond if someone is trying to manipulate? **** 5:38 How come there are not more people of African origins in Zen groups? **** 6:27 Do you sometimes have bad temper without a reason and if so, do you then do efforts to understand how come? **** 8:54 From the point of view of our practice are there good moods and bad moods? **** 9:45 Would you find it useful and meaningful and also appropriate to include a meditation practice into a psychotherapeutic setting? **** 11:24 How can I deal with a grieving that suddenly overcomes me in connection with animals that I was part of them dying and at the time when it happened I did not process any of that? **** 12:49 In which ways can meditation be dangerous? **** 13:48 Does a personal response to outside stimuli ever surprise you meaning your own thoughts? **** 14:22 What does it do to you when people are initially inflamed by practice after visiting a talk or retreat and don’t continue on? Or people abandon practice and don’t come back? **** 15:27 How do I deal with a conversation in which I am sharing about my experience with meditation practice and I am being treated offensively or hurtfully? **** 17:36 When someone is angry with you, how do you deal with that?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk, Combat Veteran, and Author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 01:11 What do you look forward when you go back to the US? What do you hope for? **** 2:04 I met a young man who was asking for money to buy himself something to drink. I told him I don’t want to give him money but that I would buy him something to drink. He did agree. In this case, is this unconditional giving? **** 3:19 As Buddhist practice originated in Asia, how much do we need to look there regarding authentic practice? **** 4:31 Can you speak about relative and absolute a bit? Do relative and absolute ever cross or come together at all? **** 6:22 I had a near death experience two days ago. What surprised me is that I wasn’t too afraid of death, but I was terrified of leaving alone my little son and my wife. How do I deal with this without controlling another's life? **** 8:21 Is there any sense in feeling upset and disrespected when a religious text is being burned? **** 9:48 I was traveling yesterday and people were driving very erratically. A group of cars got into a pileup, and I drove by and thought that was 'poetic justice'. Is my thinking just crazy? **** 10:58 What do you say to someone who asserts: the “true” Buddhism exists among people in Asia or people of Asian descent and not among Western converts like you or me? **** 12:04 Is there meaning to define ourselves as Buddhist? **** 12:49 What would be your reaction when someone says a comment like: "All the BASF places are closing now in Ludwigshafen and so all the Turkish people will go away, and then it’s finally German again.” How would you react to such sentences? **** 13:58 Do you never have the wish or a desire to convince someone else about a right or wrong position? **** 14:46 Someone said that on the 4th of July they were thanking their father and grandfather for fighting. I was tempted to say something about what the 4th of July stands for. All this is a waste of time, did I understand this correctly? **** 17:03 What is with finding a compromise when there are two different opinions and a discussion is necessary to find a compromise?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk, Combat Veteran, and Author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 1:24 How do you respond when someone who has asked you forsupport consistently doesn’t change? **** 2:20 Is it possible to have your mind on the essential point (of breath) and on something else at the same time while supposedly sitting in meditation? **** 3:36 AnShin, do you ever feel like you are going crazy when you had that experience or those experiences (referencing previous response)? **** 3:50 Is it your impression that nowadays in society dehumanization is increasing, for example with artificial intelligence? **** 4:58 You often respond to questions pointing in the direction of acceptance and surrender. Would you speak about that? **** 6:14 Why is it important to you to make your bed in the morning? **** 6:53 I heard you say and write that it is important to keep telling our story. How do you make sure that you are not cementing one particular narrative? **** 7:29 Is the essential point part of relative and absolute at the same time? **** 8:29 Last weekend I was with my son, and we went on a walk with our dog in the countryside. The dog killed three chicken. My son and I witnessed that killing. He is 1-year-old, and he clearly was affected by this. How do I explain this to him? **** 9:25 Do you think a machine could ever become sentient? **** 10:34 I read emotions are empty. The problem is I tend to attach to them and then they become very powerful and have this feeling I am right. So, my emotion is right and it gets even bigger. How could I do better? **** 14:20 Where would you draw a line when your being generous crosses over into being exploited? **** 15:08 Can you expand on what you just said, about how inappropriate giving is fodder for more extreme reactions?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions, so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 1:30 Can the perceived need for “trigger warnings” (cautionary words when disturbing audio or visual material is being shown) go to far 2:38 I’m curious if you could speak to how writing (if it is a spiritual practice) has served you? 4:28 With the wars in Europe and the escalating violence in the Middle East, do you ever feel anxious about the possibility of a third world war? 6:24 I read an article where a very detailed horror of war and terror was described. Is there anything you could say on redemptive violence and what it is that drives torture? 9:36 Do you not make a separation between war and peace for the current time and world war? 10:52 This realization that humanity is in a constant state of war, isn’t that for you helpless and frustrating, and if yes how do you deal with that? 11:27 For KenShin: How do you feel now that you are by yourself at the (Magnolia Zen) Center? 11:50 Earlier you talked about being a real meaningful support to people affected by war. What is the essence, what is the most supportive to such people? 12:26 I do have a craving for recognition. How can I not act out of this 13:10 As a combat veteran, what do you understand about the mind of these young men in the Middle East who killed a lot of defenseless women, children?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html Zen teacher Claude AnShin Thomas responds inspiringly from Zen practice and his life experiences These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you. Questions and Time Stamps: 1:12 What do you do when you notice that you got stuck in an a certain pattern that feels uncomfortable, (if you have such and experience)? ****** 2:34 There is a study where dying people were asked what they regret. The number one that was mentioned most often is the regret of not having lived one’s own life. How do you relate to that? Or how do you see that spiritually: living one’s own life? ****** 3:04 I have gotten a couple emails recently from other groups that are celebrating “Vesak” again? I am curious, is there multiple “Vesak” days? ****** 4:16 Has any of the protests affected your movement or anything you are doing? ****** 5: 15 At the moment when you travel quickly from one place to the next, how long does it take you to arrive there with your whole being or is it that after awhile you haven't really arrived at all the places? ****** 6: 17 How do you work with the "ant street" passing through your kitchen in relationship to the precept of not killing? ****** 7:35 What are you able to share with us about the topic of “failure?" ****** 8:22 If you listen to a number of stories of suffering that people share with you on the same day, what do you do to not carry the sad stories with you around? ****** 9:38 Referring back to KG’s question, if everything is an idea, what is there tangible or is there anything? ****** 11:46 In order to understand those two realms (relative and absolute) can science and intellect also be helpful with that or, in general, are they an obstacle? ****** 13:32 Is this something you are currently engaged in, in such a study (in reference to previous response)? ****** 14: 09 How do you explain expanded consciousness or the concept of with LSD? ****** 15:27: A question to KenShin on how your return to the United States has been?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses. For more information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on these topics? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html Questions and their time stamps: 1:10 If daily life and meditation are not two separate things, should we aim at keeping breath awareness as long as we are awake? **** 1:25 In my relationship, especially with cats, I realize that loving them comes with some attachment. How is it in practice that non-attachment doesn’t mean not to love? **** 3: 34 Would you say that as humans most of our problems are created by ourselves, for example through our attitude or our behavior? **** 3:53 Do you have any recommendations for work when one is working with people with different cultural backgrounds? **** 6:55 Would you expand on a quote I read? “When the mind appears reality disappears and when the mind disappears reality appears." **** 7:14 Is suicide ever a solution? **** 7:55 You mentioned that my conditioning is being reflected back to me by my world. Do you have an example of this? **** 8:36 Earlier in this session you said that expecting love to be reciprocated is to ignore the interconnectedness of the world? Could you explain that? **** 10:42 Do you see a difference between taking one’s own life and or engaging in assisted dying? **** 11:07 How would you evaluate Buddhism in context of a perspective through the Abraham religions? **** 11:55 There are those poems from Rumi. Do they speak to you? **** 12:43 How can you see that the grass loves you? **** 13:27 Yesterday you mentioned to not to seek external comfort. If you support someone in their suffering, what are you doing it for if not to comfort them? **** 14:54 How would you respond to someone who sincerely believes that they perceive dead people and can speak for them? **** 16:16 I have problems with hearing something and understanding it in that moment, then remembering and repeating it. Mostly it’s too much for me. **** 17:18 How would you respond to a teenager who says that she hates her mother, that her mother doesn’t deserve any love or recognition, even though the mother does a lot for them?

This recording is from a public talk that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - gave in spring in Switzerland for the German language release of his book Bringing Meditation to Life. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a zoom questions&responses session with a German-speaking audience. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html Questions and Time Stamps: 1:20: I wanted to ask this question to AnShin and KenShin but I can also now ask it of GenRai. If you wouldn’t have become a monk or a nun which other job would have interested you? **** 3: 08: Your introduction to Questions and Responses and for meditation sounds to me always as fresh as you would do it for the first time. How do you do it? **** 4:50: Do you want to share something about the program of the promotion of the book that you have in Germany? **** 9:29: I was reading recently about the 5 Remembrances and they seem pretty straight forward. I was wondering if you had anything to add or experiences with the 5 Remembrances? **** 15:03: How is KenShin doing? **** 16:10: What is your relation with “supernatural?” **** 17:45: Do you think that a change of opinion is connected with age or aging? **** 19:05: Would you be willing to share about humor and what you think about it? **** 20:38: What are some tangible ways that you incorporate your practice into daily life? **** 27:34: How do you work with resentments when they come up? **** 30:09: Sometimes I hear something that is meant “Buddhist psychology”. What do you know about this? **** 31:43: Could you imagine situations where emotionality is important to have? **** 33:56: I am interested to get more information about your disappointment about when a friend just does not connect anymore with you? **** 36:12: I am just wondering about the name “AnGyo” and the red scarves.. What do those mean?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a zoom questions&responses session with a German-speaking audience. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html Questions and Time Stamps: 1:30 In which way are your father and your mother present in your life now, if they are present? **** 3:58 During sitting meditation, is it important to consciously slow down my breathing or do I just stay with whatever breathing pattern is natural at that time? **** 5:58 Would you share something about your experience of discipline? **** 8:16 This morning when you gave instructions for sitting meditation you said that it was best to not wear shoes and if it was cold to not wear socks. How come? **** 10:16 When does discipline lead to feeling overwhelmed and tightness? **** 10:50 What your saying is, if I am not enjoying, for instance getting up very early in the morning and getting on with my day and I’d rather be in bed because I don't’ like doing that, that’s not discipline? **** 14:40 When does discipline lead to more serenity and freedom? **** 18:50 In my meditation practice I do experience on certain days I am busy with quite intense feelings which I usually reject internally and am fighting with it, and then I am not succeeding in meditating. What would you say about that? **** 21:08 Do you sometimes experience situations when you keep yourself small? **** 24:03 What are your thoughts on the idea of the value of looking or reflecting on the path? **** 27:24 When bringing little children into the zendo, when does it get to the point where the disturbance gets to big and I need to interact? **** 31:50 There is this saying that every response already exists in us. Do you have any idea how it comes that we are so deluded as humans that we don’t have access to it? **** 34:21 I noticed lately that when I travel I become rigid and uptight. Is the response to that tension just to accept it or should I make an effort to change that and relax? **** 40: 08 (In reference to what was shared in previous question) Why didn’t you just put the eyedrop in your eye?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a zoom questions&responses session with a German-speaking audience. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html Questions and Time Stamps: 1:18 What is the significance and meaning as well as the difference between sitting to the front and sitting to the back? **** 3:18 From where I am sitting, I am noticing a design stitched into the back of your rakusu and everybody seems to have it who has a rakusu. What is it? **** 4:11 What is most important for civilians to know about military veterans? **** 6: 32 How do you know the point is where the breath comes in without thinking about it? **** 7:40 Does Buddhism and/or you recognize the concept of evil? And, if so, what does it mean in that context for you and Buddhism? **** 10:55 But one has to name things because otherwise the world wouldn’t function either, right? **** 13:25 Does this retreat with veterans feel more familiar than other retreats? **** 16:51 What is this ongoing joke about Bielefeld (city in Germany) existing or not existing? **** 19:06 Talking about the relative and the absolute realm, where, if anywhere, does the ego play in the relative realm? **** 21:44 If there was a death to the sense of self, would I then experience the absolute realm? **** 28:27 My question is if you are either interacting or doing a retreat with police officers, in the relative realm, how would either work with them or encourage them to be non-violent? **** 40:32 How can I use the tools that you give us to throw off this very oppressive and heavy weight of karmic doom? **** 42:42 Do you have an idea how it comes that for example my grandmother with age she now tells things about the war which she hasn’t done before?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a zoom questions&responses session with a German-speaking audience. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/books.html Questions and Time Stamps: *1:40 I am noticing that I am have difficulties with recognition. I feel as if I need constant positive feedback for everything I do. How do I deal with it? *7:34 You had mentioned another time that a friend of yours had cut off contact with you and you mentioned that you were probably “inconvenient for him.” How far is it the case that you also consider that this might be completely about him? *11:59 Do you feel lonely sometimes and if so, how do you deal with this feeling? *14:44 I was wondering if you found any relationship between the relief of pain and sitting? *18:15 How or where do you perceive the absolute realm compared to the relative realm? *21:07 Do you feel like your monk's robe and appearance as a Japanese Zen Buddhist Monk distances you from ordinary people with whom you meet daily, generating separation and distance between you and others? *24:28 What do you think if I should do if I feel constant and permanent pain in my soul? *29:21 If the emphasis is to wake up from our own suffering, then why don’t I just become a recluse and not deal with people and society? *31: 29 When you say there is no soul, then all the other religions that believe in one wrong? And could one from a buddhist perspective say there is one-soul or one-mind? *35:20 How important do you believe is it in interactions to also admire each other? *36:30 Can you explain a little more of your thoughts on “bardo?’ *40:28 Can you describe when you have glimpsed the absolute realm and also when you have recognized it in other people and how you recognized it in other people? *45:28 When in your life was the first time that you felt this burning desire for waking up?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a zoom questions&responses session with a German-speaking audience. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/books.html Time Codes: 02:18 If you wouldn’t be an addict, do you think you would think differently?03:18 How do you relate to the word, “hope?”05:28 Could you share on how you perceive “not-broken”? What does it mean to you?07:56 What should I do when someone personally attacks me to hurt me verbally?10:47 When a person has a hard moment is that an awakening or something else?12:22 Within the language of broken and not-broken, how do you talk about psychiatric illnesses?17:24 Do I think it is possible to let go to attachment to life before dying?22:07 How do you suggest dealing with anger?24:12 Do you find yourself sometimes in survival mode?27:04 How can one achieve not wanting to achieve something?29:08 Is escape always negative or wrong?30:48 When you are attacked verbally, how do you go about making a connection?32:43 Do you have advice how to work with people who work differently than oneself?34:50 How do you experience the difference between online and in-person practice?37:44 How to remain kind with one’s own negativity?41:32 …., is this nature of love always the same, or the nature of life?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. This episode was recorded during a zoom questions&responses session. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/books.html Time Codes: 1:20 Have you ever had a burst of laughter when it was not fitting, how you dealt with it?2:20 I was wondering what you are learning about yourself at the present time in your life?6:48 Do you experience any limitations that you encounter as you move through time?8:17 Could you describe one or several spiritual awakenings you might have experienced through Zen practice?11:28 Beyond the physical difference between men and women, what differences do you perceive?13:42 I’m confused about when you say “sit just to sit” … Do you have any suggestion what to do with my confusion?18:20 My mother experienced a lot of trauma in her childhood and still suffers a lot. And through this suffering she can be hurtful to other people. How can I be connected to her and have her in my life but not always get hurt by her?23:13 I have a question about something you said on a podcast about a comment on social media about you do not following “real” Zen. Can you help me understand this?27:52 I have heard the statement that it is up to me how much I let something or someone hurt me or anger me. What is your experience how much determination is really involved in that?33:15 I know you make commitments in the morning, generally toward life. Is there any time you also ask for help let say, to the greater reality of the universe or interconnectedness, that I could use some help?35:02 How do you digest all the suffering you are exposed to, the personal and also the wider suffering?39:20 How are we not broken?40:44 Are you worried for the future of your grandchildren in relation with climate change?43:02 During the meditation practice I notice my way of being with thoughts when they come up, is different. I am wondering if that is natural and part of the process or if I am imposing things on my thoughts which at times can seem harsh?49:07 My conditioning around death is rather dark and heavy. In the spirit of having more balance would you think it would be good to look a little more at it in a celebratory way?52:04 There are behaviors we need to stop, and we stop those behaviors because we know that is for the better, right? …. Isn’t that the same thing with the thoughts?

What is it like to live as a Zen Buddhist Monk? This and other questions from college students Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. This episode was recorded during a zoom questions&responses session with a German-speaking audience. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/books.html Questions from the students and the professor: 6:26 I’ve read that there are monks who are vegetarian and those who eat meat and I wonder which is true? 8:57 How do you, in Buddhist practice relate to difficult feelings and situations? 12:04 We did a group meditation in class which some remarked was difficult. Do you have any advice for them? 17:49 Are you saying meditation goes beyond the cushion? 21:02 What do you gain from meditation the most? 23:39 If meditation practice is something to continue to do, is there a benefit to practice? 25:39 I am asking about the role of compassion in your teachings and curious about how it influences you? 28:42 Is there any one school of Buddhism that focuses on compassion? 29:48 How has your military experience influenced your understanding of Buddhist practice? 36:08 Buddhist practice has helped you to rejoin the living? 39:27 How do you see a relationship between self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others? 42:30 My parents are Buddhists and eat fish on a specific day. How are you with this? 44:37 You said you feel you have an obligation to work with others when dealing with their (war) experiences. Is that a responsibility due to your Buddhist practice or is that a responsibility due to your experience of war? 49:40 You mentioned Buddhism is about being present and narcotics detaches one from reality. I was wondering about listening to music and if it is something you indulge or avoid? 54:20 Being silent has been difficult, yes? 56:00 I see Catholicism as male oriented and patriarchal, do you see any oppressive treatment of women in Buddhist practice? 61:02 I have a friend who is a Buddhist nun who complained about her treatment in the US as a woman.

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - fully ordained Zen Buddhist Monk in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the trappings of a deluded mind. For more interesting information: https://zaltho.org/ If you want to ask a question: info@zaltho.org Want to read up on this topic? Book recommendations: - Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021) - AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003) https://zaltho.org/en/media/books.html Questions/Time Stamps: 1:16 How has your relationship to being on time been, for example before the practice and then coming into the practice *** 6:04 Do you remember the first retreat that you facilitated and if so, how did it go? *** 8:30 If I have developed certain reactions to similar situations over my lifetime, do you think that this is a trap like conditioning patterns? And that I should behave freshly in every moment? *** 11:42 Do I let go of fear or does fear let go of me? *** 13:27 Can you say more about “moral Injury” such as examples or how a person knows that they have one? *** 16:22 Would you be willing to share a personal experience about recognizing fear and how your relationship to fear served you *** 19:37 Is there something that you especially like to do to recovery yourself or get back your strength after changing time (jet lag)? *** 24:51 Do you beat yourself up when you make a mistake or how has your process been? *** 27:15 After you finish an event or a lot of traveling do you take a specific amount of time to reflect or let it sink in? *** 32:57 How would you finish the sentence, “At the end of my life…?” *** 39:28 Do you think of what you might leave behind for your son after death?