Inside Shinzen's Brain: How Shinzen Experiences his Daily Life

Steph asks Shinzen what it's like inside his brain. What a day in the life of Shinzen's perceptions would be. He answers with honesty & insight.
www.basicmindfulness.org/
This is part of an interview Shinzen Young did with Stephanie Nash in August 2009.
The purpose of this interview was to 'get the scoop' on Shinzen - the man behind the techniques. See other segments being posted over next few weeks for some good stories.
(Editing graciously contributed by Bruce Malm.)
www.shinzen.org
www.strategic-mindfulness.com

[@Raina430]

Shinzen expresses at the end of this clip that he is preoccupied with " Can I figure out better ways to bring masses of people to what I experience....how smart can I be, how creative can I be, in the service of the world'. Thank you, you have certainly helped me, in your many taped lectures, and in these videos.

[@squamish4244]

He's reaffirmed my faith in the use of developing technologies to do what I cannot do through meditation. Neurofeedback is really helping me and various devices have helped me as well.

[@Raina430]

valar That’s awesome! If you’d care to share which devices have helped you, I’d be interested.

[@ChaosPath]

Shinzen is such a gem in this world. Thanks for everything :)

[@BrianScalabrineMVP]

6:03 crucial burn

[@01234cinco]

1 2 lol

[@TheDark-jh1do]

Dang

[@ruhmankhalid6675]

Why he do her like that 😭💀

[@luciiza_2116]

lmao

[@geovaniraffaelli4508]

I think he kind of had to say something like that, otherwise his comment might have been interpreted as flirting, didn't have to compare her to a garbage can, though, haha

[@books1648]

the way they speak to each other, Shinzen totally tapped that...

[@jonathannadeau6218]

I hope you guys have figured out by now that Shinzen is gay

[@Fred-vm7ne]

Jonathan Nadeau he was married to a woman

[@jonathannadeau6218]

Fred oops I guessed wrong. Thanks

[@geovaniraffaelli4508]

This comment thread lmao

[@phlipperbrooks129]

Soccer mom hot ... I'd hit it. ⚽️

[@blakewenzelatx]

I have been practicing in different disciplines off and on casually for 15 years, and nothing ever really reached me. Your methods of life as a sensory experience, focusing on equinimity, clarity, and concentration has been a total game changer for my analytical mind. I finally feel concretely a sense of knowing "what it is", in a way that I can see clearly with daily practice I will inevitably become more mindful. I'm sure with enough time and dedication, the other methods would have gotten me there, but I've always had an internal resistance to the dedication. A lack of clarity of the path between my unconscious everyday life and the fantasy image of enlightenment. It always felt like a fraud, like some sort of mass delusion in an "emperor has no clothes" kind of way. Thank you Shinzen for bringing this clarity to my practice.

[@matt12.8]

6:08 the way he clears his throat after moderating his love for people by comparing it with his love for plants and garbage cans is pretty hilarious. Such a beautiful man

[@lydiaca1]

Thank you. I have spent many years with your tapes, sharing them with family and friends. You are certainly a beloved friend of mine and have added divine fragrance to my life.

[@user-xw9ro6ge1m]

The noble path of the bodhisattva, achieving enlightenment and then coming back to this world to help as many people as you can achieve the same thing. ❤

[@tuansondinh4664]

Thanks for talking so openly about your daily experience. I think not a lot of teachers do that

[@fastfrankblack]

I think this man (along with Daniel and Kenneth) just saved my life. So, ummm, thanks for that! :)

[@premendratiwari9767]

Amazing and Beautiful!!

[@moonmissy]

Adyashanti once said: "Enlightenment is the end of all seeking/preference." It seemed that Shinzen is there. However, Adyashanti also said: "Enlightenment is the end of all fixation." So this isn't the same for Shinzen. After 30 years of Zen practice, I find that the end of seeking is attainable, but the end of all fixation is a lot rarer to find in long time meditators.

[@giniaa2707]

Very helpful, Shinzen!

[@dorniaki]

I'm so dedicated thanks to you Shinzen

[@p0werl0ve]

great question everybody is interested in this

[@mariomoralesmoreno5242]

I just realized that my myths and demands about how an enlighted experience must be, is one of the reasons I can't enjoy my already enlighted experience. Accept also that range between clarity and obscurity in a single day... Interesteng. Thanks! :)

[@KevinEllerton]

Hi Shinzen! I love this. My daily experience varies in the same way (from unconsciousness to oneness). I used to judge the unconsciousness as "negative" but I have stopped doing that... and through this equanimity my preference has fallen away. Thank you for putting it so eloquently, as I was finding this experience hard to describe. My default obsession is the same as yours, and I am working to integrate meditation into the western healthcare system. Pls message me; i could use your advice.

[@bombeu]

The Default preoccupation of Shinzen is actually the most important aspect of this entire video ... His struggle to extend this View Point of being to others is remarkable. The problem resides in the "effort" it takes to undergo this self-denunciation treatment as we are in most part quite Ego based ... People are experts in making a "letting go of the ego trip" the most Egotistic trip ever ... an Alan Watts quote ... "the biggest Ego trip One can take is trying to get rid of his Ego". No wonders Shinzen that masses ar hard to appeal with such a deal. Deal being ... Everything You experienced was illusory because You were in your own way all along. So if you Disappear with all your desires and mind projections everything you knew will stay exactly the same except there will be no more suffering involved in your moment to moment existence because the "element" of making distinctions is gone, therefore experiencing Oneness from then on becomes a natural state. So how long can it take to reach this state? Aaa, dunno ... between Now and Never i guess. It can happen or not it`s up also to You, the "you" i was trying to beat up with a bat just a few lines ago.

[@islamtanvir9230]

sir i want to ask u about other video and that is will you please tell me that can anyone do 2 type of meditation .i am currently doing do nothing meditation can i also add mindful meditation .can do nothing increase awareness and consiousness like mindful does and how do nothing increase consiousness please tell me

[@nimim.markomikkila1673]

A good video, although mistitled. They aren´t talking about the insides of the brain:) They are talking about "how I-Shinzen experience the world".

[@myvelouria777]

Required mindfulness integration in to classes k-12. This will cause the shift we need.

[@rickdeckard1075]

god you hippies love mindraping the kids

[@jongasproductionsandfinear427]

But no more lovable than the flower next to you, or s garbage can outside! 🤩😯😯 that was COLD 🥶🥶😁

[@Gijera]

So if he has no preference for experiencing enlightenment vs non-enlightenment. What's the point of being enlightened in the first place, if this is the case? Or, is it a process we must go through. That is, being unenlightened, then enlightened and then not preferring between the two?

[@bombeu]

mabie the key point in the Roshi`s statement was - you have to experience Enlightenment also before you can pass away the preference between the 2. Get the first level complete - kind of a deal, and then you can try to upgrade ... so we need to experience both states ... in the Non-enlightenment or the "asleep" state we roam all our lives totally unconscious and suffering while completely unaware there is a Higher state of consciousness in which we can Be.

[@1001orpheus]

That woman very flirtatious~

[@jongasproductionsandfinear427]

Ive heard they hooked up 👌🤩

[@markbrad123]

Think Shinzen would be a great script writer for Star Wars and Yoda, Just wish they changed the name of Force to Flow. That Yoda idea of Do or Do Not ,There is No Try seems to be coherent with how he lives.

[@ratglyph]

Well, knights of Jedi are based on monks (at least it seems so), so no big surprise I supppose.

[@Ihatemyusernamemore]

悟りと悟りでないとの区別がなくなる事でしょう.

[@loveadeola]

Enlightenment is the passing away of the distinction between enlightenment and non-enlightenment.

[@_Balaur_]

Why does that woman look like she's always about to cry?

[@jameshetfield5894]

I would guess it's because what he's saying strikes her in a beautiful, poetic and profound way.

[@squamish4244]

So...why is it that Shinzen gets to have a huge shift after four years of practice and others practice for 15 without anything changing? Grrrr... (Not that I'm referring to me... ;)

[@_eddiecole]

3:16 Japanese wisdom

[@sabbas110]

this woman is beautiful - i would love to ask her out!

[@HardcoreZen]

What a dope!

[@drolgaws]

lol nope Shinzen is a genius. If you can honestly watch his videos and think anything but that then you may be the dope.

[@NothingTheGreat]

lol How so Brad?

[@HardcoreZen]

@@NothingTheGreat Absolute delusion.