The Great Heart Way

The Practice

The Great Heart Way is an extension of traditional Zen practice which explores shadow images, fixed beliefs and negative karma. It is a non-sectarian meditation practice that teaches how to work with unresolved emotions so they can transform to wholesome states of mind.

When our emotional reality is not addressed as part of our spiritual growth, we carry that reality as a shadow which blocks the natural flow of feelings: anger, fear, envy, anxiety, resentment, inferiority, superiority, unworthiness and so on. The Great Heart Way teaches us how to work with emotions in a way that opens our hearts to compassion, wisdom and unconditional love.

In Great Heart practice, participants apply the non-judgmental awareness of meditation to recurring bodily sensations. By remaining with the sensations, fixed images and beliefs from the subconscious often emerge, which are revealed as the source of stagnant emotional energy and suffering. Once brought to awareness, these images can be healed by directed love and compassion.

When done in a retreat setting, the practice involves meditation as the basis of discovery as well as private interviews with teachers, group discussions, process work (journaling, reading, drawing) and being in nature.

The Book

Great Heart practice is explored in depth in Shinko Sensei's and Shishin Roshi's recent book "The Great Heart Way: How to Heal Your Life and Find Self-Fulfillment", published by Wisdom Publications.

They wrote the book after decades of teaching traditional Zen and observing how meditation practice can sometimes be used to bypass deeply ingrained personality patterns. Motivated by a disconnect they perceived between practitioners' "profound spiritual experiences" and an inability to manifest that wisdom in daily lives and personal relationships, they began to explore ways in which meditation could be used to access the unconscious mind in order to release blocked energies and to open the heart to unconditional love. Working with students over a period of several years, they developed the most effective ways to reveal and heal shadow images. This book is the fruit of that work. Using clear language and personal anecdotes, "The Great Heart Way" offers a practical method to heal inner wounds and transform difficult emotions.

See more about the book or order it from Wisdom Publications.

The Retreats

Shinko Sensei and Shishin Roshi guide students in Great Heart work in retreats dedicated to the practice. In Great Heart retreats, practitioners bring awareness to their habitual patterns and release blocked energies. Retreats include meditation, group discussions and process work (journaling, reading and drawing) plus private interviews with the teachers.

Great Heart retreats are offered in safe environments that support healing and transformation. Participants clean body and mind of old wounds and blocked emotions, and release life force so the true self can manifest in daily life and relationships.

Upcoming retreats are:

• March 20-26, 2010. (Details TBD; see images below).