DiscoverUpaya Zen Center's Dharma PodcastSilent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 2)
Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 2)

Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 2)

Update: 2025-09-01
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In the second part of this two-part Wednesday Night Dharma Talk mini-series, Zen teacher Guo Gu guides us into the embodiment of silent illumination. He begins not with theory but with experience: posture, presence, and body. Speaking with a soft, smooth cadence—measured and unhurried—we explore the terrain of our own physicality through an extended guided meditation followed by a reflection on the practice of silent illumination. Noticing most people live in their heads, estranged from their own physicality, Guo Gu teaches that rooting attention in the body diminishes the grip of thought. This space from mental activity allows for “curiosity and great interest” in what remains – the felt edge before ideas form. Resting in this alert wonderment is silent illumination, a practice that seeks nothing and, in seeking nothing, reveals the treasury of true intimacy.
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Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 2)

Silent Illumination and the Practice of Wonderment (Part 2)

Joan Halifax | Zen Buddhist Teacher Upaya Abbot