The Vital Force Archive

Carmen Brocklehurst credits Zen master Paul Reps with prompting Justin Stone to leave the stock market, explains why TCC was originated rather than created, and urges attention over habit energies; Clare Bradley's pyramid poems follow.

Justin Stone introduces his out-of-print book on gurus, teachers and the mystery of Being, then argues in the chapter "Abandon Hope" that only dropping hope for tomorrow lets us live today.

Ann Rutherford gathers memories of Michael O'Connor, an Albuquerque teacher and physical therapist who died after relapsing, from Bruce Childs, Molly Grady, Beth Cameron, Kathy Grassel and Sr. Antonia.

Five short passages from Justin Stone's writing between 1985 and 1993, on enlightenment as manifestation rather than intellect, the tongue outlasting the teeth, and why he left some questions unanswered.

Anne Rutherford recounts asking Justin Stone whether Turiya meditation alone sustains awareness, then embedding a chosen ego fixation as a felt sense in Seijaku's resistance section, with self-inquiry questions for students.

John Marquez describes enduring a difficult pandemic year by practicing repeatedly, holding the Zen question "What is this moment lacking?" and deliberately choosing to shelve a dark place and take back joy.

Rachel Rilinger disliked the air element until a Gatha course with Melina Bondy taught her to move slowly and feel color in the air, deepening her Seijaku practice.

Justin Stone on the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic of understatement, weathered wood and Kaga no Chiyo's morning glory, paired with his wordless hours beside a silent sadhu near Baroda.

Seven short pieces from Justin Stone's journal writings between 1985 and 1992, including Paul Reps' ten minutes of just sitting, watching wrists and waist for tension, his three steps on the Way, and his answer to a question about reincarnation.

Diana Bahn recounts covering her teacher Carolyn Perkins's classes the day Perkins broke her neck in February 2020, and how insurance denying a rehab bed kept her out of a COVID-struck hospital.

Jeneth Rundle traces her attraction to statues of Kuan Yin and Amida Buddha, then describes the sudden urge during the pandemic to return to daily Seijaku practice alongside Nei Kung recitation.

Justin Stone lays out the four observations of the Satipatthana or Way of Mindfulness practice - breath, state of mind, feeling-sensation and objects of mind - and recommends a half hour daily.

Justin Stone gives step-by-step instructions for two seated meditations, Chih-kuan concentration on the t'an t'ien or third eye, and the Great Circle, which lifts a golden current from the Bubbling Spring using breath and eyes.

Nan Nelson recalls the evening her community education teacher described meeting a raging driver with compassion, the moment that turned a casual TCC class into a serious commitment, and cites Shantideva on repaying teachers.

Justin Stone contrasts Indian Buddhism's escape from suffering with the Taoist love of life and longevity, concluding that daily contemplation and gratitude serve most people better than asceticism.

Aphorisms from Justin Stone on the needs we manufacture, the unreality of memory, the ice cream cone as America's tea ceremony, Dogen on spring, and Joshu Sasaki's five fingers.

Justin Stone recounts the Buddha answering "I am awake!" and names habit energies behind compulsive behavior, followed by Sarah Riley's note on Daniel Pienciak's Seijaku retreat.

Justin Stone lays out a sequence of listening practices, from registering random sounds without embroidery to chanting the Gayatri Mantra and singing his own "Healing thru Joy," recalling a flute heard in Himalayan rain.

Justin Stone examines the Buddha's teaching on dukkha, arguing that suffering springs from our own habitual desires and that only a disciplined mind, honest introspection and emptying of old patterns can change it.

Justin Stone takes up the question "Who am I?" through Tagore's unanswered poem and the 12th century Japanese saint Shinran, who abandoned self-power on Mount Hiei for Amida's saving vow.

Concluding "Who Am I?", Justin Stone moves from Shinran's Pure Land faith to the Buddha's five hindrances to meditation, Ramana Maharshi's verses on breath and absorption, and Hakuin Zenji's "Song of Dhyana".

Rose Brown describes how Marie Dotts and Sandy McAlister at the Colorado Springs Intensive returned her to body awareness, prompting tears, emotional release and a new grounding practice in the soles of her feet.

Justin Stone recounts the unexplained urge that sent him from Taos to Albuquerque, where a bookstore remark led to six weekly classes, and adds his Buddhist prayer before meals.

John Flynn describes playing the shakuhachi, an end-blown bamboo flute, for Cathy Burton's Ventura class, quoting a Chan poem and a master's account of Three Valleys that shapes his playing during the Daughter movements.

Justin Stone instructs students to sit quietly and note tactile sensations, sights and sounds, classifying each reaction as pleasing, displeasing or neutral, with the Zen master Tokusan telling two disputing monks both are right.

Dora Wiemann unpacks flowing and emptiness at the 2018 conference, sharing the lists her teacher prep students made of their own markers for feeling ungrounded and grounded, then asks whether a plant sprouting from a rock at Folsom flows from emptiness.

Janet Oussaty's 2018 conference paper on Flowing from Emptiness draws on Alma Zerboni clearing her mind in a park between classes, a student who complained there was nothing to hold onto, and the Tao Te Ching.

Continuing from the May issue, Justin Stone draws on Da Hui, the Lotus Sutra and Zen Master Danxia to argue for trusting Prajna, or present awareness, over accumulated knowledge.

Deb Bertelsen answers April Leffler's question about flowing from emptiness, drawing on Thich Nhat Hanh, then describes feeling disconnected after moving to the Southwest and turning to goldstone.

Justin Stone describes Prajna, the innate wisdom buried under habit energies, quoting a Sufi master, Krishnamurti and Paul Reps, and argues that TCC practice balances those energy patterns so letting go happens effortlessly.