The No-Method Method... Just Sitting, Beyond and Before Thinking 

🙏🙏 GO Deep!

@MrMikkyn, yes…yes…yes! Thank you for seeing what is there and, more importantly, what is NOT there! This posture you have accurately described is the foundation of all the material you will encounter on this obscure, but important, RU-vid channel. We hope you will return often. Please consider encountering the “Life Journey” series. It is a sequential guided curriculum for trans-tradition, contemporary, contemplative practitioners available on the home page of this channel. Check it out. GO Deep!

Shanolin, thank you for this affirmation. Life is practice and practice is life. May we rediscover this truth daily. We are grateful you have discovered this special channel. We hope you will continue to explore its deep, universal, yet uniquely-presented message. The Life Journey series on the home page of the Interior Mythos Journeys RU-vid channel, provides a sequential, guided, experiential path to becoming a contemporary contemplative practitioner. GO Deep!

Neil, Yes it helps and we are always grateful for your input. As a matter of fact, you will be grateful to know that upon receiving your previous comments, our technical team, which is busy over the next year working with the production of “Life Journey #6 - The Ultimate Love,” made changes to the fonts they will be incorporating into the nine modules of this series. Please continue hanging out on this channel and sharing your comments freely. You are part of the team! GO Deep!

Very astute observation.

@@danielpincus221 As well as being appreciated, your comment is very timely in bringing me back to a place I need to be in. Fascinating karma.

Heopful, Thank you for this kind affirmation. Yes, these videos are “priceless” and free! Truth, authentically presented, is always free…and priceless. We are grateful you have discovered this channel. We hope you will return often and share your comments freely. There are many videos on this channel. The core teaching is presented in the “Life Journeys” series (check out the Playlists: 49 short videos in this series have been released to date). The “Life Journey” series uses material from some of the greatest living teachers who are mostly unknown to the popular culture; including Abbot Shohaku Okumura, Sister Joan Chittister, and many others from the East and the West. These sequential cinematic art form modules guide one deeper and deeper into consciousness and the practices of a contemporary contemplative. To advance in becoming a contemplative practitioner, we suggest encountering one sequential module per day or some other regular schedule that works for you. The journey begins with “The Presence.” ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gekfR1jrsko.html. This sequential contemporary contemplative practitioner journey is an excellent opportunity for solitary inquiry or shared group discussion. We know of no stronger existing guided material to nurture a deep journey in today’s world; for a beginning seeker or a master. The top Comment listed under each module contains a context for the specific video on screen and a link for the next sequential art form. We hope to see more comments and reflections from you again soon. We will always attempt to respond. If you wish to grasp the underlying intent of these cinematic art forms consider this short practical context: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vDChtBZdqiw.html GO Deep!

The popmodule, you are welcome! We are grateful you discovered this channel. We hope you will return often and share your comments freely. There are many videos on this channel. The core teaching is presented in the “Life Journeys” series (check out the Playlists: 49 short videos in this series have been released to date). The “Life Journey” series uses material from some of the greatest living teachers who are mostly unknown to the popular culture; including Abbot Shohaku Okumura, Sister Joan Chittister, and many others from the East and the West. These sequential cinematic art form modules guide one deeper and deeper into consciousness and the practices of a contemporary contemplative. To advance in becoming a contemplative practitioner, we suggest encountering one sequential module per day or some other regular schedule that works for you. The journey begins with “The Presence.” ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gekfR1jrsko.html. This sequential contemporary contemplative practitioner journey is an excellent opportunity for solitary inquiry or shared group discussion. We know of no stronger existing guided material to nurture a deep journey in today’s world; for a beginning seeker or a master. The top Comment listed under each module contains a context for the specific video on screen and a link for the next sequential art form. We hope to see more comments and reflections from you again soon. We will always attempt to respond. If you wish to grasp the underlying intent of these cinematic art forms consider this short practical context: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vDChtBZdqiw.html GO Deep!

Lorand, you are successfully connecting the dots! The premise of this channel is there is no difference between the practice of sitting on our butts and facing a blank wall and hanging on a rock wall over a rock-climber’s abyss practicing a relationship to the encountered Reality. Consciousness is consciousness is consciousness. The practice of managing consciousness has boundless applications. We are grateful you discovered this channel. We hope you will return often and share your comments freely. There are many videos on this channel. The core teaching is presented in the “Life Journeys” series (check out the Playlists: 49 short videos in this series have been released to date). The “Life Journey” series uses material from some of the greatest living teachers who are mostly unknown to the popular culture; including Abbot Shohaku Okumura, Sister Joan Chittister, and many others from the East and the West. These sequential cinematic art form modules guide one deeper and deeper into consciousness and the practices of a contemporary contemplative. To advance in becoming a contemplative practitioner, we suggest encountering one sequential module per day or some other regular schedule that works for you. The journey begins with “The Presence.” ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gekfR1jrsko.html. This sequential contemporary contemplative practitioner journey is an excellent opportunity for solitary inquiry or shared group discussion. We know of no stronger existing guided material to nurture a deep journey in today’s world; for a beginning seeker or a master. The top Comment listed under each module contains a context for the specific video on screen and a link for the next sequential art form. We hope to see more comments and reflections from you again soon. We will always attempt to respond. If you wish to grasp the underlying intent of these cinematic art forms consider this short practical context: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vDChtBZdqiw.html GO Deep!

​@@Interiormythos Nice catch with the dots 🙂 I was around 12 when started programming and became obsessed about the Tao Te King, Chuang-ce and others. Now I am almost 50, walking these parallel paths with some martial arts, breathing techniques etc. added. I have been working on how we use information systems to store and manage our knowledge for all these years, consciously for almost 20. On this level, it is practically debugging / vivisecting the way my mind works, with various tools. For a while, I called my profession "applied philosophy", until I deleted my profile because nobody seems to think in IT - at least the way I use this word. That gives me a bit different view on those "dots". We don't connect them, that would be an activity. Our brain, a network of billions of neurons, is a perfect hardware to see connections everywhere. The art is to find the real ones. So, we don't connect, we filter and look for the ones that we can trust. For a while. However, there is another view, when we are the dots that touch each other at a very special point in time. To this I use to say: "My task is to prepare, God's task is timing." For example, I found this place one day after I wrote this paragraph in an email. _"This seems to be my way of asking for the Zen Slap, when I lost my grip on my koan. That is: _*_what is the process of understanding the process of understanding? And do you have it when you have it?_*_ These questions sound like word games but they are not, rather the human versions of my next step in IT. That is an information system that fully contains, so that can evaluate and improve itself."_ Do you like my koan?

@@lkedves Thank you for a beautiful koan

​@@sondo5380 No need, happy that you like the koan, it is definitely worth 30+ years of my life. Let alone the answer, MiND. The question is always the next step, what path this situation allows to others. Still being human makes it hard to keep this question light like a feather, not clinging on, not raising expectations. I fail that all the time and must recall that my climb is on the wall, not on other people... Breathing technique is key.🙂

Rajalwa, we are grateful for this affirmation. And, we are grateful you have discovered this special channel. We hope you will return often. Please consider a sustained encounter with The Life Journey series on the home page of the Interior Mythos Journeys RU-vid channel. It provides a sequential, guided, experiential path for the contemporary contemplative practitioner. You will discover this dynamic profoundly in Life Journey #7 - The Ultimate Journey. Check it out and keep in touch! GO Deep!

Siew Kon Sum, we always appreciate your expansion and deepening of the messages presented here. Thank you for further illuminating the “no method method.”

Casey, thank you for this affirmation. We are grateful for your presence on this channel and hope you will return often. Please continue to explore the Life Journey series on the home page of the Interior Mythos Journeys RU-vid channel. It provides a sequential, guided, experiential path for learning and practicing contemplation. GO Deep!

User, of course you can! In fact, the traditional poses, and the self-righteous application of the “right way” can be a huge impediment to personally achieving the objective of Zen; living my life actualizing Reality. Please consider a sustained encounter with The Life Journey series on the home page of the Interior Mythos Journeys RU-vid channel. It provides a sequential, guided, experiential path for the contemporary contemplative practitioner and allows for a deep dialogue between Christian contemplative mystics and Buddhist Zen practitioners. You will discover this exchange most profoundly in Life Journey #7 - The Ultimate Journey. Keep in touch! GO Deep!

Gloria, we are so grateful you have made this discovery! No, it is not a problem when your eyes wish to close. This is a deep subject to explore. However, the Dalai Lama has instructed that “sleep is the perfect form of meditation.” Eyes open and eyes closed and deep sleep all have a role to play in our nurture. Our world needs contemplative practitioners. Our human family needs you! Stay connected - share your email address with us at interiormythos@gmail.com to be included in the global community of contemporary contemplatives. A nurturing exercise you may wish to consider is to establish a regular personal practice of viewing the sequential modules of the “Life Journey” series. The Life Journey series is a resource to nurture a new global movement of contemporary contemplative practitioners. These Life Journeys are designed to “journey” the solitary individual or discussion group sequentially and existentially through a series of ever-deepening “stations.” At the beginning of 2022, the Interior Mythos RU-vid channel was established with the existing five completed Life Journeys. Life Journey #6 will be released in 2023. Here is a link to a short context for the “Life Journeys” series: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vDChtBZdqiw.html Keep in touch. GO Deep!

@jkey0, thank you for this very honest question and reflection. Of course each authentic teacher (and there are far more fakes) says something a little different. This is because each authentic teacher has taken a personal journey into the Deep Place to learn what they have learned and incorporated into their own practice; just as you must do. Receive all of the good guidance a teacher or mentor can provide then allow this to settle into your own most-personal relationship to the Deep Place. The path will become clear. The very best counsel we can provide is the distillation of wisdom provided in the Life Journey series found on the home page of this channel. This series is designed as a daily sequential practice to support the contemporary contemplative practitioner. It is trans-tradition. Check it out. GO Deep!

@@Interiormythos Thank you so much for your response! I really like your content. I do think that you deserve much more subscribers. Any tips on distinguishing fake teachers from authentic ones?

@@jkem0 the important part is whether the things they say ring true to you. If someone is pointing, don’t look at their finger.

@@jkem0 Google " narcissistic traits". this is the main thing that is the difference of a toxic " fake profet/guru". that is " red flags" like entitelment, shallowness, ignorance, agression, greed, zero respect for boundarys, superiority complex ( talks of themselves as a demi God, and others as inferior), Black & white fallacy ( looks at the world in extremes). They will also lie about their experience from Zazen, say that it is easy. Or that they only experience bliss, joy and so on under Zazen. In reality Zazen is hard work, and alot of trauma, or unpleassant feelings will come to the surface. This is a sign that the Zazen IS WORKING. And that your mind is beeing " cleaned/healed". A toxic guru will shame you for your zazen experience because they are jealus of your autentic personality and abillity to be honest. The spiritual community are full of toxic teachers, gurus and people who pray on the often naive seekers. Soto zen is the purest of Zen school`s so my guess is that this is the place with the least toxic people. Simply because Soto Zen handles mostly with facts and not fantasy. And a autentic teacher. The real teacher will be entusiastic about your questions. Specialy the ones that seem " dumb" or " obvious". A toxic teacher that don`t have empathy will ridicule, shame, ignore your natural seeking mind. Because they themselves are obsessed with their " fake self image", and the power from beeing a teacher. Notice also that empathy is the most important part of beeing a buddhist. A teacher who has no compassion for others suffering, vulnerability is not a teacher but a con artist.

The Other Way, you are paying attention! Good job! Yes, it is a paradox isn’t it. But, isn’t this the way life is; the closer we come to truth, the more we are enveloped in paradox! May we each seek out those techniques in our personal practice which will, sometimes, deliver us beyond technique; methods which, sometimes, will deliver us beyond method. Thank you for this beautiful question and comment. We hope you will hang around and explore this special channel. Please consider a sustained encounter with The Life Journey series on the home page of the Interior Mythos Journeys RU-vid channel. It provides a sequential, guided, experiential path for the contemporary contemplative practitioner. You will discover this dynamic profoundly in Life Journey #7 - The Ultimate Journey. Check it out and keep in touch! GO Deep!

@@Interiormythos I understand what you are saying; however, it seems to be promoting yet another channel or method or practice for profit, views, etc. Even meditation can become a distraction to living in the present moment, to enjoying the smell of a flower or spice, to enjoying life.

Other Way, sorry for the tardy response. This one slipped through the cracks. Believe us when we tell you there is NO PROFIT in this enterprise; at least not monetarily or commercially! Yes, you are correct, even our ritualistic practices can become a distraction from the present moment. May we all learn the practice of attending deeply to our real lives in the present moment; both the adoration of the mystery of life and the suffering. This is the path to authenticity. GO Deep!

Themanwhoknewtoomuch, thank you for this reflection. Yes, you have answered your own question, you know too much! From our perspective, life’s water is always very muddy. This is because, when we use simply our minds to perceive, we are inevitably confused on the surface. To go deeper, we must explore the ever-present reality of paradox. And, paradox is inevitably muddy to the human mind; therefore, we must each, very personally, engage in “practice.” To explore this reality more deeply consider an encounter with the Life Journey series, available on the home page of the Interior Mythos Journeys channel. It provides a sequential, guided, experiential path for the contemporary contemplative practitioner. Check it out. GO Deep!

What other people do, say, belive is not under your control. They may or may not belive in their own teaching. To belive is to do the zazen. Do your zazen. And do it minimalistic with focus on « just sitting». Stopp worrying or judgeing who/what is not under your control. Then you will see that the « mud», was not in the world but inside your mind. And that the « mud», will come and go like the weather changes.

Willy. Of course! Thank you for the question and we are grateful you have discovered this special channel. We hope you will return often. Please consider a sustained encounter with The Life Journey series on the home page of the Interior Mythos Journeys RU-vid channel. It provides a sequential, guided, experiential path for the contemporary contemplative practitioner. You will discover this dynamic profoundly in Life Journey #7 - The Ultimate Journey. Check it out and keep in touch! GO Deep!

@@Interiormythos Thank you for the reply. Could you please explain how this Shikantaza is like vipassana. How the aims and objective are similar or different.

Willy, thank you for this insightful question. Firstly, we need to move beyond linguistic categories that can trap us in religious jargon and create the basis for argument between traditions and within ourselves. Instead, we need to go to the place where authentic deep poetry (religious or otherwise) is pointing us: actual life! The authentic objective of both Shikantaza and Vipassana is to provide a practice and context for an actual encounter with raw being. When this actual encounter happens, which it may or may not in our practice, it is transformative. The contemplative practitioner, from all traditions, seeks to nurture and expand the depth and influence of this encounter. This is why we encourage you, and everyone else, to take the journey of the sixty-nine sequential video modules available on the homepage of the “Interior Mythos Journeys” channel in the “Life Journeys” series. This material integrates the deep traditions of the east and west and allows us to encounter Universal Reality in a contemporary context. This is the Deep Well for which the human family and our planet thirst today. Please consider taking this journey and continue to share your reflections as you engage this path solitarily or with friends and village or sangha members. Keep in touch. GO Deep!