This crazy thing called Zen...

Lately, I have been most interested in Zen. It is not a religion in the traditional sense, but is rather defined as a "way of liberation." It's rather informal and the focus is on practice as opposed to doctrine. Please know that I am not pushing religion here... I wouldn't even consider myself a full-on Zen Buddhist. I feel, however, that there's a great deal of value in its teachings and practices which are applicable to members of any faith (or those of no faith at all).

In fact, it is actually the foundation upon which Dialectical Behavior Therapy, a model for group therapy which teaches its patients skills for dealing with their presenting issues, was created by Dr. Marsha Linehan, PhD in the early 90's. It has proven very effective and is available worldwide. Interestingly, at the core of the therapeutic model is the idea of mindfulness (which, of course, is a fundamental element of Zen). Dr. Linehan was granted permission to use excerpts from Thich Nhat Hanh's book "The Miracle of Mindfulness" in her publication and practice. So, what has happened is: a Zen monk's work has been adapted to treat mental illness... and is doing so with more success than any Freudian theory ever had. Hmm. Outside of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, the West has been integrating mindfulness and meditation practices into its health care more and more. The benefits of practices like those found in Zen, are now being recognized by science.

Here is a link for information on Dialectical Behavior Therapy if you're interested (it's model does address spiritual matters... though very cautiously): http://www.behavioraltech.com/resources/whatisdbt.cfm

And here are some videos that might introduce some Zen concepts (one of which I posted myself):
The Zen Mind: An Introduction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK_4Z5DZcNM

excerpt from Alan Watts' "The Way of Zen" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6S8kWRTzgw

Namaste,
Jason