Henry Shukman - The path of awakening

Henry Shukman is a widely published poet and author, as well as a meditation teacher and Zen master of the Sanbo Zen lineage. After a spontaneous spiritual awakening at the age of 19, he embarked on a long journey of healing and deeper awakening and since then he has been leading a growing number of practitioners on the path of awakening, in Europe and the US.  He is authorised to teach Mindfulness by Shinzen Young and is a certified dreamwork therapist as well as being Spiritual Director Emeritus of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Henry has an MA from Cambridge and an M.Litt. from St Andrews, and has written several award-winning books of poetry and fiction. His essays have been published in the New York Times, Outside and Tricycle, and his poems in the New Republic, Guardian, Sunday Times (UK) and London Review of Books. He has taught writing and literature at the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico, has been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow of Poetry at Oxford Brookes University, and Poet in Residence at the Wordsworth Trust.

In this podcast:

  • The meditative quality of poetry and how it can bring one back to the present moment

  • Using poetry in meditation to create a serene atmosphere

  • The differences between various forms of meditation

  • The concept of awakening

  • The connection between meditation and mindfulness

  • The transformative power of poetry and its potential to enrich one's life

  • The concept of original sin and its influence on Western culture

  • The idea of karma and its physical consequences

  • The concepts of mindfulness, support and absorption

  • The concept of flow states and how they can be achieved through complete absorption in a task, leading to enhanced performance and increased happiness.

  • How flow is not limited to specific professions or activities and can be accessed through simple practices like meditation

  • The relationship between meditation and religion and the practical and philosophical significance of meditation.

Henry's book is "Original Love: The 4 Ends on the Path of Awakening," and it has an accompanying meditation app, "The Way."

There are over 200 podcasts in our library. Visit podcasts to find the full list.

Find out more about our innovative Resilience and Burnout solutions.
There are over 200 podcasts in our library. Visit podcasts to find the full list or read our blogs.

Photo by Anita Scharf