The Path of Aliveness: A Contemporary Zen Approach to Awakening Body and Mind

Christian Dillo

Dec 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Stephen R. Thorne

About this audiobook

Find a sense of nourishment and embodied aliveness in every aspect of your life with this fresh and accessible guide to Zen practice. Buddhism aims for the development of a flexible mind and skillful responsiveness-whether toward problems in one's personal life or broader issues like the ecological crisis. But in a culture now saturated with cliches about mindfulness and unrealistic fantasies about happiness, what does it truly mean to walk this path? The key practice is that of embodied aliveness. In The Path of Aliveness, Zen and Taoist Qigong teacher Christian Dillo offers a path of meaningful transformation tailored to our times. Through potent conceptual work and practical examples, he shows how to carefully examine the interrelationship between our senses, body energy, thoughts, and emotions so that we can transform our lives in the direction of less suffering and more freedom, wisdom, and compassion. This secular reconstruction respectfully plumbs Buddhist tradition-including classic teachings such as the foundations of mindfulness meditation, the four noble truths, and the practice of loving kindness-while encouraging practitioners to rely on their own embodied experience for maintaining an alive and engaged presence no matter the circumstances.

About the author

Christian Dillo spent over twenty years as a residential monastic at the Crestone Mountain Zen Center in Colorado, completing Dharma transmission with Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. In 2015 he began serving as Guiding Teacher at the Boulder Zen Center, where he now lives.

Stephen R. Thorne is a professional actor and a member of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. He has played Hamlet, Henry V, and Tom Joad, among many other roles. Stephen has narrated over fifty audiobooks.