Big Mind

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See map: Google MapsBig Heart is an experiential group process designed to help participants discover, experience and appreciate their lives in a new way. People of all backgrounds have found it to be a terrific way to identify and work through the unhealthy patterns that can sabotage our best efforts. By fostering a compassionate exploration of the intricate network of the diverse dimensions of the inner self, the Big Heart process empowers participants to live richer, fuller lives.

Big Heart is a novel technique of self exploration that combines tools of western psychology with the teachings of eastern non-dual traditions.  Participants in this non-denominational process emerge with the realization that they now can answer their most pressing questions about their lives with a greater level of compassion and wisdom than they previously thought possible.

There is no preparation or training needed in order to participate in Big Heart.  Life itself has provided all the preparation you need.

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See map: Google MapsDennis Genpo Merzel Roshi, one of the preeminent Zen Masters in the Western world, has developed a unique and revolutionary approach for transmitting the authentic teachings that emerged from Buddha's enlightenment experience. With a mastery born of more than thirty years of teaching, Genpo Roshi has enabled thousands of participants in Big Mind workshops to gain profound insights and taste for themselves the illuminating experience from which Buddhism and all the world's great religions originate.

I have been enamored of Genpo Roshi’s “Big Mind” (http://www.genpo.org/Big%20Mind/) process since I first encountered it on Integral Naked (http://in.integralinstitute.org/) several years ago. I taught myself how to facilitate it long before Roshi began to lay down guidelines regarding who could and who could not facilitate the process. As a result of my ignorance of these guidelines, I have had the good fortune of facilitating the process a number of times, with groups ranging from three to 65 and settings from living rooms to retreat centers.

And yet, I have seldom used this profound – indeed, revolutionary – enlightenment practice as part of my personal practice. I guess I’ll chalk this up to a lack of imagination. In retrospect, it seems pretty obvious that this is a powerful vehicle for both translation and transformation when incorporated into a personal practice. I simply never have taken the time to do that.

I have waited long enough.