Genpo Roshi; Big Mind; Shalom Mountain; Consciousness; Voice Dialogue; Buddhism

Yesterday (March 9, 2008), renowned Zen teacher and author Genpo Roshi led a 4-1/2 hour workshop on his "Big Mind" process for a gathering of about 65 people in downtown Washington, DC yesterday. Despite operating on a bare 3 hours of sleep because of a now-typical classic airline snafu from New York City to the nation's capital, he took the participants on a spirited tour of some of the "voices" that comprise what he described as the "facets of the diamond" that each of us is.

The process, which is a blend of voice dialogue (a technique developed by Hal and Sidra Stone) and Buddhist psychology, offers people with any level (or no level) of experience in consciousness practices such as meditation to gain profound awareness not only of the voices or subpersonalities that reside within each of us, but also of the more transcendent, all-embracing perspectives that some have that to be available only to lifelong meditators. I first came across the Big Mind process on Ken Wilber's "Integral Naked" website, where I devoured it and immediately incorporated (as best as this humble layman could) its lessons into my retreats and workshops. This is a powerful process that continues to evolve and knock the socks of people all around the world.