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

by Christian Dillo

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.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Psychology

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 17, 2022

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the most (unnecessarily) pretentious books I have ever read. In his wish to make Buddhism more accessible with a more contemporary approach, the author does exactly the opposite. Either the author is too fond of his (pseudo) intelectualism or he is so far into his studies that he does not realize how overly complicated he explains everything. This - in my opinion - is a sign of a very bad lectorate. People not very familiar with Buddhism will actively be turned away by this book.

[Rikka Filkins bos · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be fair, I’d already spent some time studying Buddhism (on and off over the past 25’ish years, and steadily over the past 12 months), so perhaps I was already prepped before diving in. That said, I used this book as a tool and took my time with it, journaling, meditating, etc. I found it a transformative and extremely helpful addition to my “toolbox.” Stick with it and go with it.

[Robert Dickinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Very accessible discussion of Zen that shows the paradoxes inherent to Zen beliefs and practice while still clearly articulating its conceptual underpinnings. Some of the texts on Zen are much more practices in themselves than anything else, and others are entirely academic/conceptual. This one fits very nicely in the middle of that continuum.

[Ada Mao · Rating 5 out of 5]

A practical guide on how to meditate and the ‘philosophy’ behind it. It has made sense to some common mediation instructions.

[David Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful lectures by a modern Zen Buddhist

[Ian Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear (if very occasionally abstruse) presentation of some Zen principles in modern language and context. It won’t be for everyone, but I took away a good deal from it.

[Valerie]

Just a random impulse checkout from the library. I'm sure there will be a moment I am most receptive to this but this week wasn't it.