Product Description

This book presents a highly original and accessible pathway to self-discovery and personal liberation. Since 1999 the Big Mind process has been experienced by many thousands of people in seminars across America. Big Mind employs a Jungian voice dialogue technique that enables people to step out of limited self-concepts into awareness of their many different sub-selves (emotions/mental states). In addition to exploration of the more familiar sub-voices like anger and fear, author Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel uses this technique to help people access the ever-present Big Mind/Big Heart awareness - the clear, "just being" awareness and the unconditional compassion that we all can experience. The Big Mind process is now available in book form to bring readers of all backgrounds many benefits including: access to our innate wisdom, compassion and equanimity; openness of mind and ability to shift perspectives; greater presence and empowerment; and appreciation for the wisdom within all of our many sub-selves even ones we tend to dislike or disown, like fear and anger.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8061 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 189 pages

About the Author
Dennis Genpo Merzel trained under Zen Master Taizan Maezumi becoming a Zen teacher in 1980. He is one of a small group of Westerners recognized in both the Soto and Rinzai Zen traditions. In 1999, Genpo Roshi combined western psychology and Zen to create Big Mind, a self-discovery process that's been presented to thousands of people across America.

Customer Reviews

A workable process
Above all this book presents a process. A process for becoming more aware of aspects of oneself. The process is one of callling forth and giving voice to aspects of oneself (An approach going back at least to Fritz Perls and developed by Hal and Idra Stone with whom Genpo Roshi worked directly). By callling forth different aspects, in the sequence in which he does, he suceeds in calling forth aspects which transcend our normal view of ourselves: Aspects such as Big Mind and Big Heart, among others. These are aspects of ourselves which view existance in a non-dual way, beyond the duality of consciousness and the objects of consciousness. And finally he calls forth the voices of the individual human being who integrates all these aspects.

The method is obviously not traditional zen, but the realizations it facilitates purport to be the same as those to which one comes through more traditional methods.

The value of the book is in this: Just in the reading (or listening to) the process and doing it, by giving voice to these aspects in onself as they are called forth, one can indeed get a glimpse of these different viewpoints as aspects of oneself that are already there. By itself that is an important realization and provides a very usefull tool for further exploration. But as Gempo himself says, this glimpse needs to be deepened and stabilized by more work with the Big Mind process and also by more traditional work.

Innovative, exciting, entertaining, straightforward..
A truth-seeker myself and meditator for most of my adult life, I found this book very interesting in the way that it gives me, as a western reader, the opportunity to reap the benefits of both Eastern Religion/Philosophy and Western Psychology, blended skillfully into the so-called Big Mind/Big heart Process, showing me "easy" access to non-dual concepts, like "Buddha", or "God", for this matter, that are given voice, in other words are owned that way, much faster than with traditional methods like meditation or devotional practice.

In my opinion, the "West", with all it's "High-wire" is craving for this kind of innovation, this kind of exciting, interactive and straightforward method, described here as a way of choosing to become a decent "Human Being", with all its flaws and shadows ,yet in touch with its boundless Nature..

Genpo Roshi is clearly a courageous Zen-master, I think, to write a book like this, presenting a revolutionary process for finding "One's Way" in life, in both Capital and in "Kitchen-sink" -sense, in a way that is appealing and suitable for "Westerners", like myself..

The book found its way to Holland ,where I live,(so please pardon my English..)and is already translated into Dutch and thus helps to raise the consciousness (and happiness,why not..) of the ever so stubborn Low-landers..Thank you, Genpo Roshi !

New tools for awakening to your true nature
I have practiced the Big Mind approach and the Four Directions by Sensei Anthony Stultz-both of them helped me to penetrate beneath the deep layers of negative conditioning that have plagued me for most of my life. Deep bows to both of them. I would also recommend Cheri Huber and Ezra Bayda.