Untrain Your Parrot: And Other No-nonsense Instructions on the Path of Zen

(Paperback)

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Sharing thirty years' experience as a Zen practitioner and teacher, Hamilton offers a variety of practical tools for Zen training to a wide audience. By practising to "untrain our inner parrot", we learn to quiet down - and not take so seriously - ongoing habitual mental chatter. In addition to helpful techniques for learning Zen practice, the author also presents what's at the heart of Zen - waking up to one's daily experience - in a clear, accessible, lighthearted, and humorous style. It's a usable manual for exploring and establishing a beginning sitting practice and includes simple instructions to clarify and elucidate the basics such as: how to develop physical, mental, and emotional awareness of one's mind and actions; how to experience "open" awareness - the objectivity of observing oneself in practice while allowing for a sense of spaciously accommodating whatever occurs; and how to understand and experience the esoteric Zen concept of full-empty awareness - a full appreciation of the primordial nature of all, which is the result of meditation.

Reviews

"Serious Zen taught in a friendly and accessible manner with special exercises, jokes, and more; from a San Diego-based teacher of Zen with 30 years' experience."Library Journal

"A superb teacher who has peppered meditations with stories, colorful anecdotes, exercises, and imaginative phrases. . . . Hamilton helps us examine in fresh ways the warps of the conditioned mind, and provides many practices that you will want to try as you attempt to live a life of wholeheartedness."Spirituality & Health

"Delightful humor and deep wisdom in the key of Zen. Elizabeth Hamilton has been there, done that, and tells the truth, so her teaching is gentle, grounded, and emotionally intelligent. She makes meditation practice real and accessible, rather than a romantic idealization."Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are

"The title tips us off that we're in for a witty read, rich with metaphor. But Untrain Your Parrot turns out to also be a brilliant reconceptualization of Zen practice as a comprehensive, do-able program for psycho-spiritual growth. The clarity of Hamilton's pedagogy makes this an uncommonly serviceable workbook for the inner (and outer!) life."Zoketsu Norman Fischer, author of Taking Our Places

"Elizabeth Hamilton is an intrepid spiritual practitioner, meeting sorrows and hardships with a spirit that continues to open to love. With humor and unrelenting use of skillful means, Elizabeth provides sound guidance in everyday language for everyday folks who dare to live awake."Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles

Author Bio

Elizabeth Hamilton teaches and lives at the Zen Center of San Diego with her husband and practice partner, Ezra Bayda. She leads retreats and Zen programs throughout the United States and Hawaii, Australia, and Canada, including leading a retreat with Pema Ch dr n and Ezra Bayda at Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She has published numerous articles and dharma teachings under the pen name M. T. Head.