Will Johnson – författare

What does it mean to awaken through the living body?   In this essential guidebook, Will Johnson shows how meditation, too often misunderstood as a mental practice, can be immeasurably enriched through an embodied approach. The Posture of Meditation features a range of simple practices based on the principles of alignment, relaxation, and resilience. This classic book—now with a new section detailing the transformative power of the path of somatic meditation—has helped thousands of people to begin their meditation practice, to refine it, and to experience depths they never thought possible.

The emphasis on the mind in meditation can be somewhat misleading: If we pay attention only to mental processes and overlook the experience of the body, we can remain stuck in our heads and not be able to break free of the involuntary thinking that we find so claustrophobic and toxic. This short, practical guide helps us embrace the fact of our embodiment—the experience of the sensations, movements, and gestures of the body—and to realize that mindfulness is the natural state of awareness of a body that has learned how to experience its feeling presence. Johnson takes us through the three primary principles of the posture of meditation: alignment, relaxation, and resilience. He devotes a large part of each chapter to specific practices to help the reader experience different aspects of physical presence. This book is of interest to meditators of all traditions—Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Jews, and others—as well as therapists, bodyworkers, and anyone interested in body-centered psychology and other natural modes of healing.

An account of spiritual awakening told through the rites of passage of a father and son• Reveals the essential role spirituality can play in our mundane lives• Celebrates not only traditional rites of passage, but also the more subtle moments of change that continually take place within each of us• Reflects on the power of prayer and intention in guiding our life journeyPart spiritual travelogue, part personal memoir, The Sailfish and the Sacred Mountain is the story of the profound moments that forever change our lives, told in the context of a father and son’s journey to the sacred Mount Kailas in Tibet. Every moment in life is a moment of passage. While many culturally prescribed rites of passage--baptisms, bar mitzvahs, and confirmations--may not necessarily transform the participant into a higher level of maturity and understanding, there are many other moments that stand out as true passages into a new phase of life. These are the moments of triumph or of pain and defeat--the first taste of love, the birth of a child, the death of a loved one--moments after which we know, in the quiet of our hearts and minds, we will never be the same.The Sailfish and the Sacred Mountain presents a unique view into how we can create the circumstances that invite profound spiritual awakenings to occur in our lives and how we can recognize and embrace the powerful lessons these events have to offer. As Will Johnson reflects on his own life passages, he tells the story of the remarkable journey with his son to Mount Kailas--a journey that proves to be a moment of passage for both father and son.

Presents three simple yogic principles from Tilopa''s Song of Mahamudra• Explains how balance is the key to achieving higher consciousness• Includes somatic koansMahamudra, literally "the great gesture," is often looked upon as the highest manifestation of consciousness known within the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition. In Yoga of the Mahamudra, Will Johnson explains how it is possible to bring forth the condition of mahamudra naturally by utilizing the mystical yoga of balance to create what he calls the embodied cross. He presents three simple yogic principles from Tilopa''s Song of Mahamudra. The first principle, "do nothing with the body but relax," forms the vertical axis of the embodied cross. It is an internal process that focuses on the upright structure of the body, which opens up our relationship to the divine source. The second principle, "Let the mind cling to nothing," allows the horizontal flow of energy to our mind. This horizontal axis represents our relationship to the world: what we see and hear, and what our mind does with the objects we perceive. The establishment of these vertical and horizontal flows of energy allows us to embody the third principle, "to become like a hollow bamboo." In this way the body and mind become extraordinarily fluid, surrendering to the currents of the life forces that constantly flow through them like air through a flute. The author concludes with a number of somatic koans, exercises that allow the direct experience of balance and lead to the creation of the embodied cross.

Explores the Buddha’s own words on breathing meditation for healing, wholeness, and a deeper understanding of his teachings • Explains the complete series of steps in the Buddha’s Satipatthana Sutta for refining awareness of the breath, from posture and center of gravity to extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body • Shows that stillness in meditation refers only to the mind, not to the body • Reveals breath to be a direct agent of healing for chronic tensions and an agitated mind Explaining how stillness in meditation refers not to a rigid and frozen body but to a quality of mind, Will Johnson examines the Buddha’s own words at the core of the Satipatthana Sutta: “As you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body; as you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body”--an instruction often overlooked in the majority of Buddhist schools. Exploring the Buddha’s complete series of steps for deepening awareness of the breath, he shows how to invite natural, responsive movement back into the posture of meditation by extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body--a practice that unifies the breath, body, and mind into a single shared phenomenon. Showing how the flow of breath is directly affected by chronic tensions in the body and in the mind, Johnson explains that when breath starts flowing through more and more of the body, it becomes a direct agent of healing, massaging and melting any areas of tension it touches and moves through, whether physical or emotional. By breathing through the whole body in accordance with the Buddha’s instructions on breath, the body becomes much more comfortable, the mind starts resolving its addiction to thinking, and meditative practice deepens much more rapidly, allowing the teachings of the Buddha to be directly glimpsed and revealed.

The secret Rumi found in beholding the Divine in his sacred relationship with Shams-i-Tabriz • Shows how, in 1244, Sufi poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi was first brought to a state of ecstatic union with the cosmos and all its creatures • Reveals the radical spiritual practice Rumi formulated in his private retreat with the mendicant seeker Shams-i-Tabriz • Uses the poetry and prose of Rumi to explain how to come face-to-face with the Divine One of the most extraordinary events in the history of Sufism occurred in 1244 when the Sufi poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi met a wandering seeker named Shams-i-Tabriz. Upon meeting, the two men immediately went into private retreat together, emerging ninety days later in a transformed condition. In The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, Will Johnson reveals the radical spiritual practice that transpired between Rumi and Shams. To put it simply, they sat and gazed into each other’s eyes. Because the eyes are portals to the soul, their sustained gazing formed the basis of a devotional practice that opened the doors to a profoundly ecstatic state of divine union. Johnson draws on the poetry and prose of Rumi to unfold his story. He also explains how one may embark on the practice of intentional gazing to experience the state of ecstatic divine union shared by Rumi and Shams so many centuries ago.

Poems and commentary that open the door for a new generation to experience the ecstatic and embodied spiritual truths contained in Rumi’s poetry • Reveals how the four practices of eating lightly, breathing deeply, moving freely, and gazing intently can invoke the divinity within us all • Explains how these practices dissolve the self’s need for identity so that we may experience a state of transcendent ecstasy and union with the divine • Takes Rumi’s path to finding God from theoretical to embodied practices The great thirteenth-century Sufi mystic and poet Jalaluddin Rumi began his life as an orthodox Islamic believer but felt that to fully experience complete union with the divine he must abandon institutionalized religion and its prescribed forms of worship. Surrendering his will to his overriding urge for a much more immediate, intuitive, and compelling union with the divine, he found that by manipulating certain behavioral aspects of his physiology--eating lightly, breathing deeply, moving freely, and gazing raptly--he was capable of loosening the rigid confines of the self, thereby overriding its limitations and achieving a transcendent merging with his own divinity. His message is simple: if you wish to affect the spirit, you must first make changes in the way your body responds to the world. Through clearly written commentary interspersed with Rumi’s beautiful poems, this book details these four practices in a very precise way. As such, it is a sweet and open invitation to follow the examples set forth in order to embark upon one’s own path of inner illumination. The freshness of Rumi’s poetry dissolves the 700 years that separate his life from our own time, making his message as pertinent today as when he walked the streets of Konya, Anatolia (present-day Turkey), reciting his inspiring verse. This book allows us, through Rumi’s gentle guidance, to touch the face of God that resides deep within us all.

Meditation practices to awaken the body and create a mind like a mirror, to literally see things as they are • Draws on the story of the monk Shenxiu to create a meditation practice for profound relaxation, inclusion and connection to the world around us, and realization of our essential nature • Explains how our attitudes, beliefs, and bodily tensions distort our perceptions and lead to our sense of separation from the world outside our bodies • Details techniques of vision, such as sky gazing, eye gazing, and mirror gazing, that lead to an ecstatic mindfulness Right behind your eyes, you are there. You can feel yourself there, looking. So intimate is your connection with your looking that when you say, “I’m looking,” you’re implying that how you look and what you see are a direct reflection of who you are in this moment. Your attitudes and beliefs reflect what you see, and the way you live in your body can color your perceptions as well. This splitting in two of experience--an inside-the-body world and an outside-the-body world--creates in many of us a sense of isolation and loneliness, a feeling of disconnection from the larger world at which we look. But the visual field is equally capable of reflecting a sense of connection and inclusion, an invitation to merge with the larger universe rather than confirming how irrevocably separated we are. Drawing on the story of the seventh-century Chinese monk Shenxiu, Will Johnson offers meditation exercises to create a mind like a mirror, cleansing it of obscuring layers of worry and emotion to literally see things as they are, not just how we perceive them to be. He explains how to awaken your body to the sensations we learn to ignore when we lose ourselves in thought and tense ourselves in ways that stifle the body’s vibrancy. He offers meditative techniques to silence the projections of the mind and enter into a condition of ecstatic mindfulness. He details gazing practices, such as sky gazing, eye gazing, and mirror gazing, to cleanse our vision and remove whatever is distorting our perceptions. Through this new kind of seeing, divisions between your inner and outer world start to drop away. You begin to experience an intimate connectivity to the world you look out onto. By cleansing the mirror of the mind, we can come out of the dreams of who we think we are and awaken into our true, essential nature.

An exploration of the use of cannabis as a sacrament in spiritual practice • Provides instructions for using marijuana for the spiritual practices of spontaneous movement, ecstatic dance, sitting meditation, and gazing meditation, allowing you to open the body’s energies more fully and get closer to the Divine or your higher self • Includes a new translation of the Five Moral Precepts of Buddhism, adapted to include energetic practices and the judicious use of entheogenic substances as a legitimate support for spiritual growth • Includes access to 9 audio meditations With the end of marijuana prohibition on the horizon, people are now openly seeking a spiritual path that embraces the benefits of cannabis. Drawing upon his decades of experience as a teacher of Buddhism, breathing, yoga, and embodied spirituality, Will Johnson examines Eastern spiritual perspectives on marijuana and offers specific guidelines and exercises for integrating cannabis into spiritual practice. The author explains how the great Hindu god Shiva enjoyed consuming bhang, a marijuana mixture that would cause his body to make spontaneous movements. From these cannabis-inspired movements, Shiva brought the body-focused practices of dance and yoga to the world. Examining the spiritual path of Shiva, including the Sadhu tradition, Johnson provides specific instructions and protocols for using marijuana as a sacrament as Shiva did. He explores how to embrace cannabis for the practices of spontaneous movement, ecstatic dance, sitting meditation, and gazing meditation. He reveals how the ecstatic surrender to the feeling energies of the body in these practices is enhanced through the ingestion of Shiva’s herb, allowing you to open the body’s energies more fully and get closer to the Divine or your higher self. Exploring the Buddhist practices of calming the mind and grounding yourself in sensory awareness, Johnson shows that, while traditional Buddhist teachings forbid the use of intoxicating substances, Buddhists who use cannabis are not committing a cardinal sin--in following our dharma, we must embrace what best supports our spiritual practice. He concludes with a new translation of the Five Moral Precepts of Buddhism--what he calls the Five Precepts of Embodied Responsibility--adapted to include energetic practices using breath, interaction with the energies of nature, sacred sex, and the judicious use of entheogenic substances, such as cannabis, as legitimate support for spiritual growth.

A guide to meditative breathing practices in Western religions and how these practices provide a direct experience of God • Reveals how Western spiritual traditions, such as the Book of Genesis, the Jewish teachings of ruach, and the poetry of Rumi, contain hidden instruction for meditative breathing practices • Explains how breathing practices can bring all of us, including Christians, Muslims, and Jews, closer to a direct experience of the palpable presence of God • Provides guidelines and best practices for meditative breathing through a personal journal of the author’s own meditative retreat Surprised by the number of attendees from Western spiritual traditions at his Buddhist retreats, Will Johnson wanted to understand what drew them to this type of spiritual experience. He found many devoted Christians were in search of a more direct experience of God beyond faith alone, so he began exploring what breathing practices could be found in the sacred texts of Western monotheistic religions. Johnson discovered that, like their Eastern counterparts, Western traditions speak of gaining direct access to God via the breath. After experimenting with these teachings during a 10-day retreat at a desert monastery, he discovered that each of us has the potential to open up to the presence of spirit in every breath. In this book, the author offers a close look at the importance of breath in each major Western religion, including the Jewish teachings of ruach as life-giving spirit in the form of breath and the Islamic poetry of Rumi, which describes breath as essential for cleansing the soul. He then ties each breathing tradition to the Book of Genesis, sacred to Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” Just as God blew life into Adam, every breath we take--if we follow the breathing practice of surrendering completely to inhalation--can open us up to the presence of God. Through his own contemplative journey, Johnson shares his experience of striving to surrender to the fullest presence of God through each breath. As he takes the reader step-by-step through his own breathing practice, the author explains his physical and mental techniques for meditating successfully through breath and provides helpful guidelines to get the most out of meditative retreats. Johnson also offers deep reflections on how these shared practices of experiencing God through the breath transcend religious differences.

A guide to meditative breathing practices in Western religions and how these practices provide a direct experience of God Reveals how Western spiritual traditions, such as the Book of Genesis, the Jewish teachings of ruach, and the poetry of Rumi, contain hidden instruction for meditative breathing practices Explains how breathing practices can bring all of us, including Christians, Muslims, and Jews, closer to a direct experience of the palpable presence of God Provides guidelines and best practices for meditative breathing through a personal journal of the authors own meditative retreat Surprised by the number of attendees from Western spiritual traditions at his Buddhist retreats, Will Johnson wanted to understand what drew them to this type of spiritual experience. He found many devoted Christians were in search of a more direct experience of God beyond faith alone, so he began exploring what breathing practices could be found in the sacred texts of Western monotheistic religions. Johnson discovered that, like their Eastern counterparts, Western traditions speak of gaining direct access to God via the breath. After experimenting with these teachings during a 10-day retreat at a desert monastery, he discovered that each of us has the potential to open up to the presence of spirit in every breath. In this book, the author offers a close look at the importance of breath in each major Western religion, including the Jewish teachings of ruach as life-giving spirit in the form of breath and the Islamic poetry of Rumi, which describes breath as essential for cleansing the soul. He then ties each breathing tradition to the Book of Genesis, sacred to Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. Just as God blew life into Adam, every breath we take--if we follow the breathing practice of surrendering completely to inhalation--can open us up to the presence of God. Through his own contemplative journey, Johnson shares his experience of striving to surrender to the fullest presence of God through each breath. As he takes the reader step-by-step through his own breathing practice, the author explains his physical and mental techniques for meditating successfully through breath and provides helpful guidelines to get the most out of meditative retreats. Johnson also offers deep reflections on how these shared practices of experiencing God through the breath transcend religious differences.

Explores the culminating instruction of the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to breathe through the whole body Teaches you how to alter your physiology to move beyond the static consciousness of mindfulness to a natural, spontaneous state of embodied awareness Provides instruction and somatic koans for practicing the core principles of radiant mindfulnessawakening the body, liberating the breath, and opening up to vision and soundDrawing on the Buddhas teachings, Will Johnson provides a daily practice that moves beyond the static consciousness of mindfulness to a natural, spontaneous state of embodied awareness. Acknowledging the foundational importance and structural limitations of mindfulness practice, he explores the often overlooked culminating instruction of the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to breathe through the whole body.Through somatic reflections and meditations, Johnson shows you how to alter your physiology to change consciousness. He explains how to move through levels of conscious awareness, from the passive observation of the breath and the reality of this present moment to radiant mindfulnessan awakening of the body, liberation of breath, and opening up to vision and sound. In this state, the I disappears but awareness becomes heightened and unfiltered, allowing a direct experience of unity with the world and within oneself.This book offers ways to spontaneously achieve the enlightened state beyond the mind that the Buddha taught as the true goal of meditation. The simple yet profound practice of radiant mindfulness can transform everyday life into a path of spiritual awakening.

En las prácticas de meditación, el cuerpo es tan importante como la mente aunque muchas veces quede relegado a un segundo lugar. Conseguir un estado de "relajación alerta" es el denominador común de tantas técnicas meditativas que despejan la mente, abren el corazón y activan las energías sanadoras naturales, tanto del cuerpo como de la mente.Will Johnson se propone guiar a todas aquellas personas que se atrevan a adentrarse en estas prácticas, con ejercicios para trabajar posturas y consejos que trasladan los beneficios de la meditación a todos los aspectos de la vida. El objetivo es conseguir despertar la inteligencia innata del cuerpo y facilitar el camino hacia una vida rica y plena. El despertar espiritual no es una huida del cuerpo humano, sino una entrega consciente a la experiencia de ser plenamente humano.

Finding the path to radiance through deeply felt, sitting meditation• Shares practices to show how sitting meditation can be reconnected to lived, bodily experience and help you rediscover your natural somatic radiance• Explores how the modern thought-focused frame of mind introduces patterns of holding and tension into our bodies• Draws on techniques from the Buddhist, Sufi, and somatic wisdom traditions as well as insights from the author’s own teachers and collaborators, including Ida Rolf and Judith AstonThe modern practice of seated meditation is in serious need of reformation. What began as a living, vibrant, and felt practice—the primary practice of the Buddhist path to spiritual realization—has painted itself into a corner of frozen stillness, divorced from lived, bodily experience.Presenting an accessible and deeply felt guide to sitting meditation as an active exploration, Will Johnson offers a revitalized understanding of this essential spiritual practice through deeper connection with the body. Johnson argues that the thought-focused mode of consciousness of modern rigid seated meditation introduces patterns of holding and tension into our bodies and virtually guarantees that awakening will not occur. He explains how our focus on thought, rather than embodied experience, results in a numbing of our connection to our physical self and the dimming of the body’s natural somatic radiance, which in turn leads to the nagging presence of chronic pain, a general sense of malaise, and the inability to get comfortable in our own bodies.However, this “consciousness of separation” can be overcome. Johnson presents a wide range of practices, including 14 meditations, to support the awakening of breath and presence in the body, drawing on techniques from Buddhist, Sufi, and somatic wisdom traditions as well as methods from his studies with Ida Rolf and Judith Aston.Through the radical path of conscious sitting, Johnson shows how to transform your sitting meditation practice into a fully natural mudra of greater grace from which radiance will naturally flow. As the egoic perspective is dissolved, and chronic pain and discomfort are lessened, practitioners begin to feel a new, enlightened, bodily radiance—what Johnson calls “The Great Wide Open.”

• Shares practices to show how sitting meditation can be reconnected to lived, bodily experience and help you rediscover your natural somatic radiance• Explores how the modern thought-focused frame of mind introduces patterns of holding and tension into our bodies• Draws on techniques from the Buddhist, Sufi, and somatic wisdom traditions as well as insights from the author’s own teachers and collaborators, including Ida Rolf and Judith AstonThe modern practice of seated meditation is in serious need of reformation. What began as a living, vibrant, and felt practice—the primary practice of the Buddhist path to spiritual realization—has painted itself into a corner of frozen stillness, divorced from lived, bodily experience.Presenting an accessible and deeply felt guide to sitting meditation as an active exploration, Will Johnson offers a revitalized understanding of this essential spiritual practice through deeper connection with the body. Johnson argues that the thought-focused mode of consciousness of modern rigid seated meditation introduces patterns of holding and tension into our bodies and virtually guarantees that awakening will not occur. He explains how our focus on thought, rather than embodied experience, results in a numbing of our connection to our physical self and the dimming of the body’s natural somatic radiance, which in turn leads to the nagging presence of chronic pain, a general sense of malaise, and the inability to get comfortable in our own bodies.However, this “consciousness of separation” can be overcome. Johnson presents a wide range of practices, including 14 meditations, to support the awakening of breath and presence in the body, drawing on techniques from Buddhist, Sufi, and somatic wisdom traditions as well as methods from his studies with Ida Rolf and Judith Aston.Through the radical path of conscious sitting, Johnson shows how to transform your sitting meditation practice into a fully natural mudra of greater grace from which radiance will naturally flow. As the egoic perspective is dissolved, and chronic pain and discomfort are lessened, practitioners begin to feel a new, enlightened, bodily radiance—what Johnson calls “The Great Wide Open.”

Embodied mindfulness in daily life• Explores the culminating instruction of the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to breathe through the whole body• Teaches you how to alter your physiology to move beyond the static consciousness of mindfulness to a natural, spontaneous state of embodied awareness• Provides instruction and somatic koans for practicing the core principles of radiant mindfulness—awakening the body, liberating the breath, and opening up to vision and soundDrawing on the Buddha’s teachings, Will Johnson provides a daily practice that moves beyond the static consciousness of mindfulness to a natural, spontaneous state of embodied awareness. Acknowledging the foundational importance and structural limitations of mindfulness practice, he explores the often overlooked culminating instruction of the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to breathe through the whole body.Through somatic reflections and meditations, Johnson shows you how to alter your physiology to change consciousness. He explains how to move through levels of conscious awareness, from the passive observation of the breath and the reality of this present moment to radiant mindfulness—an awakening of the body, liberation of breath, and opening up to vision and sound. In this state, the “I” disappears but awareness becomes heightened and unfiltered, allowing a direct experience of unity with the world and within oneself.This book offers ways to spontaneously achieve the enlightened state beyond the mind that the Buddha taught as the true goal of meditation. The simple yet profound practice of radiant mindfulness can transform everyday life into a path of spiritual awakening.

Explores the culminating instruction of the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to breathe through the whole body Teaches you how to alter your physiology to move beyond the static consciousness of mindfulness to a natural, spontaneous state of embodied awareness Provides instruction and somatic koans for practicing the core principles of radiant mindfulnessawakening the body, liberating the breath, and opening up to vision and soundDrawing on the Buddhas teachings, Will Johnson provides a daily practice that moves beyond the static consciousness of mindfulness to a natural, spontaneous state of embodied awareness. Acknowledging the foundational importance and structural limitations of mindfulness practice, he explores the often overlooked culminating instruction of the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to breathe through the whole body.Through somatic reflections and meditations, Johnson shows you how to alter your physiology to change consciousness. He explains how to move through levels of conscious awareness, from the passive observation of the breath and the reality of this present moment to radiant mindfulnessan awakening of the body, liberation of breath, and opening up to vision and sound. In this state, the I disappears but awareness becomes heightened and unfiltered, allowing a direct experience of unity with the world and within oneself.This book offers ways to spontaneously achieve the enlightened state beyond the mind that the Buddha taught as the true goal of meditation. The simple yet profound practice of radiant mindfulness can transform everyday life into a path of spiritual awakening.

Presents three simple yogic principles from Tilopa's Song of Mahamudra• Explains how balance is the key to achieving higher consciousness• Includes somatic koansMahamudra, literally "the great gesture," is often looked upon as the highest manifestation of consciousness known within the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition. In Yoga of the Mahamudra, Will Johnson explains how it is possible to bring forth the condition of mahamudra naturally by utilizing the mystical yoga of balance to create what he calls the embodied cross. He presents three simple yogic principles from Tilopa's Song of Mahamudra. The first principle, "do nothing with the body but relax," forms the vertical axis of the embodied cross. It is an internal process that focuses on the upright structure of the body, which opens up our relationship to the divine source. The second principle, "Let the mind cling to nothing," allows the horizontal flow of energy to our mind. This horizontal axis represents our relationship to the world: what we see and hear, and what our mind does with the objects we perceive. The establishment of these vertical and horizontal flows of energy allows us to embody the third principle, "to become like a hollow bamboo." In this way the body and mind become extraordinarily fluid, surrendering to the currents of the life forces that constantly flow through them like air through a flute. The author concludes with a number of somatic koans, exercises that allow the direct experience of balance and lead to the creation of the embodied cross.