What’s the relationship between the Big Mind process and awakening?
And what is the Big Mind process?
THE BIG MIND PROCESS
The Big Mind process was developed by Zen teacher Genpo Roshi based on Voice Dialog and his experience as a Zen student and teacher.
In the Big Mind process, we take on the role of different perspectives and these are typically personal (parts of our human psyche) or transpersonal (Big Mind, Big Heart, etc.).
It’s a therapeutic process, and it can also help us shift into the “view” of Big Mind, of our nature, of what the world to us happens within and as. A skilled facilitator can help most people find their nature within minutes and speak from this, which means novices can sound like traditional Zen masters or mystics in a very short while.
WHAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BIG MIND PROCESS AND AWAKENING?
Is this awakening?
Yes and no.
The noticing itself is a noticing of our nature, and that is awakening. It’s typically a noticing free of bells and whistles and big experiences. It helps us get a sense of what it’s about and, equally important, what it’s not about. (It’s not anything distant, it’s not for special people, it’s not about mystical powers, etc.)
At the same time, for this to transform us, we need to keep noticing and exploring how to live from it.
It’s not enough to notice it once or when we do the Big Mind process. We need to keep noticing, clarify, deepen, and continue to explore how to live from it.
We need to allow it to transform us and our perception, life in the world, and the different parts of our human self and psyche.
SUPPORTED BY PRACTICE
This process is supported by different forms of practice.
The noticing itself is a form of practice and can be supported by the Big Mind process and similar forms of inquiry (e.g. Headless experiments.)
Living from it is also a form of practice and can be supported by therapeutic work. The more healed we are as a human being the more able we are to live from a conscious noticing of our nature in more situations and areas of life.
And traditional forms of spiritual practice also support us in this process.
Basic meditation helps us notice that all our content comes and goes, and find ourselves as what it all happens within and as.
Heart-centered practice helps us shift our relationship with ourselves, others, the world, and all content of experience. It helps us have a relationship with it that’s more aligned with oneness.
Training a more stable attention supports all of this and just about anything else in our life.
And so on.
MY BACKGROUND
I was at Kanzen Zen Center when Genpo Roshi developed the Big Mind process, I took part in several Big Mind workshops, and I have used it for myself since then and occasionally facilitated others. And that’s about it.
I remember some conversations about this at Kanzeon Zen Center at the time. People off the street would get koans almost immediately, even if they had no experience with Zen or meditation. Some old-timers seemed miffed that newbies, within minutes, would “get” – at some level – what they themselves had spent years on. (Which was entertaining to me.) And Genpro Roshi likened the process to bringing water down the mountain to people and emphasized that we still need practice to clarify, deepen, and learn to live from it.
As with so much else, I have been out of the loop for more than a decade due to my health so I am not sure how others see it or what the “official” take on it is these days.
INITIAL OUTLINE
Big Mind & awakening
- Was there when GR developed BM process but have been out of the loop for quite a while
- Relationship between BM process and awakening?
- BM process – show what it’s about, set aside misconceptions
- Daily life – keep noticing + explore how to live from
- Other practices can support this process
MY CONNECTION WITH THE BIG MIND PROCESS
I’ll just give my take on it here.
I was at Kanzen Zen Center when Genpo Roshi developed the Big Mind process, I took part in several Big Mind workshops, and I have used it for myself and occasionally facilitated others. And that’s about it.
As with so much else, I have been out of the loop for more than a decade due to my health so I am not sure how others see it or what the “official” take on it is.