Trudy Goodman shares Zen Master Dōgen’s method, the Backward Step, for stepping back into awareness and receiving each moment as awakening.
This dharma talk was originally published on Dharma Seed.
“You should cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words and following after speech, and learn the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate yourself.” – Zen Master Dōgen
In this episode, Trudy Goodman lectures on:
- Stories about Wonhyo, Bodhidharma, Ajahn Chah, and the Buddha
- How to work with what arises when sitting in retreat
- Dōgen Zenji’s Backward Step
- Dating Jack Kornfield
- Being present with different kinds of experiences
“When we have the capacity to be with our own suffering with a more steady presence, what happens is we can help other people with that steady presence. We can be with them through the ups and downs of their lives when we’re called to do that. And so freeing our hearts is a blessing, not just for ourselves, but for our world.” – Trudy Goodman
About Trudy Goodman:
Trudy is a Vipassana teacher in the Theravada lineage and the Founding Teacher of InsightLA. For 25 years, in Cambridge, MA, Trudy practiced mindfulness-based psychotherapy with children, teenagers, couples and individuals. Trudy conducts retreats and workshops worldwide.
Learn more about Trudy’s offerings at trudygoodman.com
More from the Be Here Now Network’s Guest Podcast:
Lama Rod Owens covers the dharma of freedom, loving ourselves, ancestral work, and the power of meditation: Ep. 127 – Dedication to Liberation
JoAnna Hardy shares a guided meditation all around the first foundation of mindfulness – mindfulness of the body: Ep. 126 – First Foundation Guided Meditation
Through bearing witness, love & service, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee shares how we can collectively heal the crisis of disconnection & ecological devastation: Ep. 125 – Love & Service
Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh explores how we can joyfully bring mindfulness into everyday activities like phone calls, driving, and walking: Ep. 122 – The Ojai Foundation Presents: Under the Teaching Tree with Thich Nhat Hanh
Art via Analogvibestudio