Tai Sheridan: Buddhist Poet

Tai Sheridan, Poet-Philosopher and Zen Priest, reading his book 'Buddha in Blue Jeans: An extremely short, simple, and straight forward universal guide to the practice of sitting quietly and being yourself, which is the same as being Buddha. Sitting quietly can teach many ways to accept life, meet pain, age gracefully, and die without regret. The book encourages sitting quietly every day.

Topics include: Sit Quietly; Care For Your Body; Accept Your Feelings; Give Thoughts Room; Pain is Natural; Be Who You Are; Live Each Moment Well; Love Indiscriminately; Listen to Others; Be Surprised; Wonder; Live gratefully; Do No Harm; Benefit life; A Wish for The World. This book is for people of any faith, religion, race, nationality, gender, relationship status, capacity, or meditation background.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [16:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (417)

Tai Sheridan, Poet-Philosopher and Zen priest, reads Cantos One from his book 'The Buddhacarita - A Modern Sequel: The Poetic Saga of Buddha's Life from Birth to Enlightenment'. Asvaghosa's second century sanskrit poem, the oldest existing story of Buddha's life. The saga begins with prince Siddhartha's magical birth and ends with his enlightenment. The ancient myth presents Buddha's relentless inquiry into the nature of reality and artfully weaves together an archetypal hero's journey, Buddhist philosophy, phantasmagorical occurrences, and historical facts.

This modern sequel stays true to the story line and many original images, but radically transforms the structure into seven line stanzas to imbue it with enchantment and lyricism. The rhyme scheme and alliteration hark back to olden times. The authoritative English translations of the original, from which Tai worked, are scholarly linguistic interpretations that make for difficult reading. This poetic rendition of 'The Buddhacarita' differs from the literal translations, but will bring the joy and meaning of Buddha's search to the modern reader.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [19:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (175)

Tai Sheridan, Poet-Philosopher and Zen Priest, reads his book Celestial Music, presenting modern interpretations of the Lotus, Diamond, Heart Wisdom, and Loving Kindness Sutras in accessible and inspirational verses. The Buddhist sutras express a path of enlightened living based on curiosity, good will, wisdom, and compassion. They journey through the depths of human experience: living and dying, love and loss, anguish and peace.

Each sutra is unique: The Lotus Sutra represents the Bodhisattva path, and is a lengthy compilation of parables in an archaic style. The Diamond Sutra is a short but dense treatise on non-dual dialectics which illuminate the ground of Being. The Heart Wisdom Sutra expresses the balance of form and emptiness, and the Loving Kindness Sutra models living a compassionate life. The version of the Lotus Sutra is the first English interpretation that condenses and synthesizes the entire Lotus Sutra into a shortened poem and mantra.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [29:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (288)

Tai Sheridan, Poet-Philosopher and Zen priest, reads from his book 'The Zen Wheel of LIfe Mantra: A Song of Luminous Wisdom and Love'. The Wheel of Life Mantra is a poetic expression of the Bhavacakra, an ancient visual mandala symbolizing the essential wisdom teachings of Buddhism. It is used to contemplate the causes and conditions of suffering, and is a method of spiritual transformation toward non-dual wisdom, loving kindness, compassion, and equanimity. Tai's poetry illuminates the wheel's four concentric circles of anguish, consequences, psychological experiences, and the workings of consciousness.

The Wheel is constructed of four concentric circles around a hub, each circle representing different areas of human experience and awareness. Beginning with the innermost circle and moving outward they represent dimensions of anguish, consequences, psychological experience, and the workings of consciousness. The wheel itself is an expression of the essential Buddhist teachings of no-self (nothing exists as a separate entity), impermanence (everything changes), and co-dependent origination (all phenomena arise simultaneously in reality in the present moment). The Wheel, like all Buddhist teachings, is an encouragement for finding the way to peace, love, and light.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [24:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (245)

Tai Sheridan, Poet-Philosopher and Zen priest, reads his book 'Snow Falling in Moonlight - Odes in Praise of Dogen's Shobogenzo'. He transforms twelve of Dogen's spiritual essays from the Shobogenzo (The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye), into poems about non-dual wisdom, luminous mind, loving kindness, and Zen practice. Poems Include: Ode to Moon; Ode to to Time; Ode to Space;Ode to Cedar Trees; Ode to Face Washing;Ode to Eyeballs; Ode to Mountains Rivers; Ode to Here Now Mind; Ode to Light; Ode to  Truth; Ode to Awakening; Ode to Plum Blossoms.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [25:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (252)

Tai Sheridan, Poet-Philosopher and Zen priest, reads his book 'Warm Zen Practice: A Poetic Version of Dogen's Bendowa'. Dogen's complex and profound Buddhist teachings on no-self, unconditioned being, and the mystical body of light are transformed into contemporary verses that clarify spiritual awakening and warm hearted Zen. Poems include: Body of Light and Space; An Ancient Longing; The Dank earth is Vastness; In an Ocean of Sky; An Invitation from Granite Mountains; Body and Space Entwined; No Second Person.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [16:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (191)