IT'S NOT HEAVY
It's tough to take that second step toward recovery if there isn't any hope. It's too heavy hearkens to the source of that hope.
Lyrics:
IT'S NOT HEAVY
It's too heavy, what I carry
I can't lift it anymore
I can't lift it anymore
It's just too heavy

And I'm weary, from the journey
Every night the dream's the same
Though I've tried it doesn't change
The load's too heavy, what I carry

Then from a silent place within
I hear something say...

When you've given your all and it's not enough
When the journey's too far and the road's too rough
And you've looked inside and there's nothin' left
There is still hope, if you'll only see
There's a light at the end of this endless road
Filled with love strong enough to lift any load
And it's so easily done for you
Why's it so hard for you... to believe

That it's easy
It's not heavy
It can be easy
It's so easy
It can be easy	
It's not heavy

3 It's Not Heavy

04/27/2024, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center.
In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis discusses the Zen text "Harmony of Difference and Equality". Written in the 8th century in China, the "Harmony of Difference and Equality" holds significant importance in Zen history. It is chanted daily in many Zen temples and at the memorial ceremonies of founding teachers. The tone of the poem is an examination of the interactivity of the relative and absolute truths. In his commentary on the poem, Shunryu Suzuki says "The capacity of the human mind has three aspects: potentiality, interrelationship, and appropriateness. ... [T]he 'interrelationship between someone who helps and someone who is helped' is called jihi [which] is usually translated as ‘love.'"

Sekito Kisen's Difference and Equality

04/28/2024, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.
In this talk Zoketsu discusses case 19 of Mumonkan, Nanchuan’s Everyday Mind. Our practice is very plain and ordinary, and yet, the plain and ordinary world is also vast and wide, and when we practice zazen regularly we can begin to live in it with that appreciation. To end his talk Zoketsu quotes at length from a commentary to this story by his late teacher Sojun Weitsman, from his new posthumous book Seeing One Thing Through.

Everyday Mind Is The Way

05/01/2024, panel discussion at City Center.
In this discussion, held in place of the regular Wednesday night dharma talk at Beginner's Mind Temple, Eli Brown-Stevenson leads a discussion featuring Community Village co-founders Caleb Tenenbaum, Nina Raddy, and Richard Bae; and, representing San Francisco Zen Center, resident priest Sozan Michael McCord. Community Village is an emerging peer-led, co-created, pan-Buddhist meditation community primarily focused on younger meditators. San Francisco Zen Center is a long-established Buddhist training organization, firmly based on the Soto Zen lineage of Japan. In the discussion, many common themes and experiences emerge, as well as notable areas of overlap and mutual support.

Building the Spiritual Community of the Future

05/04/2024, Jisho Lisa Beth Hoffman, dharma talk at City Center.
In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Jisho Lisa Beth Hoffman explores the meaning of refuge and the experience of doing so through teacher, teaching and community - Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.  Sharing herexperiences with Heart teacher Surei Darlene Cohen and mentor Ninsen Lee Lipp, this talk is personal, engaging and encouraging.

Taking Refuge

05/12/2024, Thiemo Blank, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This talk was presented  by Thiemo on Mothers Day at the end of an introductory Sesshin (meditation retreat)  at Green Dragon Temple.
The Investigation of   - “the true dragon” (Reality / Thusness)  - in Sesshin  is likened  to the ancient  story of the blind men investigating an Elephant. The speaker suggests that  Forms and Ceremonies offer  a path  to wholeheartedly and intimately connect to the “dragon”.  
As babies we were in accord with the flow of Reality but as adults we lost connection by our focus on conceptual thinking. Returning  to our original intimacy we need to learn the “backward step” that Dogen is teaching.

Dragons Love Ceremonies

Skrillex, Hamdi, TAICHU & OFFAIAH

Skrillex, Hamdi, TAICHU & OFFAIAH - Push

Nobody Sees Me

Why Did It Take So Long

Always Remember

Sixty Year Old Groove

EVERYBODY'S RECOVERING FROM SOMETHING

For many recovering addicts it’s in rehab they discover there are often musical triggers to their abuse, (the songs associated with using) and then they have to learn how to avoid those triggers that are essentially the soundtrack to their addiction.Last year, some addiction recovery sponsors found out that John Batdorf and I were working on a project with the working title of 12 songs for 12 steps and asked if we’d do a concert for several recovering addicts. Turns out it was about 700 addicts and their families who attended. The concert gave John and I a chance to see if our songs made a difference with the audience. We were overwhelmed with the feedback we got that evening. The show received a tremendous response, people waiting in line for nearly an hour to thank us, and after receiving several hand written notes from addicts at the show saying “please hurry and get these songs recorded” we realized that the need was great and the urgency even greater.

John and I are singer/songwriters with a passion to let the power of music help people trying to change. We’ve been wearing out our lives the last forty plus years as professional songwriters hoping to make a difference. Although we understand we’re not the only guys who have songs that could help, we want to get the ball rolling.

One of the reasons we are passionate about doing this project is because it’s hit very close to home. In each of our families we’ve seen the devastation that comes from addiction, in any of its forms. We’ve worked our entire professional careers in a business where all too often substance abuse, drugs and alcohol, and any other form of addiction has destroyed lives. We’re not trained therapists, we don’t have degrees in social work, but we know what we’ve seen and we want to do what we can. Writing songs aimed at penetrating hearts is something we can do. And getting these songs recorded and made available for those who need them most has been more important to us than simply searching for yet another way to climb up the music charts. Somewhere at this very moment there’s an addict trying to hold on a few more hours until his next AA meeting, or her next appointment with a sponsor, and it feels like an eternity. We might be able to offer a little help, even when we can’t physically be there for them. You might be thinking, “come on, it’s only a song”. But it’s more than that. If someone somewhere can hear a song tell them the truth the only way their heart will hear it, maybe then they’ll know, deep down, they’re not alone.

3 It's Not Heavy

Soundtrax 2 Recovery

Related tracks