Summary: Episode Description: On the second full day of sesshin, Upaya's Shinzan Palma probes the delicate relationships among effort, concentration, and mindfulness, and how the three might best cooperate to "open the umbrella" or "catch the wind" of silent illumination. He says each of the three has a distinct and definite task, and the ship will not sail if they're unbalanced -- concentration without mindfulness, for instance, can lead to trance rather than delicate illumination; while without concentration we're very vulnerable to daydreaming. Bio: Shinzan Jose Manuel Palma, Dharma Holder. Shinzan Jose Manuel Palma was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He has been practicing Zen since 1996. He met his former teacher, Korean Zen Master Samu Sunim in Mexico City and trained under his guidance for 8 years. He did a residential training for 4 years at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Toronto, Canada and was ordained as a novice priest by Samu Sunim in 2004. After leaving Canada, he was invited by Roshi Joan Halifax to come to Upaya in 2006. Shinzan asked Roshi to be her student and he was re-ordained as a Priest in 2007 by Roshi Joan Halifax. Since then, he has been at Upaya practicing with the community. He is now the Head Priest and Temple coordinator, giving guidance to the residents on Zen training. He became Dharma holder in March 2010. He has a sincere and strong heart committed to the Dharma. To access the entire series, please click on the link below: Silent Illumination Sesshin Series: All 4 Parts
