Living Franz Bardon

I was asked today how I first got started studying Zen. If you haven't read my book The Gift to be Simple , I mention Zen several times in it. To be honest, I don't actually remember how I first got started studying Zen, so I can't explain that. But what I can explain is why I've continued to study Zen through the years, even after abandoning my studies of Qabalah, Huna, and other traditions I also studied at some point. The reason is that the substance and essence of Zen, from my point of view, is mindfulness. It is an entire tradition dedicated to mastering, exploring, and applying mindfulness. Some people might say that considering mindfulness to be the be-all and end-all of Zen shows that I have a limited view of Zen, but I'd say those people have a limited view of mindfulness. In his book The Rinzai Zen Way , Meido Moore states that mindfulness is enlightenment itself. If you read my writings, you'll find that I frequently encourage people to take mindfulne...

Many of the Bardonists who contact me struggle with VOM, the fourth mental exercise of Step 1. For someone who is ready to practice VOM, this shouldn’t ever happen. The key to becoming proficient at VOM is proficiency at thought-observation, which is the first mental exercise of Step 1, so whether or not someone is ready to practice VOM depends on whether or not they are proficient at thought-observation. Two things happen when you attain proficiency at thought-observation. The first thing that happens is that you become better at noticing the gaps between the thoughts passing through your mind. This is obvious. When you observe the train of your thoughts, you are not just observing your thoughts, but also the gaps between your thoughts, so of course you get better at noticing those gaps. The second thing that happens is that the gaps between your thoughts grow sider. Consider the following comments about thought-observation from Rawn Clark’s book A Bardon Companion . With Step ...