ZalthoLIVE - Claude AnShin Thomas Zaltho Foundation

You can find ZalthoLIVE on all major podcast channels: Apple, Google, Spotify, AmazonMusic, and Audible.
These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind.
This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses.
For more information: https://zaltho.org/
If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org
Book recommendations:
-       Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021)
-       AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003)
https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html
 If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you.
Questions and Time Stamps:

1:15 What is the significance of breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth?
2:07 What kind of internal dialogue or questions did you have when you began with sitting meditation?
3:01 Do you want to control processes sometimes?
4:22 Was there a difference for you between following instructions in the military and following instructions when you started in that first monastery?
5:42 What is the difference between control and discipline?
6:45 What do you do if a situation or a person is emotionally challenging you?
7:39 How long did it take for you to learn to sit in meditation (facing the wall) without worrying what might be coming from behind you?
8:29 What does time mean for you in your daily life and also in a Buddhist context?
11:43 When you went from practicing in the first monastery to the second monastery, under a different teacher and somewhat different school, how did you deal with any differences in the instructions you were given?
12:54 What was necessary to leave the life on the street?
13:51 Can you explain the statement that you said earlier that control is being forced into something that one is not comfortable with?
15:02 Do you find that the practice of paying attention is generally adequate to lead to the most appropriate response, for instance in a difficult situation?
16:20 Has anger also a good side?
16:53 Is there a difference between controlling someone when you are a like teacher or a parent with a child or student instead an adults when they are on the same level?

On Vietnam Veterans Day, 29 March, Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, Vietnam combat Veteran, and author - gave a talk to the employees of a cancer-biotech company. Their interest was that Claude AnShin Thomas’ own journey of healing and transformation of the wounds of war mirror the turbulences and peace finding efforts in high stakes crisis and hardship of many people, to include cancer patients. 
For more information: https://zaltho.org/
Contact Email: info@zaltho.org
Book recommendations:
-       Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021)
-       AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003)
https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind.

This episode was recordedon online zoom retreat session of questions&responses.
For more information: https://zaltho.org/
If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org

Book recommendations: 
-       Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021)
-       AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003)
https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html
If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you.
 
Questions and Time Stamps:
1:09
Would you share what a byproduct as a result of practice is for you?
2:58
A question about the bells at the altar.
3:30 
Did you have moments when you thought you cannot continue on with this practice? 
3:52
What do you do for fun and relaxation?
5:45 
About regret: can it be to be present to our past actions, to our errors, and in a way to not repeat them?
7:04
Would you share a little bit with us about how you relate nowadays to your hand that is missing a piece of a finger?
8:23
Sometimes I feel like I am surrounded by people who suck energy. Is that just my fantasy?
12:02
Do you think it is important or valuable to travel to new countries and cultures? 
13:30 
As you mature, is there anything now that seems urgent that wasn’t in the past?
14:45
How do you work with the news? Especially when it is disturbing, when you hear or read about things that are just full of violence or craziness?
19:18
Do you yourself also have the possibility to ask questions like in the setting we can do it right now?
19:38
In order to become more aware of the reality of life, do you find it valuable to also study science, for instance physics, astrophysics, biology, or chemistry?
20:37
Do you sometimes still have strong emotions, like a rush or wave of emotions?
20:48 
With every week that passes by, when I do meditation it seems like I meet fewer people. Am I getting funny?
22:51
Is sports in the dynamic of winner and loser another way of war?
24:28
Would you say that distractions got more with smart phones?
24:58
Going back to the athletics: when you watch football, what’s  that experience like for you?
27:21
How would you respond to someone who is reaching the end of their life and their mind is filled with thoughts of disappointment?
29:41
Men are mainly responsible for war. Is war is an expression of the way men think?
32:21
Would you have some examples of how you have dealt skillfully or not skillfully with people who try to force their agenda on you?
34:19
Do you have any sense about where we are now in our evolution as a species?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind.
This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses.
For more information: https://zaltho.org/
If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org
Book recommendations: 
-       Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021)
-       AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003)
https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html

If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you.
Questions and Time Stamps:

1:14 With the death of animals occurring all the time everywhere around you, how do you determine which animal you formally mourn when they die?
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2:08 How are you dealing with restless energy when you have a situation where you can rest and want to rest but there is this restless energy?
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2:36 What are your thoughts at the moment, on the situation that there is a common narrative that one is either for one side or for the other side but you cannot be both. Do you think one needs to take sides?
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4:03 What do you think are the roots of antisemitism over the centuries?
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6:05 What would you say to someone who tells me that they are sad that Muslims are often portrayed as terrorists or backward in conservative news cycles and a certain segments of public opinion in the US?
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8:51 Today, Veterans Day in the U.S., is there anything special or specific that you do?
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9:54 In newspapers and on television the focus seems to be primarily on the civilians that die during war. I don’t read or hear too much about the soldiers that die. How do you respond to this focus?
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11:16 My question is similar: with going to war, women are being raped as part of it and also this is not being talked about. Do you think that this is out of similar reasons? Because it is a topic that is filled with shame?
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12:27 AnShin, are you aware of the trend to speak about moral injury and moral distress in the world of health care and health care workers? What do you think about the application of these terms 'moral injury' and 'moral distress'?
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14:03 In the military, a soldier is obligated to follow orders unless those orders are against human rights. Isn’t that a little bit much responsibility to ask of them?
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15:30 Do you think that the people who give orders to the soldiers suffer moral injury?
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17:03 When I am speaking with my Israeli friend whose relatives are fighting in Gaza, whose family members are being bombed in Tel Aviv, is my perspective meaningless and irrelevant or should I share it?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind.
This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses.
For more information: https://zaltho.org/
If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org
Book recommendations: 
-       Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021)
-       AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003)
https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html
 
If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you.
Questions and Time Stamps:
1:10
How do you manage it to be light on your feet during challenging times?
1:48
Is there a way to deal spiritually healthily with fame and gain?
2:54
How do you practice forgiveness?
4:46
Last week something happened in my life where it happened that this person created harm for me. I did speak with this person, but the person doesn’t see it this way. Now I catch myself wishing a similar situation to happen to her. How can I deal with this?
7:35
Could you speak about why in practice one should not settle?
8:48
What is your process around “letting go” for, say, something you are chewing on?
9:49
Do you have any idea or thought how we could be of service to a quarreling city government?
10:21
How could you meditate when you feel really sick, can hardly breath, cough and everything?
11:35
Are there people that you have problems working with because maybe they evoke old behavior patterns in you. Like they remind you of your mom or dad?
12:42
In your life how do you practice the slogan, “how important is it?”14:42
Do you sometimes remember for yourself what you can be thankful for or are you naturally thankful for all kinds of things?
16:36
Do you have actually an alive teacher?
16:50
What do you think about the scientific pursuit to possibly extend human life indefinitely that at this time is attracting significant investment?

These are questions and topics that Claude AnShin Thomas - Zen Buddhist monk, combat veteran, and author - reflects on. He reminds the listener of how to stay awake to life and how to understand more deeply the traps of a deluded mind.
This episode was recorded during a weekly zoom session of questions&responses.
For more information: https://zaltho.org/
If you want to ask Claude AnShin Thomas a question: info@zaltho.org
Book recommendations: 
-       Bringing Meditation to Life - 108 Teachings on the Path of Zen Practice (Oakwood Publishing 2021)
-       AT HELL'S GATE - A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (Shambhala Publications 2003)
https://zaltho.org/en/media/our-books.html
If you are interested in a specific question, this is the list of questions that Claude AnShin responded to and the time stamps for those questions so that you can go directly to the topic that is of most interest to you.
Questions and Time Stamps:
1:12
What would you say to somebody who says:“I like to smoke pot every day. It makes me happy, productive, and I relate better to other people.. What’s wrong with that?"
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2:35
You are recommending that people sit twice a day. What would you say if someone was asking you what for?
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3:38 
How do you know and then how do you respond if someone is trying to manipulate?
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5:38 
How come there are not more people of African origins in Zen groups?
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6:27
Do you sometimes have bad temper without a reason and if so, do you then do efforts to understand how come?
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8:54
From the point of view of our practice are there good moods and bad moods?
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9:45
Would you find it useful and meaningful and also appropriate to include a meditation practice into a psychotherapeutic setting?
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11:24
How can I deal with a grieving that suddenly overcomes me in connection with animals that I was part of them dying and at the time when it happened I did not process any of that?
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12:49
In which ways can meditation be dangerous?
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13:48
Does a personal response to outside stimuli ever surprise you meaning your own thoughts?
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14:22
What does it do to you when people are initially inflamed by practice after visiting a talk or retreat and don’t continue on? Or people abandon practice and don’t come back?
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15:27
How do I deal with a conversation in which I am sharing about my experience with meditation practice and I am being treated offensively or hurtfully?
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17:36
When someone is angry with you, how do you deal with that?