Arte of Now*
Nicolee Jikyo McMahon Roshi
Arte of Now: Practice of Immediacy in the Arts™ by Nicolee McMahon describes a technique that allows life to guide you in creating art. Whether you are a novice or professional, this approach will deepen your creative intuition: visual artists, dancers, musicians, writers.
"Nicolee McMahon offers us a mature integration and mastery of spiritual practice and creative expression. Grounded in years of Zen practice, she presents a simple yet dynamic approach to unleashing creativity by accessing openness, not leaving anything out, and living in the moment. PIA will appeal to a broad range of people, from novices curious about their own creativity to those already adept at creative expression."
—Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Roshi, Abbot and Head Teacher, Zen Center of Los Angeles
Student and Teacher: A Zen Perspective *
Nicolee Jikyo McMahon Roshi
Student and Teacher: A Zen Perspective, is a thought-provoking essay by Nicolee Jikyo McMahon Roshi, which explores the positive potentialities as well as the possible hazards of being a student and/or a teacher of Zen.
Among the concerns it addresses:
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What are the desires and needs that a student may hope to fulfill in the relationship?
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How can projection play a positive role?
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When the relationship doesn't seem to work, what insights may be gained and what can be done?
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When it does work, what stages may the learning process go through, both for the student and the teacher?
Comments from readers:
"Student and Teacher: A Zen Perspective is one of the best things I have seen on the subject."
"Dear Nicolee Sensei, I have just read your wonderful booklet on the teacher-student relationship. Thank you so much for putting together such a masterful work."
"I wish that I had had something like 'Student and Teacher: A Zen Perspective' when I began Zen practice. It's really important for students."
From Nicolee Roshi's introduction:
As Americans we do not have a tradition of the Venerable Teacher, and we are only beginning to understand the subtleties and challenges involved in the student-teacher relationship within a spiritual setting. Yet this may become one of the most meaningful relationships of life, a deep learning experience, both for the student and teacher...
From the preface by John Gage Sensei:
Not only does it help us understand the nature of the student-teacher relationship, but it elucidates our entire practice as Zen students. As students we are on a path which potentially leads to transformation and liberation. Nicolee Sensei gives us a clear and concise description of how these potentials can be realized and what the processes involved require of both the student and the teacher. As such, what is presented here is as valuable for the advanced Zen student as it is for those setting foot on the path for the first time.