The Silent Question Meditating in the Stillness of Not-Knowing

by Packer, Toni; Canfield, John V.

• ISBN13: 9781590304105
• ISBN10: 1590304101
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-13
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

In The Silent Question, Packer provides fresh insights on using the experiences of life that are raw, messy, painful, and sometimes full of laughter, to open a way to compassion. She urges us to let go of our thoughts and to sit "in the stillness of not knowing" in order to reflect upon the essential question of who we are. Packer encourages us to discover that life, energy, and insight come from the questioning, the looking, the listening.

Author Biography

Toni Packer began studying Zen at the Rochester Zen Center in 1967 with Roshi Philip Kapleau (author of The Three Pillars of Zen). She teaches and leads retreats at Springwater Center in Springwater, New York. She is the author of The Work of this Moment and The Wonder of Presence. 

Table of Contents

To the Reader	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction	p. xv
This Free and Open "Work"
Staying Present: An Interview with Toni Packer	p. 3
Fear of Silence	p. 11
Effortlessness	p. 18
Tying Rocks to Clouds: An Interview with Toni Packer	p. 22
Is Mindfulness the Same as Awareness?	p. 33
Can Our Problems Be Figured Out?	p. 38
Firewood Does Not Turn into Ashes: An Interview with Toni Packer	p. 45
This "Me" and Who I Am
About Ego	p. 51
Am I My Body?	p. 55
Being Oneself	p. 60
Loneliness	p. 64
Expectation	p. 69
My Identity	p. 74
About Creativity	p. 76
Who Decides?	p. 79
This War and Peace Between Us
Love and Attachment: Is Attachment Inevitable?	p. 85
Two Responses to September 11	p. 90
Feeling Separate, Living Together	p. 94
Togetherness	p. 100
Honesty	p. 105
Despair	p. 108
Judgment: Is There Good and Bad?	p. 116
This Illness, Pain, and Death
A Beautiful Mind	p. 127
What Is Dying?	p. 142
Helping Those in Pain	p. 145
Illness and the Self	p. 148
Letter to a Deceased Friend	p. 151
Suffering and Awareness: An Interview with Toni Packer	p. 154
This Living, Loving Wonder
What Energizes My Life?	p. 161
Is Enlightenment a Myth?	p. 164
The Observer Is the Observed	p. 166
Has Toni Packer Been Totally Transformed?	p. 169
Is This All There Is?	p. 177
Credits	p. 183
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