Mike Cross

My blogs

Gender	Male
Industry	Education
Occupation	Teacher
Location	Aylesbury, Bucks, United Kingdom
Links	Wishlist
Introduction	From 1982 to 1997 I worked on the translation of Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, and understood the primary importance in the Buddha's teaching of full lotus sitting. Until 1994 my attitude to this sitting practice could be summed up in the words: "Don't think. Just do it!" Then in 1994 I returned from Japan to England to train to be a teacher of the FM Alexander Technique, and experiences with Alexander work woke me up to the opposite standpoint of "Don't just do. Think it!" Far from smoothing my path, however, Alexander insights (or reactions to them) caused a lot of trouble between me and my aging teacher in Japan. Then in 2008, seeking clearer water further upstream, I found a new lease of life in the extant Sanskrit works of the 12th ancestor in Dogen's lineage -- the great Indian teacher Ashvaghosha.
Interests	Sitting-Meditation, ZaZen, Dogen, Ashvaghosha, Shobogenzo, Alexander Technique, AT, Vestibular System, Primitive Reflexes, Birds
Favorite Books	Shobogenzo, Saundarananda, Buddhacarita, When Listening Comes Alive, The Use of the Self, An Examined Life by Marjory Barlow

Your people want to make a statue in your honor. What will it be made out of and what victory will it commemorate?

Material things linked to a noble plan. Total suppresion of the Mara reflex.