What Do You Want Me to Talk About?

What Do You Want Me to Talk About?

I am going to me make some videos soon. What would you like me to talk about? Please make your suggestions in the comments area below, or click "Contact" and send me a message. Or you could write on my Facebook page.

I can talk about a wide variety of subjects: Spirituality, meditation, mindfulness, intuition or just about anything else - except transmission repair. I am no good at transmission repair.

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Listen to Paul Crouse Radio Show #18 - "Secular Mindfulness Training"

Listen to Paul Crouse Radio Show #18 - "Secular Mindfulness Training"

Mindfulness is the capacity to pay attention on purpose in the present moment non-judgmentally, and with kindness.

This month, Paul interviews Zen teacher Dr. Linda Lehrhaupt, who is the founder and executive Director of the Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches in Bedburg, Germany. During this interview, Linda and Paul discuss how mindfulness training can benefit people in all walks of life deal with the challenges of the modern world, including stress and chronic pain.

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Rev. Taka: Tomorrow I'm Superhuman?

Rev. Taka: Tomorrow I'm Superhuman?

During this 2.5 minute audio excerpt from an hour-long radio interview, Zen Buddhist priest Rev. Taka Kawakami explains how life is in the present moment.

He says that people often get excited thinking about the future. We think that we will be superhuman tomorrow, but that we are only regular today. So we put things off. With that attitude, we let life slip past us.

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Rev. Taka: How to Meditate Simply

Rev. Taka: How to Meditate Simply

During this two-minute audio excerpt from an hour-long radio interview, Zen Buddhist priest Rev. Taka Kawakami explains how meditation can be mind training, and how to simply meditate.

He says that you should just sit up straight and feel your breathing. It might help to have longer inhales and exhales. He suggests breathing in for a count of five and exhaling for a count of ten. 

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Rev. Taka: Meditation is Not a Magic Bullet

Rev. Taka: Meditation is Not a Magic Bullet

In a two-minute excerpt from an hour-long radio interview, Zen Buddhist priest Rev. Taka Kawakami talks a good approach to meditation. Instead of using meditation to achieve something or solve an issue, it is better to simply observe from a non-subjective point of view. 

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Listen to Paul Crouse Radio Show #17 - "What the Bleep is Zen?"

Listen to Paul Crouse Radio Show #17 - "What the Bleep is Zen?"

Zen is not a brand. It is a Buddhist religion and the word literally means “seated meditation.”

Listen in to this interesting and lighthearted interview with Rev. Takafumi Kawakami of Shunkoin Zen Buddhist Temple in Kyoto, Japan. 

Paul and Taka talk about the common misconceptions about Zen and Buddhism in the West, as well as about meditation, mindfulness, living life better and Captain Kirk. 

And -- no -- there is really is no such thing as Zen massage, Zen yoga or Zen hamburgers. That is just marketing silliness.

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Stop Thinking: Take Time to Be Quiet Today

Stop Thinking: Take Time to Be Quiet Today

Take a break from thinking for a little bit today.

We are taught that thinking is good and that we can solve all of our problems by thinking about them. To be thoughtless is considered to be an insult.

Yet, we can get lost in our thoughts. Often, the same thoughts go around and around, and make us crazy. Sometimes we think we know everything.

For today, lets try something different. Instead of trying to bend the world to fit our thoughts, let try to just be. Empty yourself of thoughts through simple meditation.

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The Chi Flows Where The Mind Goes: Be Careful What You Think

The Chi Flows Where The Mind Goes: Be Careful What You Think

In the Chinese martial art of tai chi, there is a maxim that states: “The chi flows where the mind goes."

Your attention focuses your life energy. Being aware of your thoughts and how you focus your attention is an important step in creating the life you want for yourself.

What is Chi?

Chi is life energy. Your body is a mixture of water, chemicals and chi. Chi is the essence that makes you alive.

In traditional Eastern thought, wellness comes from a properly balanced flow of chi; illness comes from an unbalanced or blocked flow of chi. For example, the ancient traditional Chinese medicine art of acupuncture uses needles in specific body points to unblock and re-balance the flow of chi.

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Listen to Paul Crouse Radio Show 003 - One Simple Shift to Transform Your Life

Listen to Paul Crouse Radio Show 003 - One Simple Shift to Transform Your Life

Listen On Demand

Show #003: One Simple Shift to Transform Your Life with Kevin Akash Olver 

Kevin has many years of experience of bringing together psychology and spirituality and helping all kinds of people to enrich their personal and work lives. Based in Hove, England, he has a gift for clear seeing and is known for his warm, peaceful nature and inspiring approach.

We talked about getting how getting in alignment with our inner nature can transform your life. This can be done in simple, practical ways. 

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Chakra Meditation - Free 16 Minute Audio MP3 File (Updated Version)

Chakra Meditation - Free 16 Minute Audio MP3 File (Updated Version)

(This is a new recording with improved audio quality and without the jarring bell at the end. Thanks to everyone for their feedback. Life is about progress, not perfection, right?)

Feel calm, centered and energized with the Chakra Meditation.

Listen to this sixteen minute guided meditation in the audio player, or download it to your phone or other device. Click "Read More" below. The audio player at the bottom of the page, with the download button on the right hand side.

You will be guided to open and activate your chakras (energy centers of your body) and then sit in silence.

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Chakra Meditation - Free 15 Minute Audio MP3 File

Chakra Meditation - Free 15 Minute Audio MP3 File

Feel calm, centered and energized with the Chakra Meditation.

Listen to this fifteen minute guided meditation in the audio player below, or download it to your phone or other device. Simply click "Download" on the right hand side of the audio player.

You will be guided to open and activate your chakras (energy centers of your body) and then sit in silence.

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How to Do the Diamond Heart Meditation

How to Do the Diamond Heart Meditation

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”  — Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Today, I would like to teach you a very simple and powerful meditation you can do to empower yourself. It is called the Diamond Heart Meditation. With this meditation, you will consciously share the love in your heart with everyone and everything. 

This is a very powerful meditation that can change your life. It will show you that you have an unlimited power source from within yourself. By sharing this love energy, your vibes will be tuned higher and your energy will shift. You will become brighter and your darkness will melt away. 

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Simple Energizing and Centering Meditation

Simple Energizing and Centering Meditation

Today, I would like to share with you a simple visualization exercise that can help increase your energy level. This is especially good if you are feeling drained, lethargic or depressed. It is also an excellent daily exercise to keep you strong, centered and balanced.

It only takes a few minutes and you can incorporate this into your regular meditation practice.

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Meditation: Discipline, Concentration and Insight (Words of Wisdom)

Meditation: Discipline, Concentration and Insight (Words of Wisdom)

In this post, the ancient Chinese Zen writer Hush-yen talks about three qualities needed to for the Buddhist path: discipline, concentration and insight.  He shows how each of these qualities by themselves is a dead end, but used together are the keys for controlling your mind.
This is a wonderful explanation of how to find balance in our meditation practice, and in our lives.

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