Just Stare at the Damn Wall!

About this episode

Mark Shinji Blacknell discusses his book 'Just Stare at the Damn Wall!' and offers a raw perspective on mindfulness and meditation.

Welcome to the Imperfect Buddha Podcast on the New Books Network. Today, we’re stripping away the incense and serenity to look at the cold, hard wall of practice. We are joined by Mark Shinji Blacknell, author of Just Stare at the Damn Wall!. Mark isn't your typical "mindfulness guru"—he’s been a Marine, a bus driver, and an alcoholic, bringing a crude and down to Earth view of enlightenment to Zen. In this episode, we dig into the friction between Mark’s focus on simple biology and the Soto establishment he knows all too well. We’ll be asking: The Technology of the Wall: In an era of bio-hacking and apps, why choose a directive as primitive as staring at a wall? The Myth of Enlightenment: Why does Mark tell his readers to "forget enlightenment" and embrace being a "doctor of nothing"? The Shadow Side: We discuss whether "McMindfulness" ignores how meditation can make unstable people more dangerous. Raw Acceptance vs. Nihilism: How do we differentiate "accepting life as it is" from a passive, terrifying nihilism? The End of the Path: If the goal is "doing nothing for nothing," how do we even know we’re practicing? From meditating with prisoners on death row to the often dirty and…

People in this episode

Guest: Mark Shinji Blacknell

Topics covered

• mindfulness
• Zen
• enlightenment
• meditation
• Soto
• nihilism

Keywords

• bio-hacking
• McMindfulness
• acceptance
• practice

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Just Stare at the Damn Wall!

Books & works: the Imperfect Buddha Podcast, Just Stare at the Damn Wall

Places: Earth

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