About Shinzen Young
It has been my good fortune to have had the opportunity to learn meditation practice directly from Shinzen Young. Pretty much everything I teach comes from him (except the errors). Of course my teaching is colored by my own experience, but I walk a path that he marked out for me, for everyone, well in advance of my arrival at the trailhead and I can just barely see the sun occasionally flashing off his bald pate far in the distance.
Shinzen went to Japan fifty years ago to investigate Buddhist practices from an academic perspective. He ended up being ordained in the Shingon sect of Vajrayana Buddhism. He went on to practice Zen under various masters and also Burmese Vipassana. He amalgamated the meditation practices from all of these traditions into his own formulation which he calls Unified Mindfulness.
He currently resides in Tucson, Arizona, where he dedicates much of his time to working with neuroscientists trying to forge a synergistic partnership between Western science and Eastern contemplative practices.
He has a very deep presence on youtube and that is my suggested destination for you if you wish to get to know something about his teaching unfiltered by my idiosyncrasies. Here are some of my favorites:
Shinzen's welcome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvk99BRxlPw
How to Change your Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yExoNZLCjDE&list=PLpWI1yEIe1nFdwL6DjYj4SEVTFIbiGDFI&index=1
The Taste of Purification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKrJIV2OEMg&list=PLpWI1yEIe1nFdwL6DjYj4SEVTFIbiGDFI&index=31
The nuts and bolts of noting practice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StBTuX0tqU8
Zen Keisaku ("wake up" stick)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjzEeSSL4o0
Zen Ox Herding pictures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8aN9O73lgg
Shinzen talks to Google