I picked up the guitar at the age of 17. As a teen, I loved hard-rock music: Bryan Adams, Steven Curtis Chapman, Eric Clapton, Metallica, and many more. The brawn and sizzle of an overdriven guitars was the soundtrack of my youth. My mother bought me my first guitar and amp: a black Squire Stratocaster, and a […]
The Zen of Rock and Roll: Life Lessons from Playing Guitar Read More »
When Bankei was preaching at Ryumon temple, a Shinshu priest, who believed in salvation through the repetition of the name of the Buddha of Love, was jealous of his large audience and wanted to debate with him. Bankei was in the midst of talk when the priest appeared, but the fellow made such a disturbance
New Mind for the New Year: Reclaiming Our Scattered Attention Read More »
People come to counselling because they are hurting. Something has gone awry. A relationship ends, a career stalls, health declines. Clients come in search of healing and repair in the throes of adversity. Counselling therapy can be helpful as we navigate the difficult passages of life. However, if therapy is only for times when things
Living a Beautiful Life: Habits for Mental Health Read More »
Thomas Merton once wrote: “I love beer, and, by that very fact, the world.” This statement is at once whimsical and puzzling. How does a fondness for pale ale stray into a confession of love for the world? Perhaps Merton suggests a fundamental relationship between the mundane and the sublime, the miniscule and the cosmical. Ask a brewer
I Love Coffee, and By That Very Fact, The World Read More »
In my clinical practice, I often meet clients who are at odds with themselves, caught between one commitment and another. They wrestle between aspiration and duty, self-care and care for others. There are teenagers who struggle to assert independence against the authority of their parents, lovers who cleave to each other despite the call of
“I know. . . but. . .”: Notes for Those Who Wrestle with Themselves. Read More »
Every meditator experiences ebbs and flows in practice. There are times when awareness arrests us, engulfing us in crystalline stillness. Other times we brace against squalls of the anxiety. Sometimes our discipline is sharp and square; we practice without waver. Other times we are reluctant to drag ourselves to the sitting cushion, depleted by the
Can’t Sit Still? What To Do With Restlessness in Meditation Read More »
Inhale acrid smoke flying embers the bodies of trees particles of charred soil manic flames bourne of greed hazy blindness swirling confusion madness driven mad anguish multiplying anguish without beginning without end this searing pain. Exhale great vow immense oceans cool dharma rain showers of beneficence soothing balm poured from brokenness given from poverty unremitting
Fire-Breathing (For Wildfires) Read More »
“I am human, and therefore nothing human can be foreign to me.” This quote from Terence, ancient Roman poet and playwright, crystalizes the unity of human experience. In a world of diversity and intersectionality, to ponder universality is to tread on dangerous ground. One cannot easily generalize personal experience, and there are many lived
When I Practice, I Practice for All Read More »
Aristotle once made a distinction between five forms of knowing: Phronesis (practical knowledge), episteme(knowledge), sophia (wisdom), techne (skill), and logos (reason). Phronesis is expertise forged by experience, the authority of a subject earned through practice. Episteme, on the other hand, is declarative knowledge generated through research and study. The challenge of shaping a life lies
The Hardest Part of Practice: Practicing! Read More »
David Chang Counselling is gratefully located on the territories of the the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. David supports and celebrates diversity in race, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, and neurological composition.
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