Customer Reviews

The Secret Is There Are No Secrets: An Introduction to Zen Meditation [VHS]

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2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought "The Secret is There are No Secrets" some years ago, and found it VERY helpful in learning to meditate.

Life has been more intense lately, and I was moved to pull it out and watch it again. I had forgotten what a beautiful video it is, full of gentle reminders that I need right now, points that I missed before or had forgotten. There is a clear explanation of sitting posture (and alternatives), and a great combination of the overall view of meditation and the (physical and non-physical) particulars.

I'm glad I kept it all these years and will surely watch it again soon.

Zen is not exciting, nor is it glamorous.

And yes, to many folks it is rather boring. But oddly, real enlightenment can come from just plain "sitting". Not easy for everyone, I agree.

The whole appeal of zen meditation is its simplicity. Yes, the techniques on this video SHOULD take only 3 minutes to learn. The remainder consists of -- well -- more sitting!

But if you want to experience no-nonsense zen meditation, this is the real thing.

There is little to say regarding this DVD entitled; "The Secret is There Are No Secrets" by Cheri Huber.

There is little doubt that Ms. Huber is well versed in the art of ZEN meditation techniques. However, within the first 5 minutes most of her accumulated knowledge on "zazen" (sitting) is explained to the viewer. After the initial introductive techniques there is little else for her to really say. In order to extend the film, she sometimes becomes repetitious in her explanations, and then...the director (?), injects still shot frames of distorted photographs along with sounds of running water to help give the production more of a meditative aura.

The DVD has no time-information on it, but I would guess the entire running of the DVD was perhaps....20 or 30 minutes at most.

Truthfully speaking, I was extremely disappointed in this production and for the price of $14.95; there simply should have been "something" more to it.

I would've enjoyed more in-depth discussion about Zen meditation in general, its philosophy, benefits, and so on. Instead, this is a step-by-step instruction on posture. I should really remind myself not to judge a book by its cover (nor its title). The same thing goes for DVDs!!

This DVD has very little to offer and even at its attractive price, it's a waste of money. Granted, I have done reading on meditation for years and have practiced sporadically. Still, I don't believe you could get much less from a DVD than is available on this one. There are detailed instructions on posture, hand position and the like. That takes about three minutes. I was very disappointed in the lack of in-depth instruction I would have expected from a DVD on meditation.

Speaking in the first person: my experience with sitting brought my own ego out of its latency and to the fore--an ideal situation for its decrease...(I was reminded of the practice of the giving of oxygen to cancer patients just prior to radiation therapy, i.e., in order to plump up the cancer cells, the better to be mowed down).

Of the ego: it kicks up a real fuss, to say the least: "THIS IS POINTLESS; I MUST BE DOING SOMETHING; WHERE IS THE ACCOMPLISHMENT?; THIS IS REALLY KILLING ME"; etc.

Afterwards, I did not then need to justify my life or existence--to anyone, but primarily to myself--by production, "success," "applying" myself, projects, striving, etc.

Just be.

After a while, my ego gives up; the "war" in my mind to "accomplish,"

etc., ceases. Heart is stilled. still... still... still...

No more "war," and my resource energy comes out to play.

Different world, when not at war mind. War mind is a STRICT taskmaster, i.e., if I buy into war mind, it "logically" follows that ALL ELSE is denied, shut down, shunted off, etc. That is, no one would consider "war" to be a casual undertaking--i.e., it is all consuming, or don't bother.

That "all else," by the way, happens to be everything that could possibly matter to me.

Exactly what a Zen DVD should be. Informative, calming and beautiful to watch and to see. I love the "follow along" sitting session at the end.

I've seen much better meditation CD's. Just felt a little short changed with this one though.