In this episode, Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison and I discuss his most recent book: Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion. We discuss how
he first became interested in being a Zen monk while reading the Encyclopedia Britannica as a child,
he was inspired by the hero’s journey of the whiny Luke Skywalker (Star Wars) and Daniel LaRusso (The Karate Kid),
his karate sensei, who was a Zen practitioner, gave him a lifelong lesson: “You'll never be free until you can be still with your pain,”
to practice the Eightfold Path to experience liberative moments amid the swirl of our everyday lives
Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, MFA, LMSW, DMIN, is an author, Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, and ACPE Certified Chaplaincy Educator. After more than a decade as a chaplain and psychotherapist, Koshin co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. The non-profit center offers contemplative approaches to care through education, carepartnering, and Zen practice. Today, New York Zen Center’s methodologies are internationally recognized—and have touched the lives of tens of thousands of individuals.
Koshin is a renowned thought leader in contemplative care; his work has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets. He is the author of Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion (Balance/Hachette, 2022); Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up (Wisdom Publications, 2019); and the co-editor of Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End of Life Care (Wisdom Publications, 2016).
Koshin began his formal Zen training in 1987, and he is a recognized Soto Zen Teacher by the American Zen Teachers Association, White Plum Asanga, and Soto Zen Buddhist Association. He serves on the Board of Directors at the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.
Untangling the Tangle: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion