Tasshin's Blog

Quick Bio

I am training at the Monastic Academy in Lowell, VT.

I want to help monasteries flourish in the modern world.

I write about meditation, monasteries, productivity, strategy, and more.

About Tasshin Fogleman

For as long as I can remember, I have been a reader, a writer, a thinker and autodidact. I have been practicing meditation since 2010, and am still very much a beginner. I am now fascinated by the relationship between my mind, my contemplative practices, and my body.

I attended St. John’s College (A’13), where I wrote my senior essay on Plato’s Phaedrus. As I studied the books on the College’s program of study, I read mystics like Plato, Plotinus, and St. Augustine; in my extracurricular reading, I also encountered works of Eastern religion, including the Dhammapada, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Tao Te Ching. Like many before me, I realized that the essential sameness of these works transcends their apparent differences. I then began a meditation practice as a pragmatic way to experience the perennial truth of mysticism.

My meditation practice initially began with exploring Shinzen Young‘s Unified Mindfulness system. I joined the Monastic Academy as a resident in 2015. My meditation practice has been influenced by a number of teachers including Shinzen, my primary teacher Soryu Forall, and the Buddha.

In 2018, I took bodhisattva vows with Shinzen and Soryu, and received the name Tasshin, 達真. 達 means to “reach,” “arrive at,” “achieve,” or “touch.” 真 means “truth” or “authenticity.” Most people pronounce this with the Americanized pronunciation, which sounds like the English words “toss shin.”

Best Of

Here are the blog posts and resources that I think are my best:

Meditation

• Meditation Tips for a Lifetime of Practice
• Maple Seeds

Monasteries

• Trustworthy Leaders
• The Problems We Face
• What is a Monastery?
• Monasteries of the Future: A Summary

Productivity

• Digital Productivity Coach
• Use The Right Tool For The Job
• The Case for First-Brain Memory

Strategy

• Monastic Strategy
• The Art of Alliances
• Burja Mapping Series
• The Punk Strategy Guide to the Logical Thinking Process

Now

• I’m currently teaching at our California location, OAK, for about two months. I’ll return to MAPLE in Vermont in mid-September.
• I’m trying to publish 30 blog posts in 2020! I’m grateful to have the help of a team of people.

Contact

Feel free to reach out or say hi on Twitter (@tasshinfogleman) or by email ([email protected] gmail.com, or [email protected]).

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