Rice in the bowl: Awakening in ordinary life
A three-week live, online Deep Dive with Henry Shukman
October 25, November 1, November 8, 2026
10:00 am – 12:00 pm Mountain Time US
Online
“My miracles are chopping firewood and drawing water from the well.”
A live Deep Dive with Henry
A Deep Dive is an immersive, multi-week experience of live practice and teaching with Henry, built around a specific text or poem. For Rice in the Bowl, we’ll explore the teaching of Layman Pang, an early Zen practitioner who saw that the very fabric of everyday life is the miracle.
Over three weeks, you’ll gather with Henry and a community of fellow practitioners for extended guided meditations, dharma talks, and Q&A. This poem becomes a lens through which to explore your practice, giving you something concrete to return to again and again. It’s your opportunity to move from solo practice to shared practice, and to experience Henry’s guidance in real time.
A note from Henry
The early Zen practitioner Layman Pang once saw a miracle-worker perform the supernatural feat of walking on water. But Layman Pang was unimpressed, saying: “My miracles are chopping firewood and drawing water from the well.” In other words: the very fabric of everyday life is the miracle. Existing is the real miracle.
Often we think of awakening as some far-off distant and sacred place we need to seek. But awakening to our true nature is available right here, right now— in the very stuff of our most ordinary, daily experience.
What to expect
Over three weeks, you’ll join Henry for three live two-hour Sunday sessions featuring:
- Extended guided meditations (25-30 minutes) that let you fully settle into present moment experience
- In-depth dharma talks bringing together ancient traditions, modern wisdom, and poetry in Henry’s unique style
- Q&A periods where your practice questions get answered directly
You’ll stay connected throughout the Deep Dive via a dedicated WhatsApp group, creating a sense of community throughout your shared journey.
The beauty of the ordinary
Meditation can help us to see the beauty of our ordinary lives in two ways. Firstly, it can help to uncover the inherent beauty of experience itself. The sunset may be beautiful, but the very fact we are able to see one is more beautiful still.
Secondly, the most ordinary objects in our lives can themselves be triggers for awakening. A cup, a calendar, a sensation of pain – these can all be gateways to a dramatic shift in our perspective of the world.
This course invites you to discover awakening not as a distant goal but as something found in the heart of daily life, where even the most ordinary moments reveal profound beauty. Drawing on Zen stories and wisdom, Henry will show how meditation can help us see both the miracle of simply experiencing life and the extraordinary potential hidden in everyday objects and encounters.
What you’ll learn from Henry
- How to uncover the beauty inherent in the world around you
- Seeing both the miracle of simply experiencing life and the extraordinary potential hidden in everyday objects and encounters
- How ordinary moments can become gateways to dramatic shifts in perspective
- Discovering awakening not as a distant goal but as something found in the heart of daily life
- The practice of finding the sacred in the mundane
Join Rice in the bowl
$124 for The Way subscribers
$155
- 3 live two-hour Sunday sessions with Henry
- All session recordings
- WhatsApp community for the Deep Dive
- Access to practice resources and prompts
- Registration is not open for this Deep Dive just yet.
Or join the 2026 Program
Rice in the Bowl is the fourth of four Deep Dives that Henry will lead in 2026. If you’re ready to commit to a full year of live practice with Henry and a dedicated community, the 2026 Live Online Program includes all four Deep Dives plus exclusive benefits, at significant savings.
Full program is $495. Save $125 compared to buying all four Deep Dives individually.
The Way subscribers enjoy an additional 20% off with their special discount code.
The 2026 Live Online Program includes: Caravan • Sweeping the Yard • Mountains & Rivers Remain • Rice in the Bowl
Feedback from the 2025 Program
About your teacher
Henry Shukman
Henry is an authorized Zen Master in the Sanbo Zen lineage, the co-founder of The Way meditation app, and the Spiritual Director Emeritus of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In addition to teaching meditation, Henry is an award-winning author and poet. His struggles and traumatic experiences as a youth, combined with a spontaneous awakening experience at 19, paved the way for Henry to develop a well-rounded approach to healing and awakening through meditation.
Event Details
Cost: $155
Dates: Join us over 3 Sundays on:
October 25, November 1, November 8
Time: 10am–12pm MST
Where: Online
Recordings
Each session will be recorded. If you can’t attend live, or simply want to reference it again, we’ll share the recording the day after the session.
Registration
Registrations have not opened for this Deep Dive just yet. This Deep Dive is part of our 2026 Live Online Program, why not dedicate yourself to an entire year of live teachings?
Questions?
If you have any questions about this program, please contact our team at jeremy@thewayapp.com. We’re happy to assist and look forward to having you join us!
