The View From The Cushion: Zen Challenges To duality In The Contemporary Practice Situation1

Based on participant-observation fieldwork, interviews with western Zen practitioners, public dharma talks and personal interviews given by two contemporary Sōtō Zen teachers (Hōgen Yamahata and Ekai Korematsu), this paper explores the challenges to ‘everyday’ dualistic thought structures that Zen practice poses to the questioning student and the ontological and epistemological significance of these challenges to the worldview of the experiencing student. First, the teaching styles and non-dual emphases of the two teachers in the context of teacher/student exchanges are examined; and, secondly, the experiential challenges and changes in worldview from the practitioner's point of view are phenomenologically explored. By teasing out the parallels and links between the phenomenology of Zen practice and the philosophical underpinnings of Zen practice instructions, foundational philosophical tenets can be shown ‘in action’ in the contemporary practice situation and a window is opened on the ontological and epistemological significance of the experiential impact of Zen teachings.     

Ecological Neuropsychology: An Alternative to the Deficit Model for Conceptualizing and Serving Students with Learning Disabilities

The present paper contends that children with learning disabilities are better served when assessment and intervention are conceptualized within an ecological neuropsychology perspective than within the traditional deficit model perspective, which is the predominant approach to intervention in medical and educational settings. The deficit method conceptualizes problems as within the child, and the major consequence of this approach is that little time is spent analyzing the learning environment or other systems that might impact the child's ability to be successful in an academic setting. Therefore, rehabilitation efforts have had limited success. In contrast, ecological neuropsychology is a strength-based approach that considers the child, as well as the systems within which he/she interacts, when assessing, diagnosing, and intervening with students who are experiencing learning difficulties.