Re: [Zen] For Chris~~Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-10 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Whoops. Sent too soon. So do you skip saying hello or goodbye because we are already there, no where to go, no one to greet? :) My socialb group has different norms obviously. On Mar 10, 2011 2:25 PM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Mike, I rarely if ever apologize, because I do not go

[Zen] Realization(to Mayka/ED/list)

2011-03-09 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Sure, I wasn't trying to pry into your motivation, I apologize if I did pry. I was merely disagreeing with your comment. Certainly it makes sense to be careful of your privacy when posting to a public, recorded, forum. Thanks for your sweet email. On Mar 7, 2011 10:41 PM, ED

Re: [Zen] Suggestion

2011-03-09 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Wednesday, March 9, 2011, Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 chan.j...@gmail.com wrote: Dear All, Thanks to ED, we had some wonderful discussion recently. May I suggest some posting sharing your personal realization/witness/journey so that we can all learn? Seems to me ED

Re: [Zen] Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-09 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Thanks for the clarification! Be careful, when you are climbing a lower ridge, it will block your view of the distant peak. Do you find apparent begger women asking for a bit of bread, or stuck animals asking for help as you journey? Haha, just kidding. Cheers, --Chris On Mar 9, 2011 2:05

Re: [Zen] Re: Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
it is consciously clear (as in an active judgement) or intuitively clear, without thought? For me, I still see compassion arising from *any *action performed in the awakened 'state'- sending Red Cross parcels to children in Eithiopia is beside the point. Mike -- *From:* Chris Austin

Re: [Zen] Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
to the chance that we may be missing something quite important, is something we can do right now. Note: by my own nature, I do not mean no-self, I mean the stuff that all my friends and acquaintances well know about me which I do not like to see at all. Cheers, --Chris Mike From: Chris Austin-Lane

Re: [Zen] Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 8:20 AM, mike brown uerusub...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: Well, of course an action can't be performed by thought (Uri Geller proved that point), but it usually has its genesis in that thought, and the thought process continues making observations and judgements during and after

Re: [Zen] Diamond Sutra

2011-03-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Red Pine has a Diamond Sutra translation also. His normal beautiful English, a novel interpretation and interesting textual commentary. On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 7:01 PM, SteveW eugnostos2...@yahoo.com wrote: Hello. JM mentioned the excellent Diamond Sutra. Many translations can be difficult.

Re: [Zen] Re: Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-07 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
It sounds then ED that perhapsby On Mar 7, 2011 8:35 AM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, mike brown uerusuboyo@... wrote: ED, Why should there be something 'extra'? These no need at all. To me the transformation is significant if it enhances active

Re: [Zen] Re: Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-07 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Sorry, I bumped the send button too soon. So, ED, it sounds like for you a path of social service or of engaged compassion would be more appealing than a path of meditation. That seems fine. Zen advertises itself as being of no merit, no goal, and it does indeed seem to meet that promise. If

Re: [Zen] Re: Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-07 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
@yahoogroups.com, Chris Austin-Lane chris@... wrote: So, ED, it sounds like for you a path of social service or of engaged compassion would be more appealing than a path of meditation. That seems fine. I said was unimpresed by a person's enlightenment, if it does not push him toward devoting his

Re: [Zen] Re: Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-07 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
that's what the hand does, no big deal. --Chris On Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 10:12 AM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: I like that. But there is 'awakening' and then there is 'awakened'. It's a complex business! Beyond words? --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Chris Austin-Lane chris

Re: [Zen] Re: Two Potent Quotes

2011-03-07 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
At the time, in the moment, it is clear. I did not mean something which would be labelled appropriate, but acting appropriately. On Mar 7, 2011 7:57 PM, mike brown uerusub...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: Chris, ...and able to see when action is appropriate. When (before or after) and who (the

Re: [Zen] Realization

2011-03-06 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
around. One sees the oneness, the okayness in each moment, just before the layers of reaction try to cover it up in your attention. --ED --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Chris Austin-Lane chris@... wrote: The patriarchs did not regard non duality as a trick. 'Samsara is no different than

Re: [Zen] Realization

2011-03-05 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
My statement is intended to be simpler than that, just a statement of fact. An analogy: a cylinder projected onto one plane is a square; on a.nother plane, it is a circle. People will argue circle vs square, but they are not different. The cylinder is the cylinder. On Mar 5, 2011 9:12 AM, ED

Re: [Zen] Realization

2011-03-05 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
...@yahoo.com wrote: Excellent analogy, but truths are not proven by analogies. The first two sentences of my post below are what I believe the patriarchs had in mind. The understandings of Bill, Steve and others are requested. --ED --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Chris Austin-Lane chris

Re: [Zen] Re: News: Enlightened Robots?

2011-03-04 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
I just read a good sci-fi book exploring how that might start to happen, Zendegi, by Greg Egan. The end up with the maxim: If you want to make it human, make it whole. Apparently there really is a Human Connectome Project trying to make a digital map of the brian. On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at

Re: [Zen] Realization

2011-03-04 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
I agree with a lot of what you write also, Ed, but I rarely post when I agree with what is beimg said. On Mar 4, 2011 7:37 PM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Bill, you are the only one who agrees with me (occasionally), and your agreement certainly counts (with me)! --- In

Re: [Zen] Re: Can A Buddha Harm Others?

2011-02-25 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Wow, what a lot of typing has been taking place! Let me state a few things: 1. Most mail readers can allow you to send all comments from a given email address directly to the trash. I am periodically tempted to do this with some people that irritate me habitually, but of course the great way

Re: [Zen] Can Buddha intentionally harm?

2011-02-25 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
2011/2/25 Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 chan.j...@gmail.com: Besides, enlightened being has no self.  The entire focus, or heart, is filled with the suffering of others. Just to point out the obvious, those are two distinct statements, and the first, being has no self, is true of all of us, know we

Re: [Zen] Re: Can A Buddha Harm Others?

2011-02-25 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Edgar: It sounds like you are assuming that desire is something which can be statically satisfied with some possible arrangement of the physical universe. That seems unlikely to me; I am pretty sure my desires are unreasonable and include such things as eating a cake and keep it too. Perhaps

Re: [Zen] Re: An Article of Interest

2011-02-25 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Well, conventionally 19 is past the age of consent. As a person that's been in a long term exclusive relationship since 1986, I'm not really in the place of either person in the story, so I'm not sure my comments have much relevance. I did date a tenth grader when I was a senior, after my older

Re: [Zen] Re: An Article of Interest

2011-02-24 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Being emotionally connected enough to another to be inspired and motivated and taught by them != giving up responsibility for your own life. I like your theory that they are correlated, and I suspect people do validate their own sense of a teachers awesomeness by the degree to which they give up

Re: [Zen] Optimism

2011-02-13 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
I was at a parenting workshop On Feb 13, 2011 3:09 AM, Maria Lopez flordel...@btinternet.com wrote: Anthony: My sister and any member of my family have me at any moment they want me. In fact, it was very complicated lo leave Scotland as we were having for several weeks in a row an almost non

Re: [Zen] The Zen I Practice - Lesson 1

2011-02-12 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Excellent On Feb 12, 2011 12:50 AM, Bill! billsm...@hhs1963.org wrote: Lesson 1 http://www.billsmart.com/mp3/This%20is%20Your%20Life%20-%20Dust%20Brothers.mp3 ...Bill!

Re: [Zen] visualization

2011-02-10 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
for therapy.). Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane +1-301-270-6524 On Feb 10, 2011, at 15:41, Brett Corbin brettalancor...@yahoo.com wrote: I have been using visualization lately and have been finding it to be very helpful.  What I do is, I go in to my normal meditation, focusing in on my breathing, when I

Re: [Zen] Re: Spock?

2011-02-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 9:33 AM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: ... I was interested in knowing if there is any zen center that advocates 'zen' without any mention Buddha's teachings. I think that is a fair description of Toni Packer's center, although she doesn't use the word zen or

[Zen] Inside and outside.

2011-02-05 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
I went biking up a local mountain a few times the last month which has a great route, twenty miles up hill, get out and snap a few pics, then turn around and roll back down hill for twenty miles. For me, biking has been a sort of kinhin 2.0, where the perspective I have on the zafu can be tried

Re: [Zen] Scholarly approach

2011-02-05 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Saturday, February 5, 2011, Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 chan.j...@gmail.com wrote: Good Morning To You, As a scientist or a scholar, the training is to remain absolutely objective, be an observer and never contaminate the fact in front of us with our own interpretation or subjective

Re: [Zen] Spock?

2011-02-05 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Saturday, February 5, 2011, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Bill, Brett, Does either of you possess the talent of distinguishing the 'wise' from the unwise? If i may, yes, of course they have that talent. We all have that talent. Perhaps we over look it, but it is here, every moment.

Re: [Zen] Zen and Tao.

2011-02-04 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Snort. That was the first album I totally memorized. On Friday, February 4, 2011, Bill! billsm...@hhs1963.org wrote: One thing I'll say for him, Jesus is cool. Caiphus - JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, SteveW eugnostos2000@... wrote: --- In

Re: [Zen] Re: Spock?

2011-02-04 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
I find the direction zen is leading me is not away from my feelings and toward logical thought, but towards an ability to thoroughly know my feelings without subsequently doing regrettable things. Feelings are inseparable from living. I find the idea that logic and reason can be effective goal

Re: [Zen] Re: Spock?

2011-02-04 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
-Lane ch...@austin-lane.net* wrote: From: Chris Austin-Lane ch...@austin-lane.net Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: Spock? To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, February 4, 2011, 9:01 AM I find the direction zen is leading me is not away from my feelings and toward logical thought, but towards

Re: [Zen] Is Chan Buddhist?

2011-02-02 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Seems to me that the problem isn't acting in a wholesome fashion, but the trying to be wholesome. You are already wholesome, you don't need to try or strive or purify or whatever to be wholesome. As far as actions, the key there is in the moment, how are you acting. Far from being a help,

Re: [Zen] Re: Meditation Problem

2011-01-21 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 7:12 AM, Anil Sahal a.sa...@sheffield.ac.uk wrote: IMO, rather than sitting with the intention to not have thoughts arise, it is better to sit without any expectations at all.  Who is relishing sitting? This question Who is is sort of a standard zen joke: Two

[Zen] Toni Packer?

2011-01-17 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Taunted again and again by the footnotes to try to make this list a book discussion group, I ask if any one has met, studied with, or read Toni Packer? She has an interesting history of being a follower of Philip Kapleau, of three pillars of zen, but then became so non-dual she had to leave Zen

Re: [Zen] Zen music

2011-01-17 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Seems to me zen would be how you listened to the music or how you made the music, not what kind of music. If you listen whole heartedly, not adding in a lot of distracted chains of thought on top of listening. For meditation, as close to silence as life gets seems best. John Cage is pretty hip,

[Zen] Re: Toni Packer?

2011-01-17 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Monday, January 17, 2011, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Every individual with some ego-strength may feel that he/she has found another 'only right way' (which works for themselves.) You may wish to judge her based on the wiki article, but her leaving Buddhism i think is like the

Re: [Zen] Pure Land Buddhism, heaven and hell, Monkey etc(to Steve/list)

2011-01-17 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
, kindly but without the aura of sanctitude is refreshing. And Monkey King is a very appealing hero to my kids, he keeps being bad but without ill will and makes up for it. And great powers to boot. Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane Sent from a cell phone On Jan 15, 2011, at 15:07, Anthony Wu wu

Re: [Zen] the death of the prince, vegetarianism?(to Chris/Kristy/list)

2011-01-17 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
, Chris Austin-Lane Sent from a cell phone On Jan 15, 2011, at 5:12, Mel gunnar19632000@... wrote: Don't get me wrong, because I personally love my vegies, fruit, tofu, beans and so on...but I'm not quite clear on this 'vegetarian' thingy I am vegetarian and the thing I tell my kids

Re: [Zen] Feeling a little down.

2011-01-17 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Sunday, January 16, 2011, Dave P wookielife...@yahoo.ca wrote: I'm not sure why I'm feeling this way, other than I read something that got me down because it was about the spiritual aspects of drugs, especially LSD. I know that taking LSD would be a very bad thing for me.I feel

Re: [Zen] Christendom, Zen, and all things good and wonderful(to Chris/list)

2011-01-14 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Friday, January 14, 2011, Mel gunnar19632...@yahoo.com.au wrote: --- On Fri, 14/1/11, Chris Austin-Lane ch...@austin-lane.net wrote: There is more cultural baggage attached with the church, so the times when recommending it seem useful are rarer is the main difference

Re: [Zen] beginner's mind, romantic moments, etc(to Rose/list)

2011-01-14 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Is the thing you find questionable the assess or the others? My elliptical post earlier was just meant to say that the changes that I experience in sitting seem to make me more aware of the other people around me, and therefore I am oddly more able to see their body language and non-verbal stuff,

Re: [Zen] Not understanding mindfulness(to Chris/list)

2011-01-13 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Thursday, January 13, 2011, Mel gunnar19632...@yahoo.com.au wrote: --- On Thu, 13/1/11, Chris Austin-Lane ch...@austin-lane.net wrote: Practice doesn't change the nature of what living is. - MEL: It doesn't change

Re: [Zen] News: Can sitting too much kill you?

2011-01-13 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Sounds like 25 minutes of sitting a day is ok. Also, physically, sitting on the zafu with legs crossed feels healthier, more active than slouching in a office chair. It requires active balance for the abdomen, something my office chair does not require. Perhaps I should switch my office to be

Re: [Zen] Not understanding mindfulness

2011-01-13 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
, January 8, 2011, Chris Austin-Lane ch...@austin-lane.net wrote: To eat the peach or make do with the picture of a lovely peach. It is a daily choice we face. Back to Mel: This is just the thing about Zen...we all eventually become our own counselors We are all already our own conselors. Zen

[Zen] Not understanding mindfulness

2011-01-12 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Jan 12, 2011 1:16 PM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Dear Bodhidharma, I thank you that I am not a sinner like these non-practicing Zen folk appear to be. --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, ChrisAustinLane chris@... wrote: I do not come to the forum expecting it to be a place just for

Re: [Zen] Re: Not understanding mindfulness

2011-01-11 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
-intentioned speech. --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Maria Lopez flordel...@... wrote: Indeed Chris. We always have a choice. --- On Sun, 9/1/11, Chris Austin-Lane ch...@... wrote: To eat the peach or make do with the picture of a lovely peach. It is a daily choice we face. On Jan 8

Re: [Zen] Re: Not understanding mindfulness

2011-01-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
To eat the peach or make do with the picture of a lovely peach. It is a daily choice we face. On Jan 8, 2011 11:18 PM, Maria Lopez flordel...@btinternet.com wrote: Hello again Dave. I haven´t read any comment from you or anyone else about video suggestion Thich Nhat Hanh, with the tittle

Re: [Zen] Re: Mindfulness pt 2

2011-01-06 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Zazen On Jan 6, 2011 7:05 AM, Dave P wookielife...@yahoo.ca wrote: So how does one separate ego from mind? --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Anthony Wu wu...@... wrote: Dave, Â Fear of dementia, fear of death, fear of fear... are indications of your strong ego. Anything that... Â

Re: [Zen] Re: Mindfulness pt 2

2011-01-05 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
When I use the word Mindfulness, which I try never to do, I just mean paying attention. Not Thoughtfully or cognitively coherent or anything like that. I just mean 'watch it!' Like my dog watching me when I do something that might lead to a walk or might not. For me, when I have the feelings

Re: [Zen] Your message to Mel

2010-12-28 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Tuesday, December 28, 2010, Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精 wrote:. All you have to do is to stop search outward and begin searching inward. I thought that there is no separating outside from inside. And that to find what you seek, stop searching.

[Zen] Liberation III

2010-12-26 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Thursday, December 23, 2010, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: In the final analysis, you are 'right.'  'Liberation' is indeterminate, whether claimed for self or by others. Play with anyone and everyone you please, whether liberated or not - provided you are enjoying it - and then 'walk

Re: [Zen] Buddhism and Sexism

2010-12-26 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Sunday, December 26, 2010, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Will experiencing kensho-satori affect a zenist's deep inner relationship to the other sex? Paying attention to what is in front of you will affect how you treat people. If you were brought up sexist and are trying to raise

Re: [Zen] Re: Liberation II

2010-12-25 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Dr. Austin's work is of more interest to the person seeking a scientific understanding of the brain than to a person seeking to experience Zen training for themselves. Though, Bill, I'm sure if we wrote all of your interesting and helpful posts on this forum together into one piece, it would be

Re: [Zen] Liberation

2010-12-22 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
of one group to the detriment of another. But, as judged by whom? --ED --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Chris Austin-Lane ch...@... wrote: I do agree that libera... Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk

Re: [Zen] Liberation

2010-12-21 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Dec 21, 2010 7:14 AM, Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 chan.j...@gmail.com wrote: Good morning All, Viki has been meditating with us for over 10 years now. Through out her journey, she has learned to give, to give, to give, to serve, to serve and serve, while her husband, Dr. Tracy Lee with an

Re: [Zen] Liberation

2010-12-21 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Head Teacher? Congrats on the promotion. I think I just sent a blank message to everyone, sorry about that. I do agree that liberation in our society cannot be separated from feminism. The very first training for learning the handing over of your own lamp to another, or of trying to juggle two

Re: [Zen] New Member

2010-11-30 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
of not doing. Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ * Your

Re: [Zen] New Member

2010-11-29 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
One slight quibble I have with this. I think calmness is the natural state of the mind, and sitting allows that to be seen. The mind becomes calm when people stop ruffling it up, not when people calm it. On Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 6:16 AM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Sitting can calm the

Re: [Zen] New Member

2010-11-28 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Sun, Nov 28, 2010 at 10:11 AM, Rose P things_r...@yahoo.com wrote: The 'why' seems to me to be a very important question, esp for beginners like me who are looking for some sort of inspiration (totally not the right word, but don't have a better one) from those who have been practicing a

Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Amazon book

2010-11-18 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Is that what people mean by karma? I was taught that karma means action, and that the Buddha just meant that to be mean is an unpleasant state to be in; the effect and the cause are indivisible, the very blindness that pushes the brain towards being mean makes the heat of anger burn the brain a

Re: [Zen] Re: FW: Amazon book

2010-11-15 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 5:14 PM, Kristy McClain healthypl...@yahoo.comwrote: Chris, To the contrary. I do not recommend Big Mind , necessarily. In fact, I have said here that it is not a process that works for me. It seems a bit like group therapy, but not about zen. I know it well, as I

Re: [Zen] History of Sacred Sexuality

2010-11-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
i believe that regular sex is an affirmative duty of the husband in most Jewish traditions so perhaps the Lord is smiling On Nov 8, 2010 2:49 PM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Injaculation or ejacultion, Jehovah would not be amused. --ED --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Anthony Wu

Re: [Zen] Questions, questions, question

2010-11-04 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
! Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane Sent from a cell phone On Nov 3, 2010, at 16:17, Anthony Wu wu...@yahoo.com.sghttp://uk.mc862.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=wu...@yahoo.com.sg wrote: Bill Smart himself is also an illusion. Don't atttach any spiritual significant. Anthony --- On *Wed, 3

Re: [Zen] Zen and the Brain

2010-10-26 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
That's fine. I, having spent a good amount of time in book groups, find that 'give and take' over a book that multiple people have read, never fails to bring me some understanding of perspectives I would not have arrived at in seclusion. Not every one's cup of tea, I'm sure. (Another

Re: [Zen] Re: Zen and the Brain

2010-10-26 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
No, I am a layman. I do read Scientific American and Science News (a weekly) and my wife used to be an experimental psychologist (I have some very pretty PET scans of my brain doing memory load tests). I did take some science classes in school, but more math, physics. I stopped taking biology

Re: [Zen] Re: Zen and the Brain

2010-10-26 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Oddly enough, you actually posted three replies to my initial post, none of which confessed to have reading it however, so I ignored them. I don't really have a shortage of articles and stuff to read - I have a shortage of people that have read the same stuff I find interesting. --Chris On Tue,

Re: [Zen] Zen and the Brain

2010-10-26 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
If anything, zen suggests to me Not Always So and to look at the given situation, not relying on pre-formulated rules. Carpe Diem fits the situation sometimes, definitely. --Chris On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 12:17 PM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: And, you would agree that zen suggests that

Re: [Zen] Questions, questions, question

2010-10-21 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
I have to agree with this. On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 5:20 PM, mike brown uerusub...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: but I think the development of scientific research into meditation helps completely separate Zen from the more faith based systems of religion (a belief in something supernatural in the

Re: [Zen] Re: Beverly Hills Zen

2010-10-19 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
The very heart of zen cannot be achieved in any other method than our own hard work. Just like one cannot eat a meal without yourself picking up the food and putting it into your mouth and chewing and swallowing. Anyone charging money is at best selling water next to the river, and maybe selling

Re: [Zen] Questions, questions, question

2010-10-19 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
To know zen, the easiest method is to sit zazen. You are free to try other methods, of course. --Chris On Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 9:50 AM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, billsm...@... wrote: [Anthony:] Zen is illogical, so undefinable. [Ed:] To an

Re: [Zen] Zen practice?

2010-10-19 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Ohh, now you've gone too far. On Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 1:51 PM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: Internet browsing/groups Really, just keep sitting and what ever else becomes necessary will be easy to see.

Re: [Zen] Re: Quaker 'meditation'

2010-10-11 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Also, I'd like to add that there's nothing inherently wrong with worrying; it is certainly isn't something to worry about! :-) --Chris

Re: [Zen] New member.

2010-10-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
There are koans used in Soto training, but differently from Rinzai - more to hone the understanding of advanced students than to prod a student towards an initial experience of non-duality. Bill! describes the Rinzai training, where I have heard Mu or some other intro koan is used to move the

Re: [Zen] New member.

2010-10-08 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
/10, Chris Austin-Lane ch...@austin-lane.net* wrote: From: Chris Austin-Lane ch...@austin-lane.net Subject: Re: [Zen] New member. To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Date: Saturday, 9 October, 2010, 6:34 AM There are koans used in Soto training, but differently from Rinzai - more to hone

Re: [Zen] Re: Don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church.

2010-10-05 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Are you then saying that there is a cause of pervasive disappointment? Could a way to escape pervasive disappointment? Only if one has pervasive deluded expectations? --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Jane ch...@... wrote: One is tempted to generalize that the nature of living is

Re: RE: [Zen] Bible, God, etc.

2010-10-04 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
When you swim well, your intelligence is not separate from your action, but indivisible. At that point the things you could think about swimming, things you read in books, are not necessary to think. The intelligence is there in the action. All these words about thoughts vs perceptions seem to

Re: [Zen] How to walk away from arguments

2010-09-29 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Only you know :) Personally, I have found it to be more satisfying to try to avoid getting the last word. On the internet, you win if you don't reply one more time. They are just trying to goad you into more and more extreme positions until you break Godwin's rule. http://xkcd.com/386/ On

Re: [Zen] Re: Sharing religions

2010-09-21 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Ahh, every culture has repellent bits. Just the other morning I caught myself spending so much time ianswering email on my smart phone that I did not wake my daughter up until 7 am, depriving her of a promised early morning read aloud time from Journey to the West from her father. Getting caught

Re: [Zen] Re: Sharing religions

2010-09-20 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 6:47 AM, ED seacrofter...@yahoo.com wrote: My POV, which I believe to be the Buddha's perspective, is that 'conditions' may help or hinder, but compassionate or harmful behaviors have their origins in intentions and motivations in the human mind. My take is that

Re: [Zen] Re: Sharing religions

2010-09-19 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Mayka; I almost never disagree with anything you right, but I think you are being excessively cynical here. The West has caused so much havoc over other cultures because of the conditions they found themselves in, not because of some enduring badness in them. The Guns, Germs Steel book is a

Re: [Zen] Re: Sharing religions

2010-09-19 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
The sentence I was disagreeing with is: On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 4:44 PM, Maria Lopez flordel...@btinternet.comwrote: My view about the human race is that the bad people are always the winers and the ones who promote real civilization based are always the losers. It certainly doesn't offend

Re: [Zen] Re: Sharing religions

2010-09-19 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Well, the interesting thing in Guns, Germs and Steel is that the conditions of power arose from other more picayune conditions to do with the distribution of seed sizes and domesticable animals and the orientation of continents. It really wasn't an innate lust for power either, just a simple

Re: RE: [Zen] Rumi -- Jewels of Remembrance

2010-09-15 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
So people are saying that there is more to the Sufi way than the Rumi quote calendars at the health food store or the Martian whirling dervishes in Kim Stanley Robinson's books? OK, I am listening. On Sep 14, 2010 7:10 PM, billsm...@hhs1963.org wrote: Chris and Artie, I assume from the

Re: [Zen] Practical Mysticism - Evelyn Underhill

2010-09-13 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
I think it is more than that. People are shallow, sure, that's nothing new. But I wouldn't say that there is no change recently in the degree of various cultures mixing around. I had a most interesting conversation with my Indian-born co-workers the other day about how their parents want the

Re: [Zen] Rumi -- Jewels of Remembrance

2010-09-13 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
In zen, the absolute is not Just This. To encounter the Absolute is not yet enlightenment.Just this is not some magic words meaning something other than what is right in front of us. It is .. just ... this. The absolute meets the relative like a box and lid - fitting together to make a

Re: [Zen] Other traditions

2010-09-09 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Are you the Judean People's Liberation Front? No, we are the People's Liberation Front of Judea... He's the Judean People's Liberation Front. SPLITTER! The value of religious practice is often difficult to assess from the outside. And it is often more entertaining to

Re: [Zen] Re: Death

2010-09-03 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Imagining that fear of death is an uncomfortable problem seems no different from imagining that dying is an uncomfortable problem. It's not something to worry about - some times people are afraid of dying. On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 4:51 PM, roloro1557 roloro1...@yahoo.com wrote: Everyone is afraid

Re: [Zen] Does anybody here write Haiku?

2010-09-01 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Most of these I wrote during my years as a stay at home parent. spring - heat off, no air sunny running, sweat again sleep with blowing cool Laughing falling smile wordless jokes cracking us up jump hide - where? ha ha! grow grow grow unseen mom is eating sleeping lots when is who coming? tiny

[Zen] Robert Aitken passed away

2010-08-06 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Forwarded from the Zen Community of Baltimore: Dear fellow AZTA teachers and friends, I bring you sad news this evening. Aitken Roshi passed away at 5:35 PM this afternoon. He was 93 years old. Roshi's energy had been a little low the past week or so but he had still been working on his writing

Re: [Zen] Re: Compassion

2010-07-30 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
I've heard that Dogen had some statement about compassion to the effect that compassion is the hand fluffing the pillow for the head. --Chris On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 7:36 PM, maitreya003 joult...@gmail.com wrote: I think that Jesus and Buddha advocated the development of compassion toward

Re: [Zen] Re: Compassion

2010-07-23 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
was always changing the rules according to the individual capacities of others. --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Chris Austin-Lane ch...@... wrote: Buddha also had a whole list of answerable questions and as he died, said, Oh, by the way, I meant to change some of the rules I put forth earlier

Re: [Zen] Compassion

2010-07-22 Thread Chris Austin-Lane
Of course I meant unanswerable questions. On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 9:25 PM, Chris Austin-Lane ch...@austin-lane.net wrote: Buddha also had a whole list of answerable questions and as he died, said, Oh, by the way, I meant to change some of the rules I put forth earlier, but I haven't got time

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