--- In [email protected], "Bill Smart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> On Saturday, August 12, 2006 Donald wrote:
>
> >I was often asked this question in the US, "Is there spirituality
in Zen?
> If so, what is your experience?"
> >
> >Chinese do not ask such question, because there is no word equal to
> "spirituality". I suspect this is an English >question or a
cultural
> question.
> >
> >What can you share with me?
>
> You don't need to know what 'spirituality' means to respond to these
> questions. You don't need to know anything. The response should
flow from
> you like water flows from a spring. In fact the more you 'know'
about zen,
> and the more you think about these questions, the farther from the
mark you
> will be.
>
> Let me rephrase the first question to illustrate my point:
>
> "Is there spirituality in zen?"
> Is there logistic regression in zen?
> Is zen blue?
> Does zen have a flat bottom?
> Is zen smooth like peanut butter?
> Is zen crunchy like peanut butter?
>
> How would you respond to these questions? They're all the same as
the
> question about zen having spirituality. They are attempting to
have you
> define zen by asking you to confirm or deny that zen has some
specified
> quality. They are exactly the same as what might be the most
famous zen
> question of all: Does a dog have a buddha nature?
>
> You response would be a part of the entire situation which only you
would
> know, and would change from moment to moment: Who is it that is
asking? How
> serious of a question is it? What is your relationship with the
questioner?
> What is his perception of you? Does he think you are an expert in
zen and
> speaking for all zen? ...and so on.
>
> I'm not saying you run over all these scenarios before you respond,
in fact
> it is just the opposite. I am saying that you are immersed in that
setting
> and all of these things come together to create the moment - and the
> response is just an effortless continuation of that moment - like a
gust of
> wind coming through an open window.
>
> The second question is a conditional follow-on question; but in
English the
> conditionality of the question is not expected to be acted upon and
demands
> a response unconditionally.
>
> "If yes, ..." This is the conditional part. Ignore it unless this
question
> is followed with another question starting with "If no, ...". Then
these
> two question-pairs are truly conditional and you would respond only
to the
> appropriate one. In this case neither would be appropriate since
you are
> HOPFULLY not going to answer 'yes' or 'no' to the first question.
>
> "...what is your experience?" Alright! He's opened the door wide
open and
> invited you in. He's thrown you in the briar patch! (A reference
one of the
> wonderful fables of Uncle Remus.) He has now asked you to share
your zen
> experience. In other words he has invited you to demonstrate your
buddha
> nature. What a nice thing for him to have done!
>
> The first question is like shaking up an unopened bottle of soda
water. The
> second question is like popping the cap! Whooosh! Buddha nature is
> revealed.
>
> As for the sharing part of my post, following is my attempt (with
some help
> from some online dictionaries) of defining 'spirituality' for you:
>
> Spirituality usually refers to a connection with God or the
supernatural;
> although it can also refer to a connection with a universal force -
like the
> tao. It usually refers to the 'spirit' as opposed to the 'body' or
> something 'physical'.
>
> It is important to note that Western culture has always seen man as
having
> two separate and in fact opposing facets: physical (the world;
humans; our
> body; material goods like money, food, cars; bad emotions like
greed, hate,
> fear; etc...) and spiritual (heaven/paradise; God or Universal
Force; other
> supernatural beings; spiritual goods like blessings; good emotions
like
> fulfillment, love, courage; etc...). Spirituality is the link or
conduit
> between the physical and the spiritual.
>
> >Namaste,
> >Donald
>
> See you later, alligator...Bill!
>
Bill!
Is there spirituality in Zen?
Ian
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