A university student while visiting Gasan asked him: "Have you ever read the Christian Bible?"
"No, read it to me," said Gasan. The student opened the Bible and read from St. Matthew: "And why take ye thought for rainment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these... Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man." The student continued reading: "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." Gasan remarked: "That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood." 2. Re: Spirituality Posted by: "Gary Blonder" [EMAIL PROTECTED] deepfrozentoo Wed Sep 6, 2006 9:58 pm (PST) >Coming from a Christian background my understanding of >Zen as far as I have learned is that it is by its very nature >possible to combine/rationalise it with other religions. There are >authorised Zen masters active in the Christian church for >example. Only the most exclusivist traditions of the Abrahamic faiths >forbid this as a path, and I have not found any Bhuddist tradition, >especially not Zen that advises against it. On the contrary, my >understanding is that the Mahayana tradition in particular >discourages abandoning other faiths unless the devotee has fully >explored them. The Dalai Lama has said as much. >The Bhuddist Dharma in general does not as a first priority attempt to >explain the nature and mechanism of Divine Will. It is instead >primarily a remedy for suffering. Since the relief of suffering is >also an aspiration of all three Abrahamic faiths, there is scope for >incorporating the techniques of Zen into the spirituality of these >faiths. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com 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 email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/