Greetings to all
This is just a short one for the moment, as it has been pretty rough on the
body during work, with little sleep. There's really nothing complicated to
Quaker contemplation. You just sit there until God, or godly realization comes
to you, and you then share it with 'friends'. We believe that that there is
something of God or godly quality in each and every individual. This 'inner
light' is one that allows one to comprehend that 'greater something' out there
and what emanates from Him, but that's what we believe. A bad person may have
that 'inner light' or guidance within him/her, but may choose not to follow as
so. The attractiveness of darkness, is sometimes more appetizing than light
itself. Having once followed a corruption of an already corrupt path called
Wicca once, I should be quite familiar with such
The RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS often refer to themselves as friends, but the
term Quaker(originally a term of insult) is for simplification, and we here in
Melbourne certainly don't 'quake'
We don't sit in any special position as done in zazen. A chair is fine. Someone
in the (Quaker) meeting might look like they have fallen asleep, but not so.
There is no upright posture(with relaxed shoulders) with the top of your head
pressing against the sky, your 'hara' pressing downwards to the earth, and your
hands in 'mudra' position/placing
The emphasis on Zen and Tao are not about gathering intellectual
knowledge...for example, like OWL from the TAO OF POOH and THE TE OF PIGLET.
Many Christians such as some Quakers are however, gatherers of knowledge. I
admit that there has always been that part of me that follows the same
drum-beat as OWL, although (Shunryu)Suzuki-sensei basically teach in his
writings that filling your head with too much muddle can be detrimental, but
with an 'owl' like me...well...what can I say? Once an OWL, always an OWL..
I'll be writing more later. Gotta get some sleep
peace unto all
Mel
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