Chris,
I wholeheartedly agree with you that thoughts about zen can be the most bothersome. …Bill! From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of ChrisAustinLane Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 12:55 AM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Zen] Questions, questions, question When I read a lot of Zen Enlightenment stuff, I find my sitting is then filled up with what i label Zen thoughts - thoughts that attempt to portray themselves as wisdom or as "good Zen experiences." I personally find those to be even more obscuring than the non-Zen thoughts about various imagined harms that others have prepared for me, so I generally take their appearance to be a signal to read less and sit more. I haven't ever tried a month of no reading (tho I am scrupulous to not bring books on a sesshin), and in fact the enlightenment story in the Three Pillars of Zen where this (childless) couple went on a word fast leaves a continuing sense of horror in me. In the midst of confusion and chaos, that's it for me. Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane Sent from a cell phone On Oct 30, 2010, at 8:14, "ED" <seacrofter...@! yahoo.com <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: --- In [email protected], Bill... wrote: > > You are correct that you shouldn't form an attachment to either your own > experience or intellectual knowledge - but it is important to note that the > experience, even its memory, is your experience; > whereas whatever you read or are taught is at best the 2nd- or 3rd-hand > account of someone else's experience, and at worst the inaccurate or > fictional account of someone else's experience. Bill, When one reads, it is not necessarily to 'learn', but also and especially to awaken one's own intrinic wisdom-mind, no? > I'd advise you to value your own experience more than the account of someone > else's. > > ...Bill! One must 'value' the accounts of others only if one oneself resonates with them, no? --ED __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5576 (20101029) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
