On Thursday, January 13, 2011, Mel <[email protected]> wrote:
Again snipping the Parts I have no comment on, but I am grateful for your taking the time to answer my questions. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > I wonder if you Mel agree with Ed that my original line about the peach And > the painting was in fact evangelistic? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > MEL: I've been looking up the above in the archives and I found the > 'peach' posting but not the 'painting' bit. On Saturday, January 8, 2011, Chris Austin-Lane <[email protected]> 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 adds nothing to this basic fact of reality. .... < my comment about how I sometimes recommend 'sit' as a answer understanding that people are free > > MEL: Absolutely Chris, I couldn't agree more. That is what separates us from > the Semites. Now, I'm being dualistic here > but I only say that because some of their flock try so hard to bring me back > from being that...well...that 'lost and > wandering sheep'...*more laughter*....and back into Yahweh's fold... I am currently also a practicing Christian, and the above deleted phrase is identical to my approach in sharing Christianity, except for 'sit' the thing is 'attend my church'. There is more cultural baggage attached with the church, so the times when recommending it seem useful are rarer is the main difference. For what it is worth, my experience with the church is that most people who practise Christianity for a long time have a lot of non-dualistic elements in their understanding of it. I think that dualistic perspectives wrap around any thing in our lives, because that is what our brains do. and that life keeps on beating us until we notice the non-dual nature of it. If one is a Christian, but cannot love neighbors without judging them, I recommend they try zazen :) But if some one grew up worshipping in a Christian church, but life has changed their perspectives, but they seem to miss worship as a community, I will tell them there is no inherent-to-Christianity reason why they cannot worship in a Christian church as is, and receive and offer non-judgmental love in that church. There might be some church shopping involved, of course. I think God cares less about our thoughts than a good Zen teacher, and that is very little. > > The sheep's fold....and all Semites are sheep, and some in this world > obviously think I need another sheep's bath in the fold after having been > 'lost' for so long Whoops, my last few sentences are not aimed at you, just an elucidation of the thinking that might lie behind my offering attendance at my church during a conversation. Please carry on your pesonal life as is best. > > A politician visits the wise zen master and asks the secret. The master > replies, "do what is good and do not do what is not good." the politician > rolls his eyes and says, "my kid can tell me that!" the master says, "we all > know this, but even this wise zen master has trouble doing it." > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > MEL:....(*BIG LAUGHTER*)...I loved it, thank you! Despite the reference to good and not good? ------------------------------------ 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: [email protected] [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/
