--- In [email protected], Chris Austin-Lane <chris@...> wrote: > > > So, ED, it sounds like for you a path of social service or of engaged > compassion would be more appealing than a path of meditation. That seems > fine.
I said was unimpresed by a person's enlightenment, if it does not push him toward devoting his energies to the benefit of humanity and Gaia. One of the Zen teachers in my locality together with a group of practitioners visits prisons and establishes meditation groups. > Zen advertises itself as being of no merit, no goal, and it does indeed seem > to meet that promise. If zen underwhelms you, do not pursue it. I am not at all underwhelmed by Zen; I am delighted with it. I am underwhelmed by those who become enlightened and whose enormous expenditures of time and energy have little to show in terms of benefit to humankind and Gaia. Zen was my first love and is still one of my great loves. I pursue it because for me it assisted/assists the process of cutting through confusion, and in centering the mind. > If the mere idea of the zennists doing this practise and finding something > to enjoy offends you, ... Au contraire, if a person does Shikantaza because he enjoys doing Shikantaza, I would call him a natural and normal human being seeking joy, pleasure and satisfaction.
