ED, There is no goal or objective in Zen. It might be argued in Therevada and Hinayana Buddhism that the end of suffering is the goal of practice, but in Mahayana Buddhism, and Zen in particular, it is much clearer that there is no goal/objective - just an acceptance of what is and living with that. Btw, accepting what is isn't a passive or defeatist worldview but is closer (IMO) to the serenity prayer of changing what you can, accepting what you can't and the wisdom to know the diference.
Mike ________________________________ From: ED <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, 9 March, 2011 0:26:06 Subject: [Zen] Re: Two Potent Quotes --- In [email protected], mike brown <uerusuboyo@...> wrote: ED: Zen claims no accomplishments through enlightenment. Mike: That's true, but on one level it does seem to be more conducive to creative endeavours than destructive ones. ED: Nobody can doubt that in general Zen/enlightenment has positive personal fallout - but that's not the objective of zen/enlightenment, yes? Neither is any good fallout for humankind or Gaia the goal, although that might happen too, yes?
