Steve, I agree with your reply to my post below.
I will also extend it to say that most (or at least a large number of) Buddhists do not consider Zen Buddhism as a ligitimate expression of Buddhism and consider it cult. I say this after talking with numerous Buddhists (including Buddhist clergy) in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam. ...Bill! --- In [email protected], "SteveW" <eugnostos2000@...> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], "Bill!" <BillSmart@> wrote: > > > > Steve, > > > > I fundamentally disagree. > > > > Buddhism, as well as Judiasm/Christianity/Islam, and all other religions I > > know about are based on the essense of zen. They are all, including > > Buddhism, just layers that have been built up around zen and serve to > > occlude the essense of zen to varying extents. I will say that Buddhism > > has the least occluding layers of the religions I have read about, but it > > still has a lot. > > > > ...Bill! > > > Hi Bill! In my opinion, there are two aspects to the human phenomenon of > religion. One aspect is the evolved religios which binds society together in > a shared identity. This is just an evolved trait that is useful from the > view-point of group selection. The other aspect is the awakened insight into > Suchness. But some religions as they exist now are more effective vehicles > for encouraging awakened insight into Suchness than others. Within each of > the Big Three Abrahamic traditions, there have arisen minority mystical > movements that are a spontaneous expression of Enlightened Mind, but they > have always been regarded as heretical. Even the most literal-minded Pureland > Buddhist realizes that the ultimate goal is awakening. They just want to go > to Buddhist Heaven where they imagine that awakening will be easier. But they > still understand that ultimately it is more than just going to Heaven. And > so, as you yourself note, Buddhism has the least occluding layers. The > average Christian would not regard Meister Eckhart as being a real Christian. > Steve > ------------------------------------ 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/
