Steve, ED's question: 'does a dog have Buddha nature?'. Your answer: 'a dog has cat's nature.' Take a roulette, for example. How does it work? 1. There is somebody who sets it in motion and tells it where it stops. Be it God, Allah, a holy ghost or a twelve-bumi bodhisatva. You only have to pray to the right prime mover, then you win a million dollars. 2. Fate controls everything. No use praying to anybody. If your birthright is to be a millionaire, you will get it one day. Otherwise, you have to fight in Afghanistan. 3. There are no rules or laws in the universe. Everything is in chaos. By chance, you win or lose a million dollars. 4. There is 'cause-and-effect' in everything. Where is the cause-and-effect' of a roulette? How do I win a million dollars? Anthony
--- On Sat, 2/4/11, SteveW <[email protected]> wrote: From: SteveW <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Zen] Why bother with Zazen? Better Orgyhouse To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, 2 April, 2011, 1:43 AM --- In [email protected], "ED" <seacrofter001@...> wrote: > > > > > > Mike, Bill, Steve and All, > > In your judgment, is the perspective of Zen on meditation practice the > same as, similar to or different from that of Ramana Maharshi? > > --ED > > Hi ED. Well, I would like to point out that the Lankavatara Sutra, which Zen > people generally approve of, denies the existence of a Universal Self. > Advaita Vedanta people generally assert that the Self is Nirguna, without > qualities, while the Awakening of Faith Sutra, which Zen people generally > endorse, asserts that Suchness is endowed with all good qualities. This would > seem to be a contradiction. As to meditation, or at least zazen, obviously > Zen teachers promote the practice, although they will sometimes say that > there is not necessarily a causal relationship between zazen and satori. Even > in those Non-Dual Hindu traditions that speak of Self, there is no final > agreement. Advaita Vedanta asserts that the world is an unreal appearance > superimposed upon the face of Being, while Kashmir Shaivism asserts that the > world is real, but not separate from consciousness. The Mahaparanirvana Sutra, another sutra that Zen people generally like, also agrees with the Awakening of Faith sutra in regards to the inherent good qualities of the Mahatman (Great Self) of the Buddha. Steve
