Greetings to Bill and all I can't help but be reminded here of the teaching that says that we are not Zen people, but Buddhists. Not even Zen Buddhists. Just Buddhists. I personally accept this. However, there is also the teachings that calls for categories. I personally find the Soto way much more favourable over Rinzai, even though the Soto way has far too many formalities for my liking(eg. bowing rules, name-giving, 'tea ceremony' of sorts, etc). Nevertheless, I may describe myself as Soto for the sake of convenience. I've also found it convenient by referring to myself as Mahayana in the presence of Theravada devotees. But, we're just Buddhists. Although there's no real need for any sort of description, Buddhists have to go through this for the sake of politics. We don't like the politics, but it's there. The usual reaction to my announcement of being Mahayana or Zen to our local Theravada community here DownUnder(Australia)is,"...Oh...I see..."....plus the surprised look on the face in Buddha's grace Mel
________________________________ From: Bill! <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, 13 January 2012 8:54 PM Subject: [Zen] Re: Reading and Resources Amy, You're on the right track (IMO) if you have an innate dislike of labeling yourself as any one thing. The problem with labels is they are, like everything that's a product of our (human's) intellect, dualistic. So, if you label yourself as one thing then you are autmatically excluding other things -----------------snip----------------
