Hi Mel, All, I'd say we can find below instances in almost every 'religion', zen included.
Or perhaps, 'zen buddhism'. Siska -----Original Message----- From: Mel <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:51:28 To: [email protected]<[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Zen] New to Group Greetings Bill and all Yes...yes....and yessssss...thankin' yo, suh. Ladies and gents, it's not that I'm only pleased to hear what I want to hear in this case, and neither am I trying to stir up war with the Theravada community out there..but I do believe that this is the sort of thing (amongst others, eg. zazen) that many Buddhists forget. One Cambodian fellow I knew who claimed to have spent time as a monk for a certain period told me about how such and such teaching or group of teachings(I think he said about 24) was important to know to be a real Buddhist. It wasn't only him, but others from Laos, Thailand, Sri-lanka, and other southern Asian communities who follow the Theravada path whom I found odd in this respect. There seemed to have been more concern for old and traditional Indian terms, ceremonies, ways of praying....I mean, take a look at this one.... - A Lao lady I worked with told me that I should take my Buddha statues to the temple for blessing, so that such statues will be blessings upon themselves(Please read, BRINGS GOOD LUCK) - A young Thai boy I worked with wore a supposedly highly special and well-crafted Buddha necklace which was blessed by monks in Thailand(Talisman?) But...I just don't see the point. However, that's only me of course Buddha be praised Mel ________________________________ From: Bill! <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, 13 January 2012 9:02 PM Subject: Re: [Zen] New to Group Mel, Thanks for your reply. You said a lot and I don't want to comment on every little thing, but one thing you talked about is worth a few words: The word/name 'Buddha' is confusing to many because it is both the name (title actually) given to Guatama Siddartha after he became enlightened - or so the story goes. I think 'Buddha' is a title that means 'one who has awakened'. This historical person is called 'Buddha' or 'the Buddha' by many, but he was not the first or certainly only Buddha. 'Buddha' is also used as a shortened version of 'Buddha Nature' or 'Buddha Mind'. You'll hear many people say things like 'everyone is a Buddha', or 'everyone has a Buddha inside him'. What they should be saying (IMO) is 'everyone has Buddha Nature' and it is just a matter of realizing or becoming aware of Buddha Nature which you already have. Mel or anyone else, let me know if you understand these terms in a different way. ...Bill!
