Mel, I don't consider myself Buddhist.
Although I sometimes describe myself as someone who practices zen, that's a label I use for others. I don't consider my practice anything special or to have any name. I call it 'zen' because I was lead to this practice through Japanese Zen Buddhism, from a combination of both Rinzai and Soto roshis (teachers). ...Bill! --- In [email protected], Mel <gunnar19632000@...> wrote: > > 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! <BillSmart@...> > 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---------------- > ------------------------------------ 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/
