Sorry to have to tell you this Matt but you will not survive your death. Some people seem to think that life could only be fair if we are reincarnated but they fail to recognise that if life was fair you would have to pay for your advantages and not just your sins. If life is fair then it can't be a gift. Six years huh? It only took me three and less than a year after I got serious about it. I do not say this to boast only I wonder about you meditative technique? I suppose if I include the time of my initial curiosity maybe four or so. I felt great need though, likely this is the difference. Still I would expect any person who regularly practised an effective form of meditation to atleast have attained a sense of thier personal illusion.
--- In [email protected], "mattmodrow" <fourforsure@...> wrote: > > Myself, I do not feel that it is a matter of salvation. The matter, is the > "great matter of birth and death." One of my favorite authors, Stephen > Batchelor, in his book -Alone with others- says that the "aim" is for "the > optimum mode of being." To me what this says is, that the aim of life would > be living in awareness, as you grow and age through the years, hopefully you > will become wiser. I recently had Dokusan with one of my teachers, and she > said that Zen practice and enlightenment is kind of like in those old > cartoons, when someone is about to receive a gift and they are told NOT to > look. In the cartoons, we always see them peeking with one eye at the gift > before it is given to them. So, I have been practicing since 2006, I have > never had an "awakening experience," and that is fine with me. Zazen has > taught me many things, and I know not to "peek," or in other words, to > conceptualize what I think enlightenment is and then strive for it. Rather, > I just live my daily life, always, constantly coming back to direct > experience. > ------------------------------------ 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/
