Hi Bill, Not Buddha himself, but I thought they were thought to have been written by specific masters...
Edgar On Jun 3, 2012, at 7:50 PM, Bill! wrote: > Edgar, > > I'm not sure what you mean. > > I'm sure you know that none of the sutras, or anything else for that matter, > was written by Buddha himself. The sutras at their best are firsthand > accounts of Buddha's teachings, much like the Gospels in the New Testament > are supposed to be firsthand accounts of Jesus' teachings. > > Just how close to 'firsthand' they actually are I really don't know. These > may have been handed down by word-of-mouth for generations before someone put > them in writing, and even at best they are someone else's recollection and > interpretation of what Buddha or Jesus said or did. And worse yet for us > they have all been filtered through language translations, and in most cases > several levels of those. And then there certainly could have been > 'censoring' or 'editing' of some of the information by the then-established > religious elite as we know there was in the New Testament. > > That's why I'd rather just hear direct from any of you out there than be > directed to a quote from someone with whom I can't question or discuss their > thoughts. > > ...Bill! > > --- In [email protected], Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote: >> >> What about the Heart and Diamond Sutras though? >> >> Edgar >> >> >> On Jun 2, 2012, at 8:21 PM, Bill! wrote: >> >>> This is true in my experience. Most texts are written ABOUT zen masters, no >>> BY zen masters. There are some notable exceptions, but for example Buddha >>> himself left no writings (we know of). Neither did important zen masters >>> like Joshu. And of course Jesus left no personal written teachings. >>> >>> ...Bill! >>> >>> --- In [email protected], Kristopher Grey <kris@> wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Not being able to read from those who have not written, this is your >>>> understanding of 'zen masters'. Most do not write. With other forms of >>>> Buddhism, same. Yet, there are more works than can easily be cataloged. >>>> Also notice how much is written ABOUT such 'masters', and about Buddha - >>>> and consider why this is so. >>>> >>>> K >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 6/2/2012 8:42 AM, Anthony Wu wrote: >>>>> How come zen masters historically produced more words than any >>>>> Buddhist sects did? >>>>> Anthony >>>>> >>>>> *From:* Joe <desert_woodworker@> >>>>> *To:* [email protected] >>>>> *Sent:* Saturday, 2 June 2012, 7:20 >>>>> *Subject:* [Zen] Re: News: Stanford scholar tracks meditation's >>>>> migration from ancient monasteries to modern yoga >>>>> >>>>> --- In [email protected] <mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com>, >>>>> "ED" <seacrofter001@> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Zen is nothing about which anything can be said? >>>>> >>>>> Probably the less said the better. People get entangled or biased. >>>>> >>>>> We can talk about zen PRACTICE, though, and the more said, and the >>>>> more practiced, the better. >>>>> >>>>> --Joe / Tucson >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >>> >> > > ------------------------------------ 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/
