JMJM, No, not just 'beyond comprehension'. The marrow of zen is certainly that, but what I meant was more 'spiritual'. A definition I found on the web was "having a spiritual meaning or reality that is neither apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence", so 'beyond comprehension' is a part of it. I was thinking of the way you seem to describe 'chi' and it's importance to Chan. That seems to me to have more of a 'spiritual' quality to it - at least the way you have explained it.
...Bill! --- In [email protected], 覺å¦ç²¾æ ï¼JMJMï¼ <chan.jmjm@...> wrote: > > Hi Bill, does "mystical" mean beyond comprehension or what? Thanks, jm > > > On 7/22/2012 6:32 PM, Bill! wrote: > > > > ED, > > > > My response below assumes by 'chan' and 'zen' you mean 'Chinese Chan > > Buddhism' and 'Japanese Zen Buddhism'. Anyway, my response below is > > limited to my knowledge of those... > > > > I only know of Chan from what I've read and the excellent information > > JMJM has given us through his posts. From these I do think there is a > > little difference between Chinese Chan Buddhism and Japanese Zen > > Buddhism, but most of that I see are due to the different cultural > > wrappings of each. There are many more parallels and similarities than > > differences. They are both from the school of Mahayana Buddhism. If I > > were to grab any one difference to emphasize I would say Chan Buddhism > > is a little more mystical than Japanese Zen Buddhism but that's about all. > > > > ...Bill! > > > > --- In [email protected] <mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com>, > > "ED" <seacrofter001@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Bill and JM, > > > > > > Do either of you perceive any substantive difference between chan and > > > zen? > > > > > > --ED > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ 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/
