Kris, I'll step out a little further on the limb...
I think in the very distant past what we now call 'awareness of Buddha Nature' was the norm. As human intellect developed and we as a species became more and more dependent and attached to our rational abilities the awareness of Buddha Nature was more and more obscured over time. What Siddhartha Buddha did (as the story goes) was to wipe away this obscuration revealing (re-revealing really) Buddha Nature which was there all the time. Buddhism is a religion built upon the foundation of the records of Buddha's subsequent teachings, none of which were written by him but all by his students' accounts and their successors most of whom never even met Siddhartha Buddha. It's aim is to make you aware of Buddha's teachings and help you live your life as those teachings instruct. Zen Buddhism is a religion built on the foundation of Buddhism whose aim is employ teaching techniques to enable you to experience the very same thing Buddha experienced - Buddha Nature - so you can live your life as Buddha's teachings instruct. The zen I practice (lower case 'z') is experiencing Buddha Nature not caring if it was the same thing that Buddha experienced or not, living your life not according to Buddha's teachings but according to your own volition which springs from Buddha Nature. Okay, start sawing off my limb...Bill! --- In [email protected], Kristopher Grey <kris@...> wrote: > > On 7/27/2012 6:23 AM, Bill! wrote: > > Buddha Nature existed before Buddha and Buddhism. What else do you > > think? Do you think Buddha (Siddhartha) INVENTED Buddha Nature? Or did > > he just 'discover' it? And if you think he discovered it do you think > > he was the first one to discover it? I don't. > > While true in a rationalize sense, these are false choices, false > characterizations. "I do"/"I don't" are self-assumptions/self-denials of > some concept of 'Buddha Nature' the self has (see: 'Stink of Zen'). > > Mornings dawned before you were born. You neither invented nor > discovered morning. Neither form of > self-acting/self-crediting/self-knowledge is required for the day to > dawn. Each morning, you simply realize it is morning, and wake up! > > KG > ------------------------------------ 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/
