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From: Merle Lester <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, 6 August 2012 4:04 PM
Subject: [Zen] mel..be of good cheer
mel..you take offence at my way of seeing "religion"..
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MEL: You see it the way you do buddy. Hell, you may even preach once more, but
I've already said my piece on that. Moving on...
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.i have already told the group i did bible study via correspondence and bible
study at sunday school..winning prizes..and i have read the bible.
.so next question?.
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MEL: Congratulations. I don't know how much you know or have kept, but I guess
that's for you to know and for me to...wellllll....in Zen, we don't value an
accumulation of knowledge, so it's really not a concern..
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.i was baptised as a lutheran ..3 months of age in germany..no i am not
german..estonian..
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MEL:..U-huh...I could have sworn that you did say that you came from an
atheistic household. Anyway, never mind....
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.. you do not seem very curious a person... uniting church..are you not
interested in their policies?
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MEL: I'm curious with practical matters, such as how Zen Buddhists bring their
zazen to daily life
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you seem very uptight.
.relax
go with the flow
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MEL: It's a democracy. We're both allowed to makes asses out of each other by
too much assumptions on our parts
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spiritual search is not where the rule book is at
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MEL: Without your god actually speaking to you face-to-face, how do you know
what he wants without reading his book? And I bet I'll be asking you this
later, yeah?
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..hop in and read some poems by rainer maria rilke
..broaden your horizons
..read aldous huxley's the perennial philosophy.
.lighten up
..be more accepting
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MEL: Oh gee, you are in a Zen forum, yes? When you've gone through the writings
of Zen monks the likes of Deshimaru and Suzuki(either one of Suzukis will do),
then you tell us how inflexible we are in orthodox Zen
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and
..you sound like you wish to dam me to hell..because i think like i do.
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MEL: Oh no..heck no...perhaps I made the mistake of taking notice of your
evangelistic thingy. Yes, I seriously believe I made a mistake there. Nope. Be
free to say as you will. If I've been harsh, I do apologize...but you do
understand that in Zen, people will not beat around the bush with you. We're a
pretty direct and straightforward lot
In Zen Buddhism, we don't know or accept the concept of hell or heaven, angels
or demons..you get the picture...
We don't see, or hear such..so how do we know they exist? You gotta read
Deshimaru's writings. You'd laugh your head off when he was asked such questions
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.tut tut..that's a very fundamentalist way of reacting
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MEL: You're in a Zen forum, and I dearly suggest that you first read up on Zen
at the very least if you haven't done so..and I can tell even online who reads
without giving a hoot about what they read. I've come across quite a few
wannabe Buddhists who can repeat to me word for word everything they've read on
the old man/old prince and yet not really know or realize what they were
blabbing on about. Like robots...
If I had gotten you wrong and you had actually done some reading and absorbing
with Zen literature of all sorts, then you're aware that Zen was the religion
of the samurai, yes? And I can almost bet that you also thought of the samurai
as inflexible, yes?
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open your heart
flow
and listen to the grasses growing
what else can i say?
relax
you are not my judge or keeper
take is easy
listen to the bird song
be calm
be of good cheer
and above all love
what is good
thank you for the effort you have put into this email
all the best for you in your search
peace be with you
merle
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MEL: Good luck Merle
