Merle . . . Yes, of course it is. So is everything. Glenn
--- In [email protected], Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> wrote: > > Â glenn..hell is in the mind..merle > Â > Hi, Joe, > > I resonate with your answer to the koan. > > I used to say that if god wanted to send me to hell, he would make me move > for eternity (I'm glad to be in a home I plan to live in for many years; and > yet, everything is impermanent . . .) Hell is a difficult thing for me to > talk about; it still has too much Christian residue sticking to it. There's > plenty of hell on earth; no need for one in the here-after, whatever that is. > And yes, a bodhisattva chooses to enter that hell every day because s/he > accepts whatever the universe brings that day, which may be blessed (heaven), > suffering (hell) and/or neutral. > > Glenn > > --- In [email protected], "Joe" <desert_woodworker@> wrote: > > > > Glenn, > > > > It might be "a sin to say", from one perspective, but ...some have even > > vowed to go to hell, for the good it may do for OTHERS, there. > > > > Of course, this -- or these -- is/are the Buddhist Hell(s), not the > > Christian one. But the Buddhist hells don't sound very cushy and > > comfortable, either. Knife-mountains, where everyone must climb these > > hills covered in razor-sharp blades. Etc. > > > > The one that most made me squirm, as an adolescent, was the made-up > > "Buddhist-Hell-of-Perpetual-Dentistry". Ouch. Nightmare stuff. ;-[ > > We don't find this one in the Sutras, though, fortunately. ;-) > > > > Some Buddhist bodhisattvas vow not only to put off their own final and > > complete enlightenment, but to "do time" in hell to comfort others, where > > "time" means Eternity. But what's eternity compared to just a couple of > > kalpas? > > > > In my best moments, I too have vowed to go to hell, feeling that I've known > > enough of pain and pleasure to be done with both of them, and just in order > > to help and comfort others, and help them to practice. > > > > Well, we'll see about the final (?) disposition of my spirit (?). > > > > Yes, is there a spirit? And anything which survives this life? > > > > Maybe "survives" is not the operative concept. Is there any residue? I > > think, "Yes". It is the original stuff, of which we are only > > differentiated piles of. > > > > Old Alan Watts had a beautiful phrase I loved. He spoke about the > > Absolute, or about original nature. He called it, "The WHICH than which > > there is no whicher." Puts a smile on my face to this day, 40 years after. > > But that's a short time, in the scheme of things. > > > > "The Ten Thousand Things return to the One; but what does the One return > > to?" > > > > Why, to the Ten Thousand Things, I say. That's what's so friendly about It. > > > > (but that's "my" answer to the koan; not yours) ;-) > > > > --Joe > > > > > "Glenn Rogers" <rgthiessen@> wrote: > > > > > > Thanks for this, Joe. I forget that it wasn't too long ago that I > > > struggled between the poles of the revealed and mystical traditions. > > > ------------------------------------ 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/
