Joe,
I'd like to second your sentiments here. I think those of us on this forum have been extremely lucky having Bill! these last few years and now, more recently, yourself. Having one such teacher would be fortuitous, but having 2 is just uncanny. You can argue amongst yourselves as to who will be President and who will be VP. Mike ________________________________ From: Joe <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, 28 October 2012, 20:37 Subject: [Zen] Re: if one looses one's mind can one still experience zen? Merle, I THINK I understand that, Merle. Not sure. You leave a good deal for the student to work out. Bill is right that you often leave out a good deal of syntax, or leave pronouns ambiguous. But, I want to say, and MUST say... I've got to hand it to Bill!: I think he is unwaveringly giving the tried-and-true picture of Zen practice -- when he does -- as well as the orthodox understanding of practice, and orthodox approach to it. There may be other approaches, but the orthodox approach is never astray, and is really bare-bones in the first place, honed for centuries, and: "Necessary and Sufficient". Modern teachers might add some modern Psycho-babble mumbo-jumbo as skilful means, to help the more antsy, Caffeine-consuming, people sit a little more still and pay attention during Teishos, or at introductory lectures. Bill! is not making anything up, nor does what he writes conflict either with the canonical scriptures nor with the teachings of ancient or modern masters. How rare is THAT? It's Valuable. I appreciate very much the gentle and useful hints Bill! gives here in helping to correct or put in context the picture of "Zen", or the details of Practice that people sometimes present here. I understand that this is not necessarily a Moderator's *expected* duty, but I appreciate that Bill! takes it as a Participant's privilege, and that he does not merely take a back-seat as a moderator who simply roots out profanity or _ad hominen_ attackers from the Group. The generosity of his overall response is moreover solidly in accord with the behavior of a Bodhisattva, and consistent with a Buddha's. Kudos!, and bows of gratitude, --Joe PS Therefore, taking all in all, and amidst this _ad hominem_ praise of mine, I say, "Bill! for President!" ;-) > ah ha... billlllllllll we have approached "the united we stand...divided we > fall"...merle
