Hi Bill, Yes, to some in vipassana tradition, mindfulness would go hand in hand with concentration, or focused mind, instead of clear mind.
Even in clear mind, I'd say sometimes there is still this sense of I, separated from what is not I. But that's because I'm not 'there' yet. > If you're truly interested seek out a zen teacher and ask him/her. This is one of things in Zen that I've not been able to embrace. With J.Krishnamurti approach, JK is 'against' teacher role, a role which serves as our authority in practice, source of truth. Not that I don't need teacher or something like that and I believe people can always learn from other people all the time. It's just that in the tradition where I am right now, we don't take teacher as authoritative figure, which seems to be so in zen. Cheers, Sisks -----Original Message----- From: "Bill!" <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2012 14:13:17 To: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: [Zen] Re: Mu - Graphically Illustrated... Siska, I would define 'mindfulness' as 'clear mind' the same as you did. I think some people though define it as more 'focused mind'. I think the only difference is in 'clear mind' there is no dualism, no sense of self. In 'focused mind' there still is dualism, subject/object and a sense of self. The koan Mu is no difference then all 'breakthrough' koans. A skilled teacher can use it to lead you to discover/uncover Buddha Nature. That's all I care to say about it here. If you're truly interested seek out a zen teacher and ask him/her. The questions I asked Edgar were all variations on one question: 'What role does intelligence have in experiencing Buddha Nature?'. ...Bill! --- In [email protected], siska_cen@... wrote: > > Hi Bill, > > I had to google on the koan because I don't know what it says. If I got the > right koan, I don't get the connection to mindfulness. > > I agree with you that the picture can be described as clear mind, reflects > the real world around it. That is, mindfulness to me. > > Would you describe mindfulness differently? > > How does mu help to discover Buddha Nature? > > Sorry, I can't remember your questions to Edgar. I remember you asked them so > many times, but I just can't remember what it is exactly. Do you mind > repeating the question? > > Siska > > > -----Original Message----- > From: "Bill!" <BillSmart@...> > Sender: [email protected] > Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:55:16 > To: <[email protected]> > Reply-To: [email protected] > Subject: [Zen] Re: Mu - Graphically Illustrated... > > Siska, > For some reason I wasn't able to REPLY to your post. I'm going to try > to reply from a NEW TOPIC post. You asked: > [Siska] Would you describe Mu as mindful? > I actually would not. I would however equate Buddha Nature with > 'mindfulness', at least in the way I understand that term. I don't > really like the term 'mindful' for just what is indicated in this > cartoon. It's not 'mind full' at all. I'd rather see that desribed as > 'empty mind' or 'clear mind'. It's like the difference between a movie > screen which is full of images that are projected on it and a mirror > which is essentially empty and only reflects the real world around it. > Mu is just a tool to help you to discover/uncover Buddha Nature - a kind > of trick really. Mu in and of itself has no meaning. > I thought using Mu in the title of this post was appropriate in this > case though because the cartoon used a dog as an example of > 'mindfulness' so it kind of relates to the koan about Joshu's Mu. > I didn't elaborate on it in my first post but this cartoon (which I've > copied again here below) is a good answer to my series of questions I > asked of Edgar (remember him?) about the relationship between > intelligence and Buddha Nature. > > ...Bill! >
