On 12/11/2012 3:02 AM, Bill! wrote:
when I said 'sincere student' I meant a person who is sincerely
seeking relief from suffering.
Thank you; I had wondered if that quotation about sincerity (in response
to my query about what light some of these teachers had emitted) was a
hint that it was a sign of insincerity to ask such questions. You note
that I did not take any offense, if such were the case, but simply
considered whether one who practices only for their own benefit, without
interaction with teachers, sangha, or even other laypersons, /could/ be
considered insincere.
We seem to be in essential agreement, here:
The person seeking relief is the only one who can judge whether he/she
is really 'sincere' or not.
and here as well:
Not just EVERYTHING is zen as some seem to want to believe. I'm not
saying that whatever others practice is wrong or ineffective, but I
will say from time to time that what they describe is not zen - IMO...
As I put it:
> Is this Zen? Who cares?! <
meaning no disrespect to the tradition that I revere enough to follow
for decades, but only saying, that I can ACCEPT, without agreement, the
view that some might have that I am not manifesting what THEY believe is
Zen, but view the Way I am working out for myself to be appropriate for me.
RAF
