Chris, Why do you sit if you don't enjoy sitting? If it's a pain the legs, ass or mind?
This is a question all Zenners should ask themselves. Why if it is such a chore that they have to time themselves so they will get to stop do they do it? Is torturing your body this way Zen? It reminds me of the old Christian nonsense that one has to suffer to be be a good person.... Edgar On Dec 13, 2012, at 10:11 AM, ChrisAustinLane wrote: > My introduction to formal practice was thusly: I read Buddha by Karen > Armstrong, found that attentively reading about the eight fold path lead me > to the feeling I needed to fix my work situation to accord with right > livelihood, so I determined to leave my job and become a stay at home parent. > Figuring if I was going to take this path that seriously, I should try the > meditation. So I read my father's (already dead by that time) copy of the > Three Pillars of Zen, rather intensely, probably more than once. Resolving to > set my foot upon the path, I did find innumerable bodhisattvas springing up > to assist. I found a local Zendo that had hours of sitting that I could make, > arranged to go to an intro session in a month or two, and set about readying > myself to sit on a zafu for 25 minutes. I read some Thich Nhat Hanh intro to > sitting, different chapters on numbering the breath on the intakes, numbering > the breaths on the exhales, etc. I gave it away to the Zendo library in a fit > of burn the writings zeal so I'm not sure. > > I sat five minutes the first day I think and worked my way up to 25. > > So I have a fond spot in my heart for The Three Pillars of Zen, despite > ending up with much mellower training in a more Soto lineage. > > Thanks, > Chris Austin-Lane > Sent from a cell phone > > On Dec 12, 2012, at 11:09, "Joe" <desert_woodwor...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > Chris, Merle, > > > > That's right!, it is great! > > > > Kapleau Roshi obtained very special permission from the Roshi and from the > > students to take and to publish those records, for all our benefit, in his > > book THE THREE PILLARS OF ZEN. Kapleau's mission was to give a flavor of > > formal Zen practice before it was much established in the West. Very > > influential and successful, his book. > > > > Kapleau had been a court reporter during the Nuremberg trials, and his > > shorthand was good, so I think we can trust his Dokusan accounts, even if > > they have been edited. > > > > --Joe > > > >> Chris Austin-Lane <chris@...> wrote: > >> > >> Tho the Three Pillars of Zen has a great section of dokusan transcripts. > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are > > reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > >
