Welcome, Bede,
Hello, I think Bede is a great name, and I wonder if you adopted it through
your movement in religious life, of if it is a given name.
I feel that any practitioner with a good teacher and sangha can make good
progress in Zen practice, and definitely awaken to realize fully our original
human nature. Many Westerners have done so, and the religions we are born into
or to which we convert seem not to impede our sinking into our nature and
seeing and regaining our original face, and opening an eye to Wisdom.
There is much fine literature on practice, and you've mentioned one work which
is new to me and which I will seek out: thank you!
One of my Zen teachers for 25 years was the late Father Patrick Hawk, Roshi, a
Dharma heir of the late Robert Aitken Roshi of Hawai'i, and a Master of the
Diamond Sangha. Pat passed away last April in Tucson, Arizona, my home. He
was a Catholic Redemptorist priest since 1968, and received Dharma Transmission
in the Diamond Sangha in 1980. He taught Zen practice for over 30 years. He
also held Christian Contemplative retreats. He never mixed the two traditions,
nor did he find them to conflict in himself. He was a fine teacher in both
traditions, and I practiced with him in both. My main teacher however is/was
the late Ven. Sheng Yen, a Chinese Ch'an master. Several of my friends in UK
are now Shih-fu Sheng Yen's Dharma heirs.
With friendly greetings,
--Joe
> "frater1958" <frater1958@...> wrote:
>
> hello, I am new to this group but glad to be a part of it.
>
> My name is Bede, 55, live in the UK, and a member of an Anglican Religious
> Community. As i have learned more and more about the Contemplative life, so I
> have felt a definite 'pull' towards Zen practice. In fact I was delighted to
> discover that several Roman Catholic Cistercian Abbots are Zen Masters.
>
> I am genuinely a beginner, but am keen to learn all that I can. How do people
> feel about specifically Christian zen practitioners? I am currently reading a
> little book entitled "Zen for Christians" by Kim Boykin.
>
> Namaste,
>
> Bede.
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