Thanks Mike, It's nice to know at least someone on this group has an open enough mind to at least consider what I post without automatically condemning it whatever it might be.
I sometimes suspect if I posted EXACTLY what Joe said say a month ago he'd tell us it was all wrong just because it came out of my mouth! :-) Edgar On Mar 29, 2013, at 5:42 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Edgar, > > Yes. > > Mike > > > Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPhone > > From: Edgar Owen <[email protected]>; > To: <[email protected]>; > Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: questions/practice > Sent: Thu, Mar 28, 2013 12:21:26 PM > > Mike, > > Are you referring to me? > :-) > > Best, > Edgar > > > > On Mar 27, 2013, at 10:00 PM, [email protected] wrote: > >> Edgar, >> >> Yeh! Who needs a pesky teacher to come along and tell you you've got it all >> wrong?... >> >> Mike >> >> >> Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPhone >> >> From: Edgar Owen <[email protected]>; >> To: <[email protected]>; >> Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: questions/practice >> Sent: Wed, Mar 27, 2013 5:21:35 PM >> >> >> Shane, >> >> >> Take Joe's comments with a grain of salt. True Zen needs no teacher, no >> 'sitting', no temple. These may help especially those who tend to not have >> the personality to do things on their own, but they are not essential. >> After all Buddha himself had none of these. True Zen has nothing to do with >> any of this. It is simply the realization of the true nature of what is >> always right around us including ourselves... >> >> Edgar >> >> >> >> On Mar 27, 2013, at 11:58 AM, Joe wrote: >> >>> >>> Shane, >>> >>> Good to meet you here. >>> >>> "Who am I" is a famous method of practice. Whether we call it a koan or not >>> is not too important. >>> >>> Koans are usually cases or incidents from the doings of famous Ch'an or Zen >>> masters. The student is asked to "bore into" the koan, and be changed by >>> it, so as to become it, and to be able to demonstrate the spirit or >>> "content" of the koan to the teacher, when asked to do so. >>> >>> When working on "Who am I", I think one can sit down and just intensely >>> desire to know the answer to this, without letting anything else seep in >>> around the corners while we inquire. One need not repeat anything in the >>> imagination or to the mind's ear. Just inquire intensely, while we relax >>> *deeply*. >>> >>> Another classic way to practice WITH this is instead as a "hua-tou", >>> Chinese for "head of a word". By "head" is meant the very beginning, before >>> it becomes a word. So, to turn "Who am I" into a hua-tou, one uses just the >>> "Who", or, better, the first sound that the word "Who" begins with: "wh", >>> which is like "h", but it sounds perhaps like "ha", or a choked-off >>> syllable before the word can get said and be recognized as a word. This >>> "wh" can fill your whole meditation, if one does not separate oneself from >>> it. If you find you are separated, it's EASY to return immediately to "wh". >>> In this way, one thought, or one mind-intention, can last for many minutes >>> or longer. >>> >>> Hua-tou and koan are just a couple ways of practice, though. There are >>> many. Usually we stick with just one for some while: months, years, etc., >>> and become intimate with it. The methods bring us closer to our original >>> mind. Sometimes the original mind SUDDENLY manifests itself as everything >>> else drops away. This is the famous "Awakening" of Zen. It is nothing >>> special, but what a shake-up it causes! Some say it is just coming back to >>> our true home. And I agree. >>> >>> I hope you have a teacher and sangha to practice with, as well as practice >>> at home. A teacher and sangha are essential to learn the methods correctly, >>> and there is no alternative to this that really works and is safe. Some >>> people mistakenly think that they can teach themselves. That doesn't work. >>> >>> --Joe >>> >>> > "shepherdspie1962" <shepherdspie1962@...> wrote: >>> > >>> > In general 'shepherds pies' are gender neutral, but in this case it is a >>> > 'he'...and his name is not stephen...haha...thanks again for the >>> > thoughtful replies...I will try to practice more and create concepts >>> > less...BTW, someone mentioned koans...the priest of the zen group I went >>> > to recently said he repeats the phrase "who am I" as a form of >>> > koan/mantra while sitting...hmmm...not sure that really made sense to me >>> > as one could probably just repeat an actual mantra...and not sure if "who >>> > am I" is really a Koan either...but to each his own...i suppose the >>> > answer is always more doing and less thinking...shane >>> > >>> >> > > >
