Hi, Chris,
Maybe "mean" in the sense of shallow and common, yes; certainly I am, and
should easily come across that way; but I do not mean to be nasty or unfeeling.
I don't think I have a mean-streak, I mean.
We, a few of us, encouraged Merle to EXPRESS what she means by soul, because
soul or A soul seemed determinative to HER about something: would Zen sitting
prove to be the wrong-room to her, because she felt so soul-endowed? And,
Merle claims JUST THIS WEEK to have learned that a soul is not a feature of
Buddhist thought, philosophy, or practice. Would this mean that the whole
thing is off? The Zen-in-a-Chair? And even participation in this current
Forum? ...which is a mere mote in the eye of actual Practice?... .
Well, I hoped not. And I think you do too.
Merle came back with encyclopedia articles. Not her own expression. Who knew
which paragraph she may have agreed with. Also, Merle has shown herself not to
be much of a reader. So, we still don't know what Merle had in mind. Neither
do you. I'd would it's OK for you to project, but it might be mean of you to
do so.
As I put it near the end of my previous post: it shouldn't matter, to a person
meaning to practice. That is my hope. And I tried to assure Merle that it is
immaterial to one's practice. If that makes me mean, Chris, then you may have
it. But I won't have anything to do with it.
Wishing you a better day tomorrow. Or today if I weren't so mean.
--Joe
PS When I regard Merle and her Art, I think about the Golden Mean.
> Chris Austin-Lane <chris@...> wrote:
>
> You come across as mean and pendantic with this endless word splitting. You
> don't come across as a person knowing that thoughts words and beliefs are
> unimportant illusory phenomenon. Merle was very clearly not talking about a
> soul as you argued against but some less rigid concept more akin to the
> root store of consciousness or something, even despite the URLs I think she
> was reasonably clear, to my reading at least.
>
> What one knows and experiences cannot adequately put into any words. I
> cannot show you what a soulful stream of experience I inhabit, I can
> merely help you experience what world you inhabit.
>
> So your question to show a soul, outside of a teacher student relationship,
> seems either naif, you don't know showing is impossible, or mean, you act
> like you know Merle's experience better than she knows it.
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