edgar..you hit it on the nail!..indeed it is the spiritual...
so what word would you use edgar?...what's so scary about the word soul?... joe from what i can see is still in the mind set that was bestowed to him through catholic theology.. i was going to say indoctrination..but then i know that would unleash a torrent of "oh merle hates catholics"..yes right... as if... were not the catholics babbling on in latin to the masses( which to the little people would be googly gook... how the hell can that work is beyond me... all that babbling and all that rule driven religion poking their noses in the bedrooms of folk and priests getting it off with little boys tut tut... the gay frocks the lot at the vatican wear.. etc...you know the drift! jesus did he say that was the way?.. on the other hand when one looks at the australian aborigines and their spiritual connection to the land...one can certainly say ah yes there is soul... another favourite culture for me are the red skin indians...their spiritual connection to the land.. if we all adopted a great awareness of our spiritual connection to mother earth to her soul we would not be in the pickle we are now.. i.e global warming etc... we have no respect for mother nature or our own deep spiritual connections to this earth our home... so am i suppose to now defend the word soul...? we all have soul... and it is through this soul we connect with invisible threads to the greater soul which is the concept of god.. men will make religions to suit their own agendas... to meet their own expectations.. however through meditation and yes joe the practise we can deepen our awareness we can link to our soul.. it's not that hard..open your heart... there within it you will hear the quiet words of truth.. in everyman there is the quiet voice.. if you choose to listen... so heaven and hell..mmm interesting again... heaven and hell are in our own hearts and minds... it's not out there in some foggy misty place after death.. it sits firmly in our hearts.. waiting and watching and listening... meditate a little on that.. breath the breath that bring enlightenment and the understanding of the soul ... merle Merle and Joe, Like most such discussions this one hinges on how 'soul' is defined by each of you. Without clarifying that it's a useless discussion.... I suspect Joe defines it as Catholics do as something that resides in the body during life but persists after death going either to heaven or hell. If so Joe is right. That kind of soul obviously doesn't exist. Hopefully Merle on the other hand is defining it as a spiritual aspect of her present being sort of like another name for Zen mind. If so Merle is right. That type of 'soul' does exist though I wouldn't use that word for it nor do Buddhists in general. So there is a chance you are BOTH RIGHT. Well guys? Edgar On Apr 10, 2013, at 11:23 PM, Merle Lester wrote: > > > > > joe mike and all...i don't believe in the soul i know i have soul..that's the >difference! ..merle > > > >Joe, Merle, all, > >Yikes! I hope I haven't caused any confusion here? My only point has been to >show that Zen, Buddhism, the teaching of Buddha (Dharma) does not *require* >the belief in a soul. If I've been clumsy presenting that I apologise. > >Mike > >Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPhone > > > >________________________________ > From: Joe <[email protected]>; >To: <[email protected]>; >Subject: [Zen] Re: Fw: No god, no soul in Buddhism. ~ D.T. Suzuki | elephant >journal >Sent: Thu, Apr 11, 2013 1:34:49 AM > > > >See you, Merle. > >If not here, where? There's no heaven or hell, either. > >But Really!, seriously: keep your religion. Zen practice is not in conflict >with it. Only Buddhism is. You do not need to become a Buddhist! Zen >practice is available to ALL. I was taught Zen for 22 years by ...a Catholic >Priest. And he was not a renegade, and was a good Irish Redemptorist. Don't >run away when the time is right. > >--Joe > >PS Or shall we meet in Mexico City? (oops, that Olympics "line" is out of >date) > >> Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> wrote: >> >> well well well..i'm not giving up my soul to zen buddhism... ><snip> > > > > > >
