Mike, All the forms of the world are Buddha Nature and that includes strawberries...
However the taste of the strawberry is in your mind, it's a form carrying information about how your biological organism relates to the form of the strawberry... Edgar On May 16, 2013, at 9:27 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Bill! > > Yet the strawberry tastes so sweet! I just feel that your description of > Buddha Nature just doesn't seem to engage with life (and yet I know that as > 'Bill!' you do!). I think it goes back to the feeling I have that what you > say about Buddha Nature, although correct, only focuses on the Absolute. Life > is recognising both the relative and absolute as truth. Who wouldn't want to > enjoy the taste of a strawberry! > > Mike > > > Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad > > From: Bill! <[email protected]>; > To: <[email protected]>; > Subject: [Zen] Re: Advaita > Sent: Wed, May 15, 2013 8:18:46 AM > > > > Mike, > > What you are asking about is the very essence of zen, IMO. > > Non-dualistic (holistic) experience is the very essence of shikantaza and > Buddha Nature as far as I'm concerned. All zen teaching techniques (counting > breaths, koans, chanting, bowing, samu, kinhin, etc...) are employed to do > one thing: stop your intellect from creating the illusion of duality. > > When you are able to do this, to wipe away all illusions, what is left is > Buddha Nature or just holistic experience (sensual). There is no > subject/object split. There is no observer/observed, no > experience/experience. There is Just THIS! > > For example when you bite into a lemon there is no you/lemon split, no > taste/smell split, no sour/sweet split, no lemon/other fruit split. There is > Just THIS! It's later when your intellect kicks in and you start perceiving > (rather than just experiencing) that you start assigning categories like > lemon, yellow, sour, etc... > > That's what I mean by 'no observer' and that's what 'shikantaza' means by > 'just sit', and 'clear mind' or 'no mind'. > > If you'd like to read in more detail what I think about this you can go to: > The Origin of the Illusion of Self which is about the dualistic illusion of > self/other. > > ...Bill! > > > --- In [email protected], uerusuboyo@... wrote: > > > > > Bill!, > > I'm interested in your point that there is no observer when sitting > shikantaza. If so, are all sensations in the body-mind not experienced? If > they are experienced, who or what is experiencing them? > > I'm also interested in other member's perspectives on this when they get > passed the "He said - she said" current thread.. > > Mike > > Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad > > > >
