JM.... CLARIFICATION...please..
bill say he practises zen however he is not a buddhist...
i was under the impression zen was part and parcel of buddhism...
that zen is the way we can approach buddha nature... and let it shine through..
zen is a tool, not an end game in itself?... thank you JM...merle
Dear Aham,
Zen is about letting our inner divine, labeled as Buddha Nature, to
shine through. Let it be our guide in our daily life. And the only
way that it may shine through depends on the purification of our
physical, mental and spiritual hindrances.
Because our inner divine, same as the external almighty, is all
knowing, all wise, all powerful, all harmonious.
JM
On 8/22/2013 2:07 AM, Bill! wrote:
>Aham,
>
>IMO zen is a set of teachings that first enable you to
experience Buddha Nature ("to see things as they really
are" in Vipassana-speak) and then to incorporate that
experience into your daily life.
>
>These teachings usually do employ a meditation technique -
zazen - which in Japanese means 'sit zen'. Although there
are many beginning techniques used to learn to do zazen
and the most popular does involve using the breath as does
Vipassana; but all zen techniques (zazen, koan study,
chanting, bowing, etc...) are all geared to bring you
eventually to a meditative state called 'shikantaza' which
means 'just sit' or 'only sit' in Japanese. It is the same
(I believe) as what the Buddhist Sutras refer to as
'samadhi'. It is in this state that you may experience
Buddha Nature ("see things as they really are").
>
>From what little I know about Vipassana there are a lot of
similarities with zen, and of course there should be if
they are both taking you to the same place.
>
>There are participants in this forum that know more about
Vipassana than I, and also participants that probably have
a different opinion of what zen is than I've just wrote
out.
>
>I hope you'll hear from them.
>
>Welcome to the Zen Forum...
>
>...Bill!
>
>--- In [email protected], "reconceiving1942" <aham@...> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I am new here in this group.
>> I am familiar with some meditation techiques, where
vipassana became the strongest one for me.
>>
>> What exactly is zen?
>> is zen a mediation technique or a quality of life?
>> If so, can any one describe this quality?
>>
>> Aham
>>
>
>
