Dear all,
My Zen philosophy actually is quite simple:
Thinking, with my heart through reflections;
Seeing, with my heart, not to become a blind;
Listening, with my heart, not to become a deaf;
Feeling, without differentiating, opening all senses;
Speaking, with my joyful heart;
Honesty, starting from myself;
Finger pointing? There are three fingers are pointing at me!
Accepting, without criticizing;
Tolerating, without judging.
Living, by reflecting, absorbing, learning and having fun.
Coming, without bringing anything;
Departing, without taking anything,
So why bother to calculate on many things.
Me? Of course, it is normal that I can't hear or see myself unless there is a mirror for reflection on the regular efforts.
Other people are mirrors who help me to know myself.
Previous life, I can't do anything;
Future, the judgment is not in my hands;
If I couldn't live this life as if in the heaven where I would like to be, then how I ever dream or hope to be in heaven in the future?
Who am I and why am I here, these are not questions for me to ask,
my job is to make the best of this life.
What will I be able to carry to the next life?
Well, that is not the queston that I should worry to dead right now.
If I couldn't take care of this moment, how could I take care the future, not to mention the next life?
Agnes
Alex Bunard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Alex Bunard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi wai,
--- wai_dk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
> Haha... funny indeed. And do you happen to know that
> part of Zen is
> also to just reflect like a mirror, which you just
> did. You plunged
> into Zen while trying to avoid it. Funny how these
> things work, eh?
A very keen observation. But you know, I�m not trying
to avoid Zen. Zen is in my bones. Without Zen, I would
never be able to function from my satori.
I�m only questioning some practices that many Zen
people I know suggest. Like, mostly to take something
for granted. Whatever it is, you must destroy it and
rebuild it anew in this very moment. Not a trace of
anything should be carried over as a residual habit or
wisdom. That, to me, is what Zen is all about.
Also, Zen is not about whether I should save myself
first and then take care of others, or whether I
should wait until everyone is saved. That�s just a
pile of superstitious bullcrap. Zen transcends that
entire charade. Anyone who has any genuine experience
in Zen practice knows that it�s not about saving
anyone or anything.
> I would think that after we have crossed the river,
> we are still on
> the river but at the shoreline.
> To get up to the shore, we must *first* abandon the
> raft. If we
> continue to keep the raft, then we can't move up the
> shore (because
> the raft is too heavy and shores don't like rafts),
> so we will still
> be stuck in the river.
Ha, what do you know? Touche!
> Actually, the raft-less raft is the Zen way:
> When you drop the raft
> You will at once realize that,
> You have *always* been on the other shore,
> Where is the river, much less the crossing?
Still, you must fabricate the beings, the river, the
two shores, the raft. Seeing how there is nothing, you
create everything from scratch. Then destroy it. Then
create again. Breathe in, breathe out. Isn�t that Zen?
> But if we are attached to "no raft, no shore, no
> river, no crossing",
> then we'll have a problem too. So how?
See above. Also, see the tenth picture in �Taming the
Bull?(or, �Herding the Ox?. Reflect on upaya.
> Not disqualifying the finger, never did.
> But when looking at the finger, we should look at
> WHERE IT IS
> POINTING, instead of analyzing how long or how short
> the finger is,
> how fat or how thin, what colour and what shape.
You got it, brother. To the victor go the spoils.
> The above is just metaphorical. Talking is of course
> part of living,
> so is everything else.
> But can we satisfy our hunger by just talking about
> food?
Oddly enough, yes. This is what Nagarjuna taught. If
you don�t believe me (and why should you?), study his
gospel of love.
> Enjoy reading your posts too.
Thanks. I�m glad you didn�t let the superficial buzz
distract you. I can only hope that we�ll be given a
chance to educate and inform each other.
> Not in an organised fashion? I suppose this is not
> something that
> anyone can truly verify with any certainty at all.
> Perhaps you mean
> not widely practised, which I might agree.
I think that in the Buddha�s time, things weren�t as
ripe for a fully blown Zen practice. People were still
living lives that were too sensual, bodily-pleasure
oriented (what I like to call the �free-range mind?lt;br>lifestyle). With the subsequent progress, humanity
gotten to be more cultivated (in the sense that more
people got trained to read, write, to use their
cerebral capacity), so Zen became a possibility.
Today, most of us are perfectly fit for undergoing the
most strenuous Zen training. I doubt that was the case
with general population 2,500 years ago. Otherwise,
the Buddha would�ve taught systematized Zen at that
time, I�m convinced of it.
> When Buddha transmitted the Zen lineage to
> Mahakasyapa, He said, "I
> have a special transmission outside the doctrinal
> teachings, not
> dependent on words, this I give to Mahakasyapa." I
> also understand
> that Nagarjuna is the 14th Zen Patriach in the
> Indian Zen Lineage.
> So why be so anti-Zen?
I�m absolutely no anti-Zen (as I�ve already explained
at the beginning of this post). I�m just saying that a
handful of brilliant individuals paved the way for us,
average guys, to enjoy this practice. Zen is OK only
if it is practiced with abandon. Zen is not your
spiritual insurance policy. It is not merely another
�just in case?spirtual insurance policy. It demands
your whole life. Once you give your very life away,
�just in case?instantly becomes meaningless. Just in
case what? You�re already dead, so what�s there to
worry about?
> The Chinese Zen Sixth Patriach Hui Neng said (in the
> Platform
> Sutra), "To those who belong to other schools, and
> whose views and
> objects are different from ours (the Sudden school),
> the dharma
> should not be transmitted, since it will be anything
> but good for
> them. This step is taken lest ignorant persons who
> cannot understand
> our system should make slanderous remarks about it
> and thereby
> annihilate their seed of Buddha-nature for hundreds
> of kalpas and
> thousands of incarnations."
> So if you can't accept Zen, then just leave it
> alone. I think it's
> better that you do not be critical of Zen (or even
> Varajyana,
> Pureland, Vipassana, etc.) lest you accumulate
> negative karma and
> annihilate your seed of Buddha-nature for a very
> long time.
The seed of Buddha-nature is just another
superstitious concept. There is no such thing. The
first thing you learn when you break through the koans
is that your master is selling water by the river.
What Buddha-nature? Are you standing aside from
anything? If you are, then you can see the
Buddha-nature. In which case, you�re hopeless (because
you're damaged). If you�re not standing aside from
anything, you naturally cannot see Buddha-nature. So,
what is wrong?
> Thanks for your reply, and your insights.
Same here.
> Much negative karma is produced from blasphemous
> posts
I know. But you�re not going to reap it.
Alex
=====
No karma was produced during the composition of this letter
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