Sebastian Ortiz Duran Gochicoa wrote: Dear Sebastion, I actually said that 98% of what passes for zen in America is crap. We have enough difficulty on this list without misquoting and exaggeration.
If you had ever been to a Zen Monastery, you would see that it is far from silent. The idea that Zen is silent, or should be silent is an error. Sometimes it is silent, sometimes it is not. I have often wondered what the point of this list is, but then every once and a while someone is actually moved by what they read here to move from a virtual practice all by themselves to a real practice with a real teacher and a real sangha, or to at least explore what a real zen practice is. The discussions here are all pretty much children speaking of things they have not the experience to understand. I am not here for the garbage, but to constantly and continually say that one should begin a real practice of Zen with a real teacher and a real sangha in the real world. That one cannot see all they need to see by themselves, and if one does not think that such a Zen practice is possible or even beneficial to them, one should move on to a real life practice in whatever form meet their fancy. If one's "philosophy" does not impact or influence or inform their real life, it has no value, and is a waste of time. It would be nice if what people call a zen practice bore some resemblance to what the Rinzai Shu and the Soto Shu say a Zen practice is, since they are the only real Zen schools that have left the shores of Japan. Everything else is just made up crap, some sort of feel-good new age pap that can only survive because the population in the west has not lived with Zen Buddhism and has had little contact with the practice as it exists in the real world. There are many forms of meditation in the world...(TM for one) that are not Zen and do not pretend to be Zen practice. Just sitting on a cushion counting your breaths has nothing to do with the Zen practice I was taught, yet it passes for a Zen practice for some. Siting down and counting your breaths is a fine practice. It just should not be called Zen, or mistaken for Zen, or for a Zen practice, and definately not as the whole of a Zen practice. Be Well Fudo > Welcome Brandy. > > > > LOL. Great monkey analogy. I’ve also wondered how it is that of all the > mailing lists I’m a member of, the ZEN list is by far the most active. > LOTS of talking here. Could it be that we the Zen list members are > especially anxious people and that is why we seek the aid of Zen? > > > > Wouldn’t a true Zen mailing list be silent? If so, what’s the point of it? > > Fudo said, 99% of Zen in America is bogus. > > Enlightenment can not be communicated nor taught. > > > > Activity helps a goal or hinders it. The issue is: Does this list help > us reach Enlightenment? > > > > > > The Pattern Juggler ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
