Anders Honore wrote: > Al, at the risc of being presumptuous you do not want Zen I am afraid. > > ironically, the issues you raise are at the very heart of Zen, but your > criterions for how to approach them have nothing to do with Zen, I am > afraid and it never will.
Dear Anders, At the risk of being presumptuous, what the hell are you talking about? If Zen does not work in the street, it is useless. Zen is not useless. Zen was used by the Samurai as a way to cope with the harshness of that existence. It was sometimes the hand that swung the sword. We in the west have a romantic idea of why the Samurai adopted Zen, In Japan one often to this day does not get to chose what they will do. If you were a young man born into the samurai class in ancient Japan, you carried a sword and followed the warrior way whether you wanted to or not (or you were killed by a rival who did want to). Your only other option was to become a monk...and monks in that time only learned another set of martial arts and fought amongst themselves for position in the Empire. Often your Emperor would tell you what sect you had to practice. There was an offical religion proclaimed by the ruler. The Zen way was a way that allowed some benefit to the Samurai. Not only were there Zen Samurai., there were warrior monks. One can be ignorant of the history of Zen, or even pretend they understand Zen more than the people who actually practice it, but that is sort of an imaginary Zen, and the Zen I know is real and not imaginary. It has a real history, a real legacy, and a real set of practices still today. It is not just what you think it is. Be Well Fudo ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/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/
