Re: [Zen] Street Fighting Zen

[Kathleen Knight]

Al, Zen for winning?  Zen for kicking ass?  This is no Zen as I understand and practice.  I agree wholeheartedly, however, that Zen can be applicable to our lives in a very real way;  I think though that it must be applied to our hearts first, or at least at the same time. Kathleen (abodhi2b) ----- Original Message ----- From: AC To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 5:22 AM Subject: [Zen] Street Fighting Zen From: wai_dk I've communicated with you several times and I've found that you can actually be a nice and thoughtful person, and I've learnt much from you too. So what happened to you? Why are you so testy?>> I think that we all need to be tougher in order to deal with reality. I do not want to foster a list of emotional cripples who are here only because they hear nice plattitudes about love and Peace.   Zen should be something more. Agnes told an incredibly inspirational story about Zen in her life. That is real to me. Blood and Guts Zen. It is taking Zen and using it like a weapon and/or a shield in order to deal with the stress of life which is often caused by other people. That is the kind of Zen I want to understand. I guess maybe it is similar to The Way of the Peaceful Warrior? It is Street-Fighting Zen for the people who have to go to work and get insulted, abused, demanded of, etc. That is the Zen that helps me with real problems of life. I do not need to understand Cave Zen because I am not living in a cave. Learning beautiful sayings that would cause others to laugh in ridicule is not Street Zen. I want to learn Zen that will make me a better person on the Streets of Life, not in a monastery.   I want to take the book knowledge of Zen, and the Zen of the monks, and the Zen of all the members of this list who are dealing with life on the streets of their towns, and I want US to mix it together into a real living Zen. The kind of Zen that Agnes used to fight her problems and to Succeed. I do not want to know about some kind of passive bullshit Zen. I do not want to be some waiter in orange pajamas smiling at people who give me money. I want Zen for Winning. Zen for kicking Ass. Zen for dealing with reality on the streets of life. Where people are hurt. Where nobody pulls their punches. Where reality bleeds and dies. Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right  Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right  Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT 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 the Yahoo! Terms of Service.