Dear Fudo,
This boils down to the debate whether we're mistaken
to consider the means different from the end. One way
of looking at it is that practice is the means to
achieving the end. The end is the fully blown
enlightenment (anuttara samyak sambodhi).
Some practitioners (the Soto dudes come to mind) hold
that practice itself (i.e. the means) is anuttara
samyak sambodhi. In one sense, they are right. But in
another sense, they are talking gibberish.
In reality, it seems that it is not possible to
identify practice, nor is it possible to identify the
end, the result. Examined by itself, practice cannot
withstand sustained consideration. Same goes for the
end, the fruition of the practice. Examined together,
practice and its outcome are equally untenable.
These things, these issues, are beyond thought. It is
not possible to think cogently about them. Thought
cannot reach it.
Be Super Well.
Alex
--- fudo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Dear Alex,
>
> Someone could pound their head against the wall,b
> superstitiously hoping
> that one blow or another might just knock some sense
> into them, but I do
> not feel this is a recommended course of action.
>
> The idea that being accident-prone means you have a
> better chance to be
> enlightened than you do to be hit by a truck....just
> seems rather
> foolish to me.
>
> It seems some arrive at a breakthrough without
> effort, and some fail to
> have a kensho after years of practice.
>
> I am a poor one to ask how to manufacture a kensho
> experience. I had
> mine while relaxing in a hammock on the porch before
> I ever heard of Zen
> beyond the popular media fiction of what zen is. I
> began to practice
> to try and understand what had happened. I will be a
> tough sell as to
> the need to become accident prone, apparently I am
> naturally
> accident-prone enough.
>
> I learned through my practice that kensho is really
> no big deal. It is
> not really needed. It is certainly nothing to be
> proud of. It was
> nothing I did, it was something everyone and
> everything did. It is not
> what Dogen speaks of when he speaks of
> enlightenment. Our practice is
> not a practice to induce or engineer a kensho
> experience. Dogen says our
> practice is enlightenment. It is making
> enlightenment happen in the real
> world. It does not need kensho or breakthrough. In
> some such a
> breakthrough can be a hindrance instead of an
> advantage. Tell a Soto
> monk about your breakthrough experience and he or
> she will yawn and go
> back to sweeping the porch.
>
> Be Well
>
> Fudo
>
>
>
>
>
=====
No karma was produced during the composition of this letter
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com
------------------------ 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/
