Alex Bunard wrote: Only the most persistent were alowed entry > (sometimes, we learn, the desperate applicants would > spend days and nights kneeling in the snow before the > monastery gates, pleading with the authorities to be > given the rights of entry). > > Alex > Dear Alex,
In Japan there is the practice of Tangaryo. Where when one comes to ask to enter the monastery they are brought into an empty room with only a cushion to sit on and told to sit. No one except the person in charge of new people speaks to them. They are not allowed to join in the common meals, they are spoken to as little as possible. There is no set time this lasts, it lasts until they figure you are serious, perhaps a week or so. Often they will bring in the next applicant, sit them beside you and give them better treatment than you get..sometimes larger meals, and then they let the person who comes in after you in and leave you sitting. It seems a game, but if you cannot handle this you will not handle a real practice in a monastery. This happens in real life today in Japan, not in a virtual list on the Internet. Again this list is a piece of cake. It is traditional to be turned down three times before you are accepted for anything. I remember laughing at one of the "zen elders" on another list when he told me how he gave up his idea of becoming a monk when his teacher said he would not ordain a married person. Looking left and right I can count 8 married people he ordained. This person took no for an answer, and in doing so was turned away. If you can be driven off it is not compassionate to let you stay. This is the reality of the zen practice I was taught. My teacher told me know and made up a dozen excuses before he ordained me. I had to wait for a couple of years while he lay ordained newer, less committed people and still I was put off...When he understood that no was not an acceptable answer, he moved forward with speed. Be Well Fudo ------------------------ 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/
