> other, particularly since a living teacher is more likely than a
> printed page to teach at just the level where the student stands. If
> we have all of this richness available to us today, it seems odd to
> turn our backs on some of it.
>
> James
Hi James!!
I am so glad to see you in print still after all these years we have
spent on lists together.
The child who was just a baby when we first met is now a full fledged
Kindergartener who continues to delight us...and the child who was a
raging teenager is now a confident married woman.
And the Dad who was in the midst of his last struggle is now laying
gently in our memories.
Time continues on and on...
I hope time has deepened your life and that you are content as the new
year is approaching.
To my mind (and I think in Fudo's mind also...after practicing with
him for twenty four years I think I know a bit of his opinions*grin*)...
Sutra's do have a place. Zazen has a place. Incense, candles and
flowers on an alter have a place. Chanting the sutras and the lineage
has a place. Seeking a teacher has a place. Following a practice in
the way it has developed over many many years has a place. Accepting
what has been put in your bowl and using it to sustain your life of
helping others has a place.
His point has ALWAYS been...they all have a place together in his
practice. Not to depend on any single one but take them as a whole.
He has come from a place where he too thought a teacher was
unnecessary. He practiced without one in the woods and thought he knew.
He read books and books and then more books and thought he understood.
He couldn't understand the practice of putting flowers and water and
incense on an alter daily...until he did it daily and found a deeper
meaning.
He thought bowing and chanting was just a ritual until he did them
over and over over again until they penetrated his heart and the
meanings seeped into his bones.
He resisted having a teacher and resisted keeping a relationship with
a teacher when the experience got tough...but he did continue with the
practice and found the benefits of the practice.
He loudly protested the traditional robes and hairstyle of a monk in
the US until he actually experienced them...and found a meaning in them.
I have never heard Fudo say the Sutras don't have a place...nor to
abandon them. Sutras are a PART of a whole...not the whole of the Soto
practice.
He knows that others practice different ways. Not a problem to him nor
me for that matter. Practice the way that rings your bell.
He however is ordained in a certain practice and does insist on
following the way as presented if one claims to be practicing it. This
includes taking all the practices as a whole...not parts as one wishes.
I have lived with him for all these years...his writing can seem to be
tough but the actual practice of being with him is filled with humor
and heart and genuine concern for others.
Could it be that no matter what a person writes a part of the person
is lost in translation? That genuine parts of them get lost from the
writing of the words. Maybe we can see part of what they are saying
but can we ever really get the whole by their words alone?
Anjin
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Give hope to a child.
Helping a needy child is easier than you think.
Click here to meet someone who needs your help.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/smp9aD/HohJAA/i1hLAA/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/
