Thanks, this is a great quote. A little unorthodox, I must admit, but a great source of inspiration nevertheless.
Interesting how various temperaments find different paths towards liberation. The Japanese are showing us this unique, never before seen aspect of practice. Odd to think how, in the Chinese version of the dhyana practice, aping and parroting and mimicking awakened attitude used to be reviled. Not so in the Japanese brand. There we see it being encouraged! I am certain that, eventually, us Westerners will reach our own, uniquelly outstanding flavor of true Buddhist practice. Then, we will astonish the world, the same way Dogen astonished the world (and before him Hui-neng, and before him Boddhidharma etc.) Alex --- " Rev. Genryu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I would say that it's not a matter of striving to be > right, for whatever > reason, and that acting as if enlightened is > probably no different > essentially to being enlightened. That's the point. > To fully and completely > act as if enlightened, is itself enlightenment or > realization. Practice and > enlightenment aren't separate, and whilst I don't > wish to denigrate any so > called awakening experiences, day to day practice > 'as if enlightened' > manifests awakening completely, whether or not we > are conscious of it. In > other words, we don't practice in order to become > awake but to realize (make > real) the fact that we are already awake. Practice > then is not done 'in > order to' and the false distinction between being > and doing is dropped. > > Zoketsu Norman Fischer puts it this way: > > "By "undivided practice-enlightenment" Dogen means > that our life is always > undefiled, always whole. We always have been > enlightened beings- this has > always been the nature of our minds, the brightness > of our cognizing > consciousness. But this doesn't get us off the > hook; to appreciate it is > to know that we have a responsibility, a joyful > responsibility, for our > living. For Dogen "practice-enlightenment" is one > continuous event. It's > not that we practice in order to become enlightened. > Rather because we are > enlightenment already we must practice, and our > practice is the full > expression of our enlightenment. > Enlightenment sounds very lofty but really it is > something quite concrete. > The enlightened person is simply the person who > isn't selfish- who sees > things as they, loves them, and acts out of that > love. With our zazen > practice we see a world that is lovely, and that > calls out to us to > participate in it. We are glad to do it. We can't > not do it." > > Genryu > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Alex Bunard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 12:56 PM > Subject: Re: [Zen] Enlightment > > > In Buddhist terms, it is more desirable to be > > enlightened than it is to act as if one is > > enlightened. In other words, while one can be > right > > for the wrong reasons, it is still advisable to > strive > > to be right for the right reasons. > > > > Alex > ===== No karma was produced during the composition of this letter __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> It is better to give.... Especially when giving to a child in poverty. Click here to meet a child you can help. http://us.click.yahoo.com/uq3f6C/hJlJAA/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/
