--- ventouxboy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Just trying to start a new direction of discussion.
> What is the
> advantage of living a Zen lifestyle? It's not the
> easiest path and
> is rife with challenges; so why bother?
I'll gladly take the suggested turn:-) Buddhist
teaching/practice is concerned with human condition.
Consequently, it explores human predicament.
Is it a lifestyle? Hardly. Is
breathing/eating/sleeping a lifestyle?
Hubert Benoit, in his book "Supreme Doctrine", talks
about the difference between living and merely
existing (a.k.a. vegetating). In his assessment, Zen
is concerned only with merely existing. He supplies an
example in the form of a story where one person was
standing on a hilltop, while a group of people were
passing by. Intrigued, they stopped, observed the guy
on the hill for a while, and then decided to satisfy
their curiosity by climbing up and meeting him in
person.
Once they got up there, they started asking questions:
"Why are just standing there? Are you expecting
someone to come? Have you lost your dog or a sheep?"
etc.
But the person responded: "No, I'm just standing
here."
So, from the common folk perspective, that person was
merely existing at that point.
But, from a Zen perspective, one could say that he was
really there, instead of being caught up in the web of
dreams.
What's your opinion?
Alex
=====
No karma was produced during the composition of this letter
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