Hi Allison and Guy,
To truly understand Zen, one needs to go back to its
origin. As you know, Zen is the school of Mahayana
Buddhism, and as such, it stems from the foundation of
the Great Vehicle, the Madhyamika school. Madhyamika
(or Central Philisophy of Buddhism) was founded by
Nagarjuna approximately 1,800 years ago (give or take
50 years).
Before Nagarjuna arrived, there was a big confusion
among various Buddhist schools and heterodoxies
regarding the proper interpretation of the Buddha's
teachings. Extreme factions were formed (one such
school called itself the Personalists, Pudgalavada,
that is, the ones who believe in the absolute reality
of a separate personhood, if you can believe that!)
So, obviously, a realignment of the Buddhist doctrine
was long overdue.
Now, Zen could have never emerged had Nagajuna not
come up with his elaboration of the doctrine of Two
Truths. The entire Zen practice is based directly on
the Two Truths teaching.
So, if you really want to penetrate Zen thoroughly,
there is absolutely no other way than through Two
Truths, which is the most recondite of all Buddha's
teachings.
The books? Find a good translation of Nagarjuna's
"Mulamadhyamaka karika" ("The Foundation of the Middle
Way", Garfield might be a good source) and study it
throughly. If you do it the right way, you won't
really need anything else.
Alex
--- terencc mccahey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Those who lift torches to burn Heaven just tire
> > themselves!
> Alex, this is really great as Guy says ..... the
> above line really stucj with me and is something
> that I can really visualize .I would also welcome
> any recommendations you have regarding Zen writings!
> Namaste ---Allison
>
> ventouxboy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> ---Alex, this is a great essay! You seem to have a
> broad range of
> knowledge in Zen, any suggestions on books you might
> recommend? I'm
> familiar with most of the basics, but a lot you draw
> on comes from
> things I havn't been exposed to. Thanks, Guy.
>
>
>
>
> In [email protected], Alex Bunard
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > In the famous "Song of Enlightenment", Chan Master
> > Hsuan Chuen of Yung Chia (the Dharma successor of
> the
> > Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng) wrote the following
> stanzas:
> >
> >
> > "Let yourself be criticized and abused,
> > Those who lift torches to burn Heaven just tire
> > themselves!
> > When I hear their wrathful words, it's just as
> though
> > it were ambrosial truth;
> > Thus smelted and refined, suddenly one enters the
> > Inconceivable.
> >
> > Contemplate vicious and offensive words as merit
> and
> > virtue,
> > The scandal-monger then becomes one's wise friend
> and
> > a good advisor.
> > If we do not become angry at gossip,
> > We will right there manifest the Compassion of the
> > Unborn."
> >
> >
> > There you have it -- the instructions are clear as
> > day. Just understanding the above two stanzas and
> > taking them to your heart will give you the
> miraculous
> > mani-pearl that will dispell all your doubts.
> >
> > However, in my experience, many people, even after
> > learning the truth about anger, still have trouble
> > adhering to the teaching. Further explanation may
> be
> > necessary (I will just briefly touch on some
> knotty
> > issues here):
> >
> > The first thing that the Buddha taught was the
> > all-pervading significance of giving. Giving is a
> > virtue that sets us on the proper path. And, it is
> the
> > practice that needs no learning -- everyone knows
> > spontaneously how to give. What's more, the only
> way
> > to ever experience happiness and bliss as a human
> > being is to be in the position to give. Jails are
> full
> > of miserable people who, at one point or another,
> were
> > disabled from the ability to give, and that
> untenable
> > position drove them to commit unspeakable crimes.
> >
> > So, give, give yourselves away boldly, because the
> > more you give, the more will there be to give, and
> > this will make you exceedingly happy.
> >
> > However, there is a danger inherent in the
> practice of
> > giving in that it can result in wantonness and
> > arrogance. To circumvent that, the Buddha spoke
> next
> > about discipline. Giving without discipline is a
> risky
> > venture. Consider a farmer who has been
> cultivating
> > his field, and who was rewarded for his generosity
> by
> > an exceedingly rich harvest. He now has two
> choices:
> >
> > 1. Wallow in the dough (he might just sell all his
> > yield and take off for Vegas, where he will burn
> all
> > his wealth in one night)
> >
> > 2. Exercise more disciplined approach, where he
> will
> > organize his yield in such a way that he may sell
> a
> > portion and buy more land, then allocate another
> > portion for cultivating all this land for the next
> > year, and so on.
> >
> > From this we see that the practice of discipline
> must
> > go hand in hand with the practice of generosity.
> >
> > However, once we get onto such a path, one thing
> is
> > guaranteed to happen -- we will inevitable collide
> > with other people. We will cross paths, step on
> other
> > people's toes, and vice versa. When this happens,
> > anger arises.
> >
> > It has been said that one moment of anger has the
> > power to destroy the results of numerous cycles of
> > good effort. Because of that, anger and wrath are
> > considered as the most insidious emotions in the
> > Buddhist practice.
> >
> > Knowing that, we see that it is vitally important
> to
> > practice the antidote of anger. And the Buddha
> himself
> > spoke of that, immediatelly after he had explained
> the
> > importance of having the virtue of discipline. The
> > third virtue that the Buddha spoke of is patience.
> >
> > The above two stanzas speak about the virtue of
> > patience. The most important thing is to abstain
> from
> > allowing the feelings of anger to take hold.
> Practice
> > patience, therein you will discover the ambrosia
> of
> > true bliss.
> >
> > Alex
> >
> >
> > --- nypd25838 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >
> > > Im wondering how one finds the balance between
> > > assertiveness and
> > > speaking the truth of how you feel( where the
> other
> > > person will
> > > become defensive and feel judged ) ... vs.
> remaining
> > > unaffected when
> > > someone offends you and trying to let it pass
> > > through you .( And
> > > then the offending keeps representing itself in
> > > different ways over
> > > and over again. So, if you are trying to
> practice
> > > right speech and
> > > the other person you are communicating with has
> no
> > > regard for being
> > > truthful ...how are you supposed to remain
> composed
> > > and what is the
> > > mindset as far as why this person would act so
> > > insulting . I mean do
> > > you give compassion to this person. How do you
> > > neutralize situations
> > > like this in all forms of relationships whether
> it
> > > be a boss with a
> > > huge ego or a stranger who tells you off because
> he
> > > thinks you cut
> > > him off in line ...to the more personal with
> family
> > > members like the
> > > intrusive mother in law .This is a obstacle for
> me
> > > and I welcome all
> > > thoughts or answers to this . I think if I can
> > > figure this out it
> > > will solve a lot for me.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > =====
> > No karma was produced during the composition of
> this letter
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
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>
>
>
>
> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention,
> Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right
> Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood
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