I think you're making things unnecessarily more
complicated than they are. The situation is actually
very simple -- Zen is a particular brand of Buddhist
practice. As such, if one wants to master it, the
first thing that absolutely needs to be done is master
the Buddha's teaching. If one thinks that Zen is
somehow this shortcut, the cheap way out, one shout
and you're enlightened, one is merely swimming in the
sea of deluded escapism.
So, things are very straightforward: study all the
sutras and shastras. All Zen masters knew those
backwards and forwards. Even the completely illiterate
Master, such as Hui neng, knew all the sutras by heart
and was citing them on many appropriate occasions.
There is absolutely no way to meet a truly
accomplished Zen practitioner who hasn't mastered
Buddhadharma. Such a practitioner will be able to
interpret all, even the knotiest passages of any
sutra. This is the litmus test.
So, no matter what the heathen practitioners may
claim, there is one and only one way to attain the
Buddhahood, and that is through understanding and
mastering the Buddha's teaching.
Anything else is mere wishfull thinking.
Alex
--- James Haines <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> We always seem to come back to the danger of written
> texts--and the
> absolute necessity of sitting regularly under
> someone's direction. Not to
> argue with that, I'll stick my neck out and say that
> the absolute worst
> thing to do is sit on your own (or not at all) and
> read only this and
> other internet Zen forums.
>
> Better by far to read Nagarjuna and Dogen (not that
> either of them is
> easy) than only these Zen forums! At least you can
> be sure Nagarjuna and
> Dogen knew what they were talking about--and had
> tested it against their
> extensive knowledge of what's in the sutras and
> commentaries we seem to
> be so fearful of opening. If one comes as a complete
> novice to these Zen
> boards (as seems to be the case for many, to judge
> from the way people
> introduce themselves), it's very difficult to know
> what (or who, since a
> fair amount of the discussion here seems to be
> directed at proving
> particular individuals wrong on most or all points
> without bringing any
> actual support for one's own view) to listen to and
> what to ignore.
>
> James
>
>
>
=====
No karma was produced during the composition of this letter
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers.
At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/hjtSRD/3MnJAA/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/
