--- In [email protected], Alex Bunard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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. >
i believe living true is the only way to enlightenment. mack. > 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 --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/UwRTUD/UOnJAA/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/
