Nope. Hui Neng was in fact pointing exactly to just sitting, not sitting as a means to an end. It does not mean that 'any method will do'. Also Buddhist practice in Zen in particular, is not about any state of mind, whether 'correct' or not. And no, not all Buddhist Sutras apart from Hui Neng's are the recorded sayings of the Buddha. See for example - the Mountains And Rivers Sutra by Dogen. One book that might be usefully recommended when it comes to clarifying your understanding of Chan/Zen history and just sitting is 'The Art of Just Sitting: essential writings on the zen practice of shikentanza', Edited by John Daido Loori.
Genryu ----- Original Message ----- From: Alex Bunard To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 7:34 PM Subject: Re: [Zen] The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch of Zen So he effectivelly discouraged people from becoming attached to any particular form of practice. He advocated the 'methodless method', meaning that any method will do. To a practitioner with a correct state of mind, any method is as good as any other method. As such, seated meditation is no superior to any other form of human behavior, when it comes to Buddhist practice. This, as I've already mentioned, was severely disputed by the 'sitting only', or 'just sitting' crowd, as it drastically and radically cuts into their rationale. But keep in mind that Hui-neng is the only Chinese master who got honored to have his biography stand shoulder to shoulder with the Buddha's. All other Buddhist sutras (with only one exception -- the Vimalakirti sutra), are strictly the recordings of the Buddha's own words. Alex [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ 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/
