On Wed, 2005-04-20 at 07:43 +0300, James Haines wrote: > Fair enough, though I'm still not convinced that everyone who reads > this list is physically/financially able to establish long-term > face-to-face contact with a Soto teacher for instruction in shikantaza > -- or that any Soto teachers on this list are going to give > instruction/interviews in it (or much of anything else either) here.
Dear James, I am in the process of buying a house. I have little income, and am very limited as to where I can purchase my home. There is a ritzy suburb in the area called Minnetonka it has a big lake and only the right kind of people can live there. Since I cannot afford a home in Minnetonka, should I just pretend to live there....live on the street and tell everyone I have a home in Minnetonka because I cannot really afford to buy a house there? If I lived in the street, I could save my money and maybe in a hundred years or so I could buy a house in Minnetonka....maybe and old guest house or something. I would probably be better off buying a real house I could afford in the area that might not be so .... upscale. I would be better off not pretending I live in Minnetonka. I would be better off to do the best I can with a real house I can afford, and living in it and doing my best with what I can afford.... it would seem this would be my best chance of ever getting the money to buy a house in Minnetonka ....real estate being the best possible investment in these times. If one cannot afford (or as most often is true, is unwilling to enter in to anything real) to practice Zen in a real way, you would be better off not pretending you are practicing Zen. It would be better to head off down to the neighborhood temple, mosque, or church and practice the way you can afford or are willing to participate in in a real way. It is my position, and the position of most of the Zen teachers I know...that if one really wants to find a way to a Zen teacher, there is a way. It was not easy for you to find a way, yet you found a way. Zen temples are in the mountains of Japan, there is a teacher right up the street...literally. Even if one finds their way to the temple they will make you sit for a week before you may enter the temple as a student...they do not want the one's that can be discouraged if the way is a bit difficult. The real Zen way is difficult, and if it is too difficult for you to actually enter it in a real way, then it is probably too difficult a practice for you. You would be better off entering something more to your taste that you can afford. If one finds oneself saying things like.. it is too hard to get up in the morning, it is too far to drive, it is too expensive, it is too ...well pretty much anything...then this is a good indication that Zen is not the way for you. One would be better off finding something they can afford. Most Zen masters would not wish to be only a click away.... for a good reason. Be Well Fudo ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Would you Help a Child in need? It is easier than you think. Click Here to meet a Child you can help. http://us.click.yahoo.com/0Z9NuA/I_qJAA/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/
