From: "David McEwen" <What is your view on the practice of mindfulness?>
It seems to me that being one with the moment and yourself is mindfulness. Watch any of the Japanese Akira Kurosawa movies, or Zatoichi, etc. Many of these movies had great Actors who were at the top of their careers and who studied Zen. Were they not practicing Zen? They had access to the greatest teachers of their time. Toshiro Mifune did movies such as the Miyamoto Musashi series. They dealt at some points with Musashi's involvement with Zen and his spiritual life. Consider that Mifune was at the top of his profession at the time, engaged in interpretting a historical character that was profoundly important to his nation, and to him personally. A master artist interpretting a master swordsman's life and both were touched by Zen. Shintaru Katsu sits in zazen-like reflection in various scenes of Zatoichi movies. He does not stand up and say "This is zazen." But no doubt unless you are paying attention to the movie you will never see or understand the nuances. The guy pointing at the projector has no clue. There is a lot that you can learn from some of these films. The people involved in these films were not Slappies. But if all you see is a beam of light coming from a projector, is that not an example of the monkey-mind? If you cannot see a movie, then the next step should be that a recording of a voice speaking is just static to your ears. A book is just inkspots on blank pages glued to a binder. A telephone is just electrical noise. Those are all artificial affectations. What kind of Zen student cannot see what is in front of her. Being intentionally ignorant or blind or deaf is not Zen, IMHO. ------------------------ 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi 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/
