...thread snipped to this point...
> Bill, that was a smart reply (no pun intended!)
Thanks, (I hope my response to you (below) will help neutral-ize
this milk-ing of semantics).
> Here is my response:
>
> Everything you do could be considered Dharma study. I consider Zen
> practice to be a subset of Dharma study. So is taking out the
garbage.
> A lot of people put great emphasis on Zen practice. I think too
much
> emphasis. In my practice I have found Dharma study much more
> effective in the long term than zazen. Taking out the garbage has
> been very valuable for me also.
My response is:
Everything you do could be considered taking-out-the-garbage. I
consider both Dharma study and Zen practice to be a subset of taking-
out-the-garbage. ...etc, ad naseum.
I think most of us (and you especially) realize we're trying to
communicate thoughts and concepts that are just not comfortably
described with words and phrases. But since we are communicating
via a medium based on text I really don't see any alternative. I
think it's okay to try and I will continue to do so.
I made a mistake in my original posting. I used the word 'subset'.
There are no subsets in a system that contains only one entity -
Buddha. To intellectually create subsets is to create heirarchies
which is going in the wrong direction. In the largest sense there
is nothing but Buddha. Zen practice, Dharma study, taking-out-the-
garbage and posting messages are not subsets or parts of Buddha;
they are Buddha. They are all manifestation of the One. So in that
regard none is greater or lessor than the other.
What I was trying to communicate relates to Skillful Means. I'm
useing that term to mean 'methods useful to percipitate awakening'.
In my experience, both personal and inter-personal, I have found
zazen to be a more successful method of encouraging awakening than
Dharma study (using that term to mean reading, memorizing, chanting,
etc..., historical Buddhist canons and sutras). My experience has
led me to believe that the less chance the activity performed has of
inviting ego participation or even encourage intellectual activity,
the better. If you can engage in Dharma study without creating an
ego (a separation of the materials read from the reader), and resist
the temptation to intellectualize (try to 'understand') the texts,
then I'm sure it would be fine. I can't do that, or at least I
couldn't when I started to become seriously interested in practicing
zen.
Zazen works better for me. And now that I think about it, taking-
out-the-garbage might be the best practice of the three. It does
not solicit ego-involvement, it does not tempt you into trying to
intellectualize it, and when done well is a perfect expression of
your Buddha-nature.
> Dharma is everything. The Buddha said that it is not his
invention, it is his discovery. It just is.
Dharma (meaning life teachings) is everything. Zazen is
everything. Taking-out-the-garbage is everything. The Buddhist
Dharma contained in the historical canons and sutras is not
everything. How can it be? It is only words.
Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi
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