--- In [email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Perhaps it is acting naturally after realizing there are no boundaries. A mountain is a mountain, then not a mountain, then again a mountain. Still a mountain, still acting naturally, nothing added, but the difference is beyond words.
Gassho, Pam Thanks, Pam - This was a koan for me and I carried it around all day :-)... Obviously, the Zen "mountain" is a "loaded" (or "emptied") term. In other words, there is a profound "nuanced" difference between mountain in our everyday usuage and "mountain" in the Zen usage. Between the two - mountain and "mountain" lies THE JOURNEY (And I realize that this Journey is ultimately no-Journey). You know, I really like how Joseph Campbell once described it: "... We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world." For me, a large part of trying to articulate "What is Zen?" is to touch upon how "The Journey" is framed in the Zen context. - Is it a "process"? Can we "ttinker" towards nirvana? Can we gradually progress along some Path - everyday getting " a step" closer? - Is it a leap from one paradigm of knowing (--> of language, of concepts and thoughts, of symbols) to another (--> where there is a "direct" and "immediate" awareness of "reality" without the mediation of language, concepts, etc)? -Is the Journey itself the destination? - What is the "destination" anyway? I am also pulled towards describing it with terms like "non-grasping", "unsymbolization of the world" etc. However, at times it feels like self-indulgent navel gazing to me. As I understanding it, the bodhisattva vow and path centers on the alleviation of the suffering of all sentient/non-sentient beings. As a school of Mahayana Buddhism, where does unconditional Compassion play into our struggle with framing "What is Zen". To say that one realizes that suffering is an illusion seems like a cop-out - especially if we are rumbling around in this arena of suffering. Of course, we are not going to answer these questions here via this forum :-). I have a feeling that while chopping wood and carrying water I will begin to "chop wood and carry water". That is hope, at least. It is much easier to play with koans and riddles, isn't it? :-) It is for me :-) Metta, ryhorikawa ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Click here to rescue a little child from a life of poverty. http://us.click.yahoo.com/rAWabB/gYnLAA/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/
