--- In [email protected], "Bill Smart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Zazen in an answer to that. I had the same problem. My professional > works requires a lot of logic and constant thinking. Zazen helps me > put that in its proper place. When I need my logic tools I can pull > them out; but I can also put them back in my toolbag when I'm > through. I've worked with koans in the past but now just sit 'shikan > taza' (empty mind). Both are equally effective. It helps A LOT!!! > > Find a teacher. Mayber he/she will assign you the koan Mu, maybe > not. It doesn't matter. He/she will instruct you in zazen and that > will help you quiet your mind. > > Gassho...Bill! Bill - As usual, thanks for your really thoughtful posts. You sent thanks out to ths listserv earlier but it should be returned to you as well. You certainly serve a bodhisattva role in this arena :-)! Shikan-taza?! So you're a Soto-Zen dude, huh? :-) Empty mind (mu-shin) - There we go with that naughty "mu" character again lol... Is a logical mind the realm of the "profane"?/ of phenomenal existence? Is the empty mind the realm of the "sacred"?/ of emptiness? Is the logical mind in "opposition" to empty mind? Is an "emptied" logical mind an "empty mind"? Is it possible to have a logical mind that is empty (but still logical)? What does it mean to quiet the mind? Can one have a quiet logical mind? The notion of a human teacher in Buddhism is problematic, isn't it? Two passages come to mind for me. The first is from the last sermon of the Buddha from the Theravada tradition: "Then the Bhagavan addressed the venerable Ananda: 'It may be, Ananda< that some of you may thing, The word of the Teacher is a thing of the past; we now have no Teacher. But that, Ananda, is not the correct view. The Dharma and the Vinaya which I have taught and enjoined upon you is your teacher when I am gone." The second is from a Mahayana sutra: "Rely on the teaching (dharma), not the teacher. Rely on the meaning (of the teaching) and not the letter Rely on the definitive meaning (based on personal experience) and not the interpreted meaning (based on someone's explanation)..." Many of us have heard this saying from India: "When the student is ready the teacher appears. The student does not find the teacher. The teacher finds the student." In India there is also this saying: "What appears to be coming at you, is really coming from you." Isn't the "mind", then, the teacher? What is the function of an external teacher in Zen? I don't know, that's why I'm asking... I can certainly throw out answers I think are "correct" but in all honesty they'll be parroted answer from the many books I've read and not anything based on personal experience.:-) Strugggling in the dharma, 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/
