Gassho,
I am John from Bristol, VA. I have been studying and practicing Zen since the
late 70's
though I've never really belonged to a Sangha...The few I could find where I
used to
live were mostly social groups and Baltimore, MD, where I grew up was at the
time far
more "social conscious" then I think it is now, though I've been away for 5
years now.
Where I am now is the "Buckle of the Bible Belt" and the nearest Sangha of any
sort is
a Mahayana Monestary in Knoxville. So I am engaged in solo practice. I am also a
student of Ki Sociey Aikido. I found this group from membership in another Yahoo
group...I was changing some preferences and noticed this group on a list of
related
interests. For a Zen group, ya'all do a lot of talking :) I'm glad of this, as
it is
good to read interesting and intellegent comments like I see here.
Among my other interests are the paranormal, parapsychology and energy
medicine.
I did want to comment on one of the points made in this digest:
> In that sense, I appreciate Krishnamurti's teaching that a
> mind that can
> discriminate between good and evil is a key element to any
> path of
> enlightenment. Perhaps in Buddhism everything is good, and
> rape and murder
> turns the Dharma Wheel as much as kindness and good deeds? I
> am certainly
> not an expert by any means.
As I am not a Hindu, I am not given to studying Hindu philosophy an am aonly
vaguely
aware of Krishnamurti. For this lack I do apologize. I do agree that the
ability to
discern between good and bad (evil is too presumptious a word for everyday
use). But as
to Buddhism, not everything is good. If it were, we would not have the 5 Vows.
The 5
Vows clearly take rape and murder out of the "good" catagory. My understanding
of Zen
in particular, is that doing good things, or rather not doing bad things is
necessary
to discipline oneself and enhance or encourage enlightenment.
I would recomend the works of Thich Nhat Hahn and the late Seung Sahn for a
better
understanding of this. "Letting go of judgements and constructs" is not an
excuse for
immorality.
Now, as to Heidigger and that other fellow...Well, Stephen Batchelor in his
_The Faith
to Doubt_, quotes the dickens out of Heidigger... However, I tried to read some
of his
works, and found them nearly incomprehensible and very droll and dry...I never
heard of
the other guy. However, Batchelor does explain how Heidigger was close to Zen
in some
of his ideas, but closer to Carl Jung. Unfortunately, I never heard of the
other guy.
Philosophy is all well and good, but it isn't Zen. Seung Sahn's student, Wu
Kwang
(Richard Shrobe), used a quote of his Master's in the title of his book: _Open
Mouth
Already a Mistake_...By that he meant that once you start talking about Zen, it
is no
longer Zen, but a construct of mind. So it is hard to take this irrational,
intuitive
thing and put it in a box of rational philosophy with proofs and sillogisms,
etc.
Fascinating, mind expanding stuff here.
Thanks,
John
Ki is extending,
John Davis
"Let us have a Universal Mind
that loves and protects all creation
and helps all things grow and develop.
To unify mind and body and become One with the Universe
is the ultimate purpose of our study."
-- Koichi Tohei Sensei
"Beware the Medical-Industrial Complex!"
-- John Davis
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