ED, My comments to your comments on my comments are embedded below in blue font:
> ED: Does 'zen' involve just doing zazen (shikantaza) practice? > BILL: Yes. My zen practice centers around shikantaza but is basically a > practice to bring 'clear mind' or 'Buddha Mind' or 'direct experience of > reality' experienced in shikantaza up off the cushion and into every > area of my daily life. > ED: Because 'zen' is secular, we ought to keep the Buddha out of it and > refer to the said state as 'clear mind' or 'true nature'. Bill!: I am comfortable using 'Buddha Nature' especially on this Zen Buddhist forum. If I was posting to a Christian forum I might use 'Reborn in Christ'. All of these terms are the same to me. I agree with you however that probably the most secular would be 'clear mind'. > ED: Are there any other recommendations, whether derived from Buddhism > or elsewhere? > BILL:I certainly am aware of and appreciate many of the recommendations > (teachings) of Buddhism, Christianity, other religions and other people; > but all of these are for me just examples of what others have tried to > communicate after experiencing 'clear mind'. That's there experience. I > have my own. I beleive they are the same experience, but I may choose to > expressmine differently. In any event my experience is more valuable to > me than reading or hearing about someone elses. > ED: Surely you do not or can not know whether they have experienced > 'clear mind' or not. Bill! I guess I couldn't say really for sure, but I'm convinced of that. I believe that. > ED: Is a teacher or guide required? > Bill: Not required, but could be helpful in the beginning. I was guided > by two Japanese Zen Buddhist Roshis when I began. > ED: Was Mauezumi Roshi aware that you were practicing 'zen' and not > 'Zen', and if so, did he approve? Bill!: We never talked too much about that, but I think he did - especially in the end. He certainly didn't seem to disapprove. My first teacher was not Maezumi Roshi, it was Koryu Roshi. He was a lay teacher from the Japanese Renzai school. He taught me to sit and started me out in koan study. I first had kensho with him on the koan Mu. He gave Maezumi inca from the Renzai line. Koryu Roshi advised me not to become ordained, and when he passed me along to Maezumi (because he had become very old and somewhat infirm and was returning to Japan) he reminded me of that. I continued my koan study with Maezumi but he never brought up the subject of taking vows or becoming ordained. After koan study Maezumi advised me to just sit shikantaza to fulfil my practice. That is what I do to this day. > ED: Is there any material on 'zen' on the Internet? > BILL: Sure. It's all over the internet. You can find it in Buddhist > Sutras, Christian writings especially the teachings of Jesus, it's in > Sufi writings and stories, it's expressed in a lot of poetry and songs, > Osho's writings are full of it. I quote a lot of it in my posts from > time to time. > ED: This response stops me dead in my tracks. I need to reflect on it. Bill!: Don't think too hard about this. It's not that subtle. How about: " The Kingdom of God is inside you, and all around you, not in mansions of wood and stone. Split a piece of wood and I am there; lift a stone and you will find me." Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas > ED: Are there currently any 'zen' teachers in the US that you are aware > of? > BILL: I could truthfully say that everyone I meet is a zen teacher to > me; but there are no 'official' zen teachers I know of. Like I said > earlier you could get started with any reputable Zen Buddhist or Chan > teacher, or Christian or Jewish or Sufi teacher. Just go through their > teachings and in the end discard the religion-specific parts. > ED: For me, Zen Buddhist, yes. My temperament and/or preferences and/or > mind-space are not compatible the others at the present time. Bill!: I think that's a good path to take. In many ways I see the multiple religions as just one group or another's interpretation of their founder's experience of 'clear mind'. The followers make it more compatible to them, their history and their culture; and then codify it and build an organization up around it. I think it's alright to attach to a religion, learn from it, but remember that a lot of the teachings are just extraneous adornments added after-the-fact. ...Bill!
