Hi Steve: Thanks for giving a description about what religion mean to you. Although you seem having been educated in a different Buddhist tradition than me, it seems as if both of them have the same purpose of putting into practice what is taught first. Believe is based in personal experience and not as much in swallowing the sutras and repeating them without knowing what one is talking about. The sutras, chanting, sitting meditation, The Eightfold Path....all of it are just tools to be used as a meanings of awakening the Buddha in one, cultivating the qualities of the Buddha in one, To live in Buddha land or Buddha-hood....whatever name one prefers giving to that. According to the posting you sent to the zen forum, the tradition you are into seems working on you beautifully. It's posting that leaves something in one. It's not posting with just full of words but also it carries with them the energy of your personal practice. And That it's the whole point as when the fruits of any practice are there, then there is not conflict with any other spirtual, social.... tradition . On the contrary they add an enrichment to it. And this only to show that there is not a better or worse dharma door but it all depend upon what we do with what we have in our hands. Talking about Bill, My personal view here is that: . The zen he talks about is a zen has dropped all what is irrelevant for him to have the direct experience of "just this" or present moment. However, attention here he has discarded what it was of not use to him any longer but before having been discarded anything he did first experience with it. He comes from a reliable background in zen. Bill is not a Teacher. He has never said to be that to anyone. He is a many years experienced zen practicioner. Whatever he says is his personal experience with zen. He's not transmitting the formal, official zen that a Zen Teacher may transmit. He transmits only his experience with it. Another valuable thing to me here is that Bill is a lay person and not a monastic or Teacher. And that is exactly what lay practicioners need the most as we don't live in a monastery but in the lay world. Thanks for being there Mayka --- On Mon, 28/3/11, SteveW <[email protected]> wrote:
From: SteveW <[email protected]> Subject: [Zen] Re: Is Zen a religion? To: [email protected] Date: Monday, 28 March, 2011, 18:11 --- In [email protected], Maria Lopez <flordeloto@...> wrote: > > Steve; >  > I'm under the impresion that buddhism in some Countries is regarded as a > religion and the way it's follow is as Buddha kind of "God" and other > Contries is more a way of living. It may be depending upo different schools > and traditions Buddhism come from. I was educated to see buddhism as non > religion. In fact our instructor used to tell us never try to convert > anyone into buddhism as it wasn't a religion but a way to freely choose to > live or not. We were also instructed to only talk about the dharma if > someone asked a question or that person was interested. >  > It will be interesting to know what you, Bill and others consider a religion. >  > Mayka > > Hi Maria. The word 'religion' comes from the Latin root, 'religio', which > means 'taboo', 'restraint', 'to bind'. From an anthropological view-point, > the function of religion is to bind social groups together in a shared > identity. Constantine, for example, understood this when he endorsed > Christianity as the official State religion. Christianity is filled with > assertions which cannot be verified through either reason, experience or > evidence. Buddhism, on the other hand, can be practiced as a way of life > without appealing to belief in rebirth or any other metaphysical speculation. > Gotama was basically just interested in helping people to be happy. He said > that he just taught about suffering and the remedy for suffering. You don't > have to believe in rebirth or karma (beyond the obvious cause-and-effect in > this life) in order to endorse the 4 Noble Truths, The 3 Signs of Being and > the Noble Eightfold Path. Philosophically speaking, I am an advocate of Monistic Idealism, but this is not necessary in order to follow Gotama's advice for living. As you may have gathered, I consider myself a Buddhist practitioner. Buddhists have always practiced Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. I like talking to Zen people, but I also talk to Buddhists from other traditions. I have formally practiced with Zen, Chan, Pureland, Tibetan and Nichiren people. I have also corresponded with Theravada Buddhists. Unlike Bill!, I definitely practice a structured way of life that can be called a philosophy, but I am agnostic about metaphysical assertions that I cannot verify at this time. I do, however, keep an open mind as I practice. For example, my interest in Pureland stems from a pervasive intuitive sense of a Power which transcends my illusiory sense of ego-will, but which cannot be called an external God that is separate from me. Steve > > >
