Hi Mel,
Well put. It is said, all written words, sutra/bible/koran, are for our
convenience. Convenience for us to be awakened from within. They are
like boats to ferry us across the other shore, the shore beyond our
habits, additions, believes, logic, dogma, faith, etc.
Once we landed, or had a peak through our own delusions, these boats,
big or small, dumb or smart, are to be left behind, instead of being
carried in our mind. So that we can continue on with our journey.
Too often, we hold them dearly, as golden rules, as absolute. Then we
are blinded by them and fail to "see" the truth of every encounter,
loose the wisdom of the moment to deliver our fulfillment, as well as
disconnect from the calling of within, which is boundless compassion and
true sense of life's purpose.
My teacher often reminds me, stay within your heart, sync with the life
force and wisdom of each moment. Thus you could be unaffected by all
forms at every moment, and "see" clearly the manifestation of cause and
effect.
JM
Learn the Basics of Chan Meditation...
http://www.chan-meditation.org
Chan in everyday life...
http://www.chanliving.org
To be enlightened in this life...
http://www.heartchan.org
To save our world...
http://www.universal-oneness.org
On 7/20/2011 1:53 AM, Mel wrote:
This posting is going off the zen grid a bit, but I myself had no
problems with the forbidden books as well as those things to do with
any sexual connection between Mary Magdalene and Jesus during my
try-out period of a few months with the Christian faith back then. The
way I see it to this day, nothing really changes what Yahweh/Jesus
says in his holy book...author Dale Brown, or not
They(some scholars) say that Jesus and Mary Magdalene shacked up(set
up house/love nest) together and had children afterwards, whose
descendants are alive today. It has also been said in the past that
Mary Magdalene was present somewhere in the picture of Jesus's
PassOver with the disciples. As a Christian of the Quaker variety(or
at least, I tried to be as so) from back then, I had no problem with
such, because I could see that it was such an insignificant matter,
and didn't really affect all things scriptural
It's the same with the old man himself. Somebody can turn around and
tell me today that the old fella wasn't really as holy as he claimed
to be from under that special tree. Do I care? Must I even care? Of
course not. The book Zen Mind Begginer's Mind is one I keep coming
back to. Reading and absorbing it is not exactly getting it straight
from the horse's mouth, but it's beneficial to me in my own
private way. For all I know, this son of Queen Maha Maya could have
been one of the most corrupt characters in humankind's history.
Good...bad...which one was he? By now, do we really care as zen
practitioners? Unlike some corrupt and self-proclaimed,
ceremony-obssessed south-east Asian and Ceylonese Buddhists I've dealt
with in the past I don't hold holiness to anyone in this world of
ours. Zen is my chosen path, although I do not tag myself as Buddhist
in any way, unless I'm pressed to declare some faith or another and I
can see that explaining zen to the enquirer is going to cause not
clarity in mind but added confusion to the enquirer
Thanks for your time
in Buddha's grace
Mel
