I guess the obnoxious but required reply is "keep sitting until that idea of doing something fades away as well as the idea of some separate person to do something. "
Tho I do resonate with the idea of wanting to do it all by myself: a strong illusion, that I with my bicycle, my staying at home with kids, my using c instead of Java, my home grown frameworks rather than jQuery or Django, can some how do something without the trees' oxygen, the cultural milleau, my parents genes and raising, my villagers' constant help, and my teacher's airy dismissals of my good thoughts! I am a little unclear about the people seeking others to show a way. on.first reading your email I thought you were critiquing them but on proofreading, it seems you say they are not that wrong. But my original email was just to say I do understand wanting to take the easy way out. Not to recommend it, but I have a fridge magnet that says : to understand everything is to forgive everything. Cheers, --Chris On Aug 26, 2012 2:40 PM, "William Rintala" <brint...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > > > Chris: > > I am a seeker and am stuck with the idea that I must "do > something". I think that people who can give up that compulsion, that > obsession, and surrender themselves to someone percieved as "other", > someone who knows the way may not be all that wrong. There is something in > our makeup that makes us want to do it all by ourselves. To paraphrase > Tony Soprano's mother "it's all a big nothing and in the end we all die > alone." > > Bill > > > > > Find what makes your heart sing…and do it! > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Chris Austin-Lane <ch...@austin-lane.net> > *To:* Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com > *Sent:* Sun, August 26, 2012 3:05:02 PM > *Subject:* Re: [Zen] Re: Hello > > > > If it could work to have some outside authority tell me the truth, I would > totally sign up for that. > > Being responsible for not deceiving myself, for not having a fixed > position of safety, is harder than just being taken care of. > > I can totally relate to why people seek shortcuts; though reality offers > none, I know how easy deceiving oneself is. > > As far as the personhood thing, maybe seeing deeply into what it means for > us to be a person also changes the idea that a phrase like "personal God" > points to. That's been my experience at least as a practicing Christian and > a practicing zen student. > On Aug 26, 2012 12:30 PM, "Glenn Rogers" <rgthies...@yahoo.ca> wrote: > >> Are there any Gnostic Christians still around? >> >> In my Shangha searching, I have found many Buddhists who pray/chant to >> Buddah, and they seem to view him as a god, rather than their own nature. >> >> Why would people be more interested in being told what to believe, as >> opposed to exploring Truth for themselves? >> >> Glenn >> >> --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Kristopher Grey <kris@...> wrote: >> > >> > On 8/25/2012 1:58 PM, Glenn Rogers wrote: >> > > Christian teaching that God is a "person" doesn't click with me. >> > >> > >> > >> > Gnostic Christians, and many others, would agree with this. >> > >> > How many Buddhists pray/chant to Buddha? >> > >> > Superficial/literal "teachings" are perversions peddled to the masses. >> > Tabloid headlines blaring from newsstands called temples and churches. >> > This is all most are interested in, so they largely miss the meaning >> > behind the message, fail to make it their own realization. >> > >> > This is not a problem. Both Christ and Buddha are said to have spoken of >> > this. No one knows. ;) >> > >> > KG >> > >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------ >> >> Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are >> reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> > >
