Scott, You're welcome. Of course, the idea to practice with Sheng Yen's folks is just a suggestion. There may be other more economical choices available to you. But I think there is more of a presence of Dharma teaching in Taiwan than in mainland China, and Sheng Yen's people are very rigorously taught, and very well able to teach.
BTW, there are probably folks among Sheng Yen's people who speak Japanese, too, as Sheng Yen himself did, as well as his native Mandarin, and then, later, some English. Sheng Yen took his PhD at Rissho University in Japan, in Buddhist Studies, around 1975, where he was the first Chinese national ever to do so, and, there, the curriculum is entirely in Japanese and rather technical when it comes to the language of Buddhism, I suppose. Language should be *no* problem when you are at their practice center. And I think in Taiwan generally, many citizens know English, esp. in the larger cities. All best, --Joe > "Bummy McNeedy" wrote: > > hey Joe, > Thanks for the quick response! Taiwan is far more do-able! I'll check them > out on the internet. Unfortunately, after living in Japan all those years, my > brain short circuited, and Chinese is waaaaayyyy too difficult for me. I can > speak i dian dian, but sound completely retarded I'm afraid. > Well, I'm off to check out Sheng Yen. > Thanks again, > Scott-AKA Bummy "Charles" McNeedy > > --- In [email protected], "Joe" wrote: > > > > Scott, > > > > If you could get over to Taiwan, you could practice with Sheng Yen's folks > > there. No need to go to New York! Their place can be found on the web. > > If your Chinese is good, you'll feel at home. But their English is good > > also. > > > > Let them show you the basics as they practice them. Ordinarily, we don't > > ourselves know what the basics are until we encounter a good introduction > > to them by people who have inherited them and rely on them in daily life. > > When we practice them on intensive retreat, we come to see what is basic > > and what is not, and why things are basic. Also, in Zen practice, the more > > basic the better, I think. But let the competent teachers teach what is > > basic. Posture, methods, and all the other practices besides Zazen, are > > basic. Each practice supports another, and puts us more and more in a > > condition to enable us to wake up suddenly. Anyway, you have my best > > wishes. ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
