Howdy, Mike, None of us impugn the practice of "Dana", do we? As instituted by the Buddha. I know you don't.
If we do, all Vipassana teachers are dead and buried. Died of malnutrition. R.I.P.! And I hadn't even gotten to know enough of them to form a good idea from a representative, statistically-significant, sample, to know if they were Awakened or not, as *WE* are clearly in Zen! Gone, gone; like the Dinosaurs. Aww-w, shucks. Could be a money-making, best-selling, weight-loss paperback: "THE VIPASSANA TEACHER DIET". Just be careful how you USE it! Your pall-bearers won't have to employ any muscle at all. You might even be weightless, though in sub-orbital space. ;-) Pardon the levity!, --Joe --- In [email protected], "mike" wrote: > > Merle, > > Don't be so harsh on yourself. I think you're right to be somewhat skeptical > about teachers who receive an income, or make a living, out of the Dharma. > Joe is also correct that so often we listen to our discriminating mind and > hence create points of view that are just not true reflections of reality. > But there has to be a balance. I don't know Subhana, but if it's true she is > a practicing doctor, then my feeling would be she shouldn't be charging money > for teaching the Dharma. Where, for example, would she know that trip > overseas was paid from - her doctor's salary or from a talk on the Lotus > Sutra? (I'm not necessarily impugning Subhana as I know nothing of her > circumstances. But I think my concerns still stand). > > I also think it's wrong if a person makes a living teaching the Dharma, but > could be earning a living in other ways. Let's not forget that Buddha forbade > his monks from even * handling* money! In the Vipassana tradition of > S.N.Goenka (the one I follow), all retreats are free of charge, and all > teachers are volunteers. Simply put, no one should receive financial > compensation for teaching the Dharma, at least not beyond reimbursement for > travelling expenses etc. sometimes 'wage' can conveniently be interpreted as > 'Dana'. > > Mike ------------------------------------ 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/
