In general 'shepherds pies' are gender neutral, but in this case it is a 'he'...and his name is not stephen...haha...thanks again for the thoughtful replies...I will try to practice more and create concepts less...BTW, someone mentioned koans...the priest of the zen group I went to recently said he repeats the phrase "who am I" as a form of koan/mantra while sitting...hmmm...not sure that really made sense to me as one could probably just repeat an actual mantra...and not sure if "who am I" is really a Koan either...but to each his own...i suppose the answer is always more doing and less thinking...shane
--- In [email protected], "mike" <uerusuboyo@...> wrote: > > Joe, > > Well, I guess ignorance of the law is no defence, so guilty as charged. I > will in partial defence tho say that in this day and age it is unlikely that > a beginning practioner can be shielded from the plethora of books on Zen and > other schools of Buddhism. I don't believe that what I said was even that > heretical and would lead Shepardspie down the wrong path (the right path if > it leads him to Vipassana) ; ) I am, however, grossly negligent in not > suggesting he (or she - it's my belief that shepards pies are gender neutral) > seek out a Zen centre and teacher. I throw myself at your mercy, m'lud. > > Mike > > --- In [email protected], "Joe" <desert_woodworker@> wrote: > > > > Mike, Bill!, Shepherdspie, > > > > I'd say that if seeing those things is really the aim of some of the > > practices in Zen, then it's not necessary to speak about it, especially in > > advance of the techniques or practice methods being applied or adopted. > > Let the methods work. > > > > Teaching about these issues in advance is part of the curriculum of the > > Teaching School of Gradualism, of which Theravada is a part. > > > > It was not carried over in the Zen school, which is the Sudden School, and > > part of the Mahayana. > > > > Now, there are Mahayana "Philosophies", as in the Yogacara and Madhyamika > > schools, but these are philosophical schools, where talking is allowed. ;-) > > > > I think you are perhaps bringing in some echoes or flavors from your > > Vipassana practice, which are however out of context, and not > > representative of Zen practice, teaching, and training. > > > > Each school of training has its own logic, process, and progress, and is > > complete in itself, to itself, and for itself. That's why it is called a > > school. It isn't fair to mix them if a person asks about Zen practices, > > say, in a Zen forum ...except without a disclaimer such as I've made here > > ...if you do mix them. > > > > I note that Bill! did not mix them. > > > > I don't think I did either, in my reply to "Shep". > > > > Well, strong practice, all. > > > > --Joe > > > > > "mike" <uerusuboyo@> wrote: > > > > > > Bill!, > > > > > > I agree with everything you wrote, but i would add that most Buddhist > > > teaching techniques ( including Zen) aim to not only stop creating > > > delusions, but to see that the delusions we create are due to a belief in > > > a mind and a self and ignorance of impermanence. I add this only for > > > Stephen's interest, not because ts news to you. > > > ------------------------------------ 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/
