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Thread: There is No-Self ... or is there?

  1. #51

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Dear Shokai,

    I did indeed mean potent. A noticeable shift takes place in my awareness every time I let those words point me beyond and inside their meaning.

    Gassho,

    Hans Chudo Mongen

  2. #52

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Hans;
    I get your meaning. The question was rhetoric, I get a similar response and submit poignant as well:
    poign·ant ?[poin-yuhnt, poi-nuhnt] (adjective):

    1. keenly distressing to the feelings: poignant regret.
    2. keen or strong in mental appeal: a subject of poignant interest.
    3. affecting or moving the emotions: a poignant scene.

    4. pungent to the smell: poignant cooking odors.
    or as Fugen would say, "It's all good" 8)

  3. #53

    There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shokai
    Sorry Pontus, i mis-read your koan as "the Lion's Rear" :shock: :lol: :lol:

    Well, someone recently shared the wisdom of turning to one's ass instead of the brain for the truth, so why not a lion's ass!

    Gassho,
    Pontus

  4. #54

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    This reminds me of a dokusan I had with a teacher in the Kwan Um School once. I hope it is useful to others:

    KK JDPSM: Do you have any questions?
    Me: I have been thinking a lot about karma and non-self lately. If there is no self, who is subject to the law of karma?
    KK JDPSM: KK JDPSM points at my left hand with his teacher's stick. If there is no self, who is wearing that ring?
    Me: silence
    I would have hoped this would have ended with "Upon hearing this, Sam was enlightened" but it didn't work out that way!

  5. #55

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    :lol: :lol:

  6. #56

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Quote Originally Posted by SonofRage
    This reminds me of a dokusan I had with a teacher in the Kwan Um School once. I hope it is useful to others:

    KK JDPSM: Do you have any questions?
    Me: I have been thinking a lot about karma and non-self lately. If there is no self, who is subject to the law of karma?
    KK JDPSM: KK JDPSM points at my left hand with his teacher's stick. If there is no self, who is wearing that ring?
    Me: silence
    I would have hoped this would have ended with "Upon hearing this, Sam was enlightened" but it didn't work out that way!
    :mrgreen:

    I always remember something Red Pine wrote in his Heart Sutra book, "it's not that there is NO self, it's that there is no INDEPENDENT self."

    Of course you exist. But... not really :P

  7. #57

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaishin
    I always remember something Red Pine wrote in his Heart Sutra book, "it's not that there is NO self, it's that there is no INDEPENDENT self."

    Of course you exist. But... not really :P
    We are passing ripples on the flowing rivers surface ... who may know we are the ripples, but often miss the river flowing flowing flowing.

    Or maybe I am just all wet! :?

    Gassho, J

  8. #58

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Either way, you flow back to the ocean. _/_

  9. #59

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shokai
    Either way, you flow back to the ocean. _/_
    Which accepts all waters, indiscriminately!

  10. #60

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaishin
    Quote Originally Posted by Shokai
    Either way, you flow back to the ocean. _/_
    Which accepts all waters, indiscriminately!
    And then one could say something very 'Zen' (my job description, actually 8) ) ... such as asking what accepts the ocean indiscriminately!?

    Every drop of water, of course, and every ripple holds the whole ocean with room to spare! And you, a swimming (hopefully, not drowning) being holds the whole ocean in every stroke.

    And what holds and is held by all that indiscriminately?

    Master Keizan's Zazenyojinki says ...

    Our mind is like the ocean water, our body, like the waves. Just as there is not a single wave outside the ocean waters, not a drop of water exists outside waves. The water and waves are not different; action and inaction do not differ. ... Pure water has neither front nor back. In a clear sky there is essentially no inside and out side. Like them - transparent and clear - zazen shines brightly by itself.

    Is there but one ocean, or seven seas, or countless oceans? It is everywhere, nothing hidden. Master Dogen quotes this poem by Xuedou in Tenzo Kyokun ...

    "One, seven, three, five.
    What you search for cannot be grasped.
    As the night deepens,
    the moon [of enlightenment] brightens over the ocean.
    The moon, the black dragon's jewel,
    is found in every wave.
    Looking for the moon,
    it is here in this wave
    and the next."


    Gassho, J

  11. #61

    Re: There is No-Self ... or is there?

    Thank you Kaishin and Jundo !

  12. #62
    Hi All,

    Sorry to revive a 2-year-old thread, but I just stumbled on an exceptionally relevant article at:

    http://web.archive.org/web/200709271...runing%209.pdf

    or

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/33827209/S...cably-Buddhist
    Thanks,
    Kaishin (開心, Open Heart)
    Please take this layman's words with a grain of salt.

  13. #63
    Quote Originally Posted by Kaishin View Post
    Hi All,

    Sorry to revive a 2-year-old thread, but I just stumbled on an exceptionally relevant article at:

    http://web.archive.org/web/200709271...runing%209.pdf

    or

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/33827209/S...cably-Buddhist
    Hi Kaishin,

    Let me give a little background on what that article is about.

    A few years ago, a small group of scholars in Japan (actually, really two scholars) who were sometimes called by the misleading name of "critical buddhists", argued that Zen and other corners of Mahayana Buddhism had deviated from the early Buddhist teachings by an emphasis on "Original Enlightenment". To make a long story short, many others scholars basically shot the more extreme of their assertions full of holes, and the "critical buddhists" are not widely accepted these days among Mahayana historians,

    Here is a quick Wiki summary of Original Enlightenment (Hongaku) ...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongaku

    Here is a much longer scholarly article reviewing the most detailed book on the topic (of which your article was part, I believe) if you wish to read in detail.

    http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2673

    A lot of the criticism of "Original Enlightenment" is based on two misunderstandings. First, that one is talking about some kind of original "Atman" that the Buddha rejected when, in fact, Zen Original Enlightenment as a realization of Emptiness is not a realization of Atman; Second, "Original Enlightenment" does not mean we reject that need to Practice and have some Realization in order to realize that we are so (it is not an excuse to sit on the sofa and do nothing).

    I would not recommend pursuing the readings except for real Buddhist history and philosophy wonks who might be interested. The whole debate is something of a tempest in an empty teapot.

    Gassho, J
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  14. #64
    Thanks, Jundo, for the additional info! Looks like most of it is for academes I'm satisfied with the explanation of tathagathagarba as a "positive" way of speaking about emptiness.
    Thanks,
    Kaishin (開心, Open Heart)
    Please take this layman's words with a grain of salt.

  15. #65
    Thank you for letting me find this thread (by adding new posts).
    It's all too early for me to understand this, but I really enjoyed reading the teachings.
    I could not explain or grasp it logically, but it "feels right".

    Gassho
    Danny

  16. #66
    Well, you are welcome! I've found that the Einstein quote is true: "The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know" But that's okay
    Thanks,
    Kaishin (開心, Open Heart)
    Please take this layman's words with a grain of salt.

  17. #67
    Hello all,

    well I spent the day swimming round in 'the tempest in the tea pot' as Jundo aptly describes it because I'm a philosophy enthusiast (hope that doesn't make me a wonk).

    I really enjoyed reading Hakamaya Noriaki's essay on 'Critical Philosophy Versus Topical Philosophy' because I didn't understand the issues from bits and bobs I've read before and his polemical style brought back 'happy' () memories of a past life in academia and how heated the discussions become.

    here is the link http://www.scribd.com/doc/99858087/H...hilosophy-p-56

    I wish I could say 'of course none of this debate matters' - and part of me feels this is so - but I'm not entirely convinced because I do question within myself whether I've too readily taken on board a number of metaphysical assumptions without really questioning whether this is 'faith' based/ experience based or just going with the flow of acceptance?

    I don't think I would still be participating in zazen if I didn't feel that the 'words' ring true - feel authentic - are actualized in practice - but if Zen is about great faith and great doubt then I do experience both in equal measure.

    Sometimes I feel I'm afraid to ask the questions that rumble in the back of my mind concerning Zen - or maybe it's simply I've lcome to a realisation that it's a waste of precious time (for me) to keep ruminating on questions that can't be factually answered no matter what method of enquiry is employed and that the time is better spent sitting. (Is sitting a method of enquiry? ....)

    Just some thoughts,

    Gassho

    Willow
    Last edited by Jinyo; 06-26-2014 at 11:45 PM.

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