lol fair enough
What do I do next?
Log in to Treeleaf, I guess.
Three sentences here.
gassho
shonin sat today and lah
Visiting priest: use salt
I respectfully wish to express my dislike of this new 3 sentence experiment. Not that I object to succinct, cohesive, coherent and pithy speech. But I am living in the U.S. under an enormous burden of restrictions (life saving they may be); maybe this one is one too many?
sorry.
gassho,
Anne
~lahst~
Mostly missing the mark.
Its frustrating, When writing 5-7-5 haiku.
But hitting the target is a joyful occasion .
Sat
I like the three sentences. But then my natural tendency is to speak very little. If necessary, William Faulkner taught us that a single sentence can be very long, if you keep adding dependent clauses, which can be kind of a fun exercise, as long as one keeps in mind that such sentences, like the works of Faulkner himself, can be very challenging to read, though not the less valuable for the challenge, unless, like me, you're just going on and on and on keeping the letter of the 3 sentence law while violating its spirit.
Gassho,
Kyoshin
Satlah
As an expert adherent to three sentence clause a couple of questions have come to mind: 1. is there a rollover sentence clause such that if I don't post for a couple days maybe I get 12 sentences? or 2. will this be the 11th precept?
Gassho
Risho
-st
I don't see the point in continuing this to be honest ;
I see few people taking it seriously or even trying to limit themselves.
Disappointing.
Gassho
Meitou
Sattoday lah
命 Mei - life
島 Tou - island
I like the idea as it forces people to think about what's really necessary to say (whether people actually know about it or remember is another issue entirely).
That being said, I do think 3 is a bit short, a lot of ideas/thoughts can be difficult to express adequately in only 3 sentences. I feel like 9 would be a better limit (it also still sticks with the theme of 3 that way). I'm aware there is the whole "unless absolutely necessary" clause to that, however I could potentially see some argument over what is deemed necessary.
Evan,
Sat Today!
Last edited by gaurdianaq; 07-31-2020 at 04:23 PM. Reason: Clarity
Just going through life one day at a time!
Anyone who doesn’t participate in the exercise will never know what the benefit to their practice might have been. But our encounter with the exercise will bring unique opportunities for self-reflection and growth for each of us, regardless of what others are doing, if we allow it. Maybe ask the question, what is this exercise bringing up for ME, and how can I learn from it?
Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Last edited by Jakuden; 07-31-2020 at 07:46 PM.
I like it too. I’d like to see it continue.
Tairin
Sat today and lah
The intricacy of detail for spiritual legislation against seminal emissions in the Vinaya in your quotation is hilarious. I remember reading a translation of Dogen's Shobogenzo I acquired during a Zen retreat at Mt. Shasta Abbey, California where the first few sections seemed very deep but before I knew it I was headlong in lavatory instructions about not making sordid noises in your stall and whatnot. I started to feel bogged down with the whole thing and didn't continue reading... so I'm wondering if you have any advice on getting through the weirder elements in Buddhist holy writ?
-Satoday-
I like this experiment as it challenges me to the point where I've started thinking about my speech IRL. I hope it continues too however when it comes to discussion of books and responding to questions unfortunately the reigns are off. In saying that I'll keep trying.
Gassho
Onka
st
穏 On (Calm)
火 Ka (Fires)
They/She.
Agreed. I'm in full favor of continuing the practice as long as we can all agree that there will be valid exceptions like the aforementioned book discussions.
Gassho,
Rob
-st-
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
聖簡 Seikan (Sacred Simplicity)
I love the 3 sentences. Even when I go over the limit, it really makes me think carefully about what I say.
Gassho
Kyōshin
Satlah
Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk
This is exactly how I feel too ; further than thinking about how I say something, I also question my motives for posting - what am I contributing, is it necessary to the bigger picture, is it just more noise?
A great ego checker and I'm glad to see it has so much support.
Gassho
Meitou
Sattoday lah
命 Mei - life
島 Tou - island
If I understood half of Dr Heine's Dharma talk, I would be quite the scholar, and apparently there are several people in our Zendo who unserstand more than half of this talk. I believe we have several Buddhist scholars in our midsts who have taken vows well beyond me.
Tai Shi
sat/ lah
Gassho
Peaceful Poet, Tai Shi. Ubasoku; calm, supportive, limited to positive 優婆塞 台 婆
Three is my favorite number, sounds like a great idea.
Gassho, Tomás
Sat&LaH
Some ideas cant be properly coveyed with three hundred sentances. Some ideas can be conveyed without a single word. Transmition flower.
Gassho
David
Sat
Dear All,
Unless there are any last comments (hopefully in three sentences or less ), I am going to post this as a rule for our place.
There will be exceptions (such as the "no words" book club, the art circle, and our Precept reflections for Jukai).
Also, if someone truly needs to say something with more words, it is fine ... although we will make it a habit to put a little apology at the end the post.
Gassho, J
STLah
ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE
This experiment immediately reminded me of the sentiment: I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one (more info here https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/0...horter-letter/).
I don't usually say much anyway.
Phill
(sat/lah)
I like this and will continue to honor.
Have noticed use of longer sentences, lots of colons and semicolons being creativity used.
Doshin
St
Understood and try to be brief:
Little puppy asleep at my feet teaches effortlessly how to stay in the moment and live life to its fullest.So happy to have him but also terribly miss my old boy Jack.
Gassho
Teiro
sat
Teiro
UPDATE: PLAN DROPPED
Dear All,
Last minute, I have been persuaded by several voices that I trust that the "Three Sentences" policy should be dropped. So, we will not be moving forward with this because of the feelings expressed. Perhaps it can be revived from time to time as a practice, but not as a standing request. The feeling seems to be that it would just be too restrictive on the ability of people to communicate.
I have to say that I still disagree, but I also believe in going along with consensus and popular feeling in the Sangha about how we structure things. In my view, a Zen group is a place where we earnestly try to drop words, ideas and complex analysis, and the "three sacred sentences" were helping us do so. It did not completely prevent us from saying more when needed, because we could just put a "sorry, needed to say more this time" at the end (just as I am going to do with this post). Even if it sometimes caused long sentences with too many colons ";" (and parenthesis) it nonetheless caused us to reflect on what is truly necessary to say, and not take our thoughts lightly (and was not to apply in our "no words" book club, art circle, Precept discussion for Jukai and the like where some depth of thought and words is more welcome). On the other hand, others felt that it is too forceful, and a simple reminder from time to time would be better.
I felt it was really an effective practice for us, but I also believe in democracy. So, unless there is suddenly a flood of voices the other way who feel that the experiment should be kept, the plan is shelved, perhaps to be revived as a short-term practice from time to time.
Gassho, Jundo
SatTodayLAH
(sorry, needed more than three sentences this time)
Last edited by Jundo; 08-20-2020 at 08:22 PM.
ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE
Polls are hardly democratic and only serve to isolate and silence. Consensus is the only truly democratic process however just because practice has been reversed doesn't mean those of us who liked it can't continue. I'd also surmise that consensus was reached by the Priests and Unsui who are definitely trusted voices. Jundo has no duty to consult us on things like this. If we feel particularly strongly we can advocate for a reversal on the reversal which was a reversal on the original short term trial.
Gassho
Onka
ST
Last edited by Onka; 08-20-2020 at 10:14 PM.
穏 On (Calm)
火 Ka (Fires)
They/She.
I agree that it is a difficult policy to enforce across all areas of the forum, and therefore we end up with too many exceptions to the rule. That said, I do think it is a very worthwhile practice to employ from time to time. Perhaps we can choose to enforce it for only a week at time at certain times of year (around certain holidays or other events?).
I could also see it being something we could each choose to do as an individual practice at certain times of year (Ango, etc.).
Gassho,
Rob
-st-
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聖簡 Seikan (Sacred Simplicity)
So just a thought, but what if we added a plugin of sort that detects if you have a rather long post, and asks you to confirm before you hit submit. An extra nudge to think about if you really needed to say all that was said. I can't imagine it would be hard to find a plugin for vbulletin that checks the length of a post and spawns a little pop up dialog, and if such a thing doesn't exist I can't imagine it would be hard to write, if people liked the idea I could try and do a bit of research into vBulletin plugins.
Evan,
Sat today!
Just going through life one day at a time!
I think that is what a lot of us felt behind the scenes, Rob, as well as the difficulty of answering questions from members in such a short space.I agree that it is a difficult policy to enforce across all areas of the forum, and therefore we end up with too many exceptions to the rule. That said, I do think it is a very worthwhile practice to employ from time to time. Perhaps we can choose to enforce it for only a week at time at certain times of year (around certain holidays or other events?).
But, we are exploring ideas of how we can still emphasise brevity in terms of using as few words as possible to say what you need (and Evan's pop-up box type plan is one of those that came up!), while not enforcing a set number of sentences, words or characters.
Ango is definitely a good time for this to be a individual commitment, as we rest in greater silence, and if it becomes the approach of many that sets the tone for the whole sangha.
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
I too thought about whether it was a beneficial thing or not when I saw your post. It does serve as a really fantastic exercise of restraint and of efficiency of vocabulary and clarity, although I’m not sure how many actually ponder just how few words are needed to get one’s point across and how many are trying to figure out ways to make sentences longer to fit in everything they want to say. The issue I can find is that since the sangha is online, and we all live in different parts of the world and are all active at different times, many might feel a need for more socializing and more fellowship aside from the scheduled practice and that translates to more conversations happening which can be challenging when limited to three sentences, even when that rule is slightly flexible.
SatToday lah
Bion
-------------------------
When you put Buddha’s activity into practice, only then are you a buddha. When you act like a fool, then you’re a fool. - Sawaki Roshi
I liked the 3 sentence guideline and I will endeavour to continue to follow it where possible.
Tairin
Sat today and lah
泰林 - Tai Rin - Peaceful Woods