Search found 47 matches

by genkaku
Tue Sep 18, 2012 4:41 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?
Replies: 63
Views: 18874

Re: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?

On the topic of common sense, which I will grant is open to a number of interpretations... Common sense suggests we not step in dog shit on the sidewalk in front of us. But it also strikes me as common sensical to observe, for example, that all intellectual, emotional and belief structures exist in ...
by genkaku
Wed Sep 12, 2012 2:35 am
Forum: Zen
Topic: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?
Replies: 63
Views: 18874

Re: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?

selflesness, which is a basis of zen
Intellectually, maybe this is OK.

Otherwise, it is like feeding rat poison to a beloved child.
by genkaku
Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:44 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?
Replies: 63
Views: 18874

Re: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?

zen has nothing to do with ''common sense''
After a number of decades of practice, this makes no sense to me except perhaps in some fairy-tale intellectual realm.
by genkaku
Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:33 am
Forum: Zen
Topic: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?
Replies: 63
Views: 18874

Re: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?

Matylda -- Albert Camus once wrote, approximately, "Some people climb onto the cross in order to be seen from a greater distance." In nine years under Shimano's well-dressed shadow, I learned quite a lot ... some of it good, most of it not so good. I learned, for example, that it is not OK...
by genkaku
Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:44 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: "A Modern Monk's Tale"
Replies: 1
Views: 1297

"A Modern Monk's Tale"

Words stick in my throat when I try to describe the power I found in "A Modern Monk's Tale" by John Cavanagh, a former Trappist monk who tried, like so many before and after him, to bring clerical misdeeds to his superiors' attention ... and, like so many before and after him, was told to ...
by genkaku
Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:14 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?
Replies: 63
Views: 18874

Re: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?

As regards the OP, I suggest at least taking a look at The Shimano Archive . Lineage depends on the credulity of the aspirant, but the archive may provide some assistance in gauging the environment. :) i had a glimpse of those archives... well the title is already something to think about... one ma...
by genkaku
Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:36 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?
Replies: 63
Views: 18874

Re: Is Eido Tai Shimano's lineage legitimate?

As regards the OP, I suggest at least taking a look at The Shimano Archive. Lineage depends on the credulity of the aspirant, but the archive may provide some assistance in gauging the environment.
by genkaku
Sat Aug 08, 2009 1:33 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: with thanks
Replies: 3
Views: 1748

with thanks

Just wanted to say thanks to those who took the time and made the effort to create Dharma Wheel. It was a big help and a useful resource that now seems to have become largely a blog.

Nevertheless, I am grateful to those who made the effort.

Gassho.
by genkaku
Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:28 am
Forum: Meditation
Topic: The Search for a Teacher...
Replies: 12
Views: 4784

Re: The Search for a Teacher...

Saddles are wonderful, as they point out in Texas. But there is always the matter of the horse that goes under them. I guess if we follow the horseshit, we may luck out.
by genkaku
Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:05 am
Forum: Meditation
Topic: The Search for a Teacher...
Replies: 12
Views: 4784

Re: The Search for a Teacher...

I suppose then that the only thing left to do, whether the teachers are good or bad, is to find out exactly what the Dharmakaya might be and then actualize it. Anything less would be nonsense, I imagine.
by genkaku
Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:23 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: The Search for a Teacher...
Replies: 12
Views: 4784

Re: The Search for a Teacher...

Dear Sraddha -- No one can teach Buddhism ... even those who talk day and night, page after page, and fill the air with more air.

Bad teachers, good teachers ... who in their right mind would distinguish this way? Just find a teacher who suits you and stop filling the air with air.
by genkaku
Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:04 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: What constitutes bodhisattva practice in daily life?
Replies: 18
Views: 5270

Re: What constitutes bodhisattva practice in daily life?

My vote:

Pay attention and take responsibility and the bodhisattvas will become apparent.
by genkaku
Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:56 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Buddha's non-Buddhist teachings!
Replies: 14
Views: 4720

Re: Buddha's non-Buddhist teachings!

Hi sraddha -- Teachings of whatever sort have at least a couple of dimensions: 1. The dimension that points out a direction and, perhaps, expands on the intellectual or heart-felt understanding of that direction. It is in this realm that people can wax 'ecumenical' or find meanings that overlap and ...
by genkaku
Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:40 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Is breathing meditation alone good?
Replies: 9
Views: 3974

Re: Is breathing meditation alone good?

I imagine that you have to breathe even when you're sick. If you weren't breathing, you'd be dead and how could you possibly know you were sick? :smile:
by genkaku
Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:52 am
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Is breathing meditation alone good?
Replies: 9
Views: 3974

Re: Is breathing meditation alone good?

I don't know much about the long names, but I favor the breath. It is intimate and inescapable and without it all the long names would disappear in a nanosecond. Since what is sought is intimate and inescapable, the breath is a good point of focus. There is no way to lie about or be wise about the b...
by genkaku
Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:31 pm
Forum: Sūtra Studies
Topic: Historicity of Mahayana Sutras -- Does it matter?
Replies: 54
Views: 19745

Re: Historicity of Mahayana Sutras -- Does it matter?

Strictly personal (I'll leave the debates to others): As a starting point, I think historicity and the use of words like "authentic" is probably a good support in practice. But as practice progresses and experience builds, I think the important part is what works ... what you are really wi...
by genkaku
Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:39 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: New Richard Gombrich book - What the Buddha Thought
Replies: 6
Views: 3254

Re: New Richard Gombrich book - What the Buddha Thought

How in heaven's name could anyone know what the Buddha thought when they can't even know what their dearest friends think?

Sorry ... just a little befuddled by the title.
by genkaku
Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:15 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Taking care of your mental health
Replies: 3
Views: 1991

Re: Taking care of your mental health

Hi retro -- As you say, there are a zillion ramifications and entry points on "mental health" and Buddhist practice and I can't pretend to know how to cover all the bases. Still, my two cents .... I had a Zen teacher once, a man I came to distrust deeply, who said, "In order to practi...
by genkaku
Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:38 pm
Forum: Prayers and Aspirations
Topic: This life is so precious
Replies: 14
Views: 7432

Re: This life is so precious

This life is so wonderfully precious.
That is why we must learn to give it up.
by genkaku
Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:39 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: The Laity
Replies: 4
Views: 2119

Re: The Laity

Since I didn't live in that time, I have no way to assess the story, although I admit it makes me sad to think that teachings would be withheld. Even if the imagined secrets of Buddhism were told, what could that possibly tell anyone? No disrespect intended: I just have a hard time seeing how the es...

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