An Eager Noobist

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Ikkyu
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An Eager Noobist

Post by Ikkyu »

Hello.

My username -- Ikkyu -- is that of a famous Japanese Zen monk, poet, rebel and eccentric who, despite being ordained, is known for his enjoyment of sake, sex and the Japanese bamboo flute (or shakuhachi.). When he wasn't meditating in the mountains, Ikkyu would decend into nearby towns to visit a brothel or just get smashed. His poems often satirize, and at the sime time revere, the Dharma utilizing sexual/erotic puns and unorthodox methods of criticizing conventional Buddhist ethics.

Like Ikkyu, I'm into Buddhism although I am by no means perfect at it. I often stumble over the uncarved block. My original face is mired with the fact that I don't meditate as regularly as I should, and after I do meditate I don't exactly always practice "mindfull consumption". I have yet to take precepts as, you guessed it, I have a problem with the fifth one. (And to a lesser extent the third.) I'm a believer in the idea that being liberal with alcohol use and sexual conduct isn't so bad if a person is mindfull and aware of their actions, and doesn't intend to cause harm. :shrug: Feel free to disagree.

Also like Ikkyu, I am fond of poetry and the shakuhachi. (But damn, it's hard to play.)

Anyhow, I'd like to maybe one day commit to the precepts but I simply don't get how never smoking pot again or refraining from "sexual misconduct" is somehow compassionate. Live and let live, I say. Ikkyu said the same thing, and yet still believed he was treading a Buddhist path. As long as you're not hurting anyone what's the problem?

I've been attending a local sangha group in a nearby town for about a year and a half now. My group is a delineation of Thich Nhat Hanh's lineage in the Lam Te (Rinzai) Thien (Vietnamese Zen) tradition. I'm still considering looking aound to find out whether or not any other certain tradition will suit me better.

I would love to study the history of the Komuso, or the mendicant, basket-wearing monks of Japan who played the shakuhachi in order to gain enlightenment more.

I guess the reason I'm here on Dharma Wheel is primarily because I'm a skeptic. Although I've read A LOT on Buddhism and most other religions (I'm sort of a comparitive religion and philosophy nerd in my spare time, although I'm working to get my BA in professional writing at the moment), I still have issues with the Dharma that I may very well bring up in later posts.

In any case, thank you for reading my introduction and I hope that everything works out well. Many happy returns. Metta. Namaste. Gassho. Yada yada.

:yinyang:

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"Nothing can be known, not even this."
-- Arcesilaus (but I'm not sure)

(cutting through bullshit, and sometimes failing... that's ok, though)

http://thegrandtangent.com
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DNS
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Re: An Eager Noobist

Post by DNS »

Ikkyu wrote: Anyhow, I'd like to maybe one day commit to the precepts but I simply don't get how never smoking pot again or refraining from "sexual misconduct" is somehow compassionate.
You don't have to put a basket over your head when playing the flute. :tongue:

:hi:

Welcome to Dharma Wheel!

:buddha1:
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Ikkyu
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Re: An Eager Noobist

Post by Ikkyu »

David N. Snyder wrote:
Ikkyu wrote: Anyhow, I'd like to maybe one day commit to the precepts but I simply don't get how never smoking pot again or refraining from "sexual misconduct" is somehow compassionate.
You don't have to put a basket over your head when playing the flute. :tongue:

:hi:

Welcome to Dharma Wheel!

:buddha1:
I don't understand what you mean. The practice of the Komuso monks of Japan was to wear a tengai or komuso-gasa -- a basket-shaped hat -- on their heads while playing the shakuhachi for alms. I don't personally do this of course, because I'm not a komuso. I just play the instrument.
"Nothing can be known, not even this."
-- Arcesilaus (but I'm not sure)

(cutting through bullshit, and sometimes failing... that's ok, though)

http://thegrandtangent.com
User avatar
DNS
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Re: An Eager Noobist

Post by DNS »

Ikkyu wrote: I don't understand what you mean. The practice of the Komuso monks of Japan was to wear a tengai or komuso-gasa -- a basket-shaped hat -- on their heads while playing the shakuhachi for alms. I don't personally do this of course, because I'm not a komuso. I just play the instrument.
Okay, sorry, I wasn't familiar with that cultural practice. It looked like a basket.
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Ikkyu
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Re: An Eager Noobist

Post by Ikkyu »

David N. Snyder wrote:
Ikkyu wrote: I don't understand what you mean. The practice of the Komuso monks of Japan was to wear a tengai or komuso-gasa -- a basket-shaped hat -- on their heads while playing the shakuhachi for alms. I don't personally do this of course, because I'm not a komuso. I just play the instrument.
Okay, sorry, I wasn't familiar with that cultural practice. It looked like a basket.
It's perfectly understandable. The Komuso are an obscure topic in Japanese history and Zen Buddhism, and without the effort of a number of historians to preserve their legacy knowledge of them would have probably been lost decades ago.
"Nothing can be known, not even this."
-- Arcesilaus (but I'm not sure)

(cutting through bullshit, and sometimes failing... that's ok, though)

http://thegrandtangent.com
rose
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Re: An Eager Noobist

Post by rose »

Please note this topic has been split, had a name change - Problem with the 5th precept - and has been moved to the Personal Experience forum




Hi Ikkyu, :smile:

Welcome to Dharma Wheel.

Regards,


P.S. Please keep this forum for "Introductions" related posts, thanks.
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Qian Zheng Yi
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Re: An Eager Noobist

Post by Qian Zheng Yi »

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Welcome!
:hi:
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