Dharma Wheel

Zen/Chan may explain some channels or cakras similar to more outer-level Taoism; but not nearly as detailed & specific as Indian & ZhangZhung Buddha/Bön-Yoga. Of course Zen has its own teachings RE these things, and what is practically meant by the oft-repeated (in Zen training halls) slogans that ...

So, these are the reasons why I say what I said about Chan etc. That's the clearest explanation of direct introduction/pointing out instructions that I've seen, thanks for that. And I agree it's important not to conflate things that seem on the surface to be similar, or that use as you note similar...

I should clarify, I'm definitely not throwing shade towards Zen/Ch'an, Buddhists have been appropriating and repurposing practices from other religions since the time of Sakyamuni. Nothing wrong with that, if it works it works. Not to get too far off topic, but: No shade taken. I am inclined to thi...

The records of early Zen in Japan (Kamakura era) record a concern with this kind of cultivation among the late Song Chinese Chan masters and monks who landed in Japan, and their Japanese students. So whatever the ultimate origins, it all greatly predates Hakuin. If Daoist in origin, the intent certa...

Malcolm wrote: ↑Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:13 am [quote
Anyway, thanks for your input, always valued.

Likewise, most certainly.

In dzogchen tradition, the lama will do something to reveal the nature of the student's mind. This "direct introduction" is the beginning point for dzogchen practice. Is there something like this in japanese zen? Often they talk about "mind to mind transmission outside of the scriptures." I'm wonde...

To be honest, I actually think no Zen practitioner really cares much if Zen is called sutric or not, or how other traditions categorize its approach. Why should they? Zen is clear as to its own relationship with the sutras as well as its method. For example: If you study the sutra teachings, you eas...

Thank you for this.

As well, the crucible of training and certification in western Zen has moved to the wider dokusan room of life. Teachers look to see the total picture of how their student is realizing the "genjokoan" of life before choosing to award shiho. It is fine to talk that way. Of course the crux of Zen pra...

We can hope/pray that someone comes along every century or few hundred years who can re-establish life in a lineage. But is there any living Soto Zen master today that you see differently? I have always thought that there must be some very special masters - both Soto and Rinzai - who are not so well...

No offense taken at all. As I said, one can believe that if one wishes.

And in that case, I would think the next step would be to determine what path DOES fit one's conditions. And to do that, 100%, without looking back.

Your expectation is very high for modern degenerative age where world is wretched with bad karma. Satori is not easy in any tradition. There is a rare one in a billion who have reached the Wisdom level of Buddhas. You might have an Arahant and possibly a Bodhisattva here and there. One can believe ...

But we have to remember that shiho was given only to enlightened students, not like today when anyone gets shiho. This fact has caused great confusion in the West: Soto priests receiving shiho as kind of a standard certification that anyone can get, and Rinzai priests receiving inka which is extrem...

Ah yes, that's right about the section.

And actually Chiba Sensei received shukke tokudo also from him, as a Soto priest. But then he also supported some Rinzai Zen teachers in USA, and even attended sesshin with them as a trainee. Very nice.

Malcolm wrote: ↑Wed May 27, 2020 6:46 pm Yes, we used to have a word for this bank in the days of Punk Rock: poseurs.

And this behavior is silly, and makes Zen look ridiculous and trivial (it isn't).

People whacking each other with sticks on line and uttering mysterious profundities (aka gibberish) is just sad.

Yep.

Very nice.

BTW the "special friend" he mentions (an Aikido teacher) is the late T. K. Chiba Sensei, who was very well-known in the Aikido world and also did a lot to support Zen practice.

If I may erroneously take this as directing at me, your view is also a personal view. It is, in fact, erroneous. What I wrote was not directed at you, or anyone specific here. This a view of strict discipline and practice but it’s not shared by all Zen and it shouldn’t be because it means no hope f...

If the inquiry is really coming from within people's heart, then of course, they by no means will be satisfied by the reply given by the "Google/Wikipedia" brain-programming tandem (that I have posted earlier). They will truly and wholeheartedly investigate. Yes, that is the moment to seek out a te...

Its what I see it in forums like this, that is just not appealing to me, and I sense some people use the aesthetic to paper over their own tentative understandings. That makes me wonder, what benefit such elliptical language/thought is supposed to do for someone who doesn't yet actually have genuin...

A bit more complicated poem, "The Five Ranks of Tozan"*, is said to describe "the interplay of absolute and relative". The ranks are referenced in the "Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi"** (attributed to the Chinese monk Dongshan Liangjie). I don't know what words have been translated "relative" ...