Posted on 07/02/2024 7:07:09 PM PDT by DallasBiff
Zen, important school of East Asian Buddhism that constitutes the mainstream monastic form of Mahayana Buddhism in China, Korea, and Vietnam and accounts for approximately 20 percent of the Buddhist temples in Japan. The word derives from the Sanskrit dhyana, meaning “meditation.” Central to Zen teaching is the belief that awakening can be achieved by anyone but requires instruction in the proper forms of spiritual cultivation by a master. In modern times, Zen has been identified especially with the secular arts of medieval Japan (such as the tea ceremony, ink painting, and gardening) and with any spontaneous expression of artistic or spiritual vitality regardless of context. In popular usage, the modern non-Buddhist connotations of the word Zen have become so prominent that in many cases the term is used as a label for phenomena that lack any relationship to Zen or are even antithetical to its teachings and practices
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Don’t Zen masters pose riddles (koans) to students and beat the students with sticks if the answers aren’t to the masters’ liking? It sounds like a rough junior high school.
Zen has much to offer.
I was on a project in Taiwan, and after a long day in the jungle it was very relaxing to stop by a tea farm (plantation?) that a couple had. They sort of befriended us. She would make the tea and we would have it with little snacks and conversation. But just watching her make the tea was oddly therapeutic.
Don’t Zen masters pose riddles (koans) to students and beat the students with sticks if the answers aren’t to the masters’ liking? It sounds like a rough junior high school.
No, stick is only ceremonial, light touch. Smack with long stick on back during long meditation or retreats to bring focus to present different matter and is upon request.
Zen + any religion is fine. Buddha never intended he be turned into a “god” or have a religion created around his self-improvement teachings.
That misses the point. India was always filled with suffering, which Buddha said could never be fixed, but through detachment, one could rise above it.
Friendly reminder Japan’s slide into their militaristic government began with the Meiji restoration persecuting Buddhism and raising Shinto above it
In Buddhism, “all is one”. We are one with each other and we are one with God.
In Christianity, “all is two”. There is the Creator and His creation who should worship Him.
The original trick of the devil was to convince man that he could be on the same level of God.
He has been trying to make us believe it ever since then. Buddhism is no different.
Because I know about it.
Of course. I'm describing somehting in a few words.
"There is no Holy Spirit. Which means there is no God, nor any Jesus Christ."
Those are not tenets of Buddhist philosophy.
"I am not a student of Buddhism, other than I have discussed this with the few Buddhists that I do know. I have been told that they do NOT believe in any God, but I assert, if there isn’t one true God, then you have fashioned one for yourself."
I am. As I said, no belief in god is required by Buddhist philosophy, nor is it barred. Atheists do not believe in god, whether that makes sense to you or not.
Your cites don't mean anything anyway. Buddha is not considered a god, just a man.
Which do you claim to know about?
Christianity or Buddhism?
Buddha is not a deity.
If your understanding is that he is thought of that way…you would be mistaken.
We can hold “enlightened” ones in high esteem and try to use them as an example. That’s the purpose of the Saints as well. As well as the heroes of the Bible.
The beauty of this country is you are free to believe and worship how it pleases you. While it is clear that you hold your convictions strongly, not everyone agrees with you. And that is OK.
Sounds like parochial school in 1966. Or an Islamic madrassa.
“ Zen Buddhists do not believe in reincarnation, worship of deities or karma.”
Mahayana samsara. Of course they do.
“Zen is, if pigeonholed, more concerned with meditation and mindfulness than anything else.”
To what purpose?
Christians of all flavors don't want to hear that, as you can see. But it is a true statement. I am a Christian but I don't deceive myself into thinking my faith is pure and not poisoned by Western culture and thought. I've found Zen practices to be a good antidote for that poison. Instead of flaming me, just wake me when all the obese, gluttonous believers get rid of their passive entertainment household gods.
“ I’ve found Zen practices…”
What would those practices be?
Practice, of course, is not necessarily theology or philosophy.
But without the theology or philosophy, how is it “Zen practice” and not just meditation?
It’s similar to yoga which can be done as just an athletic/physical exercise, ignoring the theological roots.
I am a ‘retired Catholic’ and I can speak for Rinzai Zen, of which I have been a follower and practitioner, for the past 40 years. I became interested in Zen, as it was an adjunct to my study of Aikido in Hawaii and Japan. In my experience, it is not “resignation’, but a practice that focuses one inward and seeks to clarify the way one leads his life. And, on suffering, I don’t know what you mean...physical suffering from illness or the suffering that is part of the human condition? As part of the human condition, suffering (in the Buddhist sense) comes from craving. Never being satisfied and grasping at things, of which, you think will make your life better. To end suffering (in the Buddhist sense) you follow the Eightfold Path. Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. Most of us do not believe in God or live life, so that we may live in heaven for eternity, but concentrate on what is in front of us everyday..this life.
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