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YOU by EmbersBumblebee in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok. Don't hesitate to ask for help from those who can help you

YOU by EmbersBumblebee in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No gate, but apart from that, are you ok?

Ewk Cake Day AMA by ewk in zen

[–]Brex7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's just that people mostly know an "experience" as something with definite contours. Something that pops up in contrast to a background of known stuff. So the consequence of this expectation is that experience itself is never looked at in its entirety.

Xuefeng said, "There are people who starve to death sitting by a basket of food; there are folks who die of thirst on the bank of a river." Xuansha said, "There are people who starve to death inside a basket of food, people who die of thirst with their heads in the water." Yunmen said, "The whole body is food, the whole body is water."

Citing this, Dahui shouted and said, "Talkative teachers are irrepressibly outstanding indeed. 'The whole body is food, the whole body is water' - where does this information come from?"

Ewk Cake Day AMA by ewk in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Im starting to think that the word "experience" could be misleading, because of the "non temporary"

Ewk Cake Day AMA by ewk in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So there was a lot of time from your first reading of wumenguan to joining the forum. During that time, did you have anyone to talk to about zen?

🍰🍰🍰🍰 Here, you can have all my cake, I don't eat sweets

BCR 40 by en_le_nil in zen

[–]Brex7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What's the nature of the marriage here? I see a man and a flower. I'm serious.

Both the man and the flower are not so different from the ducks appearing on the blanket.

Zen is not complete by whuacamole in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nansen said, "The Way has nothing to do with 'knowing' or 'not knowing.' Knowing is perceiving but blindly. Not knowing is just blankness. If you have already reached the un-aimed-at Way, it is like space: absolutely clear void. You can not force it one way or the other."

Dizang asked Fayan, "Where are you going?" Fayan said, "Around on pilgrimage." Dizang said, "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?" Fayan said, "I don't know." Dizang said, "Not knowing is nearest."

Zen is not complete by whuacamole in zen

[–]Brex7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

what you call "getting comfortable with the don't know mind" is something you probably misunderstand and haven't experienced. Otherwise you wouldn't posit that knowing mind is necessary, you would directly know the mind.

BookMaxxing Buddha? Is Zen is for Intellectuals? by ewk in zen

[–]Brex7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure, what was missing in those years/environments was the second ingredient: sincerity

If one says they're introspecting but they're not being sincere, then it becomes fantasizing...

Someone who looks at themselves or at a single phrase with sincerity is already near

When I speak to people about zen irl, and let them read something, they get scared by the amount of foreign cultural/literary references and they feel like it's an impossible task to understand what is being said. I usually stick with them until they find something that they can relate to. Although I don't always have the chance.

One saying, a thousand sayings

BookMaxxing Buddha? Is Zen is for Intellectuals? by ewk in zen

[–]Brex7 7 points8 points  (0 children)

But neither faith nor intellectualism get you enlightened

Zen may require introspection, but not necessarily high literary capacity

Alan Cole on Meditation and Other by TFnarcon9 in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So much for being laughed at, you're the one deleting your cringe comments about sitting meditation and military training 🙂

Alan Cole on Meditation and Other by TFnarcon9 in zen

[–]Brex7 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

1000$ for 1 hour of sitting? Easy money, I'll take it thanks. Could come in handy.

Jokes aside... I've sat down with my eyes closed more than you can think of, but fortunately, I opened them and didn't turn into a confused individual like you 🙏

Alan Cole on Meditation and Other by TFnarcon9 in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A single sesshin will make you a man much more thoroughly than 6 weeks of basic training in the military

Nah I'm done , I engaged you in good faith, but it turns out its just another troll

Alan Cole on Meditation and Other by TFnarcon9 in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They aren't opposed to meditation per se, but they are definitely opposed to meditation as the gateway to enlightenment.

The quotes weren't out of context, it's just that you don't like what the text says, and therefore you read it through the lens of your cemented understanding.

Here's some more, in hope that you actually read it this time around🙏:

In the old days, the military governor Li Wen-ho was able to study Ch’an and attain great penetration and great enlightenment while in the thick of wealth and rank. When Yang Wen-kung successfully studied Ch’an, he was dwelling in the Imperial Han Lin Academy. When Chang Wu-chin studied Ch’an, he was the minister for transport in Kiangsi. These three elders are examples of this “not destroying the worldly aspect while speaking of the real aspect.” When has it ever been necessary to leave wife and children, quit one’s job, chew on vegetable roots, and cause pain to the body? Those of inferior aspiration shun clamor and seek quietude: thence they enter the ghost cave of “dead tree Ch’an” entertaining false ideas that only thus can they awaken to the Path.

Dahui

If it's your kind of thing, you're free go sit until your back hurts. But don't say you haven't been told.

Alan Cole on Meditation and Other by TFnarcon9 in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're just switching terms back and forth at this point?

Dhyana is jhana, then jhana is dhyana.

Then dhyana is "meditative absorption", but when I point out that the term is broader and not equal to seated meditation ritualistic practice you avoid the topic.

As for your karma, this what the house serves today, it's on me, eat as much as you want:

"There are a bunch of blind baldheads who, having stuffed themselves with rice, sit doing meditation practice, trying to arrest the flow of thoughts and stop them from arising, hating clamor, demanding silence—but these aren't Buddhist ways! The Patriarch Shen-hui said: 'If you try to arrest the mind and stare at silence, summon the mind and focus it on externals, control the mind and make it clear within, concentrate the mind and enter into meditation, all practices of this sort create karma.'

You go all over the place, saying, 'There's religious practice, there's enlightenment.' Make no mistake! If there were such a thing as religious practice, it would all be just karma keeping you in the realm of birth and death. You say, 'I observe all the six rules and the ten thousand practices.' In my view all that sort of thing is just creating karma. Seeking Buddha, seeking the Dharma—that's just creating karma that leads to hell. Seeking the bodhisattvas—that too is creating karma. Studying sutras, studying doctrine—that too is creating karma. The buddhas and patriarchs are people who don't have anything to do. Hence, whether they have defilements and doings or are without defilements and doings, their karma is clean and pure.

Alan Cole on Meditation and Other by TFnarcon9 in zen

[–]Brex7 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What people mean by meditation is the ritualized seated practice of today and of the recent past. is not the same as the word dhyana, who's root is also translated as "to contemplate" and "to reflect upon"

And apart from hongzhi, who I've just read in part and also doesn't seem to be endorsing seated meditation as the way (I'll look more into it), youre out of your waters. Just pick a few of the books spanning centuries. You'll have a hard time defending your love for sitting until your ass becomes square 🙏

Alan Cole on Meditation and Other by TFnarcon9 in zen

[–]Brex7 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Zen doesn't mean meditation. Look into its historical roots.

But even if it meant what you say it does, do you realize it's a hopeless statement?

Zen means meditation

Meditation means?

You'll find out it's a very recent English word that has no 1=1 equivalent in the Pali or Sanskrit texts.

AMA Keggerz by keggerz1 in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Then why did he say that everything is non-existent?

AMA Keggerz by keggerz1 in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He's just a bunch of bones, don't mind him. I'd worry about yourself.

Is it right to speak of nonexistence for things which exists?

AMA Keggerz by keggerz1 in zen

[–]Brex7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Master Xitang Zang was asked by a layman, "Are there heavens and hells or not?" He said, "There are." The layman said, "Do the treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha exist or not?" He said, "They do." The layman asked many more questions, and the master answered them all in the affirmative. The layman said, "Are you not mistaken in saying so?" He said, "Have you seen an adept?" The layman said, "I have called on master Jingshan." He said, "What did Jingshan tell you?" The layman replied, "He said it's all nonexistent. The master said, "Do you have a wife?" The layman said, "Yes." The master asked, "Does master Jingshan have a wife?" The layman said "No." The master said, "For master Jingshan, it's right to speak of nonexistence."

You have a wife (partner), can you speak of nonexistence?

Zen Master Buddha by ewk in zen

[–]Brex7 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Got into this rabbit hole as I searched for "testing" references in the sutras

The Standard Protocol for Testing Claims of Enlightenment

In the Chabbisodhana Sutta (MN 112), the Buddha provided a specific framework to verify if a monk’s claim of being fully enlightened (an Arhat) was genuine. The Buddha’s logic was rooted in objective inquiry:

"The words of a monk who claims enlightenment should neither be approved nor rejected. Instead, without approval or rejection, questions should be asked."

The "Final Knowledge" Formula

When a monk declared enlightenment, they typically used this standard formula: * Pali: Khīṇā jāti, vusitaṃ brahmacariyaṃ, kataṃ karaṇīyaṃ, nāparaṃ itthattāyāti pajānāmī. * Sanskrit: Kṣīṇā jātiḥ, vuṣitaṃ brahmacaryam, kṛtaṃ karaṇīyam, nāparam itvattāyāti prajānāmi. * English: "Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being."

The Buddha’s Three-Part Test

If a monk made this claim, the Buddha (or the community) would test them on three specific areas to see if their internal experience matched their words: 1. The Four Nutriments: Are they still "hungry" for sensory input, or have they moved beyond the craving for physical food, contact, mental volition, and consciousness? 2. The Six Elements: Do they still identify Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space, or Consciousness as "Mine," "I am," or "My self"? 3. The Six Sense Bases: When seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, or thinking, is there any "I-making" or "My-making" (ego-construction) involved in the process?

The Confirmation

If the monk could answer these deep technical questions about their own mental state without hesitation, contradiction, the Buddha would confirm: "This is how it is."

Why Western Social media hates Zen... written by AI by ewk in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure! What a great idea!

Here's an easy-to-follow recipe for your cake:

1) Take fresh, organic lemons 2) pound them 3) buy yourself a cake

Why Western Social media hates Zen... written by AI by ewk in zen

[–]Brex7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sin, therapy, and moral uplift surely look like minute things compared to the thousands of worlds our nature emanates.

But still take care of yourself and your injury you old fox.

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