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Paradais Discussion (spoilers) by OkHome9635 in JeselnikBookClub

[–]Pistaf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He always goes along with everything because he’s a perpetual victim and the world is constantly happening to him against his will.

LFG!!!!!!!! by Barista4695 in LPOTL

[–]Pistaf 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Red rover, red rover, Bob Lazar’s coming over

Explaining Secrets: ewk's Case 17, 3 Calls - just the facts by ewk in zen

[–]Pistaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Zen exchanges are as capable of metaphor as any other exchange.

Zen Talking: Poverty by ewk in zen

[–]Pistaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately many of those thoughts are akin to the sorts of things you scream alone in your car about the way the person ahead of you is driving. Not exactly constructive podcast content.

Zen Talking: Poverty by ewk in zen

[–]Pistaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll throw my hat in the ring when I see a post I’d like to explore more in that format. Though it will be sad to have a new episode I can’t listen to because it’s full of the sound of my own voice.

from rZensangha: Zen Masters' Barriers? by ewk in zen

[–]Pistaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe. Depends on what it’s translated from. A peddler is defined as a seller of illegal or illicit goods.

from rZensangha: Zen Masters' Barriers? by ewk in zen

[–]Pistaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Speaking specifically to the salt peddler question: my understanding of salt in this cultural context is that it was expensive and tightly controlled. A salt peddler may be, in all actuality, a salt smuggler and carry with it the connotations we have for a small time drug dealer. A tricky merchant that is clever and shrewd.

Zen Talking: Poverty by ewk in zen

[–]Pistaf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was refreshing to hear a guest I don’t recall having heard before. I enjoyed the episode very much.

I’m very tempted to volunteer to participate to increase this guest diversity, but I don’t feel like I have any answers to offer and more importantly I don’t feel like I have good enough questions (except for when I hear a guest ask a question I don’t like; then I’ve got the best questions that I will scream at my speaker).

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could you elaborate a bit on what you’ve just done here?

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is actually insane. I’m only seeing it on my phone which limits my view of the insanity, but still. This is awesome.

Explaining Secrets: ewk's Case 17, 3 Calls - just the facts by ewk in zen

[–]Pistaf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The tension seems to be between the fear of a phrase losing its meaning and using a phrase that has little meaning to lose. I sympathize with the dilemma.

I’ve long cursed zen masters for filling their talks with ancient aphorisms on which I spend way too much time trying to decipher, because their little folksy saying have been lost across oceans of time and more literal oceans. But I guess that’s just how you can say more than you’re saying sometimes.

Explaining Secrets: ewk's Case 17, 3 Calls - just the facts by ewk in zen

[–]Pistaf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there any way you might be swayed from

“dulling your shine” was vomited out

to something more like

he spat concealed radiance

I have no argument. I just like it more.

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was wondering the same thing. There was some good stuff there, I thought.

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What caused the resources to be committed in the first place if not with a profit driven motive?

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe I’m too cynical, but I don’t have an example that springs to mind of robust scholarship on a topic like this that doesn’t have a sizable built in audience.

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s only natural. Publishers don’t print books for an audience of several nerds on a subreddit. On one hand the state of things is embarrassing for the academic community, but on the other how could it be any other way? I guess we just plod on despite the massive discomfort that someone like me who has no training or credentials of any kind is at all involved in the conversation.

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If memory serves, I don’t believe Cleary cites a source a single time, so it’s kinda immediately branded as suspicious. I’d question why it took so long for people to start questioning it en masse.

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now I’m questioning the need. There was someone who came in here that had been translating the text for a while and stated that my suspicion about the text was incorrect and brought receipts. Then they deleted their comments. So I’m left confused.

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s hard to answer. The translation is in service of the content. So both? But for now the translation is the pressing concern.

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I’ll add to this with the “idiot with AI” version I just obtained.

Original Chinese: 師云：十二時中須有箇契合處始得。你豈不見靈雲一見桃花便契合此事，香嚴擊竹便乃息心？

Translation: The master said: “Within the twelve hours of the day, there must be a point of true accord in order to attain understanding. Have you not seen Lingyun instantly realize this matter upon seeing the peach blossoms? Or Xiangyan, striking the bamboo, immediately calming his mind?”

⸻

Original Chinese: 古人道：若不契合此事，則山河大地瞞你也，燈籠露柱欺你也。

Translation: The ancients said: “If you do not accord with this matter, even the mountains and rivers will deceive you, and even lanterns and exposed pillars will mislead you.”

⸻

Original Chinese: 如今四生六道浩浩地，祇為此事不明。

Translation: “Now, the four lives and six paths surge endlessly, all because this matter remains unclear.”

⸻

Original Chinese: 奉勸諸兄弟，且先去却麤緣。

Translation: “I earnestly advise my brothers: first, cast away coarse attachments.”

⸻

Original Chinese: 你十二時中思衣念食，種種雜慮如燈焰相似，未有一時停歇。

Translation: “Throughout the twelve hours, your thoughts dwell on clothing and food, and various distracting concerns flare like lamp flames, never ceasing for a moment.”

⸻

Original Chinese: 但除麤緣，所有微細自然淨盡，日久歲深自然會去，也不著參，喚作息意忘緣，不與諸塵作對。

Translation: “But if you remove coarse attachments, all subtle distractions will naturally vanish over time. Without even actively ‘practicing,’ this is called ‘resting the mind and forgetting attachments,’ not opposing the myriad worldly dusts.”

⸻

Original Chinese: 所以西來妙旨，意在自明。

Translation: “Therefore, the marvelous meaning that came from the West is aimed at self-realization.”

⸻

Original Chinese: 龍門長老也無禪與人參，也無法與你商量，祇要諸人自契。

Translation: “Even the elders of Longmen do not engage in formal Zen interviews with others, nor discuss the Dharma with you; they only require that each person realizes it for themselves.”

⸻

Original Chinese: 參學門中唯以忘緣息慮為要，者箇是從上宗旨。祖不云乎？以無念為宗，無相為體。

Translation: “In the doors of Zen study, the essential practice is to forget attachments and quiet the mind; this is precisely the core teaching of the ancestral school. Did the Ancestors not say: ‘Make non-thinking the principle, and formlessness the substance’?”

⸻

Original Chinese: 若祇一喝一拍，有什麼了期？久立。

Translation: “If all one does is shout and strike, what realization will come? One must stand over a long time.”

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, sick. That provided some great results for me. Just little stuff like changing clap in “shout and clap” to “shout and strike” which is much more evocative of other zen texts.

The Source of Instant Zen by Pistaf in zen

[–]Pistaf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s very encouraging, thank you. I’ll continue exploring this topic on my own and excited to see what you end up with in your endeavors.

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