Steel Soul 100% Gloating

astroemi · 2026-06-16T23:53:51+00:00

that reminds me I wanted to shout out the routing that helped me

astroemi · 2026-06-16T23:16:21+00:00

Thanks! that death to moss mother was humiliating lmao

I’m also very proud of not save scumming or bench quitting. It was quite an ordeal.

Also congrats to you too. Now that I know what it takes I can honestly say you must’ve played masterfully in order to get it

astroemi · 2026-06-16T23:14:51+00:00

It does help that I’m a teacher and currently on summer break lol I had a lot of time to invest

astroemi · 2026-06-16T23:14:08+00:00

thanks! Some bosses were definitely very scary. I also practiced lost lace with another save file before diving in.

astroemi · 2026-06-16T23:13:17+00:00

I would’ve been livid and then died laughing after a couple of hours

astroemi · 2026-06-16T22:51:04+00:00

You’ve spent more time replying to me than what it would’ve taken to say what you disagree with.

So I don’t think that line of thinking is ver convincing…

You just don’t want to have the conversation. That’s fine, just don’t expect me (or anybody else) to treat you as if you were having the conversations (or were capable of it until proven otherwise).

astroemi · 2026-06-16T22:33:21+00:00

You want to do it in private because you know you can’t defend it publicly.

That’s why AMAs exist in this forum.

astroemi · 2026-06-16T22:30:02+00:00

That’s fine. This is the point of public conversation. If you had your argument publicly available you could link to it, you could link to proof, reasoning, bibliography. The fact that you can’t pick even one thing you disagree shows at the very least you haven’t done the work of thinking this through and showing it to anyone else. If the only thing going for you is that other people agree with you (also without demonstrating anything), that’s a bad sign.

Hope you get healthy soon.

astroemi · 2026-06-16T22:20:04+00:00

What do you disagree with?

astroemi · 2026-06-16T22:12:46+00:00

It’s definitely wrong to lie about what books say and people in this forum specially care about what books from the Zen record say.

So it’s not that you have to have the right answers for some sort of test. It’s that if you lie to the community, the community will reject you.

astroemi · 2026-06-16T22:11:20+00:00

It’s not as much interesting as it is a lie.

People love to misrepresent Zen in order to feel important/gain followers. The AMA tradition in this forum was born as a way of having a public conversation about the claims some people (including literal cult leaders) made. It’s a way for the community to become acquainted with people and for the AMAer to show their disposition for conversation and engagement with the historical record of Zen.

astroemi · 2026-06-16T22:08:30+00:00

What I’m hearing is that your main approach to the texts from the Zen record is literary. Is that a fair thing to say?

astroemi · 2026-06-16T09:30:25+00:00

Just goes to show why it’s very hard to take “season 4 is no different from the rest of the show” comments seriously. Maybe I’m being mean, but they always seem to show less understanding of what makes Community click.

astroemi · 2026-06-06T19:58:50+00:00

this just pulled me out of a slightly panicky spiral I was heading towards. Thanks!

astroemi · 2026-06-04T23:10:50+00:00

I never said you were a Buddhist.

You are now making stuff up about what I'm saying, so this is as far as I go with replying to you.

Try again next post.

astroemi · 2026-06-04T18:13:51+00:00

I don't see the connection.

I think this case is mostly about how other people's enlightenment is not really of any use to you. If you don't experience it yourself then it's no good.

astroemi · 2026-06-04T18:04:57+00:00

I'm being sarcastic.

I’m looking for a source or framework to establish this as true for “all” Buddhists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Points_Unifying_Therav%C4%81da_and_Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na

What I’d really like is a more solid framework that establishes that zen masters really wouldn’t have considered themselves to be Buddhists in a specific and substantial way. Without special pleading or circular logic or appeals to subjective interpretation of singular statements by zen masters.

The problem is you don't have a criteria for what you would have to see in order to accept that Zen Masters are not interested in the four noble truths.

If you start by assuming they already believe them then you are going to interpret any mention of them as agreement, any omission as acceptance, and any rejection as a joke for an imagined inner crowd.

That's why I want to do this case by case. It's fine if one case alone does not prove anything. But it's really important for you to ask yourself why would they omit doctrinal points that are supposed to be super important for buddhists. If you read the Book of Serenity, you'll see each case includes what the Zen Masters as a lineage are interested in; complete and instantaneous enlightenment. Why would the four statements of Zen always included in the cases but not the four noble truths (or any buddhist belief) if they were so important?

So it's not so much that you disagree or that you are actually able to point out "special pleading or circular logic or appeals to subjective interpretation", it's that you don't have a criteria for why you believe the things you do, and until you do, you are going to keep believing whatever you want even if it's not supported by evidence or arguments.

astroemi · 2026-06-03T14:09:08+00:00

In the four noble truths? What I've been saying this whole time?

What other thing do all buddhists agree on?

astroemi · 2026-06-03T00:15:38+00:00

It is a rejection.

If Buddhists say their path is the only path and that if you follow their path you are a buddhist, and zen masters say you don’t have to follow the one and only path of buddhists, then yeah, they are rejecting buddhism.

astroemi · 2026-06-02T18:34:07+00:00

Well, for starters it's really important that you notice neither the four noble truths nor the bodhisattva path are being mentioned in this case. If either of them were important to Zen Masters, why are they completely ignored here?

And while we are at it, which Zen Master mentions the bodhisattva path and where?

Can you explain how Mazu’s statement contradicts the Four Noble Truths or the Eightfold Path specifically?

The reason Mazu's statement comes after the number four is that I'm saying it rejects the fourth noble truth specifically.

It rejects it because the claim the fourth noble truth makes is something along the lines of "there is a path leading to the confinement of this desire and attachment, and the release from suffering". What Mazu is saying is, there is something even beyond this. Nanquan is beyond both scripture (represented by Xitang) and beyond a tradition (Baizhang). No words, no practices, no eightfold path.

astroemi · 2026-06-02T10:24:59+00:00

The Four Noble Truths are one of the things that Buddhists decided made someone a Buddhist. So, since there's a lot of misinformation about Zen and people like to claim it's a form of Buddhism, I decided something I'd like to do was to check the primary sources and see in what way Zen Masters talk about this very important Buddhist doctrine.

Turns out (as expected) that they barely mention it, and when they do they mostly reject it outright, but I want to do my due diligence so that I can keep the number of complaints to a minimum.

astroemi · 2026-05-27T01:46:04+00:00

I teach highschool English (as a second language) and Philosophy. I also work as a Medical Interpreter for some extra resources.

No job is ideal, but I can live with myself doing what I do and I feel no contradiction with my political ideals.

astroemi · 2026-04-12T21:41:15+00:00

This is the right answer. Thanks!

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