Zen is Boring

Yishai

Firstly, the article. Please, stick with it. It starts off non-Buddhist, and ends Buddhist. So... bear with it!
http://homepage.mac.com/doubtboy/boring.html

Do you think Zen is boring? Just curious on everybody's take. I enjoyed the article. I have never considered myself to be in any way a practitioner of Zen, but it was an interesting take on it all. Granted I'd seen it all before, but the article kinda helped to re-frame it all for me. It's hard for me to understand what Zen is, what enlightenment is. Sometimes, I just feel like I need to start walking. Forget the direction, just walk. Then think about what that experience was like.

taiyaki

getting intimate with the ordinary.

zen is boring, lonely, and difficult.
zen is fun, accepting, and easy.

the mind makes hard and easy. prior to thinking zen is what it is.

just see, taste, hear, smell, feel, think. don't attach to words.

everything arises and falls. everything is coming and going. the tourists! the tourists.

the essence of zen lies here, but we pretend to miss it.

Kwantum_Kev

Funny - I started reading, and thinking "this guy is waaaay off the mark here", and was then delighted to see that he was being completely sarcastic, showing how so many people think that way and long to be 'entertained'.

I think it was a great article - funny, and truthful. Thanks for posting.

Namaste'

Kwan Kev

Amelia

I really liked the article. Thanks. This is the kind of thing I want to say to everyone that ever asks, "Why am I meditating? When will I see visions? etc." It is the kind of thing I remind myself of whenever I leave my own cushion wondering where the pretty lights are... or how come my body didn't feel like it was melting this time...

taiyaki

btw the author is brad warner.
http://hardcorezen.blogspot.com/

i'm not entirely sure, but it's done in his flavor of writing.

skullchin

My fav quote:

Boredom is important. Most of your life is dull, tasteless and boring.

lamaramadingdong

It's Brad

Dakini

I dunno. I went to the local zen ctr. a few times, and the teachings did nothing for me. Didn't seem to be any substance to them. But I'm thinking of trying again.

buddhajunkie

I frequently hear people call Zen boring, but not Vipassana boring. Why is that?

Yishai

I frequently hear people call Zen boring, but not Vipassana boring. Why is that?

I don't know anything about vipassana. Do you actively search for the insight? Is it active introspection?

People say Zen is just sitting. So, if there is more to vipassana than sitting, that may mean it is less boring :P

And yes, the author is Brad Warner. It's a rather old site of his I think.

Vincenzi

Zen is artistic and elegant... if not, "you are doing it wrong".

Yishai

Zen is.

zenmyste

someone mentioned it is brad warner. and in my opinion brad warner knows his sh1t...

yes its true 'zen is boring' yet zen its also non boring.
depends what day your having.

Zen is everything, its all around us. therefore whatever day your having, thats zen.
Zen isnt a particular Thing or practice. Its just 'NOW' all around.
You cant tell someone what zen is - they have to feel it themselves.
Zen is nothing,yet everything.
zen is acceptance.
zen is living in the now
zen is just sitting listening to your thoughts.
zen is whatever your heart is telling you. whatever you think zen is, thats it..
although at times you'll hear 'whatever you think zen is...it isnt' haha

its just a contradiction.
zen is life = life is a contradiction - so zen is a contradiction = everything is a contradiction. its funny. we can either laugh whilst we're here on earth or we can *try* and understand...if one starts trying to understand hes gonna end up in sh1t street....

Yishai

The most important thing to know is that you cannot know everything.

zenmyste

The most important thing to know is that you cannot know everything.

exactly my friend.
Socrates was an amazing philosopher! x

goshiki

if knowing Buddism is boring , difficult than it must be wrong . Knowing Buddha is fun / exciting and easy .

Jeffrey

could you give an example of something that you have learned which is fun exciting and easy? I would like to share in that experience as I am also in need of fun etc.

goshiki

If learning Buddhism must be from reading text / scripture or listening to talks from monks or to remember all kind of difficult words .....than IT MUST BE BORING .
Learning / knowing Buddha is you MUST sincerely accept you are no greater than anyone or anything even your own shit . accepting the fact that all living and non-living is your source of knowing your Buddha that Buddha can be learned from all .
Be sincere to respect , to love , to accept love , to share love to all is part of learning / knowing Buddha .

goshiki

Enjoy sincere good feeling with others , receive love from others , have fun in your life that is on higher awareness to purity .

DaltheJigsaw

My fav quote:

Boredom is important. Most of your life is dull, tasteless and boring.

Mine too!
Love this article.
I read it a few months ago, and definitely agree with it and totally feel that it's one of the most honest articles on Zen their is.

Thao

I never thought that meditation was boring, whether it be mantra or just watching the breath, but I do find Buddhist teachings boring, so I am back to reading the Vedas, which I find closer to my heart. There are some Buddhist teachings that don't bore me, like the precepts, which I have failed to find in the Vedas, although I know that they are there in the way of the yamas and the niyamas, but they are not stressed as much in Hinduism as they are in Buddhism.