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For those of you in Michigan
Or rather, close to Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti. I teach a sitting group every thursday from 7.30 - 9 pm and sit every morning at 5 am for about an hour, for anyone who wishes to come and sit
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Comments
Too bad I'm not in Michigan anymore. I would certainly take you up on your offer.
Jason
I thought of you, bhante, when listening to Garrison Keillor's Radio Show on BBC7, from St Paul (or is it St Paul's?). His comments on Michigan weather never fail to make me laugh!
P.S. It is Garrison Keillor who keeps me on the middle way between the slavish admiration for the US, coming from the War generation, and deep, European anti-US feeling. He makes me laugh, plays me music I'd never otherwise hear, gives me a lot to think about and, above all, reminds me that, despite the rhetoric, governments do not reflect the reality of the people.
Hear hear!
People are just people.
-bf
P.S. I thought the British hated the US because of our preocupation for oral hygiene...
Isn't Oral Hygiene a fundamentalist televangelist?
But, due to Right Speech, I cannot (with a clear conscience) state what Oral Roberts used to be defined as.
-bf
Having sat crosslegged and straightened his body, having brought forth the mindfulness of the ultimate source (parimukha.m sati.m upa.t.thapetvâ) just mindful of [it] he breaths in, mindful of [it], he breaths out.
The commentaries of which I have read go a pit further in explaining each of the terms in the above which paints a much different picture of meditation as typically described in modern Zen. One thing is most certain, in the classical form of meditation psychic energy (cittam) is aroused which suffuses the entire body. For some, it can be a rather frightening experience; for others it serves to explain what the Buddha was really trying to teach.
The act of 'just sitting' or observing the breath at best can only induce a kind of tranquility which is the oppositive of being in an emotive state. But for the purpose of transcending the psycho-physical being (skandha) such meditation is inadequate.
Buddhism is far more esoteric than Westerners imagine. What one is actually working towards via meditation is the knowledge (and quite real) that one is really not in the body (which gets rid of the fear of death). It is like a person who believes they are in the mirror as the image they see in front of them. Upon correction, this same person realizes they are not really this image. In a deeper sense, in meditation we come to realize that the light of mind as it shines into the body, which shows up the body and the senses with their objects, has lost sight of itself as it gazes upon this reflected body image. The mind cannot see the pure mirror so to speak. It only see the images cast upon it.
The path of the Bodhisattva, I should mention, begins when one sees the light of mind. This is bodhi-citta-utpada which can only be described as the manifestation of the awakened spirit.
Zen master Hsu-yun writes: "Ch'an [Zen] does not mean sitting (in meditation). The so-called Ch'an hall and the so-called Ch'an sitting are only provided for people (who encounter) insurmountable obstructions (of their own) and who are of shallow wisdom in this period of decadence (of the Dharma)."
Don't skip the Thursday night sitting. I shall come to you, and I can bring over a few things so it's a good journey to make.
Nice of you to try to teach/help others
In China after you become a monk, to be a part of a Zen lineage, you have to search for a Zen master who will teach you. He may think you are a pile of crap and refuse you in which case you must try to find another master who will teach you. If your teacher dies on you, then you have to find another one to keep in the Zen lineage.
The checks finally started coming for the drug study, so I should have the funds in approximately 8 weeks. What I do for a buck. Scientific study gang, nothing trashy. I'm just playing lab rat for 3 months.
Well don't go visiting Martin's house then!
Martin.
I hope you're not putting yourself in any danger by doing this Jerbear. You know we can always work out a deal and you don't have to pay for the statue in one go. As long as I have enough money to order the piece, everything else is secondary. It's really not worth you going short or doing anything that may be in any way dangerous.
Thanks Rev. Genryu. It's not dangerous at all. I discussed the study and the possible side effects and implications with the physician. My family physician asked me to go into the study. I was going to do it whether or not I got the statue. I've been on this "drug" for about 10 days. I truly think I got the placebo as what it is supposed to do it hasn't. So please do not worry. I appreciate your concern though. I also will not be going short. I would be up front about it.