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Looking for a few Zen Koan practioners
johnathan
Canada Veteran
Hey all,
I have a small discussion board I made when I met the first person I've ever met in person who identifies as Buddhist. I created the site so we could have a place to grow together in our path of self discovery...
The goal was to eventually add others we came across to the site and broaden our groups collective wisdom...
Unfortunately we have had a few others join but who have never really embraced the idea and never post or even log in for that matter... we technically have 5 members but two never post and one who was quite active that has disappeared on us... So that leaves just me and my friend...
We have a few main broad topics (Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Trans-Denominational and general) currently we are most active on working on Koans together... I'll put one out there, we'll take some time to meditate/contemplate them then share what we come up with then discuss each others findings further...
I don't have access to a Zen master to tell me where I need to meditate further on a koan that we might not have gotten the complete drift on so was hoping anyone with a Zen background and knowledge on the methods of Koan meditation might, if they feel they would have the time for yet another forum (albeit a very small one) to join and share their Zen wisdom with us and help us delve deeper into each koan than we can on our own.
My site is: www.mysangha.proboards.com
If you'd like to just pop in and visit without commitment to joining you can use the username: Guest and the Password: 123456
If You decide you'd like to join then feel free to register your own username...
I would ask that in Guest status you not reply to any threads other than in the board I will create called guest input... please add your newbuddhist username in any post so that I know who you are, thanks.
Anyone else reading this (Non Zen practitioners) feel free to visit... feel free to join as well if you'd like to take on a roll as "teacher" in the Buddhism board and perhaps throw out some threads once in a while to help us look at things in a way that we might not otherwise due to a lack of access to a Buddhist Master (please, only take on such a roll if you honestly have been a practitioner for some time and have a decent handle on Buddhism), also any interested in just joining to participate in our discussions feel free to drop in and join if like...
I also ask that people use their first name as a Username... we prefer to be on a first name basis, no "Digitalbuddhamonkeys" please...
Thanks in advance to anyone who shows some interest...
I have a small discussion board I made when I met the first person I've ever met in person who identifies as Buddhist. I created the site so we could have a place to grow together in our path of self discovery...
The goal was to eventually add others we came across to the site and broaden our groups collective wisdom...
Unfortunately we have had a few others join but who have never really embraced the idea and never post or even log in for that matter... we technically have 5 members but two never post and one who was quite active that has disappeared on us... So that leaves just me and my friend...
We have a few main broad topics (Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Trans-Denominational and general) currently we are most active on working on Koans together... I'll put one out there, we'll take some time to meditate/contemplate them then share what we come up with then discuss each others findings further...
I don't have access to a Zen master to tell me where I need to meditate further on a koan that we might not have gotten the complete drift on so was hoping anyone with a Zen background and knowledge on the methods of Koan meditation might, if they feel they would have the time for yet another forum (albeit a very small one) to join and share their Zen wisdom with us and help us delve deeper into each koan than we can on our own.
My site is: www.mysangha.proboards.com
If you'd like to just pop in and visit without commitment to joining you can use the username: Guest and the Password: 123456
If You decide you'd like to join then feel free to register your own username...
I would ask that in Guest status you not reply to any threads other than in the board I will create called guest input... please add your newbuddhist username in any post so that I know who you are, thanks.
Anyone else reading this (Non Zen practitioners) feel free to visit... feel free to join as well if you'd like to take on a roll as "teacher" in the Buddhism board and perhaps throw out some threads once in a while to help us look at things in a way that we might not otherwise due to a lack of access to a Buddhist Master (please, only take on such a roll if you honestly have been a practitioner for some time and have a decent handle on Buddhism), also any interested in just joining to participate in our discussions feel free to drop in and join if like...
I also ask that people use their first name as a Username... we prefer to be on a first name basis, no "Digitalbuddhamonkeys" please...
Thanks in advance to anyone who shows some interest...
0
Comments
Why bother to meditate on Koans? Don't you think it's a colossal waste of time?
nyuk nyuk nyuk...
Lin Temple. The Second Patriarch Hui-ko went to him to ask about the
Dharma. During a long night of heavy snow, Hui-ko stood outside Bodhidharma’s
Ch’an hall waiting. The snow piled up to his knees, but Hui-ko did not
budge, pleading Bodhidharma for his teachings.
Finally, Bodhidharma opened his eyes and asked, “What do you want
standing here so long?" “Please, Master help me settle my mind”. “Give me
your mind, I’ll settle it for you”. “But I cannot find my mind”. “I have already
settled your mind for you completely”. Once Hui-ko discovered his deluded
mind, it became settled."
bury his head in the snowy ridge,
Willing to give up the body for
the Dharma.
It is only after bone-chilling cold
That one can become a king of
the Dharma.
Cool! (No pun intended.) I got my quote from Master Hsing Yun. He has a good e-book available free. "Cloud and Water". That's about as Ch'an as I feel I need to get.
JOKE: So are you suggesting I go stick my head in a snowbank?
I'm just suggesting it's possible to be overly analytic and discursive. I myself have no idea if the old woman was right or if the monk was right. Maybe he should at least have kissed the girl on the forehead. But I don't know. Which one of them is Buddha?
I myself am an enthusiastic student of the not-well-known-at-all American Master Jerome Howard. He and his brother and a friend did some unconventional works regarding Certainty. I think it's good stuff.
- Hekiganroku, Case 29
"When the great kalpa fire flares up, will it [the Ultimate, the Unconditioned, Emptiness] perish or not perish?"A monk asked Master Daizui:
"Yes, it will perish."
"Will it be gone with the other?"
"Yes, it will be gone with the other." <!-- / message --><!-- edit note -->
Richard, I believe this koan is questioning the destruction of the universe... when he refers to "it" he means our souls/spirit and by the other he means our bodies... the material and the immaterial, all will perish... It is a lesson of impermanence on a grand scale...
You are incorrect johnathan.
This...
- Hekiganroku, Case 29
"When the great kalpa fire flares up, will it [the Ultimate, the Unconditioned, Emptiness] perish or not perish?"A monk asked Master Daizui:
"Yes, it will perish."
"Will it be gone with the other?"
"Yes, it will be gone with the other."
is precisely how it was passed on to me. Just how it is. Now it is being passed on to you. take it or leave it as it is.<!-- / message --><!-- edit note -->
OSHO is not KOSHER.
If you want straight Zen find Charlotte Joko Beck.
http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html
What did you decide about #1?
1. A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself.
"It is overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"