Questions
Sensei:
1. Is there anything in the Tao Te Ching which constridicts Buddhist philosophy?
2. If one sits zazen properly, by following your instructions, and reads masters such as Dogen, does one still have to have a personal master in order to reach enlightenment.
1. Is there anything in the Tao Te Ching which constridicts Buddhist philosophy?
2. If one sits zazen properly, by following your instructions, and reads masters such as Dogen, does one still have to have a personal master in order to reach enlightenment.
posted by beasonlopes | 9:58 PM
2 Comments:
There are many benefits to finding a master:
1) While it is only self that we control, by example a master can show you the path to better self control.
2) Posture is central to Zazen and an experienced master can help you find the correct posture and correct balance. For some (like me) it can take a while - especially if you frequently miss sitting sessions because of a hectic schedule or do not have good posture when walking or sitting at the dinner table (to use my own example).
3) Some days, I would drift off while sitting Zazen. Sleeping isn't beneficial to the practice. A Master's watchful eye will often prevent this error.
4) Many of the Buddhist texts are so culturally different from our own immediate experience that it takes a patient guide to lead you through them - or suggest someone who can.
5) A scheduled regime of sitting is often required before we form our own daily Zazen habit. For years, after I learned to stay awake, I started getting up an hour before sunrise (without using an alarm clock, by the way) and sitting until the sky became lighter.
5) Even after years of study, sitting, an so forth, even the more experienced Zen Buddhists find comfort in belonging to a Sangha - community - in which a variety of topics can be shared or even a silent meal can be taken together.
This is just my novice voice speaking.
sumimasen,
Chas
Dear Mr Beasonlopes San,
Thank you very much for your questions, and my answers are as follows.
Gudo Wafu Nishijima
Monday, August 20, 2007
Questions
Sensei:
1. Is there anything in the Tao Te Ching which constridicts Buddhist philosophy?
(Gudo) Tao Te Ching is a very old Chinese classic, and comparing with Buddhist thoughts it is much different from Buddhist philosophy.
2. If one sits zazen properly, by following your instructions, and reads masters such as Dogen, does one still have to have a personal master in order to reach enlightenment.
(Gudo) Even though we practice Zazen, Buddhism includes so many teachings, which are related with our daily life, and so we have to have our own Buddhist
Master, who can teach us the Buddhist philosophy in our daily life.
Flankly speaking I haven't met Mysterion San at all yet, and so it is impossible for me to understabd the reason why he wrote his comment here.
posted by beasonlopes | 9:58 PM
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