Flapping Mouths

Dogen - A Balanced View

2008-08-22T02:59:00.000-07:00

Keep in mind that delusion is something that has no physical existence, and keep in mind that enlightenment is also something that has no physical existence! Shobogenzo, Yui Butsu Yo Butsu (Trans. Rev. Hubert Nearman) Gassho, Ted Biringer

Dogen on the words and behavior of the Ancestors

2008-08-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

"…abandon contemplation in your own mind of the doctrines you have originally learned, and just gradually shift your mind over to the words and behavior of the Patriarchal teachers which you are now reading. If you do so, your wisdom will advance and your understanding open up. ~Dogen - Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, 2:4 (Record of Things Heard, Thomas Cleary)Gassho,Ted Biringer

Dogen - On Being Enlightened about Delusion

2008-07-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

Those who are enlightened about delusion are buddhas. ~Dogen, Shobogenzo, Genjokoan Apparently, in the Shobogenzo, being "enlightened about delusion," means awakening to the reality of delusion. That is, realizing what delusion truly is. Perhaps it is like when, for example, a person is shown the cause of a magician’s illusions: mirrors, wires, hidden compartments and so on. The person can then

Dogen instructing the Tenzo on the word "great"

2008-06-15T03:30:00.000-07:00

If the tenzo had not studied the word great, he would not have awakened senior Fu by laughing at him. If Zen master Guishan had not understood the word great, he would not have blown the unlit firewood three times. If priest Dongshan had not known the word great, he would not have taught a monk by saying, "Three jin of hemp." You should know that these great masters all studied the word great

The depth of the drop is the height of the moon

2008-05-30T03:22:00.000-07:00

In Shobogenzo, Genjokoan Dogen offers an amazingly succinct and profoundly illuminating presentation of the Buddhist doctrine of mutual interpenetration and non-obstruction. Dogen manages to present the very heart of this labyrinthine doctrine with a simple analogy that illustrates what it is like for a human being to embody the entire universe. A person, he says, “contains” the whole universe (

The vast unnamable fathomless void

2008-05-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

Louie Wing said, “The vast unnamable fathomless void is not created by some kind of spiritual practice; just cease screening it off through conceptualization. When perceptions, feelings, and thoughts arise, simply act accordingly without attachment or aversion. All of the myriad things are identical to the vast unnamable fathomless void, which is identical to your own mind. There is not a single

Delusion? Conceptualization?

2008-05-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

Ceasing conceptualization frees you from attachment to objects, illumination of wisdom frees you from attachment to no objects. To hold any view of objective reality is delusion based on conceptualization; to hold a view of no objective reality is delusion based on conceptualization. ~The Flatbed Sutra of Louie Wing

Dharma Dollers!

2008-05-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

X posted from here: Slow Zen: Asura Dharma: Tea Pot, Zazen Bamboo?
found at Target Since I am a fan of tea, bamboo, and ZaZen, I am quite happy to be able to get all three for the low low price of 9.99!

Certification/Transmission of Enlightenment

2008-05-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

Me talk about the "E" word? say it ain't so! Yeah folks I guess it is about time. All of Ted’s talk about transmission has dragged it out of me. I am going to quote an ole dead (maybe not really so dead) guy too. So why am I doing this? To express a certain point of view, and because people are unreliable. The history of transmission in the “Zen” tradition has been corrupt since it began.

What does Dogen mean? No monks were ever enlightened?

2008-05-16T03:35:00.000-07:00

What was Dogen teaching us when he spoke about transmission? Check this out: "The veteran monk Shugetsu, while he was assigned to the post of head monk on Tendo, showed to Dogen a certificate of succession of Unmon’s lineage… Mahakasyapa, Ananda, and so on, were aligned as if [they belonged to] separate lineages... Dogen asked... "Master, nowadays there are slight differences among the five

Unskillful rant on Teaching Zen

2008-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

I think there is a lot of arrogance out there in the realm of so called “Zen” teachers. I read words like “Doctrine” and “Transmission” and feel it could easily mislead others. I grow more and more suspicious of some of the “Ideas” I hear on Zen. While I do feel the responsibility of figuring things out ultimately rests with the seeker. There is allot of bad gouge out there. That makes the path

Teaching Certificates - Dharma, or Priestcraft?

2008-05-07T03:09:00.000-07:00

Mike’s (joke?) about getting a certificate, brings up one of the major difficulties faced by beginning students. This difficulty revolves around propagated distortions concerning the Zen tradition of mind to mind "transmission." Nor is confusion regarding Zen "transmission" relegated to beginners or non-scholars alone; many scholars as well as those within the Zen orthodoxy openly acknowledge

A year later and I still have not been kicked out! Weeeee!!!

2008-05-03T05:06:00.000-07:00

It has now been nearly a year since my first post (on Zen and Idolatry) here at "Flapping Mouths." It has been great ride, and I have made some friends and learned a few things along the way (like not to take myself too seriously—though some might think I have not earned a very high grade in that area). Thank you all! Here, and "in the field" I have met many Zen students and a few teachers that

Nine Full Bows to Flapping Mouths Members

2008-04-23T23:54:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have noted. I have deleted one of my posts. Before explaining why, let me first give my heartfelt thanks to all who shared their thoughts with me. Your words helped me to consider the whole premise from a fresh, new perspective. I have already shared my reasoning concerning my decision via email with another. Part of that email said: To be honest with you, this whole

Thank You All for your views on Zen teachings/teachers

2008-04-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank everyone for posting their views concerning my last post here (--deleted--). Everyone has expressed ideas that have been helpful in seeing the issue with freshness. Rather than responding to each comment, I would like to just give my own current thoughts on this issue (I say current because it is bound to change-again). In the early days of my own practice and study, I

Not attaining.

2008-04-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Someone wrote something in a way that just did not wash, and so reluctantly I am fighting an aversion I have to writing about this kind of stuff anymore. Sometimes you just have to say something. So please forgive me if I may dip into “Yoda~Speak” to attempt to make what can not be clear a bit more digestible. The E word. Ugh. I make no qualms about not liking the E word. To say one has it

Sayings and Doings of Louie Wing

2008-04-07T01:33:00.000-07:00

Louie Wing said, "The unnamable transcends explanation, yet explanations are used to guide you to the unnamable. Words do not reach the vast unnamable fathomless void, yet through words it is revealed." --From the collected Sayings and Doings of Louie Wing Copyright Ted Biringer 2008

Dogen Blog Announcement and Invitation

2008-04-04T03:42:00.000-07:00

In Hee-Jin Kim’s landmark book, Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist, Dr. Kim caused many of us to reevaluate some basic assumptions about Dogen’s Zen, and even question some of the fundamental assumptions concerning Zen itself—at least as it was represented in the West. In his most recent book, Dogen on Meditation and Thinking: A Reflection on His View of Zen, Hee-Jin Kim again illumines issues that

Zen? A separate transmission? No....Yes....

2008-02-19T00:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a little contribution given in the hopes of stirring some of you all into sharing your views (or non-views). Though Dogen used the terms "Zen," "Zen sect," "Zen ancestor," etc. he consistently maintained that Zen was not a school or sect of Buddhism, but was the authentic transmission of Buddhism itself. In this sense, Dogen’s use of the word "Zen" ("Zen," "Zen sect," etc.), can be

Don’t church it up!

2008-01-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

My wife grew up in Japan, when to a Buddhist pre-school, Had been familiar with Buddhism all of her life. Mainly she has recognized the main purpose of Buddhism as a funeral service. And that is OK! Or at least I have told myself. Buddhism, as far as I know, has never really been about seeking out converts and is more interested in teaching to those truly interested. Now over the course

Ha Ha Ha! Shameless Band Spam

2008-01-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

Hi guys, Although I appreciate that a blog discussing Buddhist philosophy probably isn't the most approriate place for this, maybe some of you guys might dig it. My new band: http://www.myspace.com/danrobinski http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9069256978 Enjoy! Feedback always appreciated but not neccessarily listened to

Empty but for one star

2007-11-30T08:39:00.001-08:00

Imagine the following scene: A totally empty universe except for a single star. Read the first comment to see why I find this exercise interesting

RE: From the Wanderling

2007-11-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

Hello Flappers, if there ae any of you left out there. This blog dose appear to be dead. So sad as it was once so good but we all wanted to do our own things as well. Anyway... I want to touch on something that I brought up back in March, the last time I thought this forum was dieing. The Wanderling, He actualy contacted me about that post in particular. On March 05, 2007 you responded

Free Burma!

2007-10-03T14:49:00.001-07:00

Hitchens - Zen is not Great?

2007-09-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Christopher Hitchens' book "God is not Great" and as a scientist and practitioner of Zen I hope the poor scholarship displayed in the following passage isn't throughout the book: "Although many Buddhists now regret that deplorable attempt to prove their own superiority, no Buddhist since then has been able to demonstrate that Buddhism was wrong in its own terms. A faith that