tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960560.post-18035492962912215232007-06-01T23:10:00.000-05:002007-06-01T23:11:28.924-05:00<div id="ygrp-text"> <p>Here is a quote from an article by Brad Warner on the common ground<br />website. <a href="http://commongroundmag.com/2007/06/tunein0706.html">http://commonground<wbr>mag.com/2007/<wbr>06/tunein0706.<wbr>html</a> for the<br />full article.<br /><br />"<br />"Nobody's tricked you, you moron," they'd say. "You know what the<br />truth is. Stop being such a bonehead, and take an honest look at<br />yourself." Gensa didn't need a Learned Zen Master to tell him he was<br />in pain when he stubbed his toe that day. And you don't need anyone to<br />tell you what your life really is either. You sure as heck don't need<br />me. I cannot possibly tell you anything you don't already know. You<br />probably agree, since, if you're like most people, you think I'm an<br />idiot. But you probably also think that somewhere out there in the<br />land where books are written is someone way cooler and tons more<br />spiritually advanced than me who can tell you something you don't<br />already know. Keep right on looking. The publishing industry loves you."<br /><br />Brad is recounting the tale of Gensa, a monk who gets all upset and is<br />ready to leave the fricking temple when he stubs his toe on the way<br />out the gate....and finally understands that he has been deluding<br />himself that his body is just an illusion, and there is only one who<br />can delude him...and he will no longer be able to do that anymore.<br /><br />I just thought I might share this ...for those of you who think the<br />word moron is not something a Zen priest should say....That no kind of<br />Buddhist monk would talk like I do.....not only does Brad say it....he<br />says his teacher's said it to him.<br /><br />Maybe some of us can fool ourselves into thinking that all Buddhist<br />monks are sweet and tender, loving teachers who wrap their arms<br />tenderly around everyone who shows up at the gate.....Here is just a<br />little point to who is really deluding who.<br /><br />Many people come here and think that because they fool themeselves,<br />they can fool me, and all the rest of the rest of the list.<br /><br />All I ask is that you come here in honesty...and do not ask questions<br />intended to decieve, muddy the water, or keep yourself in your<br />delusion because you can delude yourself into thinking you can blame<br />someone or something else for your misery.<br /><br />Do not come here and ask questions like "If a man has no teacher, no<br />sangha, and by chance wakes up, is it not right that he should seek<br />confirmation from the sources available to him?" ...who exactly do you<br />think you are fooling? No one really honestly talks like that. The<br />language is designed to deceive.<br /><br />Being real and honest.....that is one mark. "I just can't be deceived<br />by others." and the corollary...<wbr>.I no longer wish to decieve myself<br />nor others.<br /><br />Sorry...but anyone with a true awakening would run not walk to the<br />nearest person who might be able to confirm, and present themselves as<br />honestly and fully as they could. The internet would leave too much<br />room for even accidental deception. It could never be sufficent. So<br />then answer is in the question. A man who by chance wakes up..would<br />not be without teacher nor sangha for long. Ergo....no teacher no<br />sangha...no demonstration of awakening...<wbr>ergo no realized awakening<br />(awakening made real...realization)<wbr>. All that has been demonstrated by<br />chance is a dream of realization.<wbr>..and the dream is not enough.<br /><br />Perhaps we might look to the Sixth patriarch...<wbr>who awakened (perhaps<br />by chance) to a monk's chanting of the Diamond sutra. He left as soon<br />as he could to find a teacher and a temple to practice in. When he was<br />not found suitible to practice with the real monks...he cut bamboo in<br />the garden just to be near the teacher and the temple, when it came<br />time to pick the teacher's successor...<wbr>.it was his poem that won the<br />robe...and he had to sneak off in the dark so as not to cause the<br />"real monks" to murder him in their jealousy. Even so they gave chase<br />and could not find him. In the story there is never a hint that there<br />is something wrong with the system......<wbr>the sixth patriarch could not<br />be deceived. His teacher could not be deceived...certainl<wbr>y not by others.<br /><br />Be Well<br /><br />Fudo<br /><br /></p> </div> <!--~-|**|PrettyHtmlStart|**|-~--> <span width="1" style="color: white;"></span>Fudohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05716242918451549184noreply@blogger.com