Archive for
January, 2009
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I guess this one is kind of like that but with more words.
"Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate" is a Buddha drama book. No that is not a typo or spelling error.
Buddha Drama, I guess is like a modern day Jataka tale, but not as well thought out, but very real at the same time.
Kind of like the Days of our lives or As the world turns soap opera for buddhists.
That is not to say that you don't get insights into the Buddha Dharma from reading a Buddha Drama book like this, quite the contrary, there are plenty of both indirect and direct insights to be gleaned from the book.
However, if you follow Brad's blog (I read it on the down low nowadays for zentertainment purposes mainly) you may be disappointed to find that most of the book was made up of things that he had posted on his blog over the last year and a half or so. However there is enought new and painful revalations in there that if you are in to schadenfreude or just a sadist in general you may get some pleasure from this book. Yes, I know I have sadistic tendencies, no, I don't really indulge in them too often unless someone is really asking for it, and yes, some people really do ask for it. No, I really did not enjoy the schadenfreude. I'm really a bit tired of it. I get enough of it from reading some other Neo-Buddhist blogs I also don't link anymore. But at least I can get my sadistic kicks off by writing this review, which I hope someone, anyone, even and especially me finds helpful.
Is there a place for this book? Is the question I have to ask. Or more importantly, is this a book I want to hang on to?
To the first question, yes. This book is a consumable, if you enjoy Brad's writing style this will be an easy one to read through. The Book is not to complex and does not contain a lot of tuff concepts for you to intellectualize about or wrap your head around. I got through it in about a day, and well I'm generally pretty slow. But unlike brads other books this is not one I think I will want to read again or even hang on to or keep on my shelf. If you want my copy let me know and we will figure out how I can get it to you. First come first serve. I only ask that when your done with it you keep passing it along because it dose actually have some good points in it about not idolizing Zen Teachers and stuff.
Anyway on that note Brad is a dork and a nerd, he says so in his book so I don't feel bad repeating it here. I do feel a little bit of affection for him just like that red headed kid I used to give nuggies too way back in high school.
Also, I am still grateful to Brad for his first book, which helped my take my practice from the armchair to the Zafu.
And Brad, if you happen to read this, you are needed. Thank you for your efforts and practice. If you need a couch to crash on when you visit Portland, let me know. Just be forewarned that this house is inhabited by a spastic dog and demanding cat along with me my wife and kids. But no-one really talks about Zen here so at least you will get a break from that, and the wife and kids are big Godzilla/ Ultraman fans too. No, I am not, but I promise I will do my best to suppress the urge to give you a wedgie if you do show up.
Dogen's Extensive Record #487
temptation upon temptation...
the winding road of life.
hope i don't end up a toad...
But, I also ran across this.
Possibly my father's favorite song. (Not a major music guy...)
Busy day ahead, but mainly reading...
And one more by the bye. Here's the direction I hope to move my preaching style when I grow up...
Zen Master Chao-chou was leaving the main hall when he saw a monk bowing to him.
The master struck him with his stick.
The monk said, "But bowing is a good thing!"
The master said, "A good thing is not as good as nothing."
Commentary
You can hear the self-righteousness in the monk's voice. And the desire for approval. Ouch!
Source: Zen Sourcebook, edited by Stephen Addiss
Photo by Z Rahen
Question: Dosho…you may know the therapy from Japan, Morita Therapy. I would call it everyday mindfulness with no special idea of practice. Maybe self-forgetfulness in action. It is good for people like me who have anxiety issues. I also talked to a man named M. Saito from Japan. He used Zen to help cure his anxiety problems, but no formal zazen. I asked him many questions and he explained things to me using Zen sayings. He reports rare anxiety problems after 10 years of work. Also, Morita seems to have also realized what a healthy mind is like with no zazen.
Am I missing something here? For me it seems necessary to ask, is there some difference between everyday presence, whether we call it mindfulness practice or surrender to Life, and formal sitting practice? I have to take up the question why we do it. If precepts, awareness and action were enough, I assume Dogen and others would have said so. I don’t find any Zen teacher saying so. Maybe there is a difference between establishing a smooth balanced mind in daily life vs. glimpsing your true nature? But some great moments of stillness have arisen for me in the middle of really mindless action.
Response: I am familiar with Morita Therapy (or click here for a limited preview of Quiet Therapies: Japanese Pathways to Personal Growth).
There are, of course, many reasons to practice: health, supernormal feats, arrogance, curiosity about the true face, and wanting to roll like black ball rolling through the dark night.
In an “ideal” world, we first clarify our intention and then undertake a practice that fits the intention. In “reality,” we are drawn to practice for what we imagine it is rather than for what it is, buffeted by various voices in our internal dialogue/chorus discussing what we’re doing and why. Then we sort things out as we go.
Precepts and mindful action are powerful healing practices and can allow a person to delight in wholesome states of mind, rather than torment, and discover well being. No doubt about it.
I’m reminded of Freud commenting that his treatment allowed his patients to live lives of “common unhappiness,” rather, I suppose, than “uncommon unhappiness.”
Dharma practice, however, is a much more powerful thing than simply helping us to heal.
Here’s Daido Loori Roshi (one of my teachers) on this point:
“What person’s life is lacking? Each one of us is perfect and complete, lacking nothing. The pivotal question is, "How do you get to that?" The answer is simple—practice. Practice is not an educational process of collecting reams of information. Practice is exactly the opposite of accumulating data. It involves peeling back layers of conditioning, the ways we have defined our lives, to get to what is underneath that. Buried below those layers of conditioning is a Buddha. That is what needs to be realized. Regardless of what aspect of training we use to get to the ground of being, the fact is that ground is there. Realized or not, it is there.
“When we have not yet realized our Buddha nature, we live our lives out of delusion, out of our conditioning. That leads to a lot of pain and suffering. When we realize our Buddha nature, we enter the realm of clarity and peace. The world is the same world. But our way of appreciating ourselves and the universe is transformed. We call that enlightenment. It is true human nature. We do not need genetic designers for it. Nobody can improve this perfection. That is what it means to be a great human being—to truly be human. Most of us have never seen a true human being. We have seen some qualities surface here and there in special people. I have no doubt that true human qualities are not hate, greed, and jealousy, but compassion, wisdom, and love. How this next century goes depends a lot on how much we are able to get in touch with our true humanity. Please take care of this great matter.”
Well being work is for health and ground of being work for realization. Sometimes it’s all mixed up and calls to be clarified.
Above, Daido emphasizes the need for the ground of being to be realized through practice. This requires that we turn the dharma wheel. When we allow the dharma wheel to turn us, this is practice by realization and there is really nothing to be done.
And so we can get going with great energy. That is to take care of this great matter.