[MD] philosophers stone

[MarshaV]

Greetings SA,

Zazen.  Yes, this is what my little episode the other night 
demonstrated.  I was between dreaming and being awake, and very 
aware.  It was never so clear.  I wondered what was the difference 
between the two.  The awareness was the space between thoughts. Yes, 
Zazen.  Just sitting.

Why am I avoiding the obvious?   I'm all too human...

Marsha





At 07:33 PM 8/20/2008, you wrote:

>SA previously:
> > >What do you mean, Marsha, a lot of
> > "flip-flopping"?  The author or
> > >history itself?
>
>
>Marsha:
> > I meant the history.  Busy little analytical beavers they
> > were.  I wonder if they had families and walks in the woods.
>
>
>SA:  Nice.  Exactly.  And I wonder why the flip-flopping.  Sounds 
>like a lot of indecision.  A culture unsettled.  A civilization 
>unsettled and not clear minded.  I would say much of this indecision 
>has to do with a lack of something to practice that sustains a 
>natural inclination of mystical proportions/significance.  The 
>christian church has its' scriptures and rituals, but they have 
>become very objective and that was one reason why I kept on reading 
>Buddhism when first introduced to it.  Buddhism was attractive due 
>to a simple practice of meditation at the heart of 
>enlightenment/realization/expansion of consciousness.  It was 
>something I could easily do.  Same with the attraction of 
>shamanistic, vision quest practices of old, which teach one how to 
>understand anger and fear so these nightmares don't control you, the 
>vision quest is all about patiently waiting out the fear, going 
>through the fear, knowing that once you ride out that storm peace and a
>  clear vision of life will be revealed.  I could easily do these 
> things - just go in the woods and life will reveal itself.
>      I would read the Bible and couldn't find a practice that would 
> help me love my neighbor.  Great ideas in the Bible, with great 
> doings, but how to cultivate these ways.  Jesus is said to have 
> gone into the wilderness and faced the devil's temptations just as 
> Buddha did.  Was it the simple experience of being in the 
> wilderness?  Jesus did have the scriptures and old people to help 
> teach him the philosophy of their spirituality.  That's about as 
> close as Christianity has come to any stable practice that can be 
> ritualized by any one person to achieve enlightenment (the 
> suggestion that the experience of the wilderness, being alone, such 
> as Moses in the desert).  Another long lived ritual is 
> prayer.  Yet, what does one do in the wilderness?  What does one do 
> during prayer?  Not just asking God to do this or that, but what 
> does the human do.  If anything mythology teaches us that something 
> profound goes on in our experience and it is full of tests,
>  challenges, and subtle occurrences.  If we simply walk in the 
> woods and pray is that it?  Know the scriptures?  Buddhism 
> discusses emotions, right thought, and suggests not only how, but 
> what happens during the how and gives detail courses of 
> action.  It's as if the wisdom is in Christianity and other western 
> religions, but the teachings have been lost.  This is probably why 
> so many could read the scriptures through western history, but had 
> a very difficult time putting them into practice.  A daily stable 
> practice to cut into the day and keep the focus sustained was 
> missing in the lives of everyday people.  This is also why westerns 
> find Tai-Chi or other Eastern practices so amazing.  It is the 
> incorporation of wise teachings into exercises that many people 
> look at these eastern practices and right away think how spiritual 
> those ways are.  Muslims have incorporated the prayer to Mecca 
> (what is it - 5 times a day?) no matter where they are.  It's a
>  practice to help stabilize and sustain their spiritual life.  The 
> practices of fasting for a month once a year in Islam.  Maybe this 
> is what you find attractive about coven?  The rituals throughout 
> the year centered on natural events so the circle is completed in 
> our lives during different times of the year.  I found the Bible 
> answers why a lot, which seems to be western culture in general, 
> but the eastern philosophies answer how.  Nothing wrong at the core 
> with any of these, as far as I can see.  It was that moment in my 
> life when I wanted to know how and what to practice to help sustain 
> a good spirit that Buddhism was providing, and eventually Zen 
> points this very event out.  That's how Zen was started in the 
> first place.  It's what Zen is all about.  Zen points at the moment 
> of enlightenment of Buddha, the sitting and zazening, and so you 
> have people like Dogen saying "Just sit".  I know just sitting 
> isn't the final story as Dwai or somebody once
>  pointed out to me, and we all know Dogen didn't mean "Just sit" - 
> there is much meaning in this context of "just sitting" that is to 
> be realized.  We can all understand that.  Dogen and Zen is 
> pointing out the ordinariness that spirituality is, an ordinariness 
> as significant as the sun rising each morning.  It's tremendous.
>
>     Does the author of that introduction suggest or point out 
> anything in reference to this discontent of western 
> civilization?  It probably would help if I read the introduction, 
> sounds very interesting.  I'm currently reading, as everybody 
> probably figured out by now, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", 
> which has been suggested here on this forum and I've read some of 
> Campbell's other books in the past, but now it seems I have the 
> time to start reading more of the books that have been suggested on 
> this forum.  What some people write here is very lovely and 
> revealing and some of the books they've suggested surely encouraged 
> them, so, by reading some of what people have suggested here would 
> be the same as learning more about where those people suggesting 
> such books are coming from.  I do have new priorities and sometimes 
> I work as fast as turtle, but I'm slowly gettin' to some things.
>
>
>crickets in the evening,
>SA
>
>
>
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Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.........
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