Confessions of a Zen Zealot

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Yavana
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Confessions of a Zen Zealot

Post by Yavana »

https://thetattooedbuddha.com/2019/01/0 ... en-zealot/
Much to our mischievous glee, as they opened the door, the snake’s lifeless body rolled out of the doorway and onto the step that one of them was occupying.

The first lady screamed and almost knocked the second lady down trying to get off the steps and back down the driveway. Once the second lady discovered what the first lady was screeching about, she too started screeching...
-snip-
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Wayfarer
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Re: Confessions of a Zen Zealot

Post by Wayfarer »

Can't see any point at all in the anecdote, as such, but I think it's worth giving the homesite a mention. :smile:
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
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Lindama
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Re: Confessions of a Zen Zealot

Post by Lindama »

lol, monkey see, monkey do.

reminds me, as an almost adult many years ago, I set my mother up. I screamed as if I saw a spider. She screamed too.

same could be said for zealots, perhaps :stirthepot:
Not last night,
not this morning,
melon flowers bloomed.
~ Bassho
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anjali
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Re: Confessions of a Zen Zealot

Post by anjali »

Yavana wrote: Fri Jan 11, 2019 11:14 pm
Much to our mischievous glee, as they opened the door, the snake’s lifeless body rolled out of the doorway and onto the step that one of them was occupying.

The first lady screamed and almost knocked the second lady down trying to get off the steps and back down the driveway. Once the second lady discovered what the first lady was screeching about, she too started screeching...
-snip-
Funny story. :) Reminds me of my favorite vignette from Bankei Zen, by Peter Haskel,
When the Master was in his middle years and staying at the Chikurinken, he delivered a sermon one evening to two or three Zen monks. When his talk was finished, everything became quiet and still. Suddenly, with a shriek, a wild boar sprang from behind a mulberry tree. The Master laughed aloud. The monks were thoroughly startled.
First time I read that story I laughed for half an hour.

It doesn't say it, but I'm imagining that Bankei and the two or three monks were sitting outside in the evening around a fire. He gave them a talk and they were quietly sitting around the fire, maybe hearing the soft crackling of the burning wood, reflecting on the Master's words, when that boar just comes out of nowhere with those piercing pig squeals.

You just never know when the wild boar of life is going to spring out! Along those lines, there is a quote by Brother David Steindl-Rast that comes to mind, "Suddenly one day, the great surprise will break in on us." :lol:
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Yavana
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Re: Confessions of a Zen Zealot

Post by Yavana »

Wayfarer wrote: Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:47 pm Can't see any point at all in the anecdote, as such, but I think it's worth giving the homesite a mention. :smile:
A misleadingly quasi-sociopathic introduction to a story that starts out with an anecdote about childhood that segways into an exhortation to practice Buddhadharma. It seems terrible until you actually look at the article. Enticingly horrific. Sensationalistic upaya on my part.

Made you click.
anjali wrote: Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:09 pm
Funny story. :) Reminds me of my favorite vignette from Bankei Zen, by Peter Haskel,
When the Master was in his middle years and staying at the Chikurinken, he delivered a sermon one evening to two or three Zen monks. When his talk was finished, everything became quiet and still. Suddenly, with a shriek, a wild boar sprang from behind a mulberry tree. The Master laughed aloud. The monks were thoroughly startled.
First time I read that story I laughed for half an hour.

It doesn't say it, but I'm imagining that Bankei and the two or three monks were sitting outside in the evening around a fire. He gave them a talk and they were quietly sitting around the fire, maybe hearing the soft crackling of the burning wood, reflecting on the Master's words, when that boar just comes out of nowhere with those piercing pig squeals.

You just never know when the wild boar of life is going to spring out! Along those lines, there is a quote by Brother David Steindl-Rast that comes to mind, "Suddenly one day, the great surprise will break in on us." :lol:
Get bit by a dog, and you're a victim. Bite a dog and you're a monster. You can't win. You can only practice.

:shrug:
:meditate:
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Confessions of a Zen Zealot

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Wayfarer wrote: Sat Jan 12, 2019 1:47 pm Can't see any point at all in the anecdote, as such, but I think it's worth giving the homesite a mention. :smile:
Yes - the anecdote is only mildly amusing but it's a hook into a good blog post, the core of which is ...
Tattooed Buddha wrote:I see people come and go through the Zen Center all the time. They show up once or twice, nothing magical happens, and then they are gone. But I’ve noticed that if people come consistently for a few months and start a practice at home—a real practice, not just sitting here and there when it’s convenient, that they too start to change.
:namaste:
Kim
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