How much of dharma is upaya?

[A.J.]

Yes, but how often they were too analytical, caught in their own "angels on the head of a pin" tangles and imaginings ... rather than feeling the sting of the pin prick.



There is more than one way to bake a strawberry cheesecake, some delicious and some just tasteless or terrible (although different tongues may disagree). Personally, I believe that Shikantaza ... learning to just be without the endless "more more more", sitting without running always for what's next, learning to flow so as not to be flooded with aversions and attractions, being satisfied even amid this often dissatisfying life ... learning to seek more and not seek more AT ONCE TOGETHER, be still in motion, flow in dry times and wet, be satisfied both when satisfied and when not ...

... is a set of insights and skills that the vast, vast majority of people in this hungry, restless world could use right now.

Gassho, J

STLah

I wouldn't want to judge if a Buddhist text, or any text for that matter, was too analytical because I'm not inclined to think there is such a thing unless you can't do anything else. The day you can't meditate, or enjoy the simple taste of food, or relish a poem, or lose yourself in embrace, or see the forest along with the trees, on that day you have become too analytical. Other than that when you sip coffee you sip coffee even though it is different from eating mashed potatoes and when you are thinking about the various inter-related issues in the world of Buddhist (and Zen) thought, then that is simply what you are doing at that time even though it is different from sitting unattached to concepts receiving the whole world while simultaneously letting it go.

Gassho,

Andrew,

Satlah

[Jundo]

I wouldn't want to judge if a Buddhist text, or any text for that matter, was too analytical because I'm not inclined to think there is such a thing unless you can't do anything else. The day you can't meditate, or enjoy the simple taste of food, or relish a poem, or lose yourself in embrace, or see the forest along with the trees, on that day you have become too analytical. Other than that when you sip coffee you sip coffee even though it is different from eating mashed potatoes and when you are thinking about the various inter-related issues in the world of Buddhist (and Zen) thought, then that is simply what you are doing at that time even though it is different from sitting unattached to concepts receiving the whole world while simultaneously letting it go.

In your words above, perhaps you are being too analytical.

Gassho, J

STLah

[A.J.]

In your words above, perhaps you are being too analytical.

Gassho, J

STLah

In my words above it is clear I don't think there is such a thing unless it impedes your poetic appreciation of life. Everything in its place.

Gassho,

Andrew,

Satlah