Thank you for posting this. I love "don't know" mind. It is like being on a continuous first date with life.
-Anzan
-Anzan
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The more I practice Zen, the more I realize there is nothing to know, dropping all, including preconceived ideas and expectations of all things. I am the type of person that puts a huge, huge amount of pressure on myself, and this practice continues to help me to just drop everything.
Gassho,
JoyoComment
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You know, after giving this a bit more thought, I have a few more things to say. I was raised very strict Christian and continued on that path for 35 years. Slowly, I started to break away and then made a very quick change and quit going to church, reading my bible, and all the other things that I was taught I had to do in order to be a good Christian. This left me with a very uneasy feeling. I started researching more and more on the history of the bible etc. and I became obsessed with finding the perfect doctrine, the perfect explanation as to what the bible really meant. This eventually turned me into an atheist, not at all where I thought I would end up lol!! Even as an atheist, I still felt uneasy, always searching, questioning and trying to find answers. In the middle of this I found Buddhism, and then I found Treeleaf, and to make a long story short, I eventually just dropped all that. Too much thinking was going on in my head!!! Instead of spending countless hrs searching on wikipedia, I now sit, chant and just live a simple life as best as I can, dropping all ideas of proper doctrines and ideas. And when people ask me if I believe in this or that, I just say I don't know.
Gassho,
JoyoComment
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That must feel really freeing, Joyo.when people ask me if I believe in this or that, I just say I don't know
Gassho
AndyComment
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Great teaching JoyoYou know, after giving this a bit more thought, I have a few more things to say. I was raised very strict Christian and continued on that path for 35 years. Slowly, I started to break away and then made a very quick change and quit going to church, reading my bible, and all the other things that I was taught I had to do in order to be a good Christian. This left me with a very uneasy feeling. I started researching more and more on the history of the bible etc. and I became obsessed with finding the perfect doctrine, the perfect explanation as to what the bible really meant. This eventually turned me into an atheist, not at all where I thought I would end up lol!! Even as an atheist, I still felt uneasy, always searching, questioning and trying to find answers. In the middle of this I found Buddhism, and then I found Treeleaf, and to make a long story short, I eventually just dropped all that. Too much thinking was going on in my head!!! Instead of spending countless hrs searching on wikipedia, I now sit, chant and just live a simple life as best as I can, dropping all ideas of proper doctrines and ideas. And when people ask me if I believe in this or that, I just say I don't know.
Gassho,
Joyo I think we are twins sometimes, lol. We have been in some similar places during our walk.
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That's great Troy, always encouraging to find others that have walked a similar path in life.
And Kokuu, yes it is very freeing, but to give a bit more background--I was raised Mennonite and still live in the place where I grew up. So, my family is here, as well as many, many people that I used to attend church with. Even at work, the other day, many of the staff remembered me from my Christian days and it's awkwaard to hear comments like "oh, haven't seen you in awhile, don't you go to church anymore?". It can be a difficult town to live in because I'm labelled as the "backslidden" one, but again, I just try to drop that and take comfort in the path of Zen, the empty, I don't know path. And life is just too short to take seriously
Gassho,
JoyoComment
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Hello,
"oh, haven't seen you in awhile, don't you go to church anymore?".
I'm never not in 'church'.
Gassho,
Myosha"Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"Comment
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What a great thread! Thank you Troy. Each time I start to get too big for my britches (as the saying goes) something (nothing? Haha) always happens that shows me that I don't know anything lol. It's refreshing being humbled. As an intellect addict, it's always amazing watching the tower of thought collapse, while also knowing that there was also nothing to collapse. I followed a similar route to Buddhism and Treeleaf Joyo, now I just don't concern myself with that which has no definite answer, and that which cannot be observed. Still entertain subjective, experience based views, but they're nothing more than conjecture.
The fun thing with Zen is that we can never understand it with our brains. Can never adequately describe the Dharma with words. On that note, in the Kiriwina (a language of New Guinea) the word mokita means a truth that everyone knows, but no one speaks about. That's the fun fact of the day. Haha.
Gassho, Foolish JohnComment
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Great lesson! Thanks JohnWhat a great thread! Thank you Troy. Each time I start to get too big for my britches (as the saying goes) something (nothing? Haha) always happens that shows me that I don't know anything lol. It's refreshing being humbled. As an intellect addict, it's always amazing watching the tower of thought collapse, while also knowing that there was also nothing to collapse. I followed a similar route to Buddhism and Treeleaf Joyo, now I just don't concern myself with that which has no definite answer, and that which cannot be observed. Still entertain subjective, experience based views, but they're nothing more than conjecture.
The fun thing with Zen is that we can never understand it with our brains. Can never adequately describe the Dharma with words. On that note, in the Kiriwina (a language of New Guinea) the word mokita means a truth that everyone knows, but no one speaks about. That's the fun fact of the day. Haha.
Gassho, Foolish John
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So many great comments! Than you everyone for enriching my life
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