a special request

[Taigu]

hi folks ,

I am going to make a special request here.

Every so often, some people here answer questions, make suggestions and give elements of teaching as if they have the experience and the authority to do it. Jundo and I ask the training priests to put a pinch of salt in their answers and a clear reminder that they are just beginers on this path and therefore anything they say should be taken cautiously.

I appreciate the fact that folks that are not ordained want to help other folks, the least they could do is to do the same as priests in training here, that is to say to be humble, and clearly state that they are not teachers and that people might have to knock on other doors.

I know it is not a good time for teachers, it is cool to think that everybody is a teacher and folks like Jundo or me could be quickly obsolete.

Nevertheless we are still around. And although we learn a lot from you guys, your task is to learn a lot from us and the lineage we represent.

Please, respect the lineage, the teachers and your actual role in this.

gassho

Taigu, grumpy grandpa

[Kokuu]

Duly noted and understood.

Thank you for the reminder and your (and Jundo's) continued presence and teachings.

Gassho
Andy

[Taigu]

you are welcome, Kokuu.

Take care, and please do contribute with the usual pinch of salt.

gassho

Taigu

[John Cloud]

Thank you Taigo

I have like this problem in facebook . I have buddhist arabic group . And if some one new ask a question in the group . alot of people answer him . And a lot of answers it's wrong . And the new one he take wrong teaching of buddhism .

Like . Some one ask :
Do Buddhist believe in God ?
And some one answer .
Yes we practice to be one with God !!!

Ohhh this make me crazy . And make me feel to kill my self from these people

So i respect your request

Gassho

[Kokuu]

John,

I joined a number of Fb Zen groups and left all of them. They seem to consist almost entirely of people posting quotes, which is fine enough, and intellectual discussion. With there being no teacher present, there is also no one who can be relied upon to make sure that the information and advice given is in line with lineage teachings.

Your example above pretty much captures what I found also and made me realise how blessed we are here to have two good teachers and discussion around practice and traditional texts rather than intellectual chitter-chatter.

Gassho
Andy

[John Cloud]

Thank you very much dear friend Andy
Yes we are so lucky and blessed to have good teachers here to learn from them the true buddha's way .

Deep bows for you _/|\_

[Jinyo]

thank you Taigu,

for some time I have been feeling this and 'am very glad that you have clarified
in a not at all 'grumpy grandpa' way.

I hope it is Ok to express a thought as I do not wish to cause offence to fellow students and I include myself in what I write.

I feel when we speak from the heart a disclaimer is rarely needed - but many of us are avid readers (I include myself in this) and it's a slippery slope to mix up our personal thoughts/feelings/life- experiences with 'read text'. It results in a certain form of expression that comes across as authoritative and universal and often relies on the term 'we' and a heavy use of 'zen language'. So at the level of written expression a personal expression may come across as a teaching.

I've realised after two years of being here and reading lots of books that my relationship to those seminal texts is a long way off any true understanding. I've become more cautious/ a lot less certain and feel I need to live those texts in my bones before saying anything much at all. I'm beginning to appreciate that it's a long journey and one that I make with faltering footsteps because retaining the simplicity of practice isn't easy.

It may be that many of us have participated in a similar journey (all of life is the journey?) in other aspects of our lives - roles that we've played, etc - but what I thought might be a simple side-step - a grafting of one line of thought/discipline onto another isn't proving simple at all, and no more should it be.

Referring back to living a training/text in one's bones. The sense I have is that the unsui here are doing just that - living the teaching in their bones - and though I didn't understand at the beginning (thinking - 'why don't they say more?') I now feel this is a sign of real humility - and maybe that pinch of salt contains a sprinkling of gold dust in it too

Thank you to all fellow students here and especially to our teachers.

Gassho

Willow

[RichardH]

I appreciate the opportunity of this thread, to make a determination not to offer advice on this board, or respond to posted requests for advice.

.ed just to add. I may be an accidental Dharma teacher, like everyone else, but I am not a Dharma teacher, and have no desire to be one. Teaching Art is another story.

Gassho Daizan

[Juki]

Also duly noted. Thank you, Taigu.

Gassho,
Juki

[Joyo]

Thank you, Taigu.
Gassho,
Joyo

[Mp]

Thank you Taigu, we can all use reminders from time to time. =)

Gassho
Shingen

[6yx]

Thank you.
Gassho

Chris

[alan.r]

Yes, Taigu. Thank you. I'd noticed this about myself and have made a concerted effort to say less and listen more - doesn't always work, but trying. Thank you.

Gassho

[Nindo]

thank you Taigu,

for some time I have been feeling this and 'am very glad that you have clarified
in a not at all 'grumpy grandpa' way.

I hope it is Ok to express a thought as I do not wish to cause offence to fellow students and I include myself in what I write.

I feel when we speak from the heart a disclaimer is rarely needed - but many of us are avid readers (I include myself in this) and it's a slippery slope to mix up our personal thoughts/feelings/life- experiences with 'read text'. It results in a certain form of expression that comes across as authoritative and universal and often relies on the term 'we' and a heavy use of 'zen language'. So at the level of written expression a personal expression may come across as a teaching.

I've realised after two years of being here and reading lots of books that my relationship to those seminal texts is a long way off any true understanding. I've become more cautious/ a lot less certain and feel I need to live those texts in my bones before saying anything much at all. I'm beginning to appreciate that it's a long journey and one that I make with faltering footsteps because retaining the simplicity of practice isn't easy.

It may be that many of us have participated in a similar journey (all of life is the journey?) in other aspects of our lives - roles that we've played, etc - but what I thought might be a simple side-step - a grafting of one line of thought/discipline onto another isn't proving simple at all, and no more should it be.

Referring back to living a training/text in one's bones. The sense I have is that the unsui here are doing just that - living the teaching in their bones - and though I didn't understand at the beginning (thinking - 'why don't they say more?') I now feel this is a sign of real humility - and maybe that pinch of salt contains a sprinkling of gold dust in it too

Thank you to all fellow students here and especially to our teachers.

Gassho

Willow

Well said Willow, that's a really good point about the influence of reading material.

[Ishin]

Duly noted

Gassho
C