Go to In every mind a Saint -- Chan (Zen) Buddhism
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Re: Your writing has certainly struck a chord within me.
Imagination is surely important to help us sail through a largely unknown and mysterious journey of spiritual quest. Analysis and reasoning can make the connections and provide understanding of essentially the maze of religious truth. Some practices of very different religious traditions may in fact exercising essentially the same underlying spiritual truth, which I am expositing within the language and traditions of Buddhism.
For example, "pray without ceasing" in the Christian-Judeo culture, as mentioned, is analogous to the Chan Buddhist meditation of investigating a gongan (an open case of enlightenment episode) ceaselessly in all daily activity. When you pray with a certain content, directed always, for example, to the God or a Saint; it can be seen as a meditation with form. The specific content, the God or the Saint is the form; it is your focus of meditation and is exercised similarly and repeated whenever you say your prayers. The practical religious benefits of these meditations, whether in different traditions, are the same: Your mind is more open, less vexed and less confused and your character is gradually transformed to being less egoistic and more benevolent, to reveal your Buddha nature; or as some traditions says to be in accord better with the image of the God.
For full enlightenment, Chan Buddhists have to lose their attachment with Buddhism or the Buddha; they have to dispense with the superficial rituals, rigid dogmas, idolatory figures, etc. of Buddhism to be in accord with the perfect truth of freedom, of compassion and wisdom. The ultimate challenge to a more theistically based tradition will be are you prepared and dared to be on your own instead of ceaselessly on the provisions and blessings of the God or Saints, just as the mystics of such traditions may have done.
posted by
WSChan
on July 23, 2008 at 9:02 PM
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Your writing has certainly struck a chord within me.
Thank you. At a time when my brain is at best like moving through a dense fog with weights on, I can fly through your writing with clarity and feeling complete understanding of what I am to know at present. You have described for Christian-Judeo culture the meaning of pray without ceasing, the ability to instantaneously connect with the Universe at any given point.
posted by
skye08
on July 21, 2008 at 4:08 AM
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Intrigued by your philosophy
posted by
Smittenheimer
on July 10, 2008 at 10:05 AM
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