Where to begin?

http://www.thezensite.com No sense reinventing the wheel. This is a wonderful resource. I will no doubt reference this site frequently. I am beginning on Volume II
of Thomas Cleary's Classics of Buddhism and Zen. The series on Taoism was wondeful!!!

I have the shobogenzo of dogen downloaded to my desktop, all eleven hundred pages of it. I have nagarjuna, hakuin, bankei, suzuki, the other suzuki, jiyu-kennett and many sutras in my bookcase and online. I don't know much, so join in if you are new at this, and we can learn together, have coffee and sit a spell, rap about it and ohm. There is no place like ohm ;)

The empty spaces are where the absolute can be expressed. Life is a koan. We live in the question [(??????????????????????????????????????????????)]

namaste

Yogananda: The Second Coming of Christ

What does a sixteen hundred page book have to do with the simplicity of zen? Nothing, but as a westerner having mor then the usual amount of christian baggage, it is useful to me and perhaps to you as well. Did martin luther or john calvin know yeshua this well? I wonder...

Yogananda wrote a book about the rubiyat of omar khayyam, but it was not the result of his conversations with muhammed (pbuh). He surveys the gospels in a manner unrivaled except for the greatest of mystical christians, and he claims to have had many conversations with the subject of the gospels. I wonder some more...

If a person wishes to reconcile with a christian past, to avoid throwing baby jesus out with the bathwater as well as throwing dirty water on the baby, then I cannot think of a better way to begin...

with metta

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gratitude for Pilgrims and Buddhas and Christs and Yogis and Sufis and Shamans and all sentient beings, Celestial and Terrrestrial, Bodhisattvas and Mothers and Children of Earth!

An attitude of gratitude is essential to the Dharma Path. There is much to be greatful for, even suffering, if it steers us toward the Ultimate Reality, the One, the Not-Two, the Indivisable Invisible and Visible All and Everything.

My intention is to have some turkey and stuffing with my father and his lady, to celebrate the freedom which I have enjoyed to worship as I please, to breath the free air and to follow the Dhamma through the raging battle all around and whatever apocalyptic scenarios play out in 2010 to 2012 and beyond. Time does not exist and I fear the New World Order but little since
if the Galactic Overlords come as Mara raging, Buddha has face these imposters before and prevailed.

An Attitude of Gratitude and best wishs for all sentient beings!

michael

Engaged Buddhism

Detachment or engagement

"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings ans arrows of outrageous furtune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles..."

Isn't Zen a nondual ideal without a political ideology or agenda? Why should it matter as long as we follow the dhamma? By being peace, we create peace around us and thus end suffering? Is anything more prudent or required?

I remain unsure, and am seeking detached engagement or engaged detachment...

Metta

Why?

Why start a blog? To keep me honest? To prevent me from annoying other bloggers? To keep a journal of the twists and turns and bumps on the road of my spiritual quest? To hide from facebook and myspace? To "enlighten" others? Heaven forbid! To learn how to write?

Having avoided it for ten years I suppose that if there were any other option to starting a blog, then I would do just that. The One or the Not-Two is creating this on its own. Won't you join me
in this futile charade, this cruel play, this glorious adventure, this mystic truth.

Namaste!

michael