I am a Buddhist and if anyone wants to question my beliefs then they are welcome to do so...

@glitterbag,

glitterbag wrote:

Oh, I'm sorry.....Is it your job to police the entire site? You must have the longest list of simmering resentments I have ever encountered, and apparently you love to share them here with everybody. I do want to thank you for your efforts to suck the minute amount of pleasure other people derive from the site, you insufferable kill-joy.

I love irony.

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@maxdancona,

If only you knew what it means. But congratulations, you managed to get a little attention.

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@glitterbag,

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/94/f3/9894f3990dd00716c79f145ea1073068.jpg

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@glitterbag,

glitterbag wrote:

If only you knew what it means. But congratulations, you managed to get a little attention.

Why are you here, Glitterbag? This is another thread where you are mostly talking about me.

(Hint: You don't have to do that)

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@igm,

Quote:

Don’t you think there is an additional benefit in asking some questions interactively, not in respect of a general question about Zen Buddhism but other questions which may require mutual dialogue?

Probably.

So, what's your take on Zen koans? Would you mind if I asked you to answer one?

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@Jasper10,

All that SELF does with an inward only meditation practice is “toggle” from right to left on the swinging pendulum….”a prisoner of consciousness”….with no concept whatsoever of a possible FULCRUM.

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@Glennn,

Glennn wrote:

Quote:
Don’t you think there is an additional benefit in asking some questions interactively, not in respect of a general question about Zen Buddhism but other questions which may require mutual dialogue?

Probably.

So, what's your take on Zen koans? Would you mind if I asked you to answer one?

It's a suitable practice for some personality types as a meditation technique i.e. those attracted to Zen Buddhism. I don't practise Zen therefore I don't meditate on koans.

If I wanted to understand more I would research it (via Google probably) and then go to a Zen Buddhist Temple to practice with someone who is already practising the technique and recommended by other practitioners as somewhat accomplished in both the practice and teaching of koans.

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@igm,

A simple "Koans are not my thing" would suffice.

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@Glennn,

Look at it this way Glenn if someone said they were a Christian and you asked them about Catholicism they wouldn’t tell you a huge about if they were a Protestant.

And you wouldn’t ask a Protestant about how the Pope organises his cardinals.

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@izzythepush,

Plus there are more than one type of Catholicism, there's Roman, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox ..... nothing about religion is ever simple.

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@Glennn,

Glennn wrote:

A simple "Koans are not my thing" would suffice.

If you read between the lines of what I said, it means, if you want to practise Buddhist meditation then you do some research but most importantly you find someone who is qualified to teach the various Buddhist meditation techniques.

Traditionally, they are given permission by their teacher to teach and each teacher's lineage can be traced back through a line of qualified teachers. One needs to be wary of self-appointed teachers.

Koans are similar to other Buddhist meditation techniques that teach how to rest the mind in a state that is an ineffable state that is beyond any concepts. In Tibetan Buddhism another type of meditation technique is used but they are both attempting to train the practitioner to rest in that state.

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@igm,

And if you don't read between the lines of what I've said, you'll perceive my last post as an acknowledgement of your disinterest in koans. Nothing more required.

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@Glennn,

Gee, and you put it so nicely......why would anybody get confused? Now that the OP answered your question, was it too much to ask for you just to say 'thanks'?

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@izzythepush,

Agreed, Just as there are so many different scientific theories as to the origin of the universe, if the universe has an end, or how the universe might end.

Plus the many variations in the many other theories of those in the different scientific fields of endeavor.

If you wish to believe in any one particular theory, you have to take it on faith, because a theory remains no more than a theory, until it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.

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@glitterbag,

and Ethiopian Catholic,where each has its unique Bible with texts "Approved and included".

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@farmerman,

You're right, I think there are several more factions that consider themselves separate from other forms of Catholicism. Our Romanian instructors wanted us to visit what they called a Romanian Orthodox Church in D.C. . I'm not certain if orthodox is really the right way to describe the faction, but it was 1983 and the trip was not approved.

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@Glennn,

The "coining" of "Koans" is not a guarantee of meaning or substance...
Occasionally there is one or another that I like and a load that I don't...just like any other popular wisdom one sentences...
Ideally paradoxes should be well founded through observation on the limits of classical concepts and their breaking point.

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@Jasper10,

INWARD only meditation is an unbalanced;not in the moment meditative practice that is carried out by individuals who are not AWARE and therefore are “Prisoner’s of Consciousness”.Buddhism is all about INWARD only meditation.

The individual needs to practice INWARD and OUTWARD meditation together in AWARENESS.

This is a balanced meditative practice.

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@Jasper10,

Many false reasonings come out of Buddhism meditative practices, one being that SELF is an illusion.

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@Jasper10,

SELF isn’t the illusion……the 2 off contradicting thoughts that reason that SELF is or isn’t an illusion are the illusions.

SELF is not a thought, SELF has thoughts and SELF is not consciousness either SELF is AWARE of the 2 off consciousness states and controls them.

The above applies to individuals who are aware not to those people who are unaware.

SELF sits above AWARENESS……AWARENESS sits above the 2 off consciousness states………thoughts reside within consciousness.

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I am a Buddhist and if anyone wants to question my beliefs then they are welcome to do so...

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