A. M. A

A. M. A.

OK so I may as well do one of these, as someone yesterday suggested, I don't really know what the format is, other than, you get to ask me questions, and I'll answer them.. So, a bit about me.. I'm relatively new to reddit, (a couple of months, It popped up on my feed, so I checked it out) after checking out a few subs, I dropped onto r/zen and this has been my favourite sub since then..

I've been interested in spirituality for a long time, I think one of my first books was by Carlos Casteneda. ( I was heavily into psychedelics at the time) I read lots of his books, for some years, until I decided they were bollox. Or maybe too dreamboaty to be of any practical use.

Anyway, after that I found out about zen, I got myself the way of zen, by Alan Watts. Which I read and loved, this was over ten years ago, maybe even fifteen. Since then, I have gotten books on zen, by Shunryu Suzuki, ( who I have since learned after joining r/zen is severely frowned upon.) I've read thich Nat haan, lots of Thai forest Therevada, especially Ajahn chah, and Ajahn sumedho. Lots of other random books on spirituality, and now, since joining r/zen and getting reccomedations from some members, my library now includes huang po's transmission of mind, the blue cliff records, gateless gate and Bankeis book, the Unborn. I've also got others on the way.. I've tried meditation, over the years, and I've found that by using samatha meditation, I've been able to calm a lot of my habitual thinking down, something that used to bother me quite a lot, after having quite bad paranoid thoughts and feelings, for years after quitting the drug use.

I've now got a revitalised interest in zen again, due to this fine sub. I can see there is lots to be learned from this site, there's some great users on here, even the ones who can boil my piss at times, ( the piss boils, I realise it's my opinion and self centredness raising its ugly head, so try not to be so bothered by it)

Anyway, there you go.

I don't really know how to go about the three questions, and have forgot what they are now to be honest..

Hmmm

Are they?

1. NOT ZEN?

I don't really understand this question, so if anyone could point out what it is, I'll return here and answer this later..

1. FAVOURITE TEXT? I don't think I can say I have a favourite text, like I said above, I've read a few, and some paragraphs jump out at me and resonate with me, depends what I'm reading at the time, you can see some of my favourite paragraphs, by looking at my post history, at the minute, I'm enjoying going through the blue cliff records, I guess, because I don't have a firm understanding of the original material, or much of an understanding of the language and similes used, the notes by Sekida, are more accessible to me at the minute, as I can take them on board more easily, due to the language used.

2. DHARMA LOW TIDES?

What do I do, in a dharma low tide?

I don't know if a dharma low tide is the same as a low tide in my life, and I've had lots of low tides, and in fact at some points, I thought the sea had evaporated forever..

Now, though, as I've learned to develop a bit of centredness and calm in my life, I can see, that even in the midst of the shit storm, if I remain centred in quiet awareness, the shit doesn't stick.

Ok.. I will try and answer all questions, please bear with me, if I don't get back to all questions straight away, Im always quite busy with family and work, so will answer all questions, time permitting, as soon as I can.

Thanks.

Submitted May 29, 2020 at 11:51AM by transmission_of_mind https://ift.tt/2XakD1o