Zen is not Buddhism... according to real life actual Buddhists

www.reddit.com/r/zen/wiki/buddhism features a collection of real life actual Buddhists talking about the basis of their religious faith.

Anybody who ever read a Zen book of instruction can tell that's not Zen:

• "mind is defiled"
• "moral imperative to act selflessly"
• "Buddha is our only Master

That's just some of the examples.

Buddhists who aren't honest about Zen often use the argument that

because 8 and 11 are both divided by 1, they must be similar.

Well... no, actually. 11 is a prime number. 8 is not.

It is not only the similarities between (Buddhism and Christianity) that define them, it is also the differences... otherwise Buddhism and Christianity would be the same... which, on the internet, often turns out to be true.

Obligatory Zen Quote:

Guishan asked Yangshan, “Of the forty scrolls of the Nirvana Sutra, how many are the words of the Buddha, and how many are the words of a devil?”

Yangshan replied, “They are all the speech of a devil.”

Guishan said, “From now on, no one can do anything to you.”

Yangshan asked, “Being in this world, what should I do?”

Guishan said, “I only want your perception to be correct; I don’t tell you how to act.”

.

^Yo͞ok  Welcome! ^{Meet me}  My comment: It's understandable that Buddhists would be threatened by Zen, after all, Zen has more Buddhas, more historical records, more primary texts.

Buddhists churches are supposed to teach novices how to deal with this fear... and when we get people in this forum claiming to be Buddhists who can't keep the 5 Lay Precepts, who can't read and write at a high school level, who are too ashamed and cowardly to AMA, it is easy to spot the fact that such people have not been affiliated with a church for long enough to have learned church manners.

But what does that say about Buddhist church, that the teachings do not convey the manners, and that it takes a catechism, ordination, and an fancy dress costume in order to act appropriately in the world?

Devil words aren't going to get the job done.

Submitted April 30, 2023 at 06:07AM by ewk https://ift.tt/m3A4gGr