AMA is an acronym that means 'Ask Me Anything'. The point of the AMA is pretty straightforward. It is used to indicate that the user is open to any questions within the relevant subject context. Alternatively, an individual may be asked (or challenged) to AMA by another party. It is implied that one will answer questions truthfully.
The act of doing an AMA is in principle an assertion of intellectual integrity. It is a statement that the speaker is willing to be transparent in addressing any concerns that the would-be questioner might have (it can also be a call for honesty by the questioner). This is necessarily the case because by doing an AMA, the speaker is submitting to a public discourse that anyone can, in good faith, contribute or participate in.
The question I want to address with this post is two-fold: Why should anyone on this forum care about AMAs? Why do AMAs matter to students and practitioners of Zen?
In truth, no one is under any obligation to AMA. It is simply a method of investigation. A way to separate the serious from the jokers. As for why AMAs should matter in a Zen forum ... there are two good reasons, both of which have already been championed exhaustively by ewk. Ewk is the foremost spokesperson of the AMA club, of course.
First, the AMA is quintessentially Ch'an custom. It is happening all over the Zen texts. Zen masters are famous for their responses to questions and for asking questions. They don't even cut other Zen masters any slack. No one is above the AMA. A Zen master questioned a guy to death. You lot can only get your feelings hurt at the worst. Man the fuxk up.
Second, Zen is historically contentious. There is a lot of disagreement about what it is exactly. Naturally, there is a lot of argument. Standing your ground is encouraged. If you are lions, eat. If you are sheep, get served up.
Ultimately, Joshu already spoke. If the wrong man teaches the right way, the way will follow him and become wrong. He also said: He who has game recognizes game in those who have it (jk).
More to the point, people come to this forum with all sorts of ideas about what Zen is. And almost all of it is bullshit. These people want a kind of open door policy in r/zen whereby they can talk about anything provided that they call it Zen. And their reasoning for wanting this is that this reflects the reality, which is basically that some dude can call his grandmother's recipe Zen and just about anyone will believe it.
They say that demanding AMAs is some kind of radical cultish gatekeeping because, in their view, Zen has moved away from the ways of the Ch'an texts. Based on what? When questioned about their beliefs they resort to trolling and insults, among other tactics, to deflect away from the core of the issue and hence avoid having to face it until they can spin up new accounts to evade the consequences of their dishonesty. Such people can't AMA, obviously. The AMA is very threatening to these people and they are the most vocal opposition against it.
I therefore submit that people can talk about whatever they want to talk about in this forum, provided that they can AMA about it and openly admit when they should re-examine their choices. I will leave it to the mods to decide what is on topic and what is not. As for myself, I am currently conducting an experiment of sorts. I am going to block everyone who can't pass an AMA until there is no one left. People who front but won't AMA also get blocked. I want to know what r/zen would look like if it was nothing but real ninjas.
How does one AMA? I look at AMAs like this:
- Introductory AMA: a member who is new to the forum or newly participating does an AMA as a way of introducing themselves. Automatic pass for an introductory AMA. Must answer the three questions.
- AMA by popular demand: AMA in response to a demand. Pass or fail depending on transparency and intellectual integrity. The three questions not necessary.
- Freestyle AMA: answering questions that are raised at random (usually in comments). Same grading rules as #2. Questioners must of course uphold the same integrity as a general rule.
I am willing to consider that I am mistaken about the anti-AMA crowd. I am ready to consider that AMAs are bad for r/zen. Let's see some solid arguments against the AMA standard.
Excuse any typos. I'm working. Responses will be delayed. AMA.
Submitted March 18, 2022 at 12:48AM by GhostC1pher https://ift.tt/j0a3Ui7
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