Meditation (rituals, tradition, God, Zen)

[koan]

I'm not currently with a sangher, so I meditate alone. Even when I was with a sangha, I usually meditated most mornings by myself.

[zenzero]

Friends,
Start from where you are, atart with what you are comfotable with.
Starting is the first step, rest will happen on its own.
Remeber that each one is an individual and so is the journey.
Each One is here in the given circumstances due to cause and effect which we call karma. Karma [action] is not good or bad but the thoughts behind gives the desired result or has the desired effect and leads the individual accordingly.
Goal is to break the chain of the cause and effect which arises from the mind and that mind needs to be stilled. When any action is done keeping the mind still there are no thoughts behind that action there is no effect and the chain nreaks and one becomes free from the results and eventually when no thoughts arises in the mind one achives complete freedom/samadhi/nirvana etc.
Meditation means stilling the mind. How one goes about achieving it depends on the suitablity or capability or understanding of the individual./ No need to know what the other is doing. See for yourself what you are comfortable with and then you will be guided by nature itself.
Love & rgds

[MysticSang'ha]

Originally Posted by zenzero

Friends,
Start from where you are, atart with what you are comfotable with.
Starting is the first step, rest will happen on its own.
Remeber that each one is an individual and so is the journey.
Each One is here in the given circumstances due to cause and effect which we call karma. Karma [action] is not good or bad but the thoughts behind gives the desired result or has the desired effect and leads the individual accordingly.
Goal is to break the chain of the cause and effect which arises from the mind and that mind needs to be stilled. When any action is done keeping the mind still there are no thoughts behind that action there is no effect and the chain nreaks and one becomes free from the results and eventually when no thoughts arises in the mind one achives complete freedom/samadhi/nirvana etc.
Meditation means stilling the mind. How one goes about achieving it depends on the suitablity or capability or understanding of the individual./ No need to know what the other is doing. See for yourself what you are comfortable with and then you will be guided by nature itself.
Love & rgds

Ah......OK. Now I think I have a better understanding where you're coming from. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you'd like for us all to pay attention to the Buddha-Dharma of emptiness. That concentration, visualization, and mantra recitation are all good but rungs on the ladder toward the ultimate goal of realizing emptiness.



True?



Peace,
Mystic

[MysticSang'ha]

Bumpity-bump.



Peace,
Mystic

[YmirGF]

Originally Posted by MysticSang'ha

Bumpity-bump.



Peace,
Mystic

[zenzero]

Friends,
I do not exits. What IS is the part of the same energy that is everywhere in all things we see and what we do not see.
since I do not exists I cannot have any wants/desires/wishes.
Most that can be done is to point a finger to the moon, do not watch the finger or the moon. JUST GET THE WHOLE PICTURE the finger and the moon in the sky everything but without taking sides be the watcher only.
The goal is the same as the origin or the source. The begining and the end are the same and between to only that small realisation to be that seer who can see it.
Dropping the I, me, mine, my or the EGO or the MIND is the first step. To reach that step meditation helps in stilling the MIND/EGO/I/Me/mine/etc. The still mind can see that I do not exists and what does is the same everywhere.
Love & rgds

[kadzbiz]

I just don't understand. What is the point to it all if I end up not existing? What am I supposed to be achieving thru this art of zen. Please help me understand.

[koan]

Actualy, its more complicated than we don't exist. The formular is, We exist, we don't exist. We both exist and don't exist. We niether exist or don't exist. The Mahayana Heart Sutra sums it up the best. Form is emptiness, Emptiness is Form.

[Engyo]

Dan -

It sounds as if ZZ's zen of emptiness is not the Dharma Gate for you. There are amny Dharma gates, as there are many different types of people. The Buddha taught many different skillful ways so that there would be different paths for many different types of people.

Personally, I can't make heads or tails of ZZ's emptiness rhetoric either, but then that isn't the form of Buddhism I practice. ZZ just comes across as if his way is the only way, and I don't believe so.

[YmirGF]

Originally Posted by Engyo

Personally, I can't make heads or tails of ZZ's emptiness rhetoric either, but then that isn't the form of Buddhism I practice. ZZ just comes across as if his way is the only way, and I don't believe so.

That's odd Engyo. I have little difficulty understanding ZenZero's comments, but that is likely due to the fact that I have meditated for more incarnations than I care to remember. In a veritable host of incarnations I sought to annihilate my ego and although I made some progress I usually hit on a rather large brick wall. In hindsight I understand why and have begun to refer to the "great emptiness" or the "spotless void" as perhaps being the "final illusion of duality". Anything beyond that state is simply reality and sadly, for some, their individualized consciousness will still exist, even if their sense of self morphs considerably during the process of the inner journey.