ZEN AS PANPSYCHISM
ZEN AS PANPSYCHISM Panpsychism is the view that mind or soul (Greek: ψυχή) is a universal feature of all things, and the primordial feature from which all others are derived and this is a common theme in Zen. Master Mangong Wolmyeon described it as [2]: “What is referred as ‘mind-only’ in Buddhism— the central philosophy […]
SARCASM AND IRONY AS PHILOSOPHY
SARCASM AND IRONY AS PHILOSOPHY Sarcasm is not [always] wrong speech and is often a systematic shortcut for philosophical analysis. Sarcasm can be found among philosophical discourse such as when Socrates pleaded with Euthyphro to teach him what the latter knows (quite clearly making fun of the guy for the benefit of the audience) and […]
SARCASM AND IRONY AS PHILOSOPHY
HOW FAR WILL YOU GO WITH NON-DUALITY? Few schools of Buddhism dared take non-duality to its logical conclusion. Zen teachers often dare, yet none were as radical as the Taintai school, and Siming Zhili (960–1028) went to the very end and concluded: “Other than the devil, there is no Buddha;..other than the Buddha, there is […]
BUDDHIST QUOTES ON MIND
BUDDHIST QUOTES ON MIND “If you want to understand all the Buddhas of the past, present and future, then you should view the nature of the whole universe, as being created by Mind-only…” Avatamsaka sutra “Who, then, is “animate” and who “inanimate”? Within the assembly of the Lotus, all are present without division. In the case […]
BUDDHA TEACHES FREEDOM AND EQUALITY (NOT)
BUDDHA TEACHES FREEDOM AND EQUALITY (NOT) “What the Buddha taught: keep your slaves, but treat them well; – don’t need to free them! Slaves worked for temples, slaves worked to make the monks free; – sounds bad, but needs be! Eat your meat also, monks be careful where it’s from; – otherwise it’s firm! Women […]
BUDDHA TEACHES FREEDOM AND EQUALITY (NOT)
BUDDHA TEACHES ANIMAL-RIGHTS (NOT) And yet not all meat; these meats you should never eat: elephants and dog, snakes, lions, tigers, panthers, bears and hyenas; – always forbidden! Yet some other meat, are allowed only sometimes: – cat, pig, cow and stuff! Confused, you will be! here’s more rules to baffle you; – meat must […]
MAHAYANA: THE AUTHENTIC BUDDHISM
The Mahayana Buddhist tradition is as authentic as any other Buddhist tradition is the argument set out in this short but compact essay. This essay argues that the sharp split between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism is a modern invention brought about by political power struggles between competing dynasties in 10th century Asia and anti-colonial activities […]
ZEN IS NOT ANTI-INTELLECTUAL OR ANTI-LEARNING
Zen is not anti-interlectual or anti-learning and those that claim so have got confused by the Zen’s message, context, history and teachings. This paper starts of by considering where the claim that Zen is anti-learning originated and then goes on to explain how that could not possibly be the case since Zen has a great […]
BUDDHA TEACHES FREEDOM AND EQUALITY (NOT)
THERE IS NO ‘REAL’ BUDDHISM, BUT MANY STRANDS AND TRADITIONS There is no real-Buddhism but rather a gigantic tradition, a great Dharma Mountain with many meandering footpaths, refuges, and activities on its slopes. This ‘Great Dharma Mountain’ includes everything and also its opposite and yet remains one single Mountain. In fact, there were 84,000 paths […]
THERE IS NO ‘REAL’ BUDDHISM, BUT MANY STRANDS AND TRADITIONS
There is no real-Buddhism but rather a gigantic tradition, a great Dharma Mountain with many meandering footpaths, refuges, and activities on its slopes. This ‘Great Dharma Mountain’ includes everything and also its opposite and yet remains one single Mountain. In fact, there were 84,000 paths taught by the Buddha 2,500 years ago and many more […]