Comments on: Blogging about Zen

By: Buddhism 101 | rich text - Rich Lafferty’s weblog

Buddhism 101 | rich text - Rich Lafferty’s weblog — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:30:46 +0000

[…] best way to begin talking about Buddhism is to ask a simple question: What is it all about? Conveniently for us, there is a straightforward […]

By: Dossy Shiobara

Dossy Shiobara — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:02:32 +0000

The blogger zen koan:

Before enlightenment,
write blogs, leave comments.

After enlightement:
write blogs, leave comments.

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:21:11 +0000

kalimonster: will do! And no, it's not about sink or swim. I plan to talk a bit about things common to most or all branches of Buddhism, and then about what Zen is, and I think you'll find it's straightforward even with all those pesky numbered lists that Buddhism seems to love.

By: kalimonster

kalimonster — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:38:50 +0000

What I’d love to hear is an explanation from a Real Person(tm) about the difference(s) between Buddhism and Zen Buddhism.

I have been interested in Buddhism for some time, but whenever I try (not SUPER determinedly, I’ll admit) to find some good readings on the subject, there seems to be no ‘starter’ material(*). I seem to find a lot of stuff that says(**), “Buddhism is all about following the Nineteen Transcendental Axioms and the Fourteen-Fold Path,” without actually detailing whatever-on-earth those are about.

Or maybe Buddhism IS all about dropping you in eyebrow-deep and seeing whether you crawl to the surface or sink. ;)

*: I always get distracted by Tibetan Buddhism too. Fascinating stuff.
**: Attempt at humourous wild exaggeration here.

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:25:07 +0000

Pam: I thought of a short explanation to hold you over right after I submitted the above comment:

Mindfulness and attention are important elements of Zen, but that’s all they are — elements. And mindfulness and attention are important to daily productivity. But that doesn’t mean that daily productivity is Zen.

(As a related example, hard work and a single career path are important in Calvinism, and the stereotypical American work ethic is one of hard work and a single career path — but you wouldn’t say that someone in a traditional career is practicing Calvinism.)

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:11:00 +0000

I will, but the other way on: it’s easier to explain what it is than what it isn’t!

By: Pam

Pam — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:22:38 +0000

I thought the zenhabits site was about applying zen buddhism principles to every day life. Maybe I don’t know the difference. You could start with a post about that! :)

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:17:41 +0000

Pam: Hadn't seen zenhabits, but it looks like an interesting site about productivity. But just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, the Zen I'm talking about is the sect of Buddhism, not the popular "The Zen of ____" meaning "a practical approach to _____" idea.

By: Pam

Pam — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:09:57 +0000

you may already read this site, but zenhabits is one of my favourite places on the web.