One of the most frustrating things for Zen, not just Soto Zen, practitioners is the way Tibetan Buddhism interprets their tradition through the lens of a single historical incident that took place over 1,000 years ago. As a former Zen practitioner I can attest to feeling like I was in some kind of strange surreal realm when talking to Tibetan Buddhists about Zen, unless they had previously practiced Zen. It is common, for example, for Tibetan Buddhists to state that Zen seeks to "eliminate" thoughts. The problem with this is that no Zen Master, no Zen Meditation manual, ever says this. I think this is one of the root sources for the kind of tension that people observe.LisaMann wrote:Greetings and thanks for the invite!
As far as Tibetan vs Zen, this is nothing new... hey there've been issues for a millennium, and I guess some Tibetans still see Mo-ho-yen under every bed. "Ban the blasphemer!" Heck, back then we got the boot from the Tibetan plateau, now we just get the boot off a website.
It stinks, but we can choose to, or not to, participate. I'll leave my sandals behind, at least.
Please understand that I am not disparaging the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, I am only pointing out how that tradition treats a non-Tibetan tradition in such a way that it gives rise to tensions that have been observed and commented on by posters here.
Best wishes,
Jim