Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height.

- Buddha…

Image by jpellgen via Flickr

Barbara O’ Brien discusses Buddhism for Beginners on her Barbara’s Buddhism Blog

John Sojun Godfrey spent eight years living as a monk in Daitoku-ji, a Rinzai Zen monastery in Kyoto. He says he spent most of that time in silence. There were few discussions of philosophy and doctrine within the monastery, he said.

“I think the assumption is that if you are interested enough in Buddhism to become a monk that you are going to do this (learn the philosophy) anyway,” he said. “I also really feel that they (other monks) don’t think it’s important. I don’t feel that it is necessary to be able to explain what we are doing in able to do it

I understand that in Japan, people who want to learn Zen practice are given little direction except how to sit zazen. I once read an autobiography by a Japanese Zen nun, who said that on her first day in the monastery she was told only to go to the zendo and sit with Mu. So she went into the zendo, completely baffled, and finally asked someone which monk was Mu.  (Mu is not a person but the name of a koan.)

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