Monday, November 15, 2010

The practice of Buddhism really need not be centered on:

Presumably most Buddhists' Buddhist  practice takes place well out of range of the blogosphere, though of course it happens there as well.  But frankly,  often there's more Buddhist practice in something like Francis Lam's writing on his experience making an omelet than there is in my Buddhist blogging, or for that matter, other Buddhist bloggers. (If you don't think making an omelet practice is an exercise in mindfulness, try doing it and get back to me or Mr. Lam.)

    6 comments:

    Brikoleur said...

    True, but all that does make for entertaining blogging!

    Mumon K said...

    Yeah, sometimes you just gotta go with the flow & enjoy the mud wrestling!

    Unknown said...

    It is fun to rock the boat from time to time. I found your list funny since I often groan at the Zennist's constant Dogen slamming but it is refreshing to get a different prespective but it does not have to driven home with a bat.

    Wiseass Zen said...

    You actually summed up the BuddhaBlogosphere rather well in a handful of topics.
    And yes, making an omelette is a practice in mindfulness!

    Kyle said...

    LOL Not sure if you are saying I was critiquing a Buddhist blogger, or others were critiquing me. Cause that dude is not a Blogger, just some weird guy emailing me.

    True, rocking the boat is usually an exercise in fanfare and pomp with not any real payoff. Sometimes, however the boat rocking can make some internal waves easier to see.

    Mumon K said...

    Thanks for the comments.

    @Jack Daw : The Zennist is more and more over the top, but at the same time, we should avoid "Nichiren-izing" Dogen. I like his writing; I like Hakuin's too, but I doubt either of these gentlemen would expect us to take them as the last word on everything, and besides, it's not in our cultural DNA to do so.

    @Wiseass:
    I tried Lam's recipe and failed spectacularly. But thanks to him I know what I'm after.

    @Kyle:
    I meant the SGI folks. And yeah, the boat rocking is often just mind-rocking. It's like swimming above the water in a lane adjacent to a really fat guy who's making all kinds of turbulence versus swimming underwater next to the same guy. In one case you're worried about his wake but in the other case you just kinda go with the (much less turbulent than your mind invented) flow. The mind does weird tricks like that.