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  Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal. Ryokan returned and caught him. "You have come a long way... continue...

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WHAT SHOULD AMERICAN ZEN BUDDHISM LOOK LIKE?
Questioner:
This question excludes those who "SAY" they want us to just live alone on a mountain. If you " THINK " you are zen then be empty by yourself. I want a serious movement that brings the joy of Zen Buddism to us in a way that is appropriate for this American culture. Just like Indian Buddism was not right for China, Chinese and Japanese Buddhism is not right for America. We need our style and influence. Now what would that be?

CT:
The old man is too deluded to know what you put down here, and he would raise a question as follows:
When one states that I am an American or I am a German or I am a French or I am an Hindu or I am a Chinese or I am a Japanese..., or he states I am a Christian or I am a Buddhist or I am a Muslim..., or he declares that I am a communist or I am a democratic or I am a republic... Or he states that I am a theist or I am an atheist..., he immediately builds a wall between himself and others, whether it is a wall of nationality or a wall of culture or a wall of religion or a wall of politics or a wall of belief. All the walls of this kind have divided human beings as a whole so far. Right?

If so, the deluded old man just wonders what kind of wall you want to build when you posed your request of a special kind of Zen Buddhism for Americans?

ChonTri


 



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