XPost: alt.philosophy.taoism, alt.philosophy.zen   
   From: wudao@wuji.net   
      
   Ummmmmmm wrote:   
   > {:-]))) got a distinct impression:   
   >   
   >> You seem to think books suck. Stories suck.   
   >   
   >I'm fond of books. I write books. My grandson and I collaborate on   
   >writing stories.   
   >   
   >I just happen to know that when it comes to things that really matter -   
   >consciousness, enlightenment, satori, samadhi, Tao, liberation,   
   >salvation - whatever you like to call it, they're all the same thing -   
   >books are no substitute for experience.   
      
   It is true that reading about swimming in water   
   is not the same thing as swimming in water.   
      
   And yet, since it's all the same thing,   
   if someone has been swimming, for you to think   
   that someone is all wet, because you can't see through   
   whatever words they are presenting to you   
   means you can't see that what they are saying is   
   actually the same thing you are saying.   
      
   Since it's all the same thing, no matter how it is said,   
   it's the same thing. It's the same light, satori, samadhi, Tao,   
   liberation, salvation, enlightenment. No matter which words.   
      
   Yet you, apparently can't, or don't want to, see it as such.   
      
   If anyone experiences it, and since it's inside everyone it is   
   quite likely that many people have experienced it, they have,   
   in other words, been swimming in it, and know it just as you do,   
   then they have. And they do. They all do. It's all the same thing.   
      
   You seem to be stuck at the, everyone needs a living Master,   
   place, and even if someone likes reading a book, since the author   
   of the book is dead, there's no swimming allowed.   
      
   Are you a life-guard that won't allow others to swim?   
   And if a living Master didn't teach them, they can't possibly swim?   
      
   Do you want everyone to get in the water, but,   
   unless they have a certified key, from a living Master,   
   they can't possibly know how to swim?   
      
   Why put them all in the same boat   
   and then sink the boat you put them in?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)