XPost: alt.philosophy.taoism, alt.buddha.short.fat.guy, alt.philosophy.zen   
   From: invalid@invalid.invalid   
      
   brian mitchell  wrote:   
   >  "{:-])))" wrote:   
   >   
   >> brian wrote:   
   >>> Tang Huyen wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> It looks too idealistic, for the sage not to be   
   >>>> bothered about survival. Of course the sage is   
   >>>> still bound to physical and social laws, but   
   >>>> otherwise not bound by anything, including   
   >>>> social norms and standards.   
   >>>   
   >>> Not bound by social norms and standards, but free to adopt them. After   
   >>> all, living has to take *some* form. Most zen masters continued to   
   >>> adopt the monastic form.   
   >>>   
   >>> But there's still a question.   
   >>>   
   >>> One time, the Master rose from his chair in the dharma hall, lifted   
   >>> his robes, and began dancing, saying to the monks, 'Look! Look!'   
   >>> When the astonished monks stared at him dumbfounded the Master said,   
   >>> 'I am performing an action of the world without departing from the   
   >>> mind of Bodhi.'   
   >>> (the anecdote may be a bit mangled since it's from memory, but not   
   >>> horribly so)   
   >>>   
   >>> My question is: was the Master really dancing, the way young people   
   >>> dance in nightclubs, with intensity and absorbtion, with delight in   
   >>> the body and its allure? Or was he only imitating the outward form?   
   >>   
   >> Since it is your story, you can answer it as you choose to create it.   
   >   
   > Not my story.   
   >   
   >>   
   >> A story can reflect how the monks were performing all the rituals   
   >> without really getting into them nor being all involved in them.   
   >>   
   >> They were learning the steps, yet were out of step.   
   >>   
   >> Self-conscious, self-aware, watching every move,   
   >> they sought to regain their original care-free nature.   
   >>   
   >> To get the most out of swimming one needs to leave the shallows.   
   >>   
   >> To dive in, off Lu Liang Falls, to go with the flow, without thought,   
   >> being fully in the moment, and emerge unscathed, is perfectly natural.   
   >>   
   >> It's what most people do most all the time...   
   >   
   > A doubtful proposition, imo.   
      
   That's the thing.  It all keeps on looking doubtful.  Then of a sudden,   
   it's obvious and you wonder why you never saw it.  And that helps not the   
   least when you write words to others, to whom it still looks doubtful.   
   Helluva thing, really.  Peculiar.   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)