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X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by mailbox4.ucsd.edu id h38Eribn040060
> Dear Nelson, and All--
Is it the act or the intention? Does intention have bearing on result? If
intention has substantial bearing on result then we should focus on
intention rather than the activity through which it's manifest--running
ultra-marathons or playing honkyoku or hopscotch for that matter.
The problem of act v. intention seems to me very important, and a good wa=
y to
further complicate the inquiry. On the one hand, there are some Zen text=
s
which say that the whole problem is intention, i.e., holding something in=
the
mind. Any sort of preconception or framing of experience is likely to ge=
t in
the way of experiencing experience.
One of the promised benefits of Zen meditation is, then, the ability to l=
et
thoughts come and go without any clinging, which is to say, to let Mind d=
o what
it does without any subjective impositions upon it. Whether the Iron Men=
or,
for that matter, the Tendai Running Monks, achieve this would be difficul=
t to
say, except on an individual basis with, presumably, an intimate knowledg=
e of
their mental states at the time in question. (The Tendai example is very
interesting, because Zen in Japan is a direct outgrowth of, and reaction
against, Tendai . . .)
Generally, Zen institutions seem to promote the idea that getting to this=
state
of non-intention and non-clinging is a very difficult and arduous thing t=
o do.
They encourage a rigorous practice of sitting and an ascetic routine in d=
aily
life. (Maybe that's why some "California Zen" seems, by comparison, so l=
ame
and self-indulgent.) The kind of thing D=F4gen seems to be talking about=
in
terms of practice is extraordinarily demanding and difficult, and apparen=
tly
best pursued away from society in the mountain fastness, in a monastic
community.
There is, though, a counter tradition, which probably owes a lot to Daois=
m, and
which identifies "true awakening/enlightenment/satori" in the goofy and
somewhat anti-social behavior of legendary eccentrics like Hanshan and Sh=
ide
(J. Kanzan and Jittoku).
In both cases, though, there is great emphasis on the self-contained and
self-motivated pursuit of "it" without reliance on deities, magic, moral =
codes
(for their own sake), and scriptures. (The rather obtrusive presence of
charismatic masters in Zen raises some potentially very damaging contradi=
ctions
here, and has caused lots of real trouble for Zen communities. See, for
example, the sexual complications which threatened the San Francisco Zen =
Center
for some while.)
> When I first found the shakuhachi, I had no idea that it had any
> relationship to Zen. And think the only connection that can exist is on=
e of
> intention.
I've been gratified to find so many shakuhachi performers in the US who d=
on't
seem to have any particular connection to Japan or Zen. Why shouldn't it=
be
that way!
Tom Hare
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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>Dear Nelson, and All--</blockquote>
<p><br><i>Is it the act or the intention? Does intention have bearing on
result? If</i>
<br><i>intention has substantial bearing on result then we should focus
on</i>
<br><i>intention rather than the activity through which it's manifest--running</i>
<br><i>ultra-marathons or playing honkyoku or hopscotch for that matter.</i>
<p>The problem of act v. intention seems to me very important, and a good
way to further complicate the inquiry. On the one hand, there are
some Zen texts which say that the whole problem is intention, i.e., holding
something in the mind. Any sort of preconception or framing of experience
is likely to get in the way of experiencing experience.
<p>One of the promised benefits of Zen meditation is, then, the ability
to let thoughts come and go without any clinging, which is to say, to let
Mind do what it does without any subjective impositions upon it.
Whether the Iron Men or, for that matter, the Tendai Running Monks, achieve
this would be difficult to say, except on an individual basis with, presumably,
an intimate knowledge of their mental states at the time in question.
(The Tendai example is very interesting, because Zen in Japan is a direct
outgrowth of, and reaction against, Tendai . . .)
<p>Generally, Zen institutions seem to promote the idea that getting to
this state of non-intention and non-clinging is a very difficult and arduous
thing to do. They encourage a rigorous practice of sitting and an ascetic
routine in daily life. (Maybe that's why some "California Zen" seems,
by comparison, so lame and self-indulgent.) The kind of thing Dôgen
seems to be talking about in terms of practice is extraordinarily demanding
and difficult, and apparently best pursued away from society in the mountain
fastness, in a monastic community.
<p>There is, though, a counter tradition, which probably owes a lot to
Daoism, and which identifies "true awakening/enlightenment/satori" in the
goofy and somewhat anti-social behavior of legendary eccentrics like Hanshan
and Shide (J. Kanzan and Jittoku).
<p>In both cases, though, there is great emphasis on the self-contained
and self-motivated pursuit of "it" without reliance on deities, magic,
moral codes (for their own sake), and scriptures. (The rather obtrusive
presence of charismatic masters in Zen raises some potentially very damaging
contradictions here, and has caused lots of real trouble for Zen communities.
See, for example, the sexual complications which threatened the San Francisco
Zen Center for some while.)
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><i>When I first found the shakuhachi, I had no idea
that it had any</i>
<br><i>relationship to Zen. And think the only connection that can exist
is one of</i>
<br><i>intention.</i></blockquote>
I've been gratified to find so many shakuhachi performers in the US who
don't seem to have any particular connection to Japan or Zen. Why
shouldn't it be that way!
<p>Tom Hare</html>
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