Zen chat rooms and seated meditation, a waste of time?

Discussing Zen on chat room forums, generally speaking, is a waste of time.  Joining a Zen center is a little better but if the main part of the teaching is centered on seated meditation it has to be kept in mind that sitting will not improve intuition which is what Zen is all about, especially, when it comes to koans.

What both chat room discussions and the practice of seated meditation seem to have in common is that both ignore the role of intuition.  Furthermore, not all people who are interested in Buddhism or Zen have the capacity for intuition.

The English word “intuition” comes from Latin word, intueri which means to look at, gaze, pay attention to, consider, contemplate.  According to Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, intuition is described as “the act or process of coming to direct knowledge or certainty without reasoning or inferring; immediate cognizance or conviction without rational thought.”  This is nothing less than direct knowledge.  Intuition, you could say, leaps over reasoning and inferring.  Almost instantly the adept sees what the Buddha saw. 

Historically, the Buddha’s practice of dhyāna came from the ancient Indian tradition of contemplation.  This tradition can be thought of as a process of introspection whereby one abandons mental scattering and turbulence leading to direct intuition of the absolute.

Dhyāna for Buddhism and Zen, if it is successful, is the sudden removal of what has always hindered the adept’s ability to see, face-to-face, pure Mind or Buddha-nature before mentation is aroused.  This is intuition at its best.

This kind of intuition comes after many years of getting one’s spiritual ducks in a row which means that the adept has been studying for many years, with an open mind, hoping to have direct intuition of the absolute.  When it finally comes after much struggle, it is totally unexpected and brief.  It is almost like it found the adept when the adept was in the right frame of mind for it to enter, as weird as that explanation sounds.  It is the Buddha’s kill shot that brings the adept back to life!

Comments

[david b]

Smith, the assertion of a God who damns people to hell by eenie meeny miney moe is Satanic. You worship Satan. Period. You want to discuss it further? If so, maybe somehow we can exchange email or I can give you the link to my old defunct blog that was all about Calvinism.

N Yeti, its asinine to say freewill offers no benefit. Obviously to choose to be a monk, or anything else involved in Buddhism, requires freewill. Anyone who thinks otherwise is both braindead and spiritually dead.

[n. yeti]

Smith:

If you believe in Christian practice and it brings happiness to you, if it guides you and lifts you up, then I am ok with that. We do indeed see things differently but one thing I feel very positive about in your regard is your faith in the Absolute and I would never try to take that from you. I can assure you I have no ill will for anyone, have long since put aside any bad blood that may have arisen in this or another life, and far from any curses I wish you only blessings and happiness.

[smith]

dave b: if you want to throw ignorant nasty barbs - i ll return you the same in kind. The delusional fool is you. Neither are you anywhere close to any form of enlightenment as you have proved in your ignorance, contemptuous arrogance, and disrespect. The closer you to your own deeper hell.

yeti:you certainly dont understand karma, or you would be keeping silent. Instead your foolish shallow ignorant mind casts venom.The curse and delusions are all yours.

No doubt you'll both keep babbling your wicked-mindedness, your both prisoners of the uneducatedness and stupidity of which you are hopelessly immersed.

the same applies to your future retorts- you are less than worthy of any more attention.

[n. yeti]

Dave B.:

I do not deny free will. However, without right understanding there is no benefit to free will, because you will continue producing karma that leads to birth and death. To gain knowledge on how to use your sixth consciousness for the karmic benefit of yourself and other beings, I recommend you consult the Avatamsaka Sutra, specifically the chapter on Pure Conduct. As it stands, you so greatly lack wisdom that even a confused and troubled Calvinist who has almost no knowledge whatsoever of Buddhism has surpassed your intuitive power.

[dave b]

"Smith and Dave B.: As regards your speculation on 'free will' and predestination, neither of you have the slightest understanding of karma."n yeti

Karma is like the Stoic conception I mentioned earlier, where circumstances can be fated but your actions and responses to circumstances are still by free will. If you think karma determines your actions, you are hopelessly lost in heresy.

@smith, Sproul and all Calvinists worship Satan. Any Christian that even fellowships Calvinists as brethren has a major problem and ia this cloae to becoming a demon worshiper themselves.