tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27254015.post286705864152198840..comments2024-03-09T10:15:11.266+13:00Comments on Unravelling: On Cooking and RememberingMeghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01350447919000146804noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27254015.post-12894696804088447642016-01-01T10:40:46.736+13:002016-01-01T10:40:46.736+13:00I respect what you do and what you find in Buddhis...I respect what you do and what you find in Buddhism, Connie. But for me, it's been a different experience. We had some contact with Dad's ancestral temple, one of Mahayana tradition, and also went to a Zen session, in Japan in 2013 hoping to try out meditation within a prescribed environment. I was especially disappointed because of all forms of Buddhism Zen was supposed to be the most introspective but not really. Almost everything I know about Buddhism is about Zen, a renegade faction almost, and I learned from books from the West. Compared to my experience in Japan, Buddhism is closer to transcendentalism/self-help with incense, while in Japan, though still not theism, it's still His Teaching with a strong Confucian flavor, so it's for harmony, for the good of the group, and a few steps over, the negation/subjugation/disappearance in case of Zen of the individual/ego, which happens in Japan more as customs/traditions rather than philosophy/cognitive effort. Which then in my mind exonerates/eradicates personal responsibility. This is where it gets tricky for me because a) Japan is basically areligious philosophically (in my Western understanding) but heavily so in customs, b) and because of it even though by classification Japan is supposed to be Shintoist/Buddhist/even Taoist, Confusionism is at the base of everything so I have to read some more to understand Buddhism separate from Confusinism there. But with any religion my biggest problem is the abdication of personal responsibility, ergo I guess of the ego and individual. And I have no idea where I'm going with this, except my experience of Buddhism was as much religion as Catholicism, just not theism. And look, I've got to leave it here for now, my coffee is staring at me getting cold, and wow, this was some real thinking at the start of the year. Thanks, Connie! I'll have to pick up more books when I go home in Feb!!Meghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350447919000146804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27254015.post-61211073883352822322016-01-01T06:24:33.465+13:002016-01-01T06:24:33.465+13:00Buddhism isn't about beliefs at all. There...Buddhism isn't about beliefs at all. There's no dogma. It's not religion. It's about each person recognizing the truth of our being. So please don't throw it away as a possibility because of any preconceptions. Again, just sayin'... Cate Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079028386218370915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27254015.post-81165327957957549142015-12-31T12:20:12.208+13:002015-12-31T12:20:12.208+13:00You know I tend to be five to ten years behind you...You know I tend to be five to ten years behind you in a lot of things so maybe this is where I'm heading, but I find I am too practical to hold on to any set of beliefs. I find doing thing tend to solve problems, or at least make them not as important in my mind, as I get older, so I'm becoming more like my mother. Which is not a bad thing, considering the amount of stash I have left At any rate, I would like to be even more convinced that I am solely responsible for myself as I think currently I'm shouting myself down at every stage to make me believe it. That is not to say I don't, but the knowledge is not part of me as much as I'd like just yet. Meghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350447919000146804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27254015.post-57307778600244385972015-12-31T07:01:10.784+13:002015-12-31T07:01:10.784+13:00Maybe you should become a Buddhist...just sayin...Maybe you should become a Buddhist...just sayin'. Therein we eventually come to realize that our life is entirely about us, individually, and really has nothing to do with our parents or our past except insofar as things worked out the way they did because we each have things to learn in this human life, and we basically choose our birth time, place and parentage in order to learn those things. NOTHING outside ourselves is or contains the answer. Peace and blessings, my friend.Cate Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04079028386218370915noreply@blogger.com