Dear Lisa,

Through times the japanese,always copied the chinese.The writing,medecine,martial arts,
.The only unknown part of the japanese that science still does not know the origin is
their language.Japan was closed to outside civilisations for over a 1000 years.
They were many tribes speaking various dialect.
What is zen? You are the expert but,around 600 a.c.,a Daoist japanese monk met a chinese monk in China of the name of Chan.What ,I have been thaught,the mixing of the phylosophies gave Zen.
When a neophite like me studie Zen ,he sees quite a difference,from Zen to let us say Tibetan Buddhism's way of thinking.
Dear teacher,if I am wrong,please set me straight.

With respect
Loong the learner

To Lisa and all,

I did some more research on confusious.Lao Tsu and Buddhists ,were
not fond of his way of living.warring etc.

listen to this the size of the chinese woman foot was ....2 3/4 inch long.However I retract myself of him inventing this rule.
Loong

To Lisa and all ,

I was at the hospital all nite,because of a enflamed part of
my gut. They gave me pills to remove the pain ,and since I am allergig to Iodine,had to wait for an hour and a half ,so the pills given would neutralize the allergy to Iodine.I always wear a Mala and for the first time I did a mantra of 108 beads .
My mantra was simple,Buddha and the Universe.Also did Metta meditation as promised to Burt,Jilly and Lori.

People have no idea of the power of Buddhism. The hour and a half just zipped through.
I was never impatient,always smiling.

Thanks to Buddha and the Universe.
loong

I'm sorry to hear about your hospital visit Loong, but glad that the it affirmed the power of metta and mala practice for you. I hope you are feeling better. Is this a chronic condition?

As for Confucious and Lao Tzu, yes the conflict of some aspects of their two philosophies fueled a lot of Chinese history. And I knew Chinese and Japanese customs were very entwined, but had forgotten about the Chinese feet binding. Now that I think of it though, I remember all the Chinese Empresses and their ladies did it too.

The history of Zen is very interesting. Chan (the Chinese version of Zen) developed in China as Buddhism and Taoism mixed, and then as it travelled to Japan it mixed with Shinto, the native religion there are the time, and Zen developed. There are several schools of Zen, two main ones, and they differ from each other in practice just as the 4 schools of Tibetan Buddhism do.

And you are right, Zen and Tibetan Buddhism are very different in some ways, particularly their rituals and aestehtics - Tibetan Buddhism tends to be very elaborate while Zen is very sparse. But they are both classified as Mahayana schools, because they are both grounded in the Lotus Sutra, and its teachings of mind, rather than philosophy. The idea of direct realization, and the centrality of the teacher-student relationship in bringing this about, and that this direct knowledge is the most important thing, and that anyone can achieve this, are all shared by both traditions and are Mahayana ideas. And of course the idea of the boddhisattva too.

Dear Lisa,

I have been playing you for awhile with my choices of texts expressing my desire for you to be MY teacher.I hope you will reconsider your previous decision.
I have listened to your radio interview.Liked it.
What I want or more wish for is a generally Mahayana teacher,Not necessarely just Tibetan or any lineage.One that has seen me grow,understands me.I am down on one knee now .If you rather answer through an e-mail it's ok with me.

My feminine side is well developped,does not always show,That is Why I would prefer A Woman Teacher.

Bowing to you
an humble loong

Hi Loong, your request has touched my heart. I will contemplate and respond by email later this week. As you know though, my decline of this in the past was simply because I know that your intentions are very strong and I want to make sure you are with the best possible teacher for your own dharma. I take this role very seriously, and have high standards for it. It is possible to relay information and even energy and states of awareness through email and teleseminars and the like, and I have embraced them in my other teaching, but to truly work with someone the way a spiritual teacher should, I am not sure it can be done remotely. So I had hoped you would find someone locally who could fill that role for you.

To all or none.

Just to show the power of the Mind,just by saying ,I am loosing 10 pounds while rubbing by ex belly.
I have lost 17 pounds .withouth changing my eating habits.

This available to everyone, that really wants to loose weight.

This within 3 weeks to a month.

The Mind (rigpa) is to my beleif the main control of this living corpse.

Loong

To all or none
Do not confuse the Sem mind,with the Rigpa mind .I have written posts on this ,i beleive ,in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

loong
just a learner

To all or none,

For afew days ,a week,I will be in reflexion,regarding the path
I am presently walking.



_/\_

To all or none,
On the first of the month ,I wrote,that ,I would take a few days off.Afew days to try to calm the turmoil in my Mind (rigpa).
As I am reading on bardos,one definition of bardo , is when alive,turmoil sets in.

Since everything is impermanent,so will the turmoil be.!
I slowly am making order in what fits me and what does not fit me.

One of my friends in another group,told me why he disrobed after 2years as a Forest monk.I am using for now his method of making orderin my rigpa because it seems that sem is presently having fun.
Loong