Sincerity? Bias? Karma!

[monkeymind]

Hello, all!

I got into learning about the dharma indirectly from watching the popular TV show, "Kung Fu," with Daivd Carradine whose teacher would vaguely mention the "Tao." That led to the library to find books about LaoTsu to reading Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha." I'm sure this is a common way Westerners approach Buddhism if you're not an army brat raised in the Far East. Further reading led to Alan Watts and Zen.

An essay by Alan Watt's called "Beat Zen, Square Zen and Zen," gives me great food for thought about the motivations, desires, and subconscious biases I have that bring me to Buddhism. This really resonated with me:
"But the Westerner who is attracted by Zen and who would understand it deeply must have one indispensable qualification: he must understand his own culture so thoroughly that he is no longer swayed by its premises unconsciously. He must really have come to terms with the Lord God Jehovah and with his Hebrew-Christian conscience so that he can take it or leave it without fear or rebellion. He must be free of the urge to justify himself. Lacking this, his Zen will be either "beat" or "square," either a revolt from the culture and social order or a new form of stuffiness and respectability."

home.earthlink.net/~pkrczr/watts.htm

What he says about Zen you could say about any other choice, Theravadin or Vajrayana. It makes me wonder about bias we pick up from living in a Judeo-Christian culture and how much we know about the religion we were raised in before finding Buddhism, speaking as a Westerner. I think it relates to tolerance and openness.

I never knew there was a Book of Timothy in the Bible! It's fun for me to poke around on the Yahooi directory religious faiths page. Mercy, there are like over 50 something different links to other religious faiths. It's a diversion to poke around and see how many different versions of monotheism there are! I was raised Lutheran but always felt a Lord/creator was a tad authoritarian and limiting.

Taking time to sit, meditate and chant, is not as easy as previously thought! Nonetheless, it is a way to practice. as is trying to practice mindfulness in everyday life. Although I don't ask myself these questions on a daily basis, they are relevant.

Have I come to terms with Christianity (or whatever my faith was prior) and my conscience?

Can I leave that faith without fear or rebellion?

We have to reconcile with ourselves in the end.

What do you guys think of this essay and Watt's statements?

/\
mm

[Satori]

I think his statements are very true. I know that back in the mid-'80s in some of my healing classes, one of the things that needed to be cleared out of everyone's 7th (crown) chakra was the false belief system that we had all bought into through organized religion or our parents or some authority figure in that sense. A healthy 7th chakra functions off of our own information, our own truth, and our own belief system, and not what was forced on us through our parents, teachers, society, etc. So it's important to examine those things and eliminate what no longer works for us. That doesn't mean that we can't respect what other, more knowledgeable people have to teach, but in the end we all need to honor our own inner guru! And I think that is what Watts is implying as well.

Just my two cents ...

[Satori]

Btw, Monkeymind, it's interesting that Taoism (the Kung Fu series, etc.) was what first drew you to Eastern philosophy. Me too!!

[monkeymind]

Oh, so true! satori! How best to clear limiting beliefs out
of the crown chakra? Would you suggest meditation and affirmations/denials or visualizations?

[Satori]

monkeymind said:

Oh, so true! satori! How best to clear limiting beliefs out of the crown chakra? Would you suggest meditation and affirmations/denials or visualizations?

If memory serves me correctly, I think we examined what beliefs we held at that time by asking ourselves pointed questions about our belief systems, why we held those views, where they came from, and whether they were still valid in our lives. We examined the flaws in those systems and what was true for us in our lives. Once you start to take the fears apart and examine them honestly, they lose their grip on you.

One of the toughest for a lot of the students was having been taught that they would go to hell if they didn't believe in a creator God, attend church, etc. Even though they knew on an intellectual level that that was not true, the fear was so ingrained that it was tough to eliminate. Fortunately for me, I was never raised believing in hell, so that one wasn't an issue for me, but it certainly was for a lot of other people.

Anyway, I hope that answers your question. My apologies for taking so long to respond, but I had intended to come back to this question and then forgot about it! Sorry!

[alexandra]

monkeymind said:

Have I come to terms with Christianity (or whatever my faith was prior) and my conscience?

Can I leave that faith without fear or rebellion?

We have to reconcile with ourselves in the end.

What do you guys think of this essay and Watt's statements?

/\
mm

I'm more interested in what answers you have come up with to your own questions....

Have you?

can you?