When SweepingZen asked for a talk on International Blasphemy Rights Day (September 30th), I joked that I do that with most of my posts!
A nice thing about Buddhists is that we rarely kill, burn at the stake or imprison our critics, dissenters, heretics and the doctrinally different (although we have our scattered extremists too, the same as any religion). We are pretty non-violent, but even we aren’t totally immune from forbidding and punishing blasphemy and unwelcome voices.
Keep room in Zen Buddhism for the misfits, square pegs, tradition breakers and “original non-thinkers” on the edges. Learn to distinguish the con artists, shysters, abusers and predators from those who have simply walked their own path, attended the “monastery of hard knocks”, are doing something good even if not how you would do it. Having “set standards” and “required training paths” is useful and generally necessary for helping to assure substance, experience, dedication and ethics in our teachers. Someone can do a lot of harm when falling down in those things, like an untrained doctor or a drunken lawyer. However, keep room for exceptions and “special cases” too. Look at who the priest has become, not so much only how she or he got there.
Further reading and discussion for this talk are available on the Treeleaf forum:
INTERNATIONAL BLASPHEMY DAY: Make Room for the Misfits! »
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Keizan Zenji's 'Zazen-Yojinki' (3)
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Keizan Zenji's Zazen-Yojinki (2)
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Keizan Zenji's Zazen-Yojinki (1)
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Dedication of Merit
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Genjokoan Series (6)
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Genjo Koan Series (5)
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Genjo Koan Series (4)
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Genjo Koan Series (3)
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Genjo Koan Series (2)
Treeleaf Zendo Podcast - Genjo Koan Series (1)
Shikantaza Ipso Facto
The Elephant In The Zazen Room
June 2023 Zazenkai Talk - Nyorai Zenshin (A Mini-Lesson in Dogen Jazz)
The ’Inner Switch’ Of Zazen
May 2023 Monthly Zazenkai Talk (Shinjinmei Series Part 5)
April 2023 Monthly Zazenkai Talk (Shinjinmei Series Part 4)
March 2023 Monthly Zazenkai Talk (Shinjinmei Series Part 3)
February 2023 Monthly Zazenkai Talk (Shinjinmei Series, part 2)
January 2023 Monthly Zazenkai Talk ( Shinjinmei Series, part 1)
Treeleaf Rohatsu 2022 Dharma Talks - Menzan Zuiho Osho’s Jijuyu Zanmai
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Hello Heaven Podcast
Tara Brach
The Way Out Is In
Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein
Learn Buddhism with Alan Peto
A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment