aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (a.e.mossberg) (03/18/90)
In <14546@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> simmonds@demon.siemens.com (Tom Simmonds) writes: >4. Be Here Now - Ram Dass - published by the Lama Society > Not specifically zen, but Buddhist. This is a fun book, full of > pen-and-ink drawings. It's somewhat dated in its 60's counterculture > attitudes and language, but I find it amusing, having survived my > teens during that period. In spite of its datedness, it manages to > convey many of the basic ideas of Buddhism. Not Buddhist, but Hindu, with borrowed elements from other eastern philosphies. One quote I always think of in the book, which rings true with my initial reactions to Hindu visual arts is, "All I personally felt was this tremendous pull toward Buddhism because Hinduism always seemed a little gauche--the paintings were a little too gross--the colors were bizarre and the whole thing was too melodramatic and too much emotion. I was pulling toward that clean, crystal-clear simplicity of the Southern Buddists or the Zen Buddhists" aem -- a.e.mossberg / aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu / aem@umiami.BITNET / Pahayokee Bioregion Start with the sun, and everything will slowly, slowly happen. - D.H.Lawrence
srinath@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Srinath Viswanathan) (03/21/90)
In Article <1990Mar17.213617.4393@mthvax.cs.miami.edu> aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (a.e.mossberg writes >One quote I always think of in the book, which rings true with my initial >reactions to Hindu visual arts is, > > "All I personally felt was this tremendous pull toward Buddhism > because Hinduism always seemed a little gauche--the paintings were > a little too gross--the colors were bizarre and the whole thing > was too melodramatic and too much emotion. I was pulling toward that > clean, crystal-clear simplicity of the Southern Buddists or the Zen > Buddhists" > IMHO, this is the prejudice that "education" confers on us. In reality, what appeals about Zen is not its simplicity but its sophis- tication. Eastern religions almost uniformly suffer from this separation between their philosophy and their practice and prompts many, particularly Hindus, to find sanitized explanations for the crude manifestations of lofty ideals. Zen is the flower of Buddhism even as Vedanta is the flower of "Hindu" thought. The modernity of outlook of Swami Vivekananda similarly contrasts with the simple faith of Sri Ramakrishna. Let us however not forget that while the flower is a thing of beauty, it is the fruit that nourishes. I am reminded of an anecdote for which I cannot recall a reference at this moment. A western visitor to Japan was escorted by a Japanese colleague to a Shinto ritual. After observing the activities for some time the visitor asked his colleague,"Your rituals are interesting, but what is the essence of your ideology and your philosophy?" The escort thought for a moment and remarked in all seriousness, "We don't have a philosophy, we dance." A useful thought indeed; we might debate philosophy, but can we dance? >aem >a.e.mossberg/aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu / aem@umiami.BITNET / Pahayokee Bioregion >Start with the sun, and everything will slowly, slowly happen. - D.H.Lawrence Srinath