Wednesday 15 November 2017

Zen II

There are occasional references to Zen in Poul Anderson's works as in other fiction, e.g., see Sir!, combox. Wanda Tamberly is "not into" Zen. (Quiz question: Where are we told this?) So what is it? I tried to describe zazen here. However, since this practice is experiential and subjective, it has to be described anew each time. A more recent attempt is here. This newer post ends by indicating the point or purpose of such practice. Zazen addresses problems caused by unreflecting thought.

5 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And "unreflecting" thought is the ind of hasty, impulsive thougnt most of us have?

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Indeed. Wrong thought, wrong action, suffering.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I would not think all hasty, impulsive, even unreflecting thought will be bad! A man driving a car on narrow mountain roads might have only a split second to avoid unexpectedly running over people injured in a somewhat earlier accident and choosing to heroically drive his car off a cliff to his death to save them.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Wow. I think that drivers are obliged to drive at such a speed that they can make an emergency stop if they see an obstacle in front of them? But yes, thought is necessary and without it we would not be human. It is incessant, involuntary, unnecessary, uncontrolled thought processes that can cause problems. Also, deliberate thought is often necessary to solve practical problems but unnecessary and unhelpful at other times, e.g., when thinking in circles about a past grievance instead of letting go of it.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Certainly, drivers are required to use their cars with that kind of care. I'm thinking of fairly extreme cases where a might not have the time to do so.

And I do agree with the rest of what you said.

Sean