Good Morning Sangha,
I wrote a short reply to a threaed on a email list I am on. I thought I would share it to this blog:
This is a most interesting thread, I feel. TNH's work is so large. He speaks so clearly and so directly and with great passion and compassion. I have divided his work into two piles: practice tips and sutra commentaries. The latter are most interesting and valuable, IMHO. The former, depending on their publishing date are useful to not useful: earlier work being much more useful, later work being more "fluff" as you say.
Here is the thing, though. It seems that fluff can be a good thing. At least to me at times. It reminds me that my critical mind should be more compassionate. It teaches me that simple is sometimes far more clear and helpful than complex walnut cracking koans. So, useful is such a relative term. There is a place in my world for both.
When angry, or deeply hurt, it does not help much to offer softness and tenderness. We seem to want others to share our anger, justify it, and nurse it. THN will not do this. Instead, he is simply there. For good or ill, like him or not, he is simply there. We can rant. He will listen. We can rave. He will listen. At some point when we are spent, he will hold our hand.
If it weren't for the fact that he has suffered so much, like HHDL, and still maintains himself deeply in compassion, I would say he is just plain silly. Unacceptable to the modern temper. Yet, there he is. A monk who has witnessed and survived horrors and still loves deeply.
In my book, there is something to be learned from this. Maybe that something is that a little fluff tends to soften up our harder edges.
Be well.
Bill Smart <BillSmart@HHS1963.org> wrote:
On Monday, March 13 dkotschessa posted:
>Short review:
>This book, while it contains many gems that have been extremely
>helpful to me, is going to be very hard for some people to read.
>
>By all accounts Thich Nhaht Hahn is a beloved teacher with a
>profoundly peaceful presence that effects those he comes in contact
>with. Unfortunately, when put to text it, specifically in this book,
>what results is a fluffy and almost embarrassing tone to read. The
>self-help gurus of previous decades come to mind, which were embodied
>by Saturday Night Live's Stuart Smalley.
>
>Yet the information has been invaluable in my life. So that it is
>not wasted, I put together a book summary for my own reflection so
>that I needn't endure the entire book again. What follows is that
>summary so others might benefit. [...balance of a long and informative
review >snipped...]
Thank you for your posting and review of Thich Nhaht Hahn's book on
managing anger.
I was especially impressed by your courage in stating the plain fact that
the writing style was 'fluffy' and reminiscence of the late-1990's
'self-help' gurus. I have not read this book by TNH and don't intend to. I
have read two of his previous books and had the same underwhelming
impression that you had, at least in part. At least you found some gems
under the fluff that you were able to apply. That's very good.
Although I know I come across in this forum as an 'anti-book' person (and I
am to a great extent), I have just finished reading three very good books
that I would recommend to anyone:
- THE ZEN TEACHINGS OF MASTER LIN-CHI translated by Burton Watson
- THE ZEN TEACHING OF BODHIDHARMA translated by Red Pine
- MOON IN A DEWDROP - Writings of Zen Master Dogen edited by Kazuaki
Tanahashi
These books are definitely not "fluff' and all contain what I consider very
fruitful insights into zen practice. I can easily post a review of these
books and sum up their total message in one word: Zazen! (Or maybe that's
two words in Japanese - 'Sit Zen')
I will however quote one passage from MOON IN A DEWDROP from the chapter
Face-To-Face Transmission written in the year 1243:
"If you do not realize the fruit at this moment, when will you realize it?
If you do not cut off delusion at this moment, when will you cut it off? If
you do not become a buddha at this moment, when will you? If you do not sit
as a buddha at this moment, when will you practice as a buddha?"
Any questions?
Gassho...Bill!
No comments:
Post a Comment