Monthly Archives: October 2016

Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Vajragoni

Everything the Zennist writes mostly has an immediate bearing on his own experience; yet the Zennist’s realization was only half-realized; he had yet to undergo an experience that would make the analysis of his own Weltanschauung even more profound—a supra-transcendent exposure: his mystical encounter with the kalyana-mitra (or virtuous spiritual friend): read more

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Wasting away again in Batchelorville

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Vajragoni

One of the greatest heralds for today’s ever-increasing Secular Buddhism is Stephen Batchelor. Once studying to be a Tibetan Buddhist Monk he switched gears and instead began to identify himself first as an agnostic, then later as an atheist. His atheism is not just based on denying some notion of an eternal godhead, but rather as an antithetical foundation for anything beyond the senses. Everything for him is a matter of contingency: read more

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Dōgenism—the Bane of the Buddhadharma

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Vajragoni

Perhaps there is no finer rival of Dōgenism (sitting Zen—zazen) than The Zennist. He has relentlessly contended that it is vastly overrated and comes at the cost of eclipsing the fact that “Zen is about the fundamentally awakened True Mind or the same, Buddha-nature—not about sitting.” Too much emphasis is placed upon “posture”, as if sitting on one’s rump can somehow jump-start the process of becoming enlightened. The Zennist warns that those who just practice zazen in a meditation center will eventually become disillusioned with Zen, or for that matter, Buddhism in general. The Zennist relates how he initially enjoyed zazen in a small zendo, but eventually a deep realization from within convinced him that Zen Buddhism was far and beyond the quaint notion that somehow just the act of sitting would procure “an awakened mind.” He argues how Dōgen’s zen is quite radical and far from the authentic Buddhadharma: read more

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A Very Grimm Matter

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Vajragoni

Surprisingly little is written about the German Pali scholar, Dr. George Grimm (1868-1945), yet his contribution to analyzing the ātman/anātman dichotomy is unsurpassed. His writings, in particular his monumental “Doctrine of the Buddha: The Religion of Reason and Meditation”, finely nuances the True Self as a radiant bliss, “Our I or self, rid of all transient and sorrowful attributes, is eternal, complete in itself, and full of bliss.” The Zennist writes that for most modern Buddhists “Grimm’s words are a hard slap,” indeed a slap in the face of those who have “lost the ability to distinguish the psychophysical organism from himself because there is no self for him—he is all organism.” When the Self clings to what it is not, the “psychophysical organism” becomes dominant, a much misaligned characteristic that triggers perpetual re-genesis of the skandhic hosts. The modern Buddhist is so enamored with the anātman (or the great No-Self) that he refuses to acknowledge the actual teaching on the great dichotomy as reported by Grimm: read more

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Die Weltkinder

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Vajragoni

As specified by The Zennist, the most accurate word describing “puthujjana (S., prithagjana) is, in one word, profane. In the religious sense a puthujjana is someone who has not entered the supermundane path—someone who is not a srotāpanna (a current winner).” This is the common “worldling” that embraces not Authentic Buddhism as taught by Gautama Buddha, but rather that of a secular variety. This is a far cry from the ariyan whose sole allegiance is to Spiritual Reality: read more

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What Price Freedom?

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Vajragoni

One of the best series ever to emerge from television was the late ‘60’s The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan. It presents the human dilemma of not being “free”—both in mind and being incarcerated in the existential-gestalt from which there is no escape. The individual is merely a “unit” in the larger whole of what makes up the skandhic prison house. The Zennist’s reaction to the 2009 re-make of the series states “The trick is to make the prison big and spacious enough—hiding the bars— so that one has a false sense of freedom; so the inhabitants don’t realize they’re prisoners.” Our modern world is essentially a “fictional construct”—a “grand illusion”, or for that matter, delusion, that prevents one from seeing the “larger horizon” of the Truly Real domain of Absolute Freedom in the Dharmadhātu. Many are not even dimly aware of the nature of their own incarceration. The one sure avenue of “escape” is familiarizing oneself with the “mystical path” that alone bears the keys to unlock the gate of Self-incarceration. However, even here the Zennist pinpoints the postmodern fallacy of what constitutes the mystic element of the “here and now”: read more

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Ekacitta: Advanced Studies in Dark Zen

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Vajragoni

The idea for this series occurred to me when contemplating one on George Grimm and his notion of “Self”. Then it struck me how someone in particular has thoroughly broken-down Grimm’s formulations on the matter, that someone being “The Zennist.” In point of fact, the Zennist’s foremost expertise on this can be considered as second to none as he is one of the most advanced, contemporary-sages when it comes to Ekacitta, or the One, Absolute Mind/Spirit. The Zennist’s long familiarity and vivacious acumen within the field of Zen Mysticism is vastly underrated when compared to more Western materialistically-bent and spiritually-myopic (purportedly Buddhist) “celebrities” whose focus is exclusively upon psychophysical components at the expense of the Transcendent. As the Zennist writes, “It almost goes without saying, but without the transcendent, there can be no mystical experience. Furthermore, without the transcendent, neither can there be genuine salvation and, hence, no actual deliverance from suffering.” He goes on to say that for those who hold fast to today’s fashionable notions of Zen, the “mystic” element is indeed an “inconvenient truth.” As a result, these incorrigible personages have downplayed the Zennist’s principles and teachings over the years, in particular during his “Dark Zen” days. Truth be told, they never took the time to digest the teachings, which even now speaks volumes. His Dark Zen Manual can be found in our library and one is encouraged to read and study it. It also needs to be underscored that since the inception of his blog, roughly circa 2007, the Zennist’s teachings have proven to be even more insightful and I for one have been studiously attentive to them over the years. This series will certainly expound upon the Zennist’s notions of Self, but also upon his profound insights into Zen Mysticism as a whole—including even some prevalent (and timely) sociological insights. We will survey the spectrum from Self, to authentic Zen- meditation, to his relationship and mystical encounters with “the kalyana-mitra (or virtuous spiritual friend)”. read more

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