Tag Archives: George Grimm

A Very Grimm Matter

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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Ekacitta: Advanced Studies in Dark Zen

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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