Path: shell.portal.com!shell.portal.com!not-for-mail From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva) Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,talk.religion.buddhism,alt.meditation.vipassana,alt.zen Subject: KO'Neill: Re: Vipassana/Zazen Followup-To: alt.zen,alt.philosophy.zen,talk.religion.buddhism,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.meditation.vipassana Date: 1 Oct 1995 01:18:04 -0700 Organization: Portal Communications (shell) Lines: 32 Sender: tyagi@shell.portal.com Message-ID: <44lirs$2l6@jobe.shell.portal.com> References: <42m8up$fuv@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com> <437f3d$d6h@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk> <439dg3$kbo@sundog.tiac.net> <43nlo0$h6s@usenetp1.news.prodigy.com> <43pldk$8io@sundog.tiac.net> Reply-To: koneill@azstarnet.com (Ken O'Neill) NNTP-Posting-Host: jobe.shell.portal.com Xref: shell.portal.com alt.magick.tyagi:4403 talk.religion.buddhism:11771 alt.zen:15690 [from alt.philosophy.zen: koneill@azstarnet.com (Ken O'Neill)] [some deleted; cc'd to soc.religion.eastern (sre@world.net)] How did we get to calling bodhi and nirvana "Enlightenment." Oddly enough, Sanskrit and Chinese have no capital letters. Early interpreters of buddhadharma (there's no Buddhism either) lived in the wake of the famous 18th century - the period we call "The Enlightenment." Somehow that was superimposed on buddhadharma. Nirvana means to extinguish - not the passions, but the source of misdirected passion - avidya, or witlessness. Or in Chiense, mumyo - not bright. Ignorance is not supported in original languages. Nor is "right". You know right. As in the 8fold path, starting with samyakdrsti/shoken - "right views." BS. both the Skt and Ch mean full or complete. Of course they do. The unregenerate human condition and convention of mumyo/avidya is asleep at the wheel, running forever on blindness. Give it vision, give it imagation. Give it the full picture and the problems take care of themselves. Key words to buddhadharma are these: awakening/waking up, naturalness/spontaneity (jinen), nondual liberation (vimoksha versus hindu moksha (dual)), and mugyo - NOT practice/not goal. Hope this is yeast for sake making fermentation. Gassho and yours in hannyato (prajna water - sake), Ken O'Neill, Kyoshi White Lotus Society