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From: !
Newsgroups: alt.zen
Subject: Re: confused about zen point.
Date: 23 Nov 1995 05:01:45 -0800
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|what is the duality concept and how does it relate to zen?

the duality concept is the basic presumption that there is a fundamental
 division within the structure of reality, and that this may be seen along
 several channels or within the comparison among several irresolvable
 pairs (good/evil; God/Nature; prakriti/purusha; mind/body; matter/spirit,
 etc.)

the duality concept relates to zen in many ways depending on your particular
 teacher or favorite zen stories.  Nagarjuna taught that there were (at least)
 two levels of truth: the ordinary and the esoteric.  the ordinary works for
 practical circumstances and is directly connected to the world of things.
 the esoteric is the providence of the dedicated and curious.  it works for
 more abstract understandings/experiences of all things and is directly
 connected to the world of ideas and principles.  the former is objective.
 the latter subjective.  there may be generalizations among the esoteric
 which do not hold in the ordinary world of things.  there may be particular
 applications of the esoteric principles in the world of things which the
 limited understanding of the ordinary will not allow us to see or hear

several writers on zen break their cosmology into parts which occasionally
 include dualisms, though these are typically not fundamental in their
 division, the buddha-consciousness resolving all dualities within the
 unmanifest and continual re-creation.  pairs such as nirvana/samsara or
 atman/anatman or dharma/adharma are sometimes interpreted very dualisti-
 cally.  

other zen teachers explain that these divisions are not lasting, even 
 while having actual existence.  that is, while there is a definite 
 division between these things, it is ephemeral, will not last, and so 
 we may dismiss it as less than 'real' in this sense, not a truly strict 
 dualism

|...who should want to own or possess anything?  Ownership and possession 
|only create turmoil, because the owner must strive to maintain ownership?  

the Old Boy said it aright, amassing of wealth creates thieves

|Is that the right idea?

there are no 'right ideas', even while we may find truth in quite alot of them