Recent content by jiii

hows it been, juantoo3? i haven't been around the message boards all that much lately, but I've had more time recently to follow some the threads...

I would say that, although you cannot literally be only what you perceive, one's perceptions and their interpretations of those perceptions can shape what they are into what they perceive. For example, a person who insists that all relationships are doomed will sometimes unwittingly create an...

I can't really bring myself to see anger as something that must inherently be extinguished. Anger is a perfectly natural human emotion... and in my opinion, even an "ideal" world would still be quite familiar with anger. Of course, there are intelligent ways to deal with anger, since it IS...

Well, my difficulty with the question is that this venn diagram you posted presumes that the 'ego', on one hand, and 'reality-as-it-is', on the other, are two polar entities which may or may not be mutually exclusive. Perhaps ego and reality-as-it-is are one and the same... in which case this...

If anyone is interested, Alan Watts autobiography, In My Own Way, has recently been brought to press again for the first time in years. Until now, getting a copy of this book meant searching through used-book websites and trying to determine the best compromise between condition and cost. As far...

I recently read Zen Master Who? myself, and for me, the notes on Suzuki's jingo-antics were definitely new information. I've read a good deal by Suzuki, who wrote very eloquently about Zen, and was also a commendable scholar to boot. When Ford mentions that Suzuki's influence was great...

I finished reading it just yesterday. I almost want to reread it after I've gotten through my next book, since it presents a good deal of information which is pretty difficult to take in the first go-round. The book can be thought of as a primer in the history of Zen, right up to the present...

I finished reading it just yesterday. I almost want to reread it after I've gotten through my next book, since it presents a good deal of information which is pretty difficult to take in the first go-round. The book can be thought of as a primer in the history of Zen, right up to the present...

I was just reading Zen Master Who?, which is a book by a Western Zen teacher named James Ford, who is also the founder of Boundless Way Zen centers in New England. He briefly mentions Krishnamurti in his book, noting him as "a figure who needs to be noticed in any survey of Western Zen." His...

I'm not particularly familiar with Egyptology or the pyramids, so I can't say either way, really. However, as concerns Hawass' reluctancy to accept a date as old as 12,000 BC for the construction of the pyramids, I think it should be mentioned that there is one MAJOR reason for this aside from...

Re: the greatness of Gautama, of spitting and bowing before Buddha's images. Susma- I can't help but realize that you seem to be quite proud of your 'demolitions' prowess. Although I don't really have any particular problem with you doing excercises in rhetoric, your unrelenting attempt to...

Well, Susma, I don't know if such sentiments are realistic, at all. Firstly, let's compare 'Gautama the Terrible' with somebody who is, let's just say, a bit more qualified for the superlative. How about 'Ivan the Terrible', who you, yourself, mentioned? Inspired by 'Buddha the Terrible'...

LOL...what's so bad about Pali? From my understanding, Pali is, in fact, a type of Indian Prakrit, with which you seem to be much more at ease.

Susma Rio Sep- Again, as I posted a while back, nothing particularly hateful is involved. However, that the paragraph in question which you posted at the beginning of this thread might inspire some ill-feelings is not exactly unbelievable. I mean, take a look at this line: Firstly, that's...

Firstly, I don't consider this to be particularly hateful. At least the author expressed his 'take' on Buddhism without resorting to name-calling and the such. ;) Secondly, I think the problem lies right about here. The author of this short commentary you offered, Susma Rio Sep, seems to be...