WELCOME...*MONK*...F&R Summer Feature Presentation!

[DC]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'"><span style="color: #006600">
<span style="font-size: 11pt">…And as our Summer Series continues, our (6th) sixth guest is none other than----Monk! F and R mods appreciate Monk’s willingness to share with us in this event. We are honored to have him as a featured guest… So, here he is *drumroll*..... MONK!! </span></span>


<span style="font-size: 17pt"> <span style="color: #990000">WELCOME MONK! </span> </span></span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-style: italic">And here we go....</span>

1) From previous conversations in F and R, we gather that you subscribe to Buddhism. Can you give us your personal view on what it means to be a Buddhist?

2) Did you grow up with that particular religious belief? If not, at one point did you begin to question your beliefs?

3) Now, we do know that the various belief systems, science or philosophy, do not have ALL the answers to everything pertaining to our existence. Do you ever have any struggles with doubts in your current convictions, especially during the &quot;I don't know&quot; moments?

4) For some people, religion, regardless of which, adds a sense of purpose/meaning to their lives. How has your world view shaped how you approach life?

5) In the absence (or presence) of a religious/spiritual frame of reference, how do you motivate/inspire yourself (and others) during those difficult times in your life?

6)Do you think religion / spirituality serve a role or purpose in a culture/society?

<span style="color: #CC6600">[Dear Readers, Don’t forget to add your follow up questions!!]</span></span>

[rudemonk]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silent_River</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="color: #006600">

1) From previous conversations in F and R, we gather that you subscribe to Buddhism. Can you give us your personal view on what it means to be a Buddhist?</span></div></div>

Well, my sect of Buddhism is Ch'an. This is like, gut level Buddhism, very visceral. It's not something contained in scriptures or words, that defeats it's pursuit. Personally I don't like to put an 'ism' or an 'inity' behind the names of these spiritual masters, because at what is the realest level of the teaching, it can't be so much a subscription as it is an empirical confirmation of what the Buddha taught.

The word Buddha refers to someone who is The One Thus Come. Basically that is like saying you have a true understanding and experience of existence, you are &quot;awake.&quot;

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silent_River</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="color: #006600">
2) Did you grow up with that particular religious belief? If not, at one point did you begin to question your beliefs?</span></div></div>

In a way, yes I did. But let me explain, I was born into a Roman Catholic family. My mother's side was Sicilian, and my Dad's Irish/Czech. There was a lot of passion there, for life. So I saw a lot of highs and a lot of lows. But what I am getting at is that a lot of what Yashua taught, that's Ch'an. These are teachings and realizations that come from contemplative pursuits. We see Yashua remove himself to the desert, we see Ch'an monks and practitioners, ascetics of many traditions, turn inward to seek answers to the archetypal questions which everyone feels the need to know. What I started to like about some of these contemplative traditions outside of Catholicism, well...I started to really get into the Gospel accounts. Then I found out there were other accounts. Different perspectives. Other streams. My local parish priest, he couldn't handle the questions which pointed out some rather flimsy - granting the premise that Yashua was the Son of God and here to redeem us - positions. Then I came to find out, in my late teens I had started to think I had a vocation. I was celebrating daily mass with a group of monks and priests at my college's chapel. This was a very powerful group of people, the pastor at the chapel had to be spiritually conversent and even fluent in 4 or 5 faiths so as to be able to meet the criteria of running the chapel, he had to be a spiritual counselor to Muslims, Jews, Christians of all sects, he had to know Catholicism backward and forward. And you know, you can train a priest, teach him all there is to know, but that doesn't mean he <span style="font-style: italic">knows</span>. It's like anything else, you have some people who have mastery, and then you have others who just repeat. So at home, I had a repeater. He couldn't synthesize. And he didn't have the stones to say,you know what? This can't be right. This has to be some kind of addition.

Anyway, I began to see that the real flame of Catholicism was not being lit amongst the laiety, or even for the most part in the churches. Being general. It was the monks, the reclusives, the ascetics. The people who were actually following Yashua's teachings, what he actually - at least according to the gospels- taught to do. And from a Ch'an perspective it makes total sense, and that is what first got me taking a look at that, because not only did the Shaolin tie together the mind, the body, the spirit, but they were all about coming to grips with things. They were all about 40 days and nights in a desert. So at first, I don't think people have 'beliefs.' At first people are taught. Then they think they believe, but it is just a masquerade, it's still what they were taught. They haven't internalized the teachings because they are not being taught how to seek. They are being presented with, in essence, what is a social club. This is sounding bad, and I don't mean it to if it does. The thing is, Yashua did not teach a life of comfort. He did not teach a life of working 9 to 5, pushing stacks of paper from one pile to another and helping those more fortunate than you accrue more and more wealth at the expense of others.

That is why, if you or I were born in Sri Lanka, for example, we might be Muslim. If you were born in India, maybe you would be Hindu. Much would depend on your parents, your family and society and culture. In general. Now, this just goes to prove the lie to the fundamentalists who state their way or the high way, or hold any kind of notion they have exclusivity. If God was the source of this creation, and fundamentalists are right that it is only their understanding of God which is the right one, then how can God let you be born to Muslims.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silent_River</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="color: #006600">
3) Now, we do know that the various belief systems, science or philosophy, do not have ALL the answers to everything pertaining to our existence. Do you ever have any struggles with doubts in your current convictions, especially during the &quot;I don't know&quot; moments?</span></div></div>

Hmmm....I don't know moments are every moment when it comes to the why of our existence. I don't know moments are doubting moments.

In these instances, I just remember the lessons of past masters, that no spiritual gain is ever made from a position of being comfortable.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silent_River</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="color: #006600">
4) For some people, religion, regardless of which, adds a sense of purpose/meaning to their lives. How has your world view shaped how you approach life?</span></div></div>

I can sum that up in two words, live deeply.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silent_River</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="color: #006600">
5) In the absence (or presence) of a religious/spiritual frame of reference, how do you motivate/inspire yourself (and others) during those difficult times in your life? </span></div></div>

This is a good question. It kind of implies a few things. I think a lot of things eventually become self evident. I mean, the fact is, if you need motivation there is something keeping you back. Usually, I think it is some concoction of your own, either subconscious or conscious. Like, you think it would be great if you were in better shape. But instead of dropping and just doing 10 pushups, you sit on the couch and check the TV. It's like, when you are little kid. Does anyone really have to motivate you to play. You could be running around all day, you won't even want to come in to eat dinner. Are you tired? Are you exhausted? Where does your energy come from? You decide to be tired. You decide to be.

Which is so strange, because when you are fit, you feel great. Better than when you sit and watch TV. It's a different kind of feeling. I fully understand there are times when life just crushes you. I'm going through a time right now, boy let me tell you. I never really had an understanding of Evil, what it really was and what &quot;it&quot; was capable of until now. I'm not personifying it, just conversationally. You watch a movie like, Last Good Man, or Hotel Rwanda, you cry, but when you know the people in the movie it's a different level. How do you get beyond? Well, to sort of get all Neitzche, if you don't get taken out you survive. Hopefully, eventually you come to synthesize the experience and absorb it. It happened. What can be done about it now? When a disciple takes his vows and has his head shaved, one of the things the master will say, it's basically like, we are cutting away all your past sins, all bad things are gone now, you have to start again fresh. Like baptism. A cleansing.

A lot of people lack the mythic understanding of how to refresh themselves. No matter what happens, if life does not end, it goes on. True evil vanquishes this understanding and corrupts this mythic process.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silent_River</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="color: #006600">
6)Do you think religion / spirituality serve a role or purpose in a culture/society?
</span></div></div>

Yeah, but too often the effects and manifestations are just...hollow.

[Gen]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

just reading along.

finished siddhartha(sp)

[Nylah]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<span style="font-weight: bold"> A lot of people lack the mythic understanding of how to refresh themselves. </span>


could you kindly expound upon this point monk?

when I first read this, I interpreted mythic understanding as the types of religious rites and rituals that many &quot;relgious&quot; ppl take part in repeatedly. And that being the case, many ppl go thru the act of spiritual rejeuvenation but do not achieve the &quot;refresh&quot; part you refer to.

However, this may not be what you mean.

[Nylah]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!



P.S. what you said about motivation was a nice swift kick in the pants for me

[rudemonk]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nylah</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="font-weight: bold"> A lot of people lack the mythic understanding of how to refresh themselves. </span>


could you kindly expound upon this point monk?

when I first read this, I interpreted mythic understanding as the types of religious rites and rituals that many &quot;relgious&quot; ppl take part in repeatedly. And that being the case, many ppl go thru the act of spiritual rejeuvenation but do not achieve the &quot;refresh&quot; part you refer to.

However, this may not be what you mean. </div></div>

yeah...I mean that rites and rituals all have purpose and a point to them, which you often see people go through the motions, and sometimes maybe just the comfort of the motions is enough you know? but the original process as to why you do it...a lot of times this gets lost, many of us are very far away from the point of ritual adoption, and the process becomes the point, especially when practiced from relative ease and comfort.

For example, let's look at something like baptism. So many different systems have some kind of baptism. With a surface level understanding, you might come to be taught that baptism means you are like, born again, you accept a set of teachings. And yes, the breaking through of the baptismal surface water, the symbolism there is pretty clear. But beyond that, you might come to understand that the universe has a built in baptism, I mean any time it rains aren't you being bathed in the Holy Ganges, the Jordan, the Nile...

The rain comes and washes everything. Talking to a High Priest of the Bobos he told me how it is that people don't like to be caught in the rain, because it carries the dirt. I thought that was very interesting. It's like, bad things come to everyone don't they. But just like food, try as hard as you might you eat, soon you export, eventually. So it is.

[rudemonk]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tek_weh_yuhself</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> just reading along.

finished siddhartha(sp) </div></div>

glad you liked it! fantastic book, and one you can read a few times over.

[Nylah]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!



from your perspective, how do you think ppl can change this so that the rituals have more spiritual depth than just the process:

<span style="font-weight: bold">but the original process as to why you do it...a lot of times this gets lost, many of us are very far away from the point of ritual adoption</span>

[Diplomat]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: monk</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silent_River</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style="color: #006600">
3) Now, we do know that the various belief systems, science or philosophy, do not have ALL the answers to everything pertaining to our existence. Do you ever have any struggles with doubts in your current convictions, especially during the &quot;I don't know&quot; moments?</span></div></div>
Hmmm....I don't know moments are every moment when it comes to the why of our existence. I don't know moments are doubting moments.

In these instances, I just remember the lessons of past masters, that <span style="font-weight: bold">no spiritual gain is ever made from a position of being comfortable.</span> </div></div>
<span style="color: #000099"> Our theology may be different but on the bolded sentence we certainly agree Very interesting stuff so far; I'll be back with a question or two later.</span>

[rudemonk]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nylah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
<span style="font-weight: bold">
from your perspective, how do you think ppl can change this so that the rituals have more spiritual depth than just the process:
</div></div></span>


I don't know...of course some people will want to get to the bottom of it on their own, but to be honest I don't think we instill an ability to synthesize or question enough...most people go with the flow and don't appear to welcome challenge, and there are few people who are, let's call them spiritual stewards- they are the inheritors and dispensers of their respective systems and mythologies- few of them welcome debate or questioning. To them, it's really about believe me when I tell you. And to do that, you need to suspend your inherent ability to reason, you have to accept - usually - some very irrational premises. So starting off, you are easily ensnared in gobbledeegook. You start to think, Mary really was a Virgin. The fact that there is nothing unique about godheads coming to live among men via virgin births and there are like, soooooo many parallels that rob it of any special gravitas once you find out- well I would say if you ask your average person who is a churchgoer, ask them to name 4 Virgin Birth myths and they would just stare at you blankly. So, to the questioner, the natural conclusion would be, well, if there are 15 Virgin Birth stories, well...this begs a question. What is it about the Virgin Birth story? Or back to baptism...Aztecs and South American Indian tribes, Hindu, Christian...everyone's dunking people. So what gives? Is the ritual *really* what each individual sect teaches it is, does it speak to something deeper, will you find connectivity and if you do what then. How does that recontextualize your faith, your myths.

Generally what I think happens is something goes down to eradicate your comfort. Then you start to wonder, you start to look. You probe. If people took a look at the history of their faith, probably a lot of people would scrap it, certainly many elements of it would get relegated to the scrap heap.

[rudemonk]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CEW</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
<span style="color: #000099"> Our theology may be different but on the bolded sentence we certainly agree Very interesting stuff so far; I'll be back with a question or two later.</span> </div></div>

looking forward to it! I'm a little besides myself presently and can use the engagement.

this thread is exactly what I need right now so thanks to all.

[DC]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: monk</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CEW</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
<span style="color: #000099"> Our theology may be different but on the bolded sentence we certainly agree Very interesting stuff so far; I'll be back with a question or two later.</span> </div></div>

looking forward to it! I'm a little besides myself presently and can use the engagement.

this thread is exactly what I need right now so thanks to all. </div></div>

(((monk))))


Here's another:
1.What are your thoughts on morality? Can one’s conscience be the only trusted guiding element in the human actions?

[Diplomat]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

Some quick ones...

1) What are some of the basic Buddhist's beliefs?

2) Is the goal of Buddhism to obtain spiritual enlightenment, and if so, is this the Buddhist's equivalent of Nirvana?

3) What is Buddhism's perspective/teaching on suffering; i.e. its causes and its purpose, if any?

4) It is said that Buddhists practise Buddhism by being with Bhudda at all times in the course of their daily lives. Can you explain this?

5) As Buddhism neither affirm or deny the existence of a diety, have you ever wondered from where (and how) did Buddha receive his enlightenment?

6) In your opinion, what are some of the most misunderstood aspects of this spiritual path as perceived by people in general?

[Compry]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

Monk, who is Buddha?

[rudemonk]

Re: WELCOME...*MONK*...F&amp;R Summer Feature Presentation!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silent_River</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Here's another:
1.What are your thoughts on morality? Can one’s conscience be the only trusted guiding element in the human actions?
</div></div>

is one's conscience the only trusted guiding element?I think that is really one of the weakest means of securing morality- by my definition, because it is awards based, and sometimes you might say you know, today I don't care how I feel, either good or bad about doing this, even though I know it's bad.

I think the primary means of establishing a true sense of morality is empathy. to establish this, one needs to relinquish the dualistic interpretations of our minds- you can't see the other as anything other than your self. Then you have true morality.