Thich Nhat Hahn - Classic or Dud?

THANK YOU! his bone structure is so gross and mannish... totally hot voice, though.

http://www.parallax.org/books/peacestep/front.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Understanding-Commentaries-Prajnaparamita-Sutra/dp/0938077

might be the best text about the heart sutra/emptiness.

Aw, that link didn't work for me, Zeno.

"Drink your cup of tea as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves."

i like his film criticism

!

(he criticizes horror flicks)

Seriously? Man, how do you watch a horror film mindfully?

he doesn't have a column or anything. it's just a line or two in the book.

the link again:

http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Understanding-Commentaries-Prajnaparamita-Sutra/dp/0938077112/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199920954&sr=1-35

Described to me by some ILXor I can't recall as "the realest dude."

That was probably me.

Lurv this dude. Zen Keys ranks up with Opening the Hand of Thought & Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind as one of the best texts on Zen basics ever written.

Miracle of Mindfulness is one of my favorite books.

Like ever.

Hadn't read that book on the Heart Sutra, Zeno, thx for the link.

What have you been reading, Roxy?

"Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind as one of the best texts on Zen basics "

OTM
and also:
"zen training" and "three pilars of zen".

totes

I've got to say that while I do admire him in many ways, he can sometimes come over in his writing as a little self-righteous. He's very much a 'do it this way, not that way' kind of guy. In one book, I recall he instructed someone on how to eat a mandarin. Now, I appreciate that the guy was not eating his mandarin mindfully, and was crapping on about stuff, but it still strikes me as a just a little bit intrusive and authoritarian to tell someone over the age of three how to eat a piece of fruit, even if that kind of behaviour is mandated (controversially) by the student/teacher relationship in zen.

I'm reading Miracle of Mindfulness right now, Hoos!

xpost moley, I am feeling you a little on the self-righteousness tip (and actually the tangerine incident is what initially made me feel this way) but only a tad, and I'm not sure if I'm misinterpreting his tone yet.

This guy I like said this the other day re: teacher's insisting on their own way:

Each teacher should insist upon his or her own way. I don't think a lot of people get that. When I instruct people on shikantaza and say that's the only true way to do zazen, it does not follow that I want to send everyone who doesn't do shikantaza to the gas chambers. It may be that because of the terrible things committed in the names of our Western religions in their quest to destroy all unbelievers, we Westerners tend to read intolerance where it does not exist. It is important for a teacher to be strongly committed to his or her own way. Teachers that try to be too P.C. do their students a great disservice. Insist upon your way and let the students decide if that's the way they want to pursue or not. But always insist.

In the Lotus Sutra the Buddha gives a talk and a bunch of people who don't like what he's saying turn and walk out on him. Somebody, I think it's Ananda, says, "Hey Buddha, everybody's walking out on you!"

Buddha says, "That they leave is also good."

If you leave my place and I think you're a butt-face for doing so, ask yourself why you even care if a guy whose teaching you don't like thinks you're a butt-face. It's an important question. If you don't care, fine. If you do care, maybe there's a reason for that. As there was a reason I cared about Nishijima even though I hated his teaching when I first encountered it. As Shunryu Suzuki once said, "Any teaching that doesn't seem to be forcing itself on you is not good teaching."

fwiw

*teachers, not teacher's, obv

Interesting. That actually perfectly describes the approach of a totally Eurocentric and somewhat traditional or even reactionary, by today's standards, English professor I had. People who hated him felt he was *fascist*, but I liked him because he insisted upon his way of teaching and that made the learning experience more intense and complete, even as I ultimately walked away disagreeing with his way.

The best thing in the world to fall asleep to is the sound of this dude's voice!

he'll be at the beacon theatre october 9 and 10 fyi

also, last name is hanh - dude is not german iirc

thanks gabnnebb

i love this guy, but FUCKING 264 $ FOR A TICKET?

that's pretty zen imo

them plums aint pay for themselves

yeah, its a sort of a like fucked up koan i'd say (ill correct myself and say the minimum is 162 $, but still)