Post by JustaWhistleStop on Jun 7, 2024 2:51:10 GMT
Hello, everyone. I'm JustaWhistleStop. You might also know me by another name, ji_yinzen, and dustlessEye.
Since my teens, I've been interested in Zen through Hermann Hesse, Aldous Huxley, Jack Kerouac and the Beat Poets. More recently, I've read Alan Watts and DT Suzuki. Not being in a Buddhist sect, I'm at a loss at what to call myself. Zen? Buddhism? Early Buddhism? These are just labels. Intuitive enlightenment is the Buddha nature in us all.
In my twenties, I backpacked the US, hitchhiking and hopping freights. I met a lot of good people and saw the country. One adventure that struck me the most was Mt. Shasta in the middle of winter. It was snowing, and so cold, the top of the mountain was barren, even though snow covered its base up to the frigid zone. I sat crosslegged staring out of the boxcar's open door, sure I was going to die, when suddenly, a great feeling of peace and contentment took over me. I was ready. More ready than I've ever been since. Take me, Grim Reaper. That was my first real contact with Zen, that feeling of what I've since learned is the equanimity we strive for daily, but the Masters tell us is already there.
The train stopped suddenly, in the middle of nowhere. I jumped out. Two silent but friendly conductors let me ride the caboose to the next stop.
I eventually married and raised a family. Now, that the kids are gone, I have time to take these spiritual things seriously. When I post, or make comments, I try to put into words a place it has taken me a lifetime of trial and error to get to. I don't know anything of tradition or sacred texts, I just take it one step at a time.
In the past 10 years, I've read a few of the Zen texts—Foyan, Huangbo, the BCR, Yumenguan. I'm currently reading Yuanwu's Zen Letters. I've also pored over many, many Sutras, suttas and commentaries by the foremost translators, bhikhus Bodhi and Thanissaro. And teachers like Nyanatiloka, a famous Burmese monk who came from Germany in his teens, and became a Master. And I’ve delved into the dao—with Zhuangzhi. So, my experience is not limited to direct knowledge. I have some academic stuff under my belt, too.
Well, now that I've bared my soul to a faceless crowd, I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.
