[Buddha-l] Filtered Buddhism

[curt]

Jackhat1 at aol.com wrote:
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> I understand the differences you bring out but am not sure why one is  
> filtered Buddhism and the other is not. Can you say more?
>  
> I have had a similar experience but within two US Buddhist groups. For  years 
> I went to a Zen sangha. I wouldn't say they were harsh but there was  no 
> socializing and little discussion. Retreats were all about meditating.  Then I 
> started to go to other sanghas including ones that were Thich Nhat Hanh  
> orientated. Here there was a lot of socializing and discussion. So, my  experience is 
> that the difference you bring out has nothing to do with the US  but with 
> other causes.
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If you are interested in socializing you might want to consider bowling 
instead of Zen. Or drinking. Actually bowling and drinking go very well 
together, unless you are really serious about the bowling - or the 
drinking. Come to think of it, both bowling and drinking will also get 
in the way of socializing if you take either of them too seriously.

As far as Thich Nhat Hanh goes - I think you forgot to mention that 
while "there was a lot of socializing and discussion" - there was little 
if any zazen. It is very easy to find Buddhist teachers who do not 
emphasize sitting meditation (many, probably most, Tibetan teachers do 
not) - but it is admittedly difficult to find someone who calls himself 
as a Zen teacher and yet does not emphasize zazen. In part this is of 
course due to the laws of physics, according to which there are only 24 
hours in any given day, and, therefore, any time spent doing one thing 
(socializing) cannot be spent doing something else (zazen).

- Curt