[Buddha-l] Teaching Zen Buddhist philosophy

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Sun, 2005-10-09 at 19:14 -0400, curt wrote:

>  A better idea would be to use some of the material that is actual
> studied in the 
> traditional Zen "curriculum" - especially "The Sutra of Perfect 
> Enlightenment" and "The Awakening of Faith".

As I said, I have done that in the past. I've been teaching those things
for twenty-five years. I'm looking for a change of pace. Besides, I am
beginning to understand what my own Zen master used to say: "Reading
sutras and koan collections for insight is like eating vomit for
nourishment."

> Since Packer rejects the label of Zen I see no reason to go out one's
> way to include her in a class on Zen 

As I said, I want to include writers who spent a significant amount of
time practicing Zen. Packer was chosen to replace Kapleau when he
retired. She has all the credentials one could ask for. Not only that,
but she had the courage to drop her Zen persona, and even her Buddhist
persona.


-- 
Richard Hayes