Philosophy

The above picture is one I got from a great website called Kyoto Zen.

Some things I've written on Philosophy...

The Decaying Human Body- written a little after Predatory Survival. I like it.

Predatory Survival- something I wrote last fall, the beginning of my Freshman year. Not really what I believe anymore, but it's interesting. I was a kooky kid.

My take on Abortion- I got the idea a while ago, but it's messily written, since I just sat down and typed it.

This site will be under heavy construction, but for now, I will say that I follow the way of Zen. Chances are you don't know what that means- as a website I saw today put it, "Zen" is a word that gets tossed around in our culture. I reached my "Enlightenment" or Satori through what I learned solely from the book The Way of Zen, by Alan W. Watts. To me, no other religion or philosophy I have studied has proved as valuable to me as Zen, and I have found no other source on it more concise, clear and understandable. I have tried to record a few quotes and excerpts that I think best capture the spirit and meaning of the book.

"In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble."
--Yün-men

"If it [the Truth] is already manifest, what's the use of meditation?
And if it is hidden, one is just measuring darkness.
Mantras and tantras, meditation and concentration,
They are all a cause of self-deception.
Do not defile in contemplation thought that is pure in its own nature,
But abide in the bliss of yourself and cease those torments.
Whatever you see, that is it,
In front, behind, in all the ten directions.
Even today let your master make an end of delusion!
The nature of the sky is originally clear,
But by gazing and gazing the sight becomes obscure."
--Saraha's Treasury of Songs, translated by David Snellgrove

"A sutra says, 'It is only a group of elements that come together to make
this body.' When it arises, only these elements arise. When it ceases, only
these elements cease. But when these elements arise, do not say, 'I am
arising,' and when they cease, do not say, 'I am ceasing.' So, too,
with our former thoughts, later thoughts, and intervening thoughts
(or, experiences): the thoughts follow one another without being linked
together. Each one is absolutely tranquil."
--Ma-tsu

"Western ideas of Buddhist attainments are all too often distorted
by the "Mysterious East" approach, and by the sensational fantasies
so widely circulated in theosophical writings during the decades just
before and after the turn of the century. Such fantasies were based
not upon a first-hand study of Buddhism but on literal reading of
mythological passages in the sutras, where the Buddhas and Boddhisattvas
are embellished with innumerable miraculous and supherhuman attributes. Thus
there must be no confusion between Zen masters and theosophical 'mahatmas'-
the glamorous 'Masters of Wisdom' who live in the mountain fastnesses
of Tibet and practice the arts of occultism. Zen masters are quite human.
They get sick and die; they know joy and sorrow; they have bad tempers or
other little 'weaknesses' of character just like anyone else, and they are
not above falling in love and entering into a fully human
relationship with the opposite sex. The perfection of Zen is to be
perfectly and simply human. The difference of the adept in Zen from the
ordinary run of men is that the latter are, in one way or another, at odds
with their own humanity, and are attempting to be angels or demons."
--Alan W. Watts, The Way of Zen

"The _Ch'uan Teng Lu_ records a fascinating encounter between
Tao-hsin and the sage Fa-yung, who lived in a lonely temple on Mount
Niu-t'ou, and was so holy that the birds used to bring him offerings
of flowers. As the two men were talking, a wild animal roared close
by, and Tao-hsin jumped. Fa-yung commented, 'I see it is still
with you!'--referring, of course, to the instinctive "passion"
(klesa) of fright. Shortly afterwards, while he was for a moment
unobserved, Tao-hsin wrote the Chinese character for 'Buddha'
on the rock where Fa-yung was accustomed to sit. When
Fa-yung returned to sit down again, he saw the sacred Name
and hesitated to sit. 'I see,' said Tao-hsin, 'it is
still with you!' At this remark Fa-yung was fully awakened...
and the birds never brought any more flowers."
--Alan W. Watts, The Way of Zen

"Whether trusting our memories or trusting the mind to act on its own,
it comes to the same thing: ultimately we must act and think, live and
die, from a source beyond all 'our' knowledge and control. But this
source is ourselves, and when we see that, it no longer stands over
us as a threatening object. No amount of care and hesitancy, no amount
of introspection and searching of our motives, can make any ultimate
difference to the fact that the mind is

'Like an eye that sees, but
cannot see itself.'

In the end, the only alternative to a shuddering
paralysis is to leap into action regardless of consequences. Action in this
spirit may be right or wrong with respect to conventional standards. But
our decisions upon the conventional level must be supported by the
conviction that whatever we do, and whatever 'happens' to us, is
ultimately 'right'. In other words, we must enter into it without
'second thought', without arrière-pensée of regret, hesitancy, doubt, or
self-recrimination. Thus when Yün-men was asked, 'What is the Tao?'
he answered simply, 'Walk on! (ch'ü).'"
--Alan W. Watts, The Way of Zen

"... the moral act is significantly moral only when it is free,
without the compulsion of reason or necessity. This is also the
deepest meaning of the Christian doctrine of free will, for to act
'in union with God' is to act, not from the constraint of fear or pride,
nor from hope of reward, but with the baseless love of the 'unmoved mover'."
-- Alan W. Watts, The Way of Zen

"It is as if someone had given me some medicine with the warning that
that it will not work if I think of a monkey while taking it. While I
am remembering to forget the monkey, I am in a 'double-bind' situation
where 'to do' is 'not to do', and vice versa. 'Yes' implies 'no,' and 'go'
implies 'stop'. At this point Zen comes to me and asks, 'If you cannot help
remembering the monkey, are you doing it on purpose?' In other words, do
I have an intention for being intentional, a purpose for being purposive?
Suddenly I realize that my very intending is spontaneous, or that my
controlling self-the ego-arises from my uncontrolled or natural self. At
this moment all the machinations of the ego come to nought; it is
annihilated in its own trap. I see that it is actually impossible not
to be spontaneous. For what I cannot help doing I am doing spontaneously,
but if I am at the same time trying to control it, I interpret it as a
compulsion. As a Zen master said, 'Nothing is left to you at this moment
but to have a good laugh.'"
--Alan W. Watts, The Way of Zen

"Just so... I obtained not the least thing from unexcelled, complete awakening,
and for this very reason it is called 'unexcelled, complete awakening'."
--The Vajrachedika, attributed to Buddha

"We eat, excrete, sleep and get up;
This is our world.
All we have to do after that-
Is to die."
-- Ikkyu

Another Asian philosophy, Taoism, is also one that I find very valuable. (It is mentioned in one of the above quotes.) It has been said that Zen is equally Taoism as it is Buddhism.

Links:

Zen, an Introduction to Zen Buddhism- a very simple yet incredibly informative page on Zen.

Kyoto Zen- this is a nice page in Japanese and English.

Daosim Depot- An excellent resource on Taoism (pronounced Daoism)

The Art of Tibet- This means far more to me as Art than Philosophy, but it deals exclusively with beautiful Tibetan Buddhist images.