Shi Yongxin, “CEO Monk” and abbot of the Shaolin Temple
Buddhism is the dominant religion in China, with as many as 300 million believers across the country. Like other forms of Buddhism, Zen emphasizes letting go of worldly cares and working toward enlightenment through meditation and practice of the Buddha’s teachings, which include a ban on harming any sentient beings. As its home, and ...
Monks for life? « Madhushala
Madhushala asks about the length and permanence of monastic vows in different traditions, and gets some interesting responses: Monks for life? There was a discussion on Twitter recently about the topic of monks disrobing. It is commonly thought that once monastic vows are taken they are for life. I did not think this was so as pretty ...
Disrobing “Big Mind”
I don’t know what kind of monk Genpo Roshi actually intended to be, but his recent disrobing brings up some good issues around a few of the elements of monasticism I’ve been writing about. Celibacy & Sexuality (can monks be sexually active? how ’bout unfaithfully so? polyamorous?) Vows (where do marriage vows and monastic vows overlap?) Hierarchy ...
Gary Snyder is an artmonk
Snyder answers the koan “who’s talking?” “Talking is talking to talking. That would be one way to talk about that. Or as I said in the poem, ‘Walking on walking/ underfoot earth turns”… So if it’s a talking on talking, the mind burns.” Snyder answers the koan “who’s talking?” “Talking is talking to talking. That would ...
Shambhala Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown on Monasticism
Shambhala Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown, in Buddhist Geeks, Episode 146 “Investing in the Future of American Buddhism”: Vince: So before we close, maybe if I could ask a little bit about monasticism, where you see it heading. This is something you said you wanted to come back to. Judith: I think the returns are not in on ...
Leonard Cohen is an artmonk
[part of the "__ is an artmonk" series] Cohen, who once spent five years in a Zen Monastery, mentions the Cloud of Unknowing in his 1979 song “The Window”:
Celibacy: the View of a Zen Monk from Japan
A zen precedent for married monks, from Celibacy: the View of a Zen Monk from Japan: Examples of the marriage of monks in Japan can be found as early as the Heian period (794-1185). Moreover, beginning from the time of Shinran (1173-1262) and Ippen (1239-1289), who were known as hijiri, or wandering mendicants, there are many examples ...
Getting the questions right
Examples of the secular world learning from the world’s ancient contemplative and spiritual traditions abound. Neuroscientists, psychologists, doctors, cognitive scientists and cosmologists are learning from inner technologies of meditation and contemplative practice. But what of the outer, visible, measurable technologies of those traditions? How are we learning from those technologies that fit into what is ...
