To share a Facebook post from six years ago
I must share with everyone, a new, for me, book on Zen, that I discovered near the back of a second-hand book store. “Zen Under the Gun” about four Zen Masters from turbulent times, translated by J.S. Cleary.
The introduction fascinated me. It began with “A moment in history – imagine a world at war, generation after generation. A heavily militarized empire rules supreme, planting its garrisons in country after country, plundering resources, subjugating populatons, killing and maiming at will, and ruthlessly destroying the cities and towns of everyone who dared to resist¨ This was China, more than 700 years ago, after the Mongul invasion, but it could be almost anywhere, today.
The author claims that ‘engaged Buddhism’ has always been an integral part of the true teaching. The Zen Masters covered in the book “achieved inner peace, but not by fleeing from the world the people around them were trapped in. They embodied the Bodhisattva approach to the world; empty but responsive, emotionally detached but actively involved, with the insight to see what really can help, and the courage to attempt it.”
We need dedicated people like that, today.
Simple Seekers 