Raichozan (Thunderbird Mountain) Zendo

We are a lay sitting group in Glendale AZ. We meet on Tuesday evenings at the West Valley UU Church at 59th and Cholla. Offering instruction in zazen (Zen Buddhist meditation) and the opportunity to practice with the structure and support of a group inspired in the Rinzai Zen tradition.Beginners welcome.

We meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30
First time visitors should call 602.492.2212 or email mui@cox.net for orientation instructions.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Salvation

    Earlier today I shared a link on FB on an Eastern perspective on Christian salvation. This got me thinking more about this. In Christianity we're taught our dilemma begins with “original sin”, because of this condition we find ourselves separate from God. Of course (or at least as I see it) this condition isn't even possible unless God made his creation as already separate. In Buddhism we're taught (and by taught I mean to look deeply at our reality and experience it's truth) that our separation is an illusion (delusion). In Zen there's a koan, “What is your original face before you mother and father were born?”. There is no separation to fix. Not body and mind, not cat and mouse, not Buddha and ordinary being, not self and other, not subject and object, and not God and man. The problem isn't separation, it's the illusion of separation.