some day… some day.

I think you might be right, and sometimes I also think even being Buddhist is not very Buddhist, if that makes any sense.

welcome back to the human world, may your reentry be swift and gentle!!

@zenconfidential25 well, sesshin did nothing to change my juvenile sense of humour because my initial thought on your response was "that's what she said"! 🤦‍♀️

man then I am OUTrageous!!

It is still very rare and 'outrageous' for two guys to walk hand in hand in my home city in the UK. It doesn't happen much as to do so causes a lot of straight people to be 'triggered' resulting in verbal abuse or worse. The city holds a huge Pride parade and its nice to see friends holding hands but that soon stops as the event comes to an end and people start going home. For people who are visibly trans the situation is worse.

always great to get some constructive feedback, thx!

Good question! Barriers and boundaries, maybe.

Thank you!

Thanks my friend! You're no fraud, I'll see ya at the next parade!!

Great point, the trickster hovers at the edges, baby!!

Interesting POV. Danke.

Great quote, great director! Thank you.

@@zenconfidential25 🙏🏽🌼

Some good points here, thank you.

I WISH I was just a this or a that...

Thanks my friend.

I doubt you actually want to drink all day and eat junk food and lust after hot women, all of that sounds kind of boring. Interesting idea about Catholicism as bringing about order. I think it did that for me when I was a kid definitely. :-)

Having met LGBT people from various backgrounds it is clear that prejudice against them has caused unnecessary suffering. That prejudice maybe from religious or cultural attitudes. Friends from West Indian, Catholic, Irish traveller, Muslim and Jehova Witness backgrounds have described their various experiences. Prejudice from Buddhists no longer surprises me.

The LGBTQIA community does not, in general, feel pride in "what 'I' want" but pride for having finally succeeded in the fight for marriage rights, to visit our spouses on their death beds, to (hopefully) not be bullied, harassed, stalked, verbally or physically assaulted, or unalived simply because they exist and someone saw them existing. Gay Pride has zero to do with "me" and everything to do with "us". If you can't understand the pride a minority feels when they are granted the rights others enjoy, you lack empathy.

​@@jerryalder2878my grandparents were southern Baptist and made sure to tell me I was an abomination and headed to hell every time I saw them at a family gathering from my 14th year (when I came out) until my 40's.

I think you make a good case for what gay pride, at its core, means to so many people.

Dogen nails it again.

What are they ashamed of?

Shame isn't inherent, guilt is. Shame comes from other people. Guilt says, "I did something bad." Shame says, "I am bad." Shame is a perception about ourselves heaped upon us by others. Your disgust, your hatred, your confusion, heaped upon LGBTQIA+ because you do not want to feel it. Ergo, an entire group experiences YOUR shame.

You are sounding pretty ashamed there😆

​@@zenconfidential25Making an idol out of sex.

I can think of worse idols!

Does sexuality dogma include heterosexuality dogma? ;)

The only people I know of that are trying to rename pedophilia as "minor attraction" are conservatives making bad faith arguments

Yeah, I haven't heard that term over here in Europe. Maybe there's a German word for it! ;)

​@@zenconfidential25 That's an interesting question because these ideas have specific philosophical roots. In the West, sexual values come from Abrahamic religions. At the time these texts were written, homosexuality was closely associated with exploitation where the receiving partner was typically a slave or a child. Before modern medicine, sex outside of marriage was extremely dangerous because of risks of disease and pregnancy. The modern ideas of homosexuality would have been unknown to them. They also probably couldn't conceive of a life where your preferences were important. Monogamy was an innovation of Christians which prevents wealthy men from hoarding women. The wisdom of this practice has been seen around the world. I've read some of the Left Wing doctrine. Some writings of Fanon and some from Foucault. If you haven't read these authors, you should so you can know what you are signing on to. At least read the chapter "On Violence" in Wretched of the Earth. It is quite eye opening. monoskop.org/images/6/6b/Fanon_Frantz_The_Wretched_of_the_Earth_1963.pdf They are morally repugnant. Foucault himself has been accused of serially raping Algerian children which isn't surprising to the way he wrote about children's sexuality. Several other of his contemporary French intellectuals were arrested for sex with children. My bigger problem is the autocratic way these gender ideas are being enforced. The slightest critical comment can get you blacklisted from the arts or academia. In many Buddhist Centers in New York City you will find yourself unwelcome if refuse to kiss the ring. It is often suggested that traditional sexual norms are simply there to oppress people, but actually they make a lot of sense. While it's not wrong to question those fences, you should me mindful on what's on the other side. Maybe the hazard no longer exists, or maybe you are about to leap over a cliff.

Thanks, there's a lot here. You said, "My bigger problem is the autocratic way these gender ideas are being enforced. The slightest critical comment can get you blacklisted from the arts or academia." Is this still going on over there in the States, or is the vibe shifting? Be interesting to see what comes next culturally.

I wonder if all our religions will ever be around in 1000 years. Won't we have "GodChips" in our heads by then? ;)

Truly, this is one of the dumbest comments I’ve read. You think you have religion figured out, do you? You think you understand how the Bible was changed? You must have a perfect working historical & archaeological knowledge of all the manuscripts. You must know ancient koine Greek like the back of your hand. You must have studied all religions and compared and contrasted all of them meticulously over several years. You literally don’t know what you’re talking about, so why even speak?

As a matter of fact, I even know ancient koine Greek like the back of YOUR hand.

Good point about pride, JP, and kids. thank you.

just an ad hominem accusation... Please refer any parade in which kids are exposed to adult´s genitals and sexual behaviour with the motto "Pride of our Children" and maybe JP will say something. In any case he has spoken on pride (not just lgbt) many many times.

@@juanluiscadenasdellanobajo1610 🙄

thank you my friend.

I’m glade you are free to express what you believe to be true.

I think you make a good point re: speaking back. I think perhaps we get answers but they are not languaged, if you will.

Hey my friend, who is performing the jukai ceremony. They should be able to shepherd you through the process and guide you to the right rakasu, as depending on the lineage they will vary. That said, the only crew I know that sells accurate Rinzai ones in the States is stilsitting.com, and yeah, they are really pricey!! Might you search for a used one somewhere? I just did a quick search and found this one on etsy: www.etsy.com/listing/1030730712/rakusu-soto-style-rinzai-optional?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=rakusu+zen&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&sts=1&content_source=a77a8366181429ed87fdba34e0ee19f88621e5d3%253A1030730712&organic_search_click=1

@@zenconfidential25 Thank you!

That's a good thing to know, that there is a grain of truth the things that fox tries to fire people up about. I usually only get glimpses of it as my mom watches Jesse!! ;)

I had a friend who was studying at San Francisco Zen center during the Richard Baker fiasco, and her take was that the sexual behavior was never the heart of the problem for the higher ups in that community. The problem started when there seemed to be financial misconduct. Her conclusion was that the community was OK with the sexual misconduct, but once the guy started misspending funds, things got real. Not sure if that's true, that was her take. Baker is an interesting case study, though. I'll never forget reading Shoes Outside the Door when I was a wee monk.

Well that's one take!! And a good one, I might add.

Thank you for saying that Ryan. I appreciate it. Maybe more like all the qualities of an unhinged monk on the run?

Yes! Thank you!

I'm sorry to hear that. The first sentence you wrote dovetails so nicely into the second.

Yeah that was def him!! ;)

Thank you my friend, and thanks for the reminder on the true meaning of the word Catholic.

That's really interesting, I never heard that instruction before. Thank you!

You're right, I just googled it, it WAS Outsiders. Thank you!

Yeah, being intoxicated just isn't conducive to Buddhism OR healthy living of any kind, in the end.

Thank you so much! (And my gf thanks you too!)

It got pretty spicy! ;)

Thank you for saying so.

I am on the cusp of doing a video on that remarkable film, thank you.

I’ll have to watch this. I no longer want to practice law, I walked away from it. I’m looking at things that aren’t far from toilet cleaning. I was a courthouse cleaner in college, so I even have years of toilet cleaning experience. I was once punished in the Marine Corps, I had to go into the Admin office and clean. The Captain and Top who punished me (I was late for something) and the workers were raving about the floors. That was nothing, we used to buff marble to a gleam in the Old Courthouse in Boston every night.

Beautiful.

No regrets! You?

Weeelllllll ............. maybe 1 or 2 regrets.........;)

Even 1 regret can be many, depending on its severity.

very. good. point. :)

Such a good point, and so simple. It’s about fulfillment, perhaps, and not facility or mastery or success or acknowledgment, etc.

Wonderful! Thank you for saying so.

I suppose in the head, Buddhist monks are jerks just like anyone else. But maybe at least they're honest about it? ;-)