"Bringing Zen into the 21st Century: One Zen Priest's Perspective" - Lecture by Takafumi Kawakami

Brown Program in Contemplative Studies presents a lecture by Reverend Takafumi Kawakami on "Bringing Zen into the 21st Century: One Zen Priest's Perspective,"
For more info:
www.brown.edu/academics/conte...
Friday, February 9th 2018
Brown University

[@NotBleu]

starts at 10:00

[@moonmissy]

Ask the next Buddhist teacher you meet, when was the last time you saw your parents? Siblings? Teacher? How they answer have a lot to do about how or whether they live their dharma.

[@publicdancebreak7959]

Hello! i was enjoying... and will continue to enjoy this sharing/lecture, however, i had to take pause after hearing the explanation of the "abrahamic" traditions. The comparisons provided do not resonate with my lived experience. Might I share, that firstly, it is an error to use the term "abrahamic" to refer to covenant religions without mentioning Sarah and Hagar (who birthed Ishmael and Isaac, the brothers). As per many myths, the trinity of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar is essential. The convenient patriarchal paradigm that promotes 'abrahamic' lineage, is not equanimous; one should not "deify" the male component... and "humanize" all the feminine reflections of god in the myth. Secondly, the harmonious rules of the commandments are written in relationship between YHWH (tetragrammaton) and Moses in direct dialogue (moses name meaning, ""I drew him out of the water"). Remember, before Moses was hacking away at rocks 2x on Sinai to help with human justice/balance/harmonious living he was crossing between the waters of the sea. AT the sea, Miriam, the older sister (profit/wise one) whose name literally means salt water (vs. fresh water) signals that horse and rider/body and mind surrenders to all that which IS (And Miriam called to them: 'Sing to G‑d, for He is most exalted; horse and rider He cast in the sea...'") this is certainly the only way that moses can reach Zion (which does not happen in his lifetime, in the myth). Anyway, I could go on... but i wished to share that you may have missed something beautiful related to the overlapping natures of of buddhism/Zen and the HAS - traditions (hajar, Sarah, Abraham). The ideas around food restrictions to separate humans is also.. might I say a superficial interpretation? The obligations for in the preparation of food are complex, including a section on not eating the flesh of the mother (cow) and the milk (for the baby) together. It is about life itself...

[@jeremymetcalf2502]

He needs to seriously do his research before stating anything about any other "religion". I know it works in an environment with like-minded thinking individuals who are dismissive with other ways of thinking, but this can really cause damage. Being in the moment doesn't give the excuse to not be self-aware of others.