I hadn't heard that before. Do you have a source for it?Caodemarte wrote: ↑Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:14 pm Ajahn Chan had Soto teacher Shunryiu Suzuki’s “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” translated into Thai and would pass it out to visitors as an introduction to meditation.
Theravadan Shikantaza?
- Dhammanando
- Posts: 6512
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:44 pm
- Location: Mae Wang Huai Rin, Li District, Lamphun
Re: Theravadan Shikantaza?
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.
In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.
In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
Re: Theravadan Shikantaza?
I found this; different, but connecting Wat Pah Nanachat with Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind:
Ajahn Amaro (July 1991) wrote: When I arrived at the International Forest Monastery in Thailand, I had never read any Buddhist books and I wasn't actually in search of becoming a Buddhist monk. I was a wanderer, a free-lance spiritual seeker, and I just happened to turn up at this forest monastery that Ajahn Sumedho had established a couple of years before, basically as a place for a free meal and a roof over my head for a few nights. Little did I expect, some twelve or thirteen years later, that I would be doing what I am doing now. But when I went there and asked the monks about Buddhism, to explain things a little bit for me so that I could get a feel for what their life was about, the first thing one of them did was to give me a copy of a book of talks by a Zen Master, and he said, "Don't bother trying to read the Theravada literature; it's terribly boring, very dry. Read this, it is pretty much the same thing that we're doing, and it will give you a sense of what our practice is about. And I thought, "Well, obviously these guys are not too hung up on their tradition." The book was 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.'
I had a chat with an old monk in a monastery (of Ajahn Chah tradition) who told me that, as a young man in the USA, this book (zen mind...) had been instrumental, along with others around then like Richard Alpert (later Baba Ram Dass), Leary etc, in putting him on the path to the path. (Ram Dass's 'be here now' did similar for me.)
- Dhammanando
- Posts: 6512
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:44 pm
- Location: Mae Wang Huai Rin, Li District, Lamphun
Re: Theravadan Shikantaza?
Thanks.Nicolas wrote: ↑Thu Oct 29, 2020 2:52 amI found this; different, but connecting Wat Pah Nanachat with Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind:
When I arrived at the International Forest Monastery in Thailand, I had never read any Buddhist books and I wasn't actually in search of becoming a Buddhist monk. I was a wanderer, a free-lance spiritual seeker, and I just happened to turn up at this forest monastery that Ajahn Sumedho had established a couple of years before, basically as a place for a free meal and a roof over my head for a few nights. Little did I expect, some twelve or thirteen years later, that I would be doing what I am doing now. But when I went there and asked the monks about Buddhism, to explain things a little bit for me so that I could get a feel for what their life was about, the first thing one of them did was to give me a copy of a book of talks by a Zen Master, and he said, "Don't bother trying to read the Theravada literature; it's terribly boring, very dry. Read this, it is pretty much the same thing that we're doing, and it will give you a sense of what our practice is about. And I thought, "Well, obviously these guys are not too hung up on their tradition." The book was 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.'
I know from old preceptor, Ajahn Khemadhammo, that Ajahn Chah liked to read Ajahn Buddhadāsa's Thai translations of the English translations of certain classical Ch'an teachers (e.g., Wong Mou-lam's Sutra of Hui Neng and John Blofeld's Teachings of Huang Po). And I gather from Paul Breiter's memoirs that those of the ajahn's western disciples who had a background in Zen would sometimes read out passages from the Zen books they were reading, translate them into Thai and ask for his comment. But this is the first I've ever heard of him commissioning a translation of Zen Mind Beginners' Mind. As far as I know, there's only one Thai translation of this book, that of Nara Suphakrote, whose first edition was published only in 2014.
จิตใหม่ หัวใจเซน ("New Mind, Heart of Zen")
.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.
In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.
In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
-
- Posts: 1092
- Joined: Fri May 01, 2015 3:21 pm
Re: Theravadan Shikantaza?
I had read that Thai copies (handouts?) were given in the reminisces of a Westerner. My impression was that he was not referring to a formal published book or sold or generally available, but something like an informal translation by someone local. Sorry to be so vague!Dhammanando wrote: ↑Thu Oct 29, 2020 3:57 am....Nicolas wrote: ↑Thu Oct 29, 2020 2:52 amI found this; different, but connecting Wat Pah Nanachat with Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind:
.... But when I went there and asked the monks about Buddhism, to explain things a little bit for me so that I could get a feel for what their life was about, the first thing one of them did was to give me a copy of a book of talks by a Zen Master, and he said, "Don't bother trying to read the Theravada literature; it's terribly boring, very dry. Read this, it is pretty much the same thing that we're doing, and it will give you a sense of what our practice is about. And I thought, "Well, obviously these guys are not too hung up on their tradition." The book was 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.'
I know from old preceptor, Ajahn Khemadhammo, that Ajahn Chah liked to read Ajahn Buddhadāsa's Thai translations of the English translations of certain classical Ch'an teachers (e.g., Wong Mou-lam's Sutra of Hui Neng and John Blofeld's Teachings of Huang Po). And I gather from Paul Breiter's memoirs that those of the ajahn's western disciples who had a background in Zen would sometimes read out passages from the Zen books they were reading, translate them into Thai and ask for his comment. But this is the first I've ever heard of him commissioning a translation of Zen Mind Beginners' Mind. As far as I know, there's only one Thai translation of this book...