Thursday, March 06, 2008

I first want to thank Joe for the comment regarding the internet and Enlightenment. I think it is a very valuable resource in many ways. It provides a huge library of inspirational material for research on any topic you want. This is priceless for locating sacred texts, rare out of print material, and also cutting edge results in quantum philosophy. It brings people in touch with one another through user groups, blogs, chat and so on. The Web is great for the tangible elements of our search. Keep in mind though that there are really no words that can accurately convey Truth or that can give us Enlightenment. They can only inspire us.

What it can't do for you is take the place of the work a person must do on their own or the one on one transmission experience that happens with direct working with a teacher, and I don't want to be too quick in saying that either as I don't know the full mechanics of it. Richard Rose worked with a Zen teacher through the mail who apparently had a good rate of success.

I think that overall it is a good resource. I would watch out for a few pitfalls though. It is easy to get lost in threads of thought and end up way off topic moving from one link to the next. It is very easy to get distracted. Use your intuition regarding the integrity of the source of material. This is the same though with any group.

Just keep in mind that words can only go so far in this quest. I will close with a priceless quote from Bodhidharma, one of the founding fathers of Zen in China.

A special transmission outside the scriptures;
No dependence upon words and letters;
Direct pointing to the soul of man:
Seeing into one's own nature and attainment of Buddhahood.

Bodhidharma, First Patriarch of Zen (4-6 Cent. AD)


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