Tag: china

The Difference Between Gong-an and Ko-an Practice

It is bizarre to consider that as Japan descended into fascism and racism prior to WWII – the distorted, nationalistic Zen Buddhism of that time was popular in the West amongst intellectuals, despite a number of its masters expressing openly hostile attitudes toward the Western people. It is even more bizarre to consider that after WWII – many of these very same masters remained popular as they quietly pushed their formerly racist rhetoric into the background, and applied a more ‘neutral’ policy toward the acquisition of Enlightenment.

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Camelford Ch’an Week Retreat (North Cornwall)

Numbers vary dramatically, but as we are not a commercial enterprise, this is of no interest. There is always a strong inner core that keeps the teachings of Master Xu Yun (1840-1959) alive in the UK. We have been asked to Hong Kong and China in recent years, and these are invitations we intend to honour in the near future. Our last Ch’an Week Retreat (in the Sai Kung area) of Hong Kong, attracted over 50 participants in 1999, and we had to abandon the building and sit in the beautiful countryside.

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How a Plumber’s Ego Shaped the Western View of Tibet

This pretentious drivel is supposedly from an ‘ordained’ and highly ‘evolved’ Tibetan Lama who has taken a vow not to handle or possess money of any kind (i.e. gold or silver, etc.). The tone of this piece is highly defensive, whilst making (what is in reality), a call for more funds. Hoskin’s attitude is abusive to his own readership – who have after, all already purchased his books – as he attempts in a disjointed manner, to assert an egotistical control over their habit of daring to contact the person who has written such an impressive and nonsensical myth! In this page and a quarter of pure vitriol, Hoskin reveals the true nature of his thoroughly unevolved, selfish, and poorly educated psyche.

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