tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37983535.post6947368028595612454..comments2023-10-22T01:48:29.378-07:00Comments on SlowZen... Again: BOOK REVIEW: SHOES OUTSIDE THE DOOR (MICHAEL DOWNING)SlowZenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10589294912054724123noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37983535.post-1305138656294080282012-04-15T09:36:42.452-07:002012-04-15T09:36:42.452-07:00People speak of an institution- I can't see wh...People speak of an institution- I can't see where it begins or ends. <br /><br />How do we throw the baby out with the bath water? And if we do this, what is left? No water? No baby?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37983535.post-19859292229970389352012-04-03T02:15:40.257-07:002012-04-03T02:15:40.257-07:00Thanks for the thoughts Robin. I'm back in Ok...Thanks for the thoughts Robin. I'm back in Okinawa now.SlowZenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589294912054724123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37983535.post-32119724966962403112012-03-13T11:01:53.054-07:002012-03-13T11:01:53.054-07:00Well, Jordan, I don't have your last name, so ...Well, Jordan, I don't have your last name, so I can't email the above. Sorry!<br /><br />Robin<br /><br />Rusty Ring: Reflections of an Old-Timey HermitRobinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08522501894058291952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37983535.post-23905113813968804282012-03-13T10:52:47.773-07:002012-03-13T10:52:47.773-07:00(I'll comment here and then copy-paste into an...(I'll comment here and then copy-paste into an email.) I agree that this is an important book. I'd go so far as to say that nobody should be issued a Licence to Practise Zen until they've read it. (But you forgot to tell people what's it's about, Jordan! For anyone interested, it's a forensic dissection of the way the San Francisco Zen Centre, the Vatican of American Zen, became a Jonestown-style cult and then melted down in the 1970s.)<br /><br />There are some shaky passages, owing to the fact that the author isn't Buddhist. The most glaring was when he failed to spot the pracice of asubha. I'll go no farther, so as not to spoil the story for other readers, but he turned an already creepy practice into something straight out of a horror movie by not doing his research. <br /><br />But I think Shoes and Zen at War (the book I reviewed recently) should bookend any Zenner's library. I hear a lot of arrogant pronouncements in Zen circles, how our practice is superior to Christianity and "why", how we're the "good guys" and everyone else merely human. It took me a lifetime to extricate myself from the Church; I ain't lookin' to intricate myself all over again. <br /><br />Thanks for the great post, Jordan!<br /><br />Robin <br /><br />Rusty Ring: Reflections of an Old-Timey HermitRobinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08522501894058291952noreply@blogger.com