seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

possible to channel beneficial cosmic energy through crystals, surely the men who mined
them would live past forty and own the beds they died in.
This New Age group was composed of decent, intelligent people whose spiritual
development just happened to be arrested at a comic book level, somewhere between the
Trickster and the Superman phase. Animals taught them their ethics, and the lesson was
always the same: It's OK to fail. If you're sincere in your desire to improve, you'll be
forgiven. (Coyote!) That was their lower bound. Their upper bound was the Superman/Hero
evidenced by their reliance upon spirits, magic, astrology, and other pseudoscience to achieve
their fuzzy goals.
Caught between the Trickster and Superman phase, a person's consciousness cannot
expand sufficiently for him to gauge the true extent of his knowledge. He doesn't know that
he doesn't know. He says, "Ahah!" and, like a schoolboy with a hunch, thinks he understands
everything. Mere coincidence is easily elevated to divine revelation. He is energized by his
`discovery.' His reason is consumed in an intuitive flash. (This is one of the peculiar sideeffects
of a genuine meditation experience.) Unfortunately, the ash of this combustion is
often the emotional fertilizer which nourishes zealotry... the smug conviction, the need to
proselytize.
As all believers have, this New Age group had its dark night of the soul. Terrible
days came when the dreaded Vortex effect of planetary alignment interfered with the cosmic
flow. Cataclysms were predicted for their Earth Mother. Fortunately, they prayed around the
clock and She was saved.
May we sophisticated souls repose sanguine in the knowledge that we are safely
above the fray of superstition? Are we sure that we have been permanently inoculated
against voodoo's mumbo-jumbo and other paranormal infections? Let us consider the old
tale of the lucky bank teller:
One day Mr. Samuel P. Doe receives a strange, unsigned, personal letter: Dear
Sammy,
You don't know me but I know you very well. I never had anything to give you so I
always had to stay in the background. But recently something wonderful happened to me.
Sammy, I was given the gift of prophecy. I get glimpses of the future. It is a religious
gift so I can't use it to benefit myself. But I can use it to benefit you. All I ask is that you
don't tell anyone about it.
Saturday night there is going to be a championship prizefight between Smith and
Jones. Sammy, I have seen the future. Smith is going to win. Bet whatever you can on
Smith and you will make yourself some money. That will make me very happy. (signed)
Someone Who Cares
CHAPTER 10 FIRST ZEN PRACTICE: THE 1:4:2 HEALING BREATH
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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