World Religions, Wednesday, 2nd Period [10/11]

[preacher-custer.livejournal.com]

Another night making friends with Mr. Miller and Mr. Daniels has left Jesse a bit less than exuberant this morning. He's standing by an open window when the first student enters and might possibly have flicked a cigarette away like a guy caught smoking in the boys room.

The handouts are waiting with the sign-in sheet and Jesse starts up as soon as everyone has taken a seat.

"When you think about religions, you probably think about a god or gods. Thing is, we've talked about more than one religion in this class that doesn't have that. Buddhism¹ is another one. Buddha's not a god, he's an enlightened person. Anyone has the potential to be a Buddha, if they just wake up and see existence for what it really is. You could argue that Jesus was a Buddha. And Mohammed.

"Siddhartha Gautama² is the guy most folks are probably thinking of when they say 'Buddha.' He's a Buddha, but he's also the Buddha, since he's the guy behind the religion we currently call Buddhism."

"Buddha said, 'I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering.'

"Unlike religions that want you to go strictly on faith, Buddhist teaching encourages individuals to practice and verify the Buddha's teachings based on their own personal experience, and also after consulting with 'the wise'. If they find the teachings are true - leading to more happiness and less suffering - they can apply these teachings in a practical form into their daily life if they so wish. There's no hellfire and brimstone in the teaching and no insistence that there's only one way to get from here to there."

Jesse then goes on to discuss the various sects and approaches within Buddhism, concluding with Zen Buddhism³.

"Today I want y'all to have a look at koans⁴. Get together with a partner and either talk about one of the example koans. Or, and I'll give extra credit to anyone who does this, come up with a koan of your own."

---

Handout links:
¹Buddhism at Wiki
²Gautama Buddha
³Zen Buddhism
⁴Koans


Syllabus

[ooc: My thanks to wikipedia for the parts I cribbed verbatim.]

Comments

Koans

[preacher-custer.livejournal.com]

Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand?

What is the sound of two students discussing and possibly creating koans? Let's find out.

Re: Koans

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia looked over the koans and thought about how it must be nice to have enough time on your hands to sit around and think about these things.

Re: Koans

[sogothcally.livejournal.com]

Cally sat down across from Nadia.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Re: Koans

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia looked up and nodded slowly. "Thanks. I'm sorry, too."

Re: Koans

[sogothcally.livejournal.com]

"Things got a little out of hand," Cally said. "But hey, we should probably be doin' the assignment, right?"

Re: Koans

[nadiathesaint]

"Yeah. Probably. Any koans stick out to you?"

Re: Koans

[sogothcally.livejournal.com]

"Mostly? These just look like gibberish," Cally said.

Re: Koans

[enginegirl.livejournal.com]

Kaylee sat down and waited for someone to pair up with.

Re: Koans

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Hi Kaylee."

Re: Koans

[enginegirl.livejournal.com]

"Hi Gwynn!" Kaylee greeted cheerfully. "How you been?"

Re: Koans

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Confused mostly," Gwynn admitted with a grin. "Need a partner?"

Re: Koans

[enginegirl.livejournal.com]

"I get confused sometimes, too," Kaylee said. "Yeah, I need a partner."

Re: Koans

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

Gwynn took a seat. "I hid in my room all weekend because I thought I was in danger of committing an act of treason against my king."

Re: Koans

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad looked unusually apathetic about finding a partner today.

Re: Koans

[swerval_zero]

"Not enthusiastic about koans?" Zero asked Chad.

Re: Koans

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad shook his head a little. "Life's too puzzling on its own to complicate it with stuff like this."

Re: Koans

[swerval_zero]

"That's kinda deep," Zero said. "We could prolly make it into a koan."

Re: Koans

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Deep? Chad didn't exactly feel that was paritcularly profound, but he was glad Zero felt that perhaps it was. "You think so?"


[[sorry; had work ]]

Re: Koans

[swerval_zero]

Zero nodded. "Sure. We just hafta phrase it right."

((Grr, I just got this. *kicks comment notification inna head*))

Re: Koans

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy tapped his pen idly on his note book as he pondered koans.

Re: Koans

[stykera]

"What do you think about these?" Stark asked.

Re: Koans

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

"I don't know if I ever really understood them, but they can be helpfull in clearing your mind for meditation."

Re: Koans

[stykera]

"You've heard of them before? Do you have one you know you'd like to talk about?"

Re: Koans

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

"Well the sound of one hand clapping is a common one." Billy said. "One of my teachers was fond of Why is a Christmas Tree."

Re: Koans

[stykera]

"Why is a Christmas tree?" Stark echoed. "I think I like the one hand clapping one."