Zen or Buddhist practitioners on WP?

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I don't have much respect for anything said by Chuck Norris, and I don't think he is right about that either. I am reminded of lines from the tao de ching, those who say do not know and those who know do not say. The difficulty is that language cannot be used to communicate direct experience. Also that our biology and our society (and to some extent even the grammatical structure of the language we think in) conditions us to perceive the world a certain way, but reality IS, and sometimes what is isn't really the way we think it is because of our thoughts twisting and distorting it.

What Zen teachers do is find what their students hold on to as bases for their reality, then they ruthlessly strip those away by revealing how hollow and false those bases are. Then the student will be left with nothing but what is. Whether or not the student realizes this is never certain. Some think you have to go through years, decades or according to some philosophies even lifetimes of study, prayer, meditation or other practices to achieve enlightenment. The beauty of Zen is that theoretically it can happen instantaneously. The joke is once one achieves it, one realizes it was there all along!

It is impossible to teach Zen and anyone who claims they can is a fraud. However, to learn more about it Alan Watts is a blast to listen to. Check out some of the videos on YouTube that feature Alan Watts talking about anything. He spoke on many subjects but is best known for educating western audiences about eastern philosophies including Zen. Some Zen practitioners say Alan Watts did not teach Zen; he taught Alan Watts. Still he is a blast to listen to!

yes, meditation is really really helpful when you get the hang of it. As a beginner, you might find workshops especially helpful. If the zen center is too far for you, have you looked up other options, like Shambala and Kadampa and more casual new agey ones? I probably tried about five teachers before I hit on one workshop that made absolute sense to me. That was just a temporary class, so now I'm checking out these temples near my house...

From my own experience, I feel that having guidance with my practice helps get me out of my own obsessions and presuppositions. Although books can be great, working with a teacher will help you bring your practice a step further and bring a lot more fullness into your practice.

You don't have to go every day or even every week for it to be helpful. If the zen center is so far away, you could consider going just occasionally on the dharma talk days for inspiration. I have a pretty turbulent home life, but after I went to the center the other day, I really have a different perspective on things. Maybe something about my energy or attitude has shifted because this week has had less conflict than usual, and I feel less in the old rut. But more importantly, I feel really content and inspired and humbled.

These days my favorite is U.G. Krishnamurti, he died a couple years ago. Really the best anti-guru I've ever read.

http://www.well.com/user/jct/

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I've been interested in Jainism recently. It's a fascinating religion but I don't think I can practice it. It's very strict and demands a lot of sacrifices and discipline.

Guys, I have found a zazen group about an hour from where I live. They have meetings twice a week where they meditate for an hour or two. When going to something like this, what would be etiquette that I should follow?

Here is a nice photo of a ceremony at the retreat center I went to.I'm somewhere in the crowd