"Here there is no talk of the world's affairs - those matters that make wild the hearts of men." Chia Tao (779-843); trans. Mike O'Connor

Saturday, May 7, 2011

My Zen View and Haiku - Should Teachers Advertise Their Faith? - May 7, 2011

The Kingston Trio parodied a cowboy ballad by singing: “You can see by my outfit that I am a cowboy. See by their outfits they are cowboys too. You can see by our outfits that we are all cowboys. Get yourself an outfit and be a cowboy too.” Although the humorous ending always brought laughs, it is a quite human desire to advertise one’s beliefs. But it should be appropriate to the circumstances.

A Zen monk will wear the robes of his order and if you attend a Buddhist teaching, you would expect the appropriate clothing. However, if an on-duty police officer showed up to your accident in a monk’s robe, one could say the clothing was inappropriate for the secular duties. In like manner, a secular teacher should dress neutrally and leave the adornments for later.

A flower just is.
No special symbols needed.
When teaching, just teach.

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