If you live in Thailand for a while you start to think about Buddhism. It has a lot of attractions. With the right mental acrobatics it's possible to integrate spiritual practice into one's life without giving up things like beer and sex. To demonstrate their commitment some expats cover themselves with sacred tattoos and Buddha amulets. Others find the discipline required a bit restrictive so they become what is known as Bar Buddhists. I used to get a few of those in my bar in Pattaya.
This angry looking gentleman is Lin Chi Yixuan. Actually it isn't. It's a pixellated version of some long dead artist's idea of what Lin Chi's physical form looked like at a certain moment in time. But never mind that. Why was Lin Chi so angry you ask? He was angry because he had discovered the meaning of life and frankly it wasn't what he had been hoping for. That didn't stop him treating novice monks like shit in order to bring them to the same state of enlightenment. He would say things like...
"Followers of the Way [of Zen], if you want to get the kind of understanding that accords with the Dharma, never be misled by others. Whether you're facing inward or facing outward, whatever you meet up with, just kill it! If you meet a buddha, kill the buddha. If you meet a patriarch, kill the patriarch. If you meet an arhat, kill the arhat. If you meet your parents, kill your parents. If you meet your kinfolk, kill your kinfolk. Then for the first time you will gain emancipation, will not be entangled with things, will pass freely anywhere you wish to go."
Strong stuff. He was a great believer in discomfort was old Lin. If he was really pissed off he might strike you with his fly-whisk. Come to think of it he ran his establishment rather like an English public school. Cold baths and rough games. We need more of that kind of thing on Facebook. Builds character.
I don't think Lin would have approved of the version of Zen as practiced in my bar. Cheers.
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