Originally posted by EarthDragon
[B]All excellent replies,
The reason I asked is that one of my former students opened a school and although she is jewish she is using a buddhist temple for backing. She has a life size statue in the front window and from the outside it looks more like a place of worship than a place to train. This puzzels me and I am trying to understand her intentions and motive. So I thought I would bring this up to the many knowledgable friends I have on this forum.
I am still under the impression she is using religion to market her school to make up for the incompleteness of her training. She had only trained with me a short time and never ranked and higher than middle road beginner, then went on to learn a little here and a little there. She weighs 112 lbs and teaches wrestling to male adults but does not get on the mat???
It is called “co-opting” and this is practiced by ignorant dirtbags on a daily basis.
If I was a buddhist, which I’m not because I refuse to subscribe to any particular group other than “human being” I would be deeply offended by your friends attempts to use imagery sacred to one groupd to make money and sell a service.
that’s just my opinion, along with the opinion that your friend is a di.ck
You are right, religious Daoism and Buddhism do not require MA learning.
I was refering to the old days. The Daoists on Wu Dang Shan and the monks in Shaolin temple, they studied MA. Again not every body was required. In fact, if your mindset or heart is not ready, you are forbidden to study MA. Even if you did learn and later you did something wrong, The Discipline Yuan (Jie Liu Yuan) will punish you with hard labor and staff hitting, to the point of to “destroy” your Wushu and kicking you out of the temple.
Taichibob: good post.
The separation of state and the church.
However, the teacher has some responsiblity of the moral understanding of the students. although not enforcing a religion, it would be nice to have a certain code of ethics (Wu De).
I like the idea of declaring the religion of the teacher on the walls.
I’m me and I’m not the one putting buddha in teh window to sell buddha cookies and BS.
For me, I can only walk the world and kick away at what bugs me with no remorse for my actions. Remorse is hindsight afterall, if you didn’t mean to do it, then you wouldn’t have done it in teh first place.
Circular logic is bullsh.it, I avoid it in matters that have meaning.
yer @ss is starting to look like a belgian waffle dude. better get one of those feral hillbilly kids to pry you out of that hammock soon. lord knows you might squish yer two-four of twinkies if ya gotta do it yerself. hyuk yuk.
I love how you enter any thread i’m in to fling some more of your particular brand of nonsense.
I feel like I have a fan… who enjoys being beaten.
actually, if you’ll notice (it goes back to that whole paying attention thing again) I posted in this thread before you, so wouldn’t that be you following me around?
And just because you don’t pay attention and apparently need a reminder, I have vowed to fight your special kind of stupidity, remember? My holy war against the dumb that is Kung Lek.
Kung Lek,
I never said “my friend” actually it is an old student who quit 8 step after just 9 months, studied some where else for 9 more , then opened thier own school.
Also he is a she and when I heard that she was teaching 8 step without my permission I told her to not advertise 8 step because she wasnt qualified to teach, so she changed and advertised 7* without having learned 7* mind you , so NO she is not a friend but rather a throrn in my side, and becuse of her lack of knowledge, I feel she is compensating with buddhism to come across as tradtional. I even read a post from her student that quoted her as “very tradtional” which to me seems extremly far from the truth
I haven’t read the whole thread yet, but to drop my two copper coins, religion shouldn’t be forced on a student. That’s why we have churches, temples, etc. I being christian do not want bhuddism forced on me. I’m all for learning about other things, but I can read up on it in my spare time.
SPJ:
I think (IMHO) that the study of fighting systems should not be referred to as an Art untill several concepts/disciplines are introduced, not the least of which is “Ethics”..
Kung Lek:
Circular logic is bullsh.it, I avoid it in matters that have meaning.
.. Please explain, it seems that “circular logic” is applicable to your position on this matter of .. it’s okay to offend others if they have offended someone else.. or, “if you didn’t mean to do it, then you wouldn’t have done it in teh first place”.. you kind of overlook innocent ignorance.. IMHO kindly educating someone to the nuances of cultural etiquette would have a more lasting and more beneficial effect than harsh words and character bashing.. anyway, i am only hoping to see this issue from a different perspective, i don’t normally “kick the things that bug me”, i try to see if i can find a common ground or help change a situation that could avoid even more misunderstandings..
which one of the idiots are you representing with the new handle now?
can you be more transparent possibly?
lamo.
ED, i realize you were refering to a she, you stated it early on in the thread.
I think it is cheap and dirtbaggish to do such a thing and that’s where I stand. Let it go and don’t endorse her at all. if people come asking in regards to lineage, then respond exactly as you have responded here.
Bob-
the zen way is to “just be” there is no evil, there is no good, things just are and we can point em out however we like. How you think about me makes no difference anymore than anyone else.
I will continue to think and do as I am compelled by the forces of the universe that spark to move this flesh and bone around.
‘Most’ monks/priests/whatever were not fightin’ machines in the ‘old days’ either.
Agreed.
Earth Dragon:
That is tough. A “runaway” student. Being a teacher, you somehow have to guide her in the right path. Because whatever your student said or did does reflect on you.
If people ask for her reference, you may say yes she was once your student, however, she still has a long way to go for her study.
To teach a student to study MA is tough. To teach a student to be a righteous person is even tougher. In the end, she is still your student. In other words, your teaching is not finished yet. however, it is up to her if she wants to continue her learning or not. Otherwise, you may only give her partial credit for her incomplete study.
the zen way is to “just be” there is no evil, there is no good, things just are and we can point em out however we like.
I tend to agree, largely, with the above quote, except.. “however we like”.. although there is no good/evil, there are consequences.. good/evil are merely labels of desirability, consequences, however, may cause others to stumble or be misled on their journey.. to use antagonistic or harsh language could cause more harmful consequences than the self-gratifying benefit gained by the individual choosing to engage in such dialogue..
My personal philosophy, and that which i include in my teaching philosophy is, “do no harm”, except in the defense of self and others..
I will continue to think and do as I am compelled by the forces of the universe that spark to move this flesh and bone around.
Although the “forces of the Universe” may provide the energy and raw material for the “flesh and bone”, choice and deed are the signatures of your individual consciousness.. what you “continue to think and do” is how you choose to define yourself in the eyes of others.. I thank the universe for the oportunity to use this Body and Mind, but.. i take full responsibility for the actions and deeds as directed by my consciousness (spirit, for those inclined to see past the confines of logical structure)..
I’ve seen a few different contextualizations of Wu Wei, but “kick away what bugs you” is a new one. Now that I think about it though, I may remember something like that in the Surangama Sutra: ‘Meditation on the Faculty of Arbitrary Hostility.’ Yeah; sounds reasonable.
SPJ,
very insightful, I sometimes need to remember that being a teacher is a life long responsibility. I tend to not put effort into my runaway students as you called them. I do put 100% attention on my active students. I have taught 100’s over the years so I think I almost have to cut them loose. I do respect your post though in a special way. thank You ED
On the flip side,
We receive numerous letters and emails every year from people wanting us to teach them to “enter the Buddha.” We had a guy in military prison at Ft. Sill asking to become a disciple and learn the path to enlightenment. We do not, in any way shape or form, advertise or teach anything Buddhist in association with the school.
In America, people are begging for something to believe in. Some people are willing to give it to them, for a buck or two.
