Patients, Customers & Zen Students 

Whenever someone especially a student of any form of Asian arts or Asian cultivation systems speaks of their teacher as ”just a guy” or ”bro” who just does this ”cool stuff” like ”whatever man”, it means one thing and one thing only: you don’t have a clue about your teacher’s teaching 🤙🤙🤙

@@Babassecretchannel jesus...

@@Babassecretchannel well maybe shugendo isnt for you, you have to be in some kind of shape to get up those trails 😅

Place no head above your own, as they say - meaning, be careful not to blindly idealize teachers, and let your gut tell you if you think the teacher will be able to help you. The moment he doesnt, leave him.

🙏🏻

Somebody said it's like Americans are trying to recreate the church they grew up in.

It's an advanced psychology tho

@@fancee_shmancee Nope. Psychology is a science. Zen does not have theory, experiments, peer review, etc. A person comes to a teacher to learn how to address a problem. There's a lot of trust in that, and a teacher should try to honor that trust and act with the best interest of the student in mind. If a teacher thinks of their students as "patients" that's probably healthier than viewing them as annoying distraction from their own epic adventure. So Brad is being very wise in not accepting students.

@@kevindole1284 that's a pretty narrow view of what psychology is. You've defined it that way for convenience. Boring.

@@fancee_shmancee I tried to be precise in my definition so that people can understand what I'm talking about. It seems that you disagree with me, but at least you know where I am coming from. Take care.

Socrates made the same comparison about himself

On the other hand...Jesus said: "What father, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone?"

As a psychiatrist I have 0 incentive to keep you sick, what are you talking about... It's not like there will be a shortage of people with mental health issues anytime soon lol

⁠@@ErikDornes as a psychiatrist, you probably see about 20 patients a day and give each one a 15 minute “med check”. you might have 0 incentive to keep them sick, but keeping them on just the right level of meds to prevent side effects isn’t exactly helping them get well.

never mind @ErikDornes , you are a psychiatrist in Europe. It’s probably different there. In the USA psychiatrists are just legal drug pushers with an expensive education.

Perfect

Read up on Marsha Linehan, a person with diagnosed borderline disorder, and how her practice of Zen inspired her to create one of the first "3rd gen" cognitive therapies - Dialectic Based Therapy (DBT). The kind of radical acceptance and personal responsability advocated by Zen can be tremendously helpful for people with personality disorders imho

I too remember Tim McCarthy.

They ask for donations because that's how they make their living. In my case, I don't make enough money from book sales, so I do this RU-vid channel. On the channel I provide entertainment. You don't have to watch commercials to see my videos like you do when you watch TV shows or most other RU-vid videos. Nor do you pay a subscription fee like you do to watch Netflix, Hulu, etc. I am asking people to donate to continue the entertainment. Like a street performer with a bucket in front of him. If you donate, you could think of yourself as a customer of the entertainment I provide, if you want. If you donate to a Zen center, you're helping pay for their rent, utilities, and sometimes a salary for the people who work there. There is no problem asking for or accepting donations, or giving donations. The problems happen when Zen centers treat students as if they were customers of a business. For example, when they alter the teachings or practice in order to bring in more customers. Or when they give in to the demands of high paying donors. I don't mean just giving high paying donors a plaque on the wall or something like that (which is fine). But, for example, when SFZC removed one of their founding teachers (Ed Brown) because he said something completely innocuous that SFZC felt might scare off donors (he told people they could use whatever restroom they wanted -- how that was offensive is beyond my comprehension), that was a problem.

@@HardcoreZen I see, thanks for your detailed reply. The funny thing is that watching these RU-vid Videos is some kind of entertainment to me though Zen is a very serious matter in my life. In some way this can be confusing. I am thankful to people sharing their insights and I also see the necessity for some of them asking for some dollars!

Sorry about that! I'm not a fan of trying to live up to other people's ideas of what my ideals should be.

@@HardcoreZen Ultimately, you know what is best for you, of course. I'm suggesting what may potentially be a hindrance on your path, based on the wisdom of our Zen teachers.

Is it possible to practise zazen daily if there has never been some passion and glimpses of exotic jewels?

@@macdougdoug Yes. It is there a better model to accomplish zen trading these days? Is a student teacher relationship unnecessary optional? I was asking that question

Oops an auto correct Freudian slip

@@gabriellucero3540 So much stuff needs to come together that you meditating everyday is kind of a miracle. We need to learn that freedom from the self is even a concept, we need to grok the most helpful teachings at the right moment, we need to give a shit. Getting to know a sane, liberated person on the path is rare (like yeti) and encouraging. Most gurus go mad if they weren't already (they start believing in their own authority) - and the guru student relationship is both a trap and maybe helpful - Gurus are also helpful in being able to let go of the jewel if you ever find it.

What about treating students as students. Isnt that also paternalistic to an extent

​@@garad123456 I think there's a different power dynamic. A student wants to learn while a patient is looking to the Zen master to fix him.

nah

Metta is a Pali word from the earliest source texts of Buddhism....what you call Hinayana. Japanese Zen breaks all kinds of basics.

@@Teller3448 nope. Pali Buddhism is not and never been so called hina-yāna. Hina means defected, inferior. The basis of hina-yāna is selfishness. Like "I don't care about other people, I care about my life only". I don't mean Brad is probably a hinayanist, but he is going on the edge.

@@wladddkn1517 "Pali Buddhism is not and never been so called hina-yāna." The Pali texts are called Hinayana by the Mahayana schools....not by the followers of those texts themselves. And the Pali texts are stuffed to the rafters with wall-to-wall METTA. I could post direct quotations about it til my fingers fall off.

He found a way to make some money and pursue his hobby full time. He has very little interest in actually helping you. There are plenty of real monks out there to help you. Just look around.

You’re welcome to not listen or read what you’re not interested in. You’re not a customer. This is the whole point of this video. 😂

@@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324 wow. talk about nail/head/hammer - nicely observed. Perhaps @lesliechason was modeling the point too - perhaps double irony.