Re: OT: zen for beginners

[Jeff Shirkey <jcshirke@verizon.net>]

On Nov 24, 2009, at 5:45 PM, Qua Veda wrote:

How about the Tao Te Ching?     I believe those are essentially Zen principles, in a very consumable , short book.

To say that the Daodejing is a Zen book, is a big, big stretch. I suppose you could argue that some of its principles may be Zen-like (anachronistically). But that begs the question(s): 1) What in the world is the Daodejing saying--which is by no means clear, and it is probably saying several different things at once. And, 2) What are "Zen principles" anyway?

Problem #3: Most translations of the DDJ are utter crap. Choose wisely. Check the press. Check the credentials of the translator.

Jeff