This is the answer to BlindRob

* * * This blog was originally posted on a site which has been talking about whether Zenist should be

allowed to use cushion or chair for their meditation practice.

And this one was intended to be the response to BlindRob who asked me the sitting situation among

the Japanese young people today.

Hi Rob

The situation in Japan is what you guessed it. Now a day, to have Tatami mat room is only kept by rich people,

as its labour intensive product became too expensive and the dwindling number of the craftsman who makes it.

In the same time, the westernization of the culture and life style made even the body shape changed.

In the old days Japanese had bent shoter legs.

(which is good for Judo and Sumo—–incidentally it is one of the reason why Japanese lost its dominance)

When young people happen to attend such as Tea ceremony or even funeral, they can not sit in traditional way

more than 15 minutes —- let alone lotus posture.

When Master Dogen started his Soto sect, he was a young man of only late 30 th. I don’t think he could foresee

what would happen in the later age.

In Japan a doll called “Daluma” is very popular.

It is a round egg-shaped doll without leg and painted in red. It is the effigy of the BodiDahrma.

The legend says, he kept sitting facing the wall for 9 years and got enlightened (with the price of legs )

——-M M M ? ? ?

I rather like to remain a man with legs, walking around meeting the people

and live as an ordinary folk like Vimalakirti.

——- When I submitted this, it was blocked and disappeared. I found the script in the server’s memory

as a previous page. And when I re-submitted it again the screen showed a notice;

“Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that !”

It signify that they received it and has been filed,though they do not publish it, in another word “Censorship”

——Yet here in my site, this is the answer to Rob.