{"id":39,"date":"2011-06-07T14:07:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T14:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/39\/"},"modified":"2011-06-07T14:07:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T14:07:00","slug":"39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/39.html","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Bower, bowed too<\/span><\/div>\n
Their nature, no nature<\/span><\/div>\n
This body, other bodies, not two<\/span><\/div>\n
Plunge into the inexhaustible realm<\/span><\/div>\n
Live the life of vow<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That\u2019s the bowing gatha. This version might be Reb Anderson\u2019s translation that I memorized years ago. Or it could be Roshi\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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Living true nature is expressed in the bow. \u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
This comes to mind today because Richard (thanks!) brought \u201cIn Search of True Self\u201d<\/a> by Joshua Knobe (NY Times) to my attention.\u00a0 It looks at this fundamental issue in Zen practice from the perspective of modern science.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cTrue nature\u201d is key in Zen and how we take it up reflects our tendency to maul the dharma<\/a> and bring it into our preconceptions rather than open our hearts to what the dharma is. We maul \u201ctrue nature\u201d when we make into a thing.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Knobe points out that in our culture there are two basic make-it-into-something perspectives. What is true nature?<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
If we look to the philosophical tradition, we find a relatively straightforward answer to this question.\u00a0 This answer, endorsed <\/span><\/span><\/i>by numerous different philosophers in different ways, says that what is most distinctive and essential to a human being is the capacity for rational reflection. <\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
For most people, though, <\/span>it is just the opposite:<\/span>
<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
The true self \u2026 lies precisely in our suppressed urges and unacknowledged emotions, while our ability to reflect is just a hindrance that gets in the way of this true self\u2019s expression.\u00a0 To find a moment when a person\u2019s true self comes out, they think, one needs to look at the times when people are so drunk or overcome by passion that they are unable to suppress what is deep within them.<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/i>Knobe and his colleagues did some research on this question. Their tentative conclusion is this:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
People\u2019s ordinary understanding of the true self appears to involve a kind of value judgment, a judgment about what sorts of lives are really worth living.<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That suggests that what is usually considered \u201ctrue\u201d nature, is indeed conditional, not the essential self, and what might be called the false self.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What is true nature?<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>
<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
This room is so hot and stuffy now that I can\u2019t think about this anymore. <\/span>
<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bower, bowed too Their nature, no nature This body, other bodies, not two Plunge into the inexhaustible realm Live the life of vow That\u2019s the bowing gatha. This version might be Reb Anderson\u2019s translation that I memorized years ago. Or it could be Roshi\u2019s.\u00a0 Living true nature is expressed in the bow. \u00a0 This comes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWild Fox Zen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bower, bowed tooTheir nature, no natureThis body, other bodies, not twoPlunge into the inexhaustible realmLive the life of vowThat's the bowing gatha.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/39.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bower, bowed tooTheir nature, no natureThis body, other bodies, not twoPlunge into the inexhaustible realmLive the life of vowThat's the bowing gatha.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/39.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Fox Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-07T14:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-BF3fEC40QIQ\/Te5wicRGKnI\/AAAAAAAABcU\/nUy1AsA4yyo\/s200\/True-Nature.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/39.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/39.html\",\"name\":\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-07T14:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-06-07T14:07:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\"},\"description\":\"Bower, bowed tooTheir nature, no natureThis body, other bodies, not twoPlunge into the inexhaustible realmLive the life of vowThat's the bowing gatha.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/39.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Fox Zen\",\"description\":\"Living the Dream\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\",\"name\":\"Dosho Port\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dosho Port\"},\"description\":\"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. 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