Zen practitioner, looking around for some answers

[initiate]

Hello

I'm a zen practitioner, studying mahayana and vajrayana for some years now. Found this forum when I resolved investigating some martinism/martinesism content, and the WF lib archive just popped in DuckDuckGo search. Happy to share my findings when needed!

 

[Frater M.M.]

Welcome to the site! Nice mix of interests. What got you interested Martinism/Martinesism from a zen background (if it's not too personal)?

 

[initiate]

Thanks!

Well, I have no problem talking about it, asides my struggle using english as my second language.
My first studies started when I was a teenager, mostly western traditions from books like Caibalion, for example. Later on, I learned to meditate reading Franz Bardon and this is where my buddhist rabbit hole begins. Vajrayana (dzogchen practice) and Zen have some similarities, but Zen lacks the skillful ways to aid the preparation and visualization techniques. Reading this Vajrayana content, I connected some ideas between kundalini yoga and the stuff I found in my early study, most specifically Samael Aun Weor's book The Perfect Matrimony.

So, from this point, I had a very clear shortcut to ascetic traditions and some hints I found in Rectified Scotish Rite lead me here, researching about Pasqualy and Willermoz.

 

[Frater M.M.]

Very interesting. I had to look up some of this stuff but it seems quite a coherent evolving path. So the thread that ties it for you is transformation through inner work rather than finding a correct religion, more of a pragmatic path?

I liked Bardon (there are tonnes of great exercises) but I never had the will to follow through all of IIH, personally. I like Zen (Shunryu Suzuki style) but yes I never came across any visualisation techniques either.

 

[Swampdweller900]

Hello, and welcome.

It's more directly related to Zen, but the book "The Shamanic Bones of Zen" by Zenju Earthlyn Emmanuel is also worth a read if you haven't yet.

 

[Fausto]

Hello

I'm a zen practitioner, studying mahayana and vajrayana for some years now. Found this forum when I resolved investigating some martinism/martinesism content, and the WF lib archive just popped in DuckDuckGo search. Happy to share my findings when needed!

Who said this is my problem ??

 

[initiate]

Very interesting. I had to look up some of this stuff but it seems quite a coherent evolving path. So the thread that ties it for you is transformation through inner work rather than finding a correct religion, more of a pragmatic path?

I liked Bardon (there are tonnes of great exercises) but I never had the will to follow through all of IIH, personally. I like Zen (Shunryu Suzuki style) but yes I never came across any visualisation techniques either.

Exactly. But I do not exclude the possibility of following a pragmatic path, but I haven't found that click yet.
For the visualization thing, the whole Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's book Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep gives a good bunch of introductory exercises that may help bringing this type of awareness pretty efficiently.

Hello, and welcome.

It's more directly related to Zen, but the book "The Shamanic Bones of Zen" by Zenju Earthlyn Emmanuel is also worth a read if you haven't yet.

Thank you a lot. I'll definitely have a look on this.

Who said this is my problem ??

Sorry. I don't think I quite understood what you meant.

 

[Frater M.M.]

It's more directly related to Zen, but the book "The Shamanic Bones of Zen" by Zenju Earthlyn Emmanuel is also worth a read if you haven't yet.

Yeah, I haven't read this myself, but I've seen a lot of people in Zen/Daoist places recommend this in the past.

Exactly. But I do not exclude the possibility of following a pragmatic path, but I haven't found that click yet.

Yeah, I haven't found a single system/path I neatly fit into either. It's a hassle at times, but I guess the upside is that what I do is very relevant/customised to me.

For the visualization thing, the whole Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's book Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep gives a good bunch of introductory exercises that may help bringing this type of awareness pretty efficiently.

Interesting, I shall add it to the ever-growing books to read