ZENish - On Embracing Two Dharma Names

ONE BESTOWED, ONE ADOPTED

Regarding my Buddhist practice, I find it increasingly difficult to label it as aligned with any single tradition or school. Having been raised in the deep south (thank you, Dad, for moving us to California in 1970 💙) within a conservative Protestant denomination (LOL…, twice, I just typed demonization… 😆), I am no stranger to dogmatic thinking and enforced rule-following.

When I discovered Buddhism (about a decade after leaving the tribe) and started devouring dharma books from across its spectrum of traditions, I was drawn primarily to the Zen schools, Soto Zen specifically, perhaps due to its Japanese aesthetic, which appealed to my minimalist preferences. I also think it’s because I was deeply impacted by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind; it knocked me over from an intellectual and spiritual perspective. It was also because the books that impacted me most in those first few years were written by Zen practitioners, especially from the Soto Zen school.