Hi Kakuzen,

I'm so glad you came over there! I was thinking about how much they could use you over there, as your postings over here are very informative, but I wasn't sure if your interests were in primarily Japanese Buddhism. I hope you'll continue to post in both places. Actually, I found that place through this site. It was listed on the Japan Reference home page. I had been reluctant to post much over here, because I wasn't sure if some things fell within the category of "Japanese" Buddhism. However, it doesn't seem to be a problem under the Zen category, so maybe that's not as big of a problem as I thought.

Thanks for the explanation regarding priests, monks, and lamas. I figured priests and monks were the same, but I wasn't quite sure about lamas.

I thought your response to Maciamo's question was the most informative, especially over at that site. As you discovered, there are a lot of differing views over there! They all disagree with each other all the time, but that's what makes the discussions so interesting. In fact, I think I ticked off a lama recently. There was a topic called "Do you believe in reincarnation?" I answered yes (even though maybe rebirth is the correct term) and then gave several examples, as others had. Well, it evidently pushed his buttons and he immediately objected to everything I wrote, basically accusing me of making it all up. I realize it's not exactly an accepted belief, but this is an area I have researched for many years and feel quite comfortable with. Thankfully, I also know enough about Buddhism to be "non-attached" about it and to know that he was merely disagreeing with my opinions (something I possess) and not with me. I disagree with what he wrote, and he disagreed with what I wrote. My attitude is, So what?! Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, for what it's worth.

Anyway, like I said, I hope you'll keep posting over there. And thanks again for your response!

Satori