Quietism is the attitude of people who say: “Others can do what I cannot do.” The doctrine I am presenting to you is precisely the opposite of #quietism, since it declares that reality exists only in #action.

Jean-Paul Sartre in Existentialism is a Humanism

Tinderbox, by Avi C Engel from the album FC8 - Mote

a threadbare dream
sings inside a seed
wounded
one-eyed
melody

fennycompton.bandcamp.com/track/tinder...

#newmusic #chambermusic #strings #weirdfolk #cosmic #psychfolk #surrealism #botany #existential #quietism #chamberpunk

Standing Up Injustice is our responsibility.

Standing Up

Injustice is our responsibility.

rustyring.blogspot.com/2025/06/stan...

#antinomianism, #Buddhism, #Christianity, #dharma, #hermitpractice, #Quaker, #quietism, #Rinzai, #sangha, #Zen

Standing Up Some months ago I had a refreshing conversation on Zen ethics with a fellow hermit on Mastodon. We're equally sceptical of quietism – the religious posture by which forms are judged sufficient to practice and action anathema – and our discussion helped me clarify some of my own thoughts on a matter that's critically pressing. The quietist temptation pervades contemplative religions: this notion that real Zenners sit serenely with a satisfied smirk on their faces while injustice gallops unchallenged and others suffer. It's easy to mistake that for dharma. Quietism is the opposite of theological activism: the idea that true practice means doing good outside in the Red Dust World. Western Zenners most commonly encounter its ad absurdum form in those Christians who are called to sing, exhort, and engage in public "praise" (an archaic word for advertising) by way of filibustering hesitant believers and driving converts to the fold, where they too will presumably join in such questionable practice. We non-Christians and former Christians tend to lean hard on this demographic when the topic of activism comes up, since this sort of exercise is easily criticised. But let us note also the Christians who care for the poor and imprisoned; assist the stranger and the foreigner; educate the illiterate; raise the downtrodden; and actively enhance the levels of hope and opportunity in their community. A rare few publicly oppose deliberate evil, often at significant personal risk, while others – Quakers, for example – go so far as to confront passive evil. While a minuscule fraction of the whole, these last still trounce the percentage of Buddhists doing it. Which brings me back to the exchange with my brother. We began on common ground, agreeing that the popular Zen position that practice excuses us from protest is erroneous. That, said I, is an illogical conclusion; ethical people act, and as I've written before, if practice doesn't result in an ethical person, there's no need of it. (I, for example, am already a fully-transmitted self-absorbed jackass. No need for cushions, candles, or things that go ding.) In the end, my brother summed up this entire meditation in words he'd come to several years ago: > "If you don't sometimes sit down and shut up, you'll never be enlightened. > > "If you don't sometimes stand up and shout, there's no reason to be enlightened." He also offered an alternative phrasing (another translation, what) that I call "the Rinzai version": > "If you never get your ass on the cushion, you can never become enlightened. > > "If you never get your ass off the cushion, there is no point to becoming enlightened." Regular readers will comprehend which of these I'm most given to. _(Photograph of police arresting a Buddhist sitting lotus during theClayoquot Sound protests courtesy of Aldo de Moor and Wikimedia Commons.)_

Standing Up

Injustice is our responsibility.

https://rustyring.blogspot.com/2025/06/standing-up.html

#antinomianism, #Buddhism, #Christianity, #dharma, #hermitpractice, #Quaker, #quietism, #Rinzai, #sangha, #Zen

Standing Up Injustice is our responsibility.

Standing Up

Injustice is our responsibility.

rustyring.blogspot.com/2025/06/stan...

#antinomianism, #Buddhism, #Christianity, #dharma, #hermitpractice, #Quaker, #quietism, #Rinzai, #sangha, #Zen

Standing Up Some months ago I had a refreshing conversation on Zen ethics with a fellow hermit on Mastodon. We're equally sceptical of quietism – the religious posture by which forms are judged sufficient to practice and action anathema – and our discussion helped me clarify some of my own thoughts on a matter that's critically pressing. The quietist temptation pervades contemplative religions: this notion that real Zenners sit serenely with a satisfied smirk on their faces while injustice gallops unchallenged and others suffer. It's easy to mistake that for dharma. Quietism is the opposite of theological activism: the idea that true practice means doing good outside in the Red Dust World. Western Zenners most commonly encounter its ad absurdum form in those Christians who are called to sing, exhort, and engage in public "praise" (an archaic word for advertising) by way of filibustering hesitant believers and driving converts to the fold, where they too will presumably join in such questionable practice. We non-Christians and former Christians tend to lean hard on this demographic when the topic of activism comes up, since this sort of exercise is easily criticised. But let us note also the Christians who care for the poor and imprisoned; assist the stranger and the foreigner; educate the illiterate; raise the downtrodden; and actively enhance the levels of hope and opportunity in their community. A rare few publicly oppose deliberate evil, often at significant personal risk, while others – Quakers, for example – go so far as to confront passive evil. While a minuscule fraction of the whole, these last still trounce the percentage of Buddhists doing it. Which brings me back to the exchange with my brother. We began on common ground, agreeing that the popular Zen position that practice excuses us from protest is erroneous. That, said I, is an illogical conclusion; ethical people act, and as I've written before, if practice doesn't result in an ethical person, there's no need of it. (I, for example, am already a fully-transmitted self-absorbed jackass. No need for cushions, candles, or things that go ding.) In the end, my brother summed up this entire meditation in words he'd come to several years ago: > "If you don't sometimes sit down and shut up, you'll never be enlightened. > > "If you don't sometimes stand up and shout, there's no reason to be enlightened." He also offered an alternative phrasing (another translation, what) that I call "the Rinzai version": > "If you never get your ass on the cushion, you can never become enlightened. > > "If you never get your ass off the cushion, there is no point to becoming enlightened." Regular readers will comprehend which of these I'm most given to. _(Photograph of police arresting a Buddhist sitting lotus during theClayoquot Sound protests courtesy of Aldo de Moor and Wikimedia Commons.)_

Standing Up

Injustice is our responsibility.

https://rustyring.blogspot.com/2025/06/standing-up.html

#antinomianism, #Buddhism, #Christianity, #dharma, #hermitpractice, #Quaker, #quietism, #Rinzai, #sangha, #Zen

Momus / Quietism  - Atonal Webzine sobre música y otras disciplinas relacionadas.

En Quietism, Momus firma un disco sobrio y elegante que esconde bajo su superficie minimalista una crítica feroz. Letras punzantes, humor viperino y referencias cultas en uno de sus trabajos más incisivos.

atonal.net/momus-quieti...

#Momus #Quietism

A political cartoon featuring Trump sawing through a tree branch that he and other leaders are sitting on

“You’re living on the frail branch that he is sawing through.” -Momus ‘Orange Pills’ #Quietism @momuspda.bsky.social

The cheeky, deliciously devilish Momus is back! #Quietism