Looks like he didn't learn anything at the zen monastery then...

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Response to the koan/Cohen pun, I guess...

Sorry?...........I'm trying to find the relevance of 'not learning anything at the monastery'. Is this besides learning that people cannot be trusted, or does it refer to some higher learning experience which would have protected him from a money grabbing leech. He is a genuine man - he doesn't deserve this shit.

It's the money grabbing thing; truly enlightened...

Morningstar, I don't see where the greed is in suing someone for stealing millions from your savings account. It's stealing, for pete's sake. Just because he's ordained as a Buddhist, he should let people steal from him?

"Living in the world yet not forming attachments to the dust of the world is the way of a true Zen student."
- Zengetsu, a Chinese Zen master of the T'ang dynasty

I think Morningstar just was pointing out the irony of a follower of a philosophy that discourages attachment to material possessions suing someone for stealing said possessions.



If he's a Zen buddhist then I'd say yes. This koan is quite an interesting example.

Of course, if I were in Leonard Cohen's position and not a Zen master, I'd sue for every penny I could get back; hence why I'm not a Zen master.

- trag

I'm not doubting the guy's contirbution to music, or his perfectly reasonable legal response to being robbed, just as trag ellucidates clearly: zen teachings forgo the attachment to worldly goods. If anything, his manager was helping him achieve nirvana...

OK it was a stupid observation on many levels: I just hate marketing ploys whereby they try to make their subject seem deeper or more interesting by plugging their "alternative" religions. I'm sure Leonard would agree that in this case, it backfired for anyone who knows anything about the religion in question in a wryly amusing way...

Doubtless the good man himself is not responsible for this publicity: his record label PR team need a slap.

I wouldn't simply assume that any given celebrity who joins a nontraditional religion (by Western standards) is simply doing it for the attention. I think that it's simply a part of human nature to want a sense of significance and meaning, like our individual lives counted for something, which is part of the whole process of self-discovery. A lot of the celebrities I see who join these religions seem like they're simply looking for meaning in their lives through an alternative form of spirituality, being the typically more liberally-minded folks that they are. There certainly are probably a few people who have done this with their careers more in mind than their personal lives, but I tend to think they're few and far between. Unless the individual in question already has a reputation for attention-whoring, I try to avoid judging his or her intent.

As for Leonard Cohen, I really am in no position to speak on his behalf, especially knowing so little of the whole situation and circumstances. If he really is personally sincere about the pursuit of Buddhism, then his actions certainly are incongruent with some of the core doctrines of Buddhism. If he is pursuing Buddhism for the sake of an attention-starved career, then his actions shouldn't come as any surprise and, well, shame on him for using Buddhism in such a way in the first place. Then again, I don't think any situation like this can just be reduced to a simple either/or dilemma. Perhaps he was just trying to help his manager detach herself from worldly desires? (: