RangerActual AMA
1) Where have you just come from?
When it comes to the Zen tradition, I came mostly from reading books.
I started posting on this forum after reading (and re-reading) Huang Po's The Zen Teaching of Huang Po.
I try to understand Chinese Zen texts on their own terms. I try not to import later or unrelated religious, psychological, or philosophical frameworks onto them. I don't lie about what they say or what I think they say.
I'm not a teacher and I have no special attainment.
2) What's your textual tradition?
I am most familiar with The Zen Teachings of Huang Po.
I've also read The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-chi, Gateless Gate (or Wumen's Checkpoint), Instant Zen, The Recorded Sayings of Layman Pang, The Blue Cliff Record.
I also come here and read what people are writing and, especially, translating.
3) Dharma low tides?
Take responsibility. Read the book. Eat if you're hungry, go to sleep if you're tired.