OT: Zen Question

[Ryan]

A teacher of mine (also a Vietnam war vet) has a strange attachment to the number seventeen. He never tells us when we ask him what it means, he's a joker, so we figured it was just a joke to him.

However, we asked our chem. teacher what it means, and he said "The number 17 is the number of Zen." My friend said it is kind of odd that he'd have this, because this teacher's a known Catholic. Our Chem. teacher said it took him years to understand what it was (he's a Christian, too) and he said that it has nothing to do with Eastern Philosophy (???). I found myself begging him to tell me what it meant, he refused and said he can't. He told me to meditate about it, etc.

Of course, I don't expect to find the meaning of this over the internet, but is there really a connection between Zen and the number 17, or is my teacher just playing a weird joke on us? Also, would it be wrong (from a Christian standpoint) to meditate to find the answer?

[David Jamieson]

Psalm 39

2
But when I was silent and still,
not even saying anything good,
my anguish increased.
3
My heart grew hot within me,
and as I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:

4
"Show me, O Lord , my life's end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting is my life.

17 is also a prime number.

peace

[Nexus]

Also, would it be wrong (from a Christian standpoint) to meditate to find the answer?

Meditation and prayer at their basic form are the same. So No.

Also, people meditate all the time without calling it meditation. An example would be if you are asked to solve a problem and you look inward for the answer, that is introspection, a type of meditation. Your perspective is introverted or turned inward.

Remember that a person brings the intent into the prayer or meditation. A person could pray for someone to die, or pray for healing. The prayer itself or the meditation itself is not the problem, as you can see from this example.

As for the number 17, it holds all the significance that you give to it.

[Serpent]

Originally posted by Ryan
Of course, I don't expect to find the meaning of this over the internet, but is there really a connection between Zen and the number 17, or is my teacher just playing a weird joke on us?

That in itself is probably as close to an answer as you're going to get from the outside.