Jadespear

Not really missing any differences no... sorry you have to take it all so literal, as if metaphysics is akin to reductionist mathematics. Its not. Totally fine for buddhists to believe whatever they want, as again - thats part of life...everyone has the self evident truth of freewill to do and believe whatever they want. Because they are "themselves". Ahem. This thread was started to ask about absolute truths, not relative ones. The domain of the absolute is what philosophers and people here like to speculate onto based on relativity and many other things... your line of reasoning lacks any experience really at all to prove your assertions. All just intellectual rationale. You're claiming to know what happens to a person when they die? Have you died? Then how do you know? You don't. The sooner you stop talking like you know anything, and the quicker you start meditating - the faster you will learn. No divine essence huh? How do you know? I can't see emotions, but I feel their reality. Your denial based on what you want to be true is ridiculous at best. Yet still - the concept of "no-self" is present within buddhism.... wonder why? No-self is the same as divine essence. What do you think empowers yourself to even be able to think? Intelligence does...it's what you are. You don't "have it" per se, because "you are it". It is there, it is you, it is the no-self. The concept of no-self seems to be drawn in direct contrasting distinction to the idea of duality as an absolute condition of ones being. Said another way, because everyone thinks about themselves all the time and has the working idea of how they experience the entirety of life as a separate individual from everything else, they must be reminded or introduced to the idea that they are "not-selves" as their true nature. This is because - it is true. You are not a separate being living a myopic existence completely independent from everything else - thats a fact. If you exist as anything - it's a fact. Just like water in the ocean is part of the ocean in the relative duality understanding from the part to the whole, but in reality - there is no separation as the ocean is water everywhere - its absolute (non-dual). The essence of whatever you want to call the real you.... the purusha (from samkhya), or the supreme ultimate (taoism)...does exist. It's a fact. Thats what buddhists call the no-self. Just not the normal everyday self people identify as... If you don't believe me, fine - go do what every other sage ever did - and look within to see what is there beyond duality, beyond thought, Hidden deep within. Why else do you think people have proclaimed this throughout all of human history? Your limited view of the aggregates or (elements) isn't enough to dispel the absolute truth of your original nature or the (ground) from dzogchen. The elements themselves are also absolute in how they function... There are many things absolute.

... without experiencing what you actually are, this line of thinking is just intellectual speculation - which is like guessing, bereft of actual knowledge. What buddhists claim as the "no-self" is the just the same as what hindus call the purusa, or eternal energy that enables your existence - the underlying intelligence or "shining self" expounded on at length in the Vedic Upanishads. It is without personality, hence the term "no-self" is used. Taoists call it the "tao"... as in - "the tao is hidden deeply in all things.". It all means the same thing - it is the literal quality of God that makes you alive. Your "spirit" if you will. Your personal consciousness / personality is the literal storehouse and continued expression of all impressions/habits mental, emotional, and physical that you have ever experienced/reinforced/aspired to in every lifetime you have lived, including this one - these are stored and make up what occultists call the "mental body". The mental body survives physical death and retains its qualities. There is no grand lesson to learn, beyond living. People who claim that life has some common goal I don't believe. If it did, how come no one knows what it is? The purpose of life, is to live life, to live your own life, nothing more. There are those who develop appreciation for all life has to offer and in so knowing that, find spreading joy and happiness as a reason to live... joy and happiness through truth, knowledge, courage, and volition - about esoteric subjects and also in sensational pleasures, eating, drinking, creating things, etc. The doctrine of karma gets a bad wrap really...all to often is used to encourage people to be good, which isn't bad per se, is very good. However - karma is just the relationship of cause and effect, and morality is a two-fold judgmental proposition. Nothing is actually good or evil, everything simply occurs due to the working of the law of karma. Ones fate and destiny across lifetimes and in the present one is the outcome of the working of karma. However - all people are free-willed and can change their future at any moment. Hence, the law of karma is not infinite to a final /fatalistic end, but is dynamic and perpetual according to oneself/ones state of being, motion and desire. There are a few books on these subjects if you really want to learn about them. I would caution that many current understandings about philosophy from thousands of years ago are misunderstood and mistranslated. Case in point - the entire Buddhist position. Properly translated in Tibetan - the first noble truth taught by the buddha Gautama means this: "Life is like a wheel that does not sit correctly on its hinge." Far from the whole "life is suffering" position people for whatever reason came to say and espouse. So - going back to the real translation - what does it mean? It means "life is uncertain"... none of us know what will happen tomorrow...not too life altering is it? Hahaha. Furthermore - the entire idea that people are supposed to escape life existence that comes from the improper understanding is entirely eliminated. Because that makes no sense at all. Thats why there is no grand goal, beyond whatever you want your life to be. We're all just temporary forms of the divine, expressing our nature as humans.

Ok, point taken Nungali. My apologies if it seemed like I read things wrong. I don't know if this is true, but to me words and worship are actually very powerful things... in the sense that they can actually create thought forms in the astral world out of the mental material that we all have. There may not be actual entities that are a live like you and me there, but there are many documented cases of people encountering such things in astral travel (outside the body). It's a kind of law at work I think... what you believe in and revere actually can become real in a sense (as a thought form or temporary intelligence like schemata). Thats one of the reasons why phenomenal existence is actually shapeable to a degree according to thought, emotion, and intention... As, to what real spirituality is... I often wonder. If it is anything, it's beyond words. Beyond worship.

You think playing with the devil is worthwhile huh?... Good luck.

.... ARE YOU AWARE - that working with the princes of hell is not a good idea? You have no idea what you're doing with this. Stay away from this at all costs. "Occult abilities are just flowers of the Tao, and the beginning of all foolishness. The master rests in the root, not in the flower. Relies on what he can use, not on the superficial". True spirituality has nothing to do with sorcery involving outside agents. Actual cultivators do not rely on anything but themselves to accomplish anything. Working with the known names of the actual devil is deplorable. Wisen up bro. That which is true does not need deception. All this is, is the work of deception.

...May I suggest then - what is the goal of anything then? In the end, you will forever be a soul/spirit. You will always have the opportunity to experience bliss and sorrow. All spirituality is meant to do is to bring you closer to appreciating things by understanding them. Thats why there are so many traditions and they all are basically the same in the end...except buddhists. Buddhists are left to find things for themselves it seems. Neidan is internal alchemy. Through understanding internal arts, you master them and as a result are no longer entirely subject to treating the inner world with aids of the outer world. Taoists began practicing Neidan to extend their lives in eras when people died before reaching 30 years of age on average...so consider the historical context. Taoists practice Neidan as part of their maxim of how to live life. As taoists don't believe in the duality of samsara and Nibbana, or anything like that - because those are just ways of describing things, not the things themselves. Taoists deal with reality as it is in pure pristine awareness. Taoists have the maxim "to live long, happy, healthy, and wise." That's their path. They are not trying to escape from anything except living poorly, which they devised an entire system to do. I really think the concepts of "enlightenment" and "freedom" and "moksha" and all that are taken way to literally and out of context from their traditions. It's as if people actually believe the entire universe was not made for any purpose except to be transgressed...why does it have so much fun in it then? Why is life full of plenty of joyful experiences? Reason only illuminates cause and effect relationships. As in, what's the point of this? Why is this? Etc etc. Can you really ask yourself why you exist? Why existence exists? No. Sure you can try, but you'll never get an answer as simple as the question posed. The physical world is the outcome of the mental one. For life to be lived and felt enlivened - ones mind must be awake, open, and in tune with creating more. Thats the nature of the mind - to create. Made in the image of the creator. Taoists seek to live in harmony with the tao my friend. The natural way and order of things, Neidan is an internal art used for healing purposes, and in higher levels taoist alchemy (which is basically magic). A true practitioner of Neidan can achieve complete and everlasting health if they so choose.

...its pretty amusing to see how much of all this is basically nothing. ... people wanting to be paid attention to.

...you seem to be confusing truth and fiction. Feeling and fact. You're not a woman, no matter what you do. Spiritually speaking - no one is either.

...I think you may misunderstand. I have never claimed to "manipulate" as the word conjures negative connotation of cleverly rendering what is truth asunder by ones efforts. I have only "influenced" things through the way of thought and other ways which have allowed me to understand the way things work and function. A persons biological birth doesn't change over the course of their life...it is part of their "karma" - as in determined by past actions of themselves, and their parents. No one can literally go back into the past and change it so that the present moment is different, it's impossible. Adepts may be able to visit the akasha and experience things from the past - but they can't change all the events that lead up to them... thats literally impossible. Literally Re-writing history isn't possible. Literally re-writing the history and karma of ones past isn't possible - changing this is also impossible. Objective truth is real, is absolute, and cannot be altered by anyone. Literally changing ones biological and genetic make up into the opposite sex by physical means isn't possible. ...Influencing the physical world is simply an expression that everyone does whether they know they are doing it or not - that's part of what I think "enlightenment" is - becoming aware of what you are actually doing and how you are making an impact to the world around you.

Hey, so - if you actually don't recognize what is true, it still is true. What you are born as doesn't change. Great for you if you feel better about yourself for doing whatever to yourself. Simple facts remain and nothing anyone says or does can change them. The only reason I bring it up is because I'm tired of hearing these arguments everywhere that make no sense. No one can change what is objectively true, the facts speak for themselves.

... I don't care about fancy fashionable terms. You are born a woman or a man. Removing the reproductive organs is just removing them, your DNA is still the same. So, to answer your question - yes a woman who was born a woman but has removed her reproductive organs is still a woman. She can't change into a man, nor can the vice versa be true. And there is no changing of this as a fact. Im not trying to be rude or arrogant or anything, its just that let's call it for what it is, not what people want it to be. People who change their outward appearance are not the same as ones who do not, and they never will be actual true men or women. ...sorry to report - but many people who attempt gender re-assignment end up with many more problematic conditions because their bodies treat everything they do to themselves as wounds. As in - your body knows that you're messing it up and it tries to heal itself. Natural ways of living do not require pills and elaborate treatments to exist, or survive, beyond normal basic things like food, water, and shelter.

...I'm just curious, and I really mean no dissrespect. But, can someone who claims to be a transgender woman, really actually believe they are a true biological woman? How is this so? You don't have a uterus, or female internal biology... you will never generate those organs after a certain period of human biological development and you will never be able to produce eggs. And you cannot change this as a fact no matter how hard you try.

I second that my friend.

...I don't like the word "enlightenment". No one can agree on what it actually means, beyond some type of actual knowledge or realization. I think knowledge is a much better word. Philosophically I suppose at a certain level "knowledge" would have to be surpassed by experience, and in due course would give way to an "enlightened state of being" - as in literally imbibed with light. Such a state seems to be one of common goals amongst eastern religions. Purifying the astral body by means of the actual light of ourselves in methodical ways... high level practices such as dzogchen practices and taoist yoga transform oneself in this regard as far as I can understand them, back to the source (light). ...big question I have, is why do this at all? It's very hard for me to accept as fact that all of us are required or obligated in some way as guided by some definite and absolute destiny beyond ourselves to undertake such practices. ...I could be very wrong of course, it's just that there are many ways back to walk back to where you came from... Some circles don't believe this to the extent that others do...the spiritual journey continues on in the afterlife and is much easier because we don't have physicality to work through.

...don't know if this applies at all to Dan Tien meditation - but, when I take cannabis and retain stillness to some degree - I tend to alter electronic frequencies with my mind and emotion... It's actually kind of annoying. I de-energized an entire concert venue once due to being polarized in yin. I would not suggest or recommend using any physical aids at all to meditation, even so called natural ones... herbs, etc. ...Remain in the childlike awareness (Pure and Still) with the physical state of oneself as a child was - innocent and naturally healthy. To remain in good health, one need only follow the balance recommended by the Tao of daily food intake - a blend of the 5 tastes in equal proportions (Sweet/Salty/Spicy/Sour/Bitter) - combined with proper Ph balance of acid- alkaline (yin-yang) 50/50.