RigdzinTrinley

breakfast lunch and dinner!!!

I don't feel like sharing it BES, it was between both of us you know he gave me these instructions after I told him certain experiences I had during a longer retreat/pilgrimage so I don't know if it would make sense to tell you these same exact instructions? I give you a more general package anyway this much I can say from my own understanding, and that is also in line with this thread here - we usually breath way to much, based on that our prana gets too "speedy" and moves into strange channels. f.e.: a lot of worry will result in faster breathing patterns (faster breathing patterns will result in worry and anxiety) - that will cause the "heart-prana" to move upwards, into shoulders, jaw, neck and upper-back, shouldn't be there at all but from fast breathing and a lot of worry (these are very much connected) it went there and one is tense in these areas - feeling "worked up", "carrying the world" etc. jawning helps there f.e., put your head back a little and jaaaaaawn couple of times (fake it till you make it), if your eyes become wet all the better - thats an outer sign that the energies move again (if we talk about too much worry, anxiety etc) - while jawning say "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" from deep within the "speech-box" also "jiggling" is great - like I think thelerner said in your thread? just shake your body gently, bobbing around for 15minutes + once in a while say "AAAAAHHH" and also sigh very gently as if you hug your inner organs with the sound "aaaahhh" and "mmmmmmhhhh".... and jawn if you feel like it, let your body hang loose while you "jiggle" after some time just rest - feel how all the fluids in your cells are happily vibrating with "aliveness" these simple exercises will take the misguided pranas home - you know that is how children go back into harmony... they jiggle while waiting for mom and dad to be finally ready with their shopping in this boring ass and smelly cheese-shop and then just in general reduce your breathing, breath less - do it gently, slowly and don't force it. focus on staying empty after the out breath you know if you go towards samadhi - breath is very little and subtle, so mirror that in day to day life - breath less and relax into "not-breathing" in short: relax, thats the key My heart-lama has exactly two answers for almost any question and problem that comes up in practice: either he says 1) relax or 2) you really do not understand the dharma.... (I think the second one comes from not relaxing, and the first one comes from - not relaxing) the lineage I follow, Dzogchen or the clear light Great Perfection is sometimes also called "complete relaxation and ease" - means you got it once all tension of body, speech and mind are released - and what is left is reality as it is or suchness in one sadhana I use for daily practice, it says that this course body will be liberated into basic space - means that our body is actually unobstructed openess (how emptiness can be understood in a more practice oriented sense) - we just squeeze it and form it with our thoughts into this or that thing, in actuality there is just open space, nothing to cling to when we move away from that open space - we don't feel too well (at least that is my experience, when I "try to make something out of it" - I put effort and hence stray from reality as it is) hope at least some if will be of benefit I hope you feel more vibrant and alive soon BES

shortness of breath for example, better sleep I stopped because my lama gave me another breathing technique to do, which is similar and has a very strong effect on me, so I felt I just drop the russian doctors method and follow my masters instructions

I did it for some time, helped me with allergies and all sorts of other things. at one point my lama did give me a specific meditation and breathing technique to do, which is actually very similar to this method. Both work very well in my experience - the one my lama gave me has a magical blessing that I project on it so it is even more beneficial I give the buteyko method a 10 out of 10 star rating

Buddhistgeeks can be nice - google it, they have some good podcasts

the princesses always think I am the dragon, while I think I am the knight it's a mess

I come from the tibetan side of things, and the tibetan lineage and approach to buddha-dharma is as you maybe know very vast, because it contains the tantras as well. so I think there you can find some informations - that go beyond goenkas style. I heard that some tibetan masters encourage their students to do a ten day goenka course, my own masters said you can go if you like, put onht eouter form of the practice but use the meditaiton instructions I gave you.. so you know Goenka is not the last word there are innumarbale teachings, methods, philosophical schools within Buddha-Dharma If you are interessted in the nexus of energy work and insight meditaiton I would say read introductory works on tantra f.e.: "the psychology of tantra" by rob preece - it is an excellent intro, and covers also the winds (prana) of the subtle energy-body and their function in buddhist-tantra and also how they relate to jungian psychotherapy or "momentary buddhahood: mindfulness in the vajrayana" by anyen rinpoche good read

here you go: http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/dodrupchen-III/transforming-suffering-and-happiness don't know if it will end up being a URL thingy.... anyway this is one of my favourite lojong texts, it is very spot on and practical may it be of benefit

maybe if I might put in some tibetan buddhist understanding? eheeem.... First and exclaimer: "this is purely intellectual understanding" .... still as I spend considerable time with tibetan masters, and see how much energy they have and how tireless they can work for others, I mean 7am in the morning till 22pm at night - constantly seeing people - hearing out their problems, teaching, giving empowerment. even while eating - being constantly bombarded with the neediness of disciples (probably they practice from 4-7am as well to keep their samaya) me being merely the translator, I know how intense that is - to be only for others, if you do not have that capacity then it ends up like one time when adzom rinpoche gyurme gyamtso said after one of these 7-11 days "trinley your eyes are very red" and I just nodded my head, walked to my room and collapsed into my bed. so what the teachings say is the stronger your relative and ultimate bodhicitta, the less "being there for others" is a drain to you. why? through mediating on relative bodhicitta your idea of "I" becomes much more vast - all these beings become like your own body, their body is your body - f.e.: hands and feet, if you step on a thorn your hand naturally takes care of the feet, there is no thought of this is other then me, I am the hand - who cares how about this other thing? Or this is going to be tough, to take care again of this stupid feet that constantly steps on thorns and stones - kicks into doors etc. etc. through meditating on relative bodhicitta all life becomes your organism and there is no more strive in caring for this organism and through ultimate bodhicitta aliveness is seen as emptiness, no substance to grasp, all is seen as illusion an insubstantial play of light and form - there is just immense openess if these two bodhicittas are highly developed then, one becomes undrainable. Again I do not speak from experience but I see how the tibetan masters interact with people - and it is incredible I just recently received empowerments from yangthang rinpoche - he is in his eighties or nineties - he would prepare the empowerment from 4am in the morning and then bestow the actual empowerment sometimes from 9am - 8pm with some short breaks, for many many days - I never saw him yawn or waver in his presence ever (I was taking plenty of naps by day three...) blew my mind so I would also say stury and practice some mind-training or lojong - I would say read and contemplate shantidevas "bodhicharyavatara" and then also the text called "taking suffering and happiness as the path" by the third dodrubchen tenpai nyima... I will post a link to this second text - it is amazing! hope that helps a little as well

if you don't know tibetan language nor tibetan buddhism then it is an odd use of the word I give you that... the tibetan term yid ches - can mean both faith, and confidence depending on the context (basically if you translate it literally it means somnething like "to make up your mind") now you have different levels of faith within the tibetan buddhist teachings, like rex posted up there (I will explain it a bit differently) and the first is blind faith - you see the guy on the throne in brocade, you get tickled in your slave-brain and feel like this is the right type of king-god-person I want to follow. And how they banged the drumms and cymblas when he entered.... fantastic Why you want ot follow him or her? come on, who cares for reason if you have blind faith - lets do it!!! lets practice tantra - wohooo lets go for a ride in the vajravehicle ...................... where that will end is pretty obvious I guess and then there is confidence based on hearing the teachings a little, that is of course way better then the first type of faith, but it is still not the faith or confidence that come from the wisdom of certainty certainty is born from extensive study, contemplation and meditation on the correct view of dharma - it is nothing external anymore, it is not because Rinpoche on the Throne said so, or because I read it in a book by this and that authority on this and that subject, it comes from checking the teachings in your own inner laboratory through the wisdom of hearing, wisdom of contemplation and the wisdom of meditation all that is contained within the tibetan word "yid ches" ཡིད་ཆེས I just want to add to the spiritual bypassing thread that for me a sure sign of spiritual bypassing is disconnecting from body awareness, if meditation leads into a strange head-space and the body is not "released" into space then something is wrong for sure sometimes practice can make you feel a bit uneasy, mingyur rinpoche uses the example of washing dry shit - it will start stinking again, that can happen and does happen but if the overall tendency is head not heart/body then something is wrong. In my own experience if I settle in the correct view, my body untangles itself and becomes relaxed open and spacious, as does my mind, breath becomes subtle and long ... colors and appearances more vivid and brilliant etc. if I end up in a mind made, fabricated meditaiton I get all kinds of tense and disconnected from reality as it happens. Now some beings might think that this is the objective of meditation - but well that's just taking the wrong turn. so for me in summary "is my body released into openess through my practice or not" (I am talking months and months of practice not immidiate result of sitting down for 20minutes) also other signs of practicing correctly are more empathy to your fellow human beings, more understanding, love and compassion and more confidence (there it is again) - faith - devotion to the lineage and lineage masters. and really getting a stronger and stronger feeling/impression that while it is empty it appears unceasingly as dependently originated phenomena while appearing it is baseless emptiness getting that view right and settling into it -> what happens is misconception, doubt, in short a lot of reification in the upper stories just melts into nowness-awareness, the whole thing gets clear and bright

is there tension? is it based on tension in your head, neck, jaw, throat, shoulders?

I always knew that buddha was from vienna

did anyone experience strong symbolic dreams? they seem very rare to me, and much more clear then usual dreams - one can remember all details and they are filled with strong symbolic meanings and emotionally very charged these dreams, and I did not have many, seem much more real then reality to me - more alive and meaningful but maybe my day to day life is so boring that I just became a romantic "taugenichts" (good for nothing) and dreamer.... EDIT: I guess jetsun knows what I am talking about

I do not know any chi gong, but I do some strange body work before meditation usually - part of it is to shake my body for at least 5minutes, yawning, sighing, swinging arms, blowing rasperries (do what them little people do - children play) and some other goofy movements to get the head into the body and then I sit with what my lamas gave me as instructions - such as leave it uncontrived .... what ever that means

edited this into shunyata as I felt it will be misunderstood anyway

something that is natural no? There will always be beings grasping at their path as superior to other paths, if you ask me what is the best path I would say: well dzogchen of course - is the best path for me. now back in the day you have to remember that there was a lot of political agenda around as well - if daoism looses favour of sponsors, or also if buddhism looses the favour of sponsors then well, the lineages might die out, so sometimes you got to be polemic these days I think our collective conciousness is high enough that we do not need to go there so much, it is more based on personal choice and karmic propensity then who has the better arguments, can fly higher in the sky or shoot more laser-beams out of their eyes whhaaaaat ever still of course people like to be polemic and cut the vast sky of dharma into little pieces, let them do as they please - I personally can't find time to join the fun for too long

ok back to discussing a incoherent shentong view from Mipham Rinpoches point of view. I will mix the first topic of the text with the third and fourth topic in order to show how a extreme interpretation of shentong can't go beyond conceptual elaboration For this it might be useful to remember the "basis of emptiness" because Mipham Rinpoche will use the same logic to refute this incorrect or incoherent Shentong view like he used to refute the incorrect rangtong interpretation "that the pillar is not empty of being a pillar but empty of true existence" so he would likewise say if you posit the basis of emptiness and that of which it is empty as something extrinsic or other then the basis itself - then what you have is a non-empty phenomena on one side and a mere emptiness on the other side these two he says are like a white and black threat twisted together - they can not express emptiness as a union, like fire and its heat he writes ALAS! if this is not empty of this itself, the basis of emptiness is left over and hence truly existent! so if we keep this reasoning in mind when we examine the more radical shentong interpretations such as "dharmata is not empty of itself, dharmata is empty of dualistic phenomena" we can see again that the basis of emptiness is left-over, that means we have on one side a non-empty Dharmata and on the other side an emptiness that is the freedom of dualistic samsaric appearance. These two can't be said to coalesce or form a Union it like twisting black and white threads together - after twisting them together it looks like one thread, but in actuality the white thread never pervades the black thread nor the other way around - they are different isolates when we talk about the union of emptiness and appearance then we need to know that appearane is utterly pervaded by emptiness and emptiness is utterly pervaded by appearance, just like fire is pervaded by it's heat and the other way around. the side of emptiness is the dharmadatu-the vast expanse of the dharma sphere that is freedom from all conceptual extremes - so as emptiness pervades appearance and appearance pervades emptiness we can establish appearances to be likewise beyond conceptual extremes such as: existence non - existence both existence and non-existence neither existence nor non-existence in this way great equality can be established - which forms the basis for tantra and dzogchen on the other hand if we posit the ultimate view to be a non-empty dharmata that is empty of dualistic appearances - then we end up having a conceptual target for meditation, how is that? we will have: 1) a non-empty hence existent Dharmata 2) and an emptiness (non-existence) of dualistic phenomena so this view can not go beyond the four conceptual extremes - to ascertain the final view in such a way falls short of actually expressing the union of emptiness and appearance that is beyond conceptual elaboration if meditation is within the 4 conceptual extremes - then that means meditation has some sort of basis for grasping, well however lofty and sublime a basis it might be even if it is called "buddhanature" or "natural luminosity" - then we are still working with limited or confined perception of ordinary mind. We are not experiencing the non-dual Union of Dharmadatu & Jnana so basically if one reifies buddhanature to be an ultimately existent phenomena then one contradicts the second turning of the wheel of dharma that establishes all pure and impure phenomena of samsara and nirvana as empty of essence from form upto and including the omniscient mind of a Buddha everything is emptiness, insubstantial that is what the prajnaparamita is teaching, and like sakya pandita said "if there would be view higher then the prajnaparamita, then this view would be conceptual" now if one says it is a mere empty expanse, then that would contradict the 3rd turning of the wheel that establishes the luminous nature, or Buddhanature and the sponteniously present qualities of the kayas and jnana and probably all of the tantras would be contradicted as well so Mipham Rinpoches says in order to establish Buddhanature or the luminous nature correctly one needs to establish it in accordance with the second and third turning of the wheel of dharma empty of essence (dharmakaya), endowed with a luminous nature (sambhogakaya) and a natural expression of all-pervading compassion and love (nirmanakaya) now the actual meditation of dzogchen is exactly expressing these three things - also jnana can be understood to be exactly that just from another angle anyway that is another discussion for those who have the guts to stomach it - I just ate a lot of pasta so I rather digest that first we can also see and say that when we understand buddhanature to be the union of emptiness and appearance beyond conceptual extremes then all the higher yanas become a natural sequence of realizing the "appearant" aspect of Buddhanature as more and more pure/divine. I talk about this a little later in this post, first about nirvana that is the utterly pure nature (buddhanature) and nirvana that is the freedom from adventitous stains (the two obscurations) as far as I know the nyigmapas and kagyupas explain enlightenment as a process of eliminating the adventitous stains, the basis never increases or decreases in qualities and purity - it is merely in eliminating the clouds of elaboration that the sun of the true nature can be seen and manifest its compassionate warmth. It is usually not expressed as a process of cause - effect, as the true nature is not a compounded phenomenon (otherwise you could loose it again), but that does not mean it is not empty of essence... like I just tried to explain space is an uncompounded phenomena that is not created, or produced through causes and conditions - yet it is empty of essence. how? it is dependently designated and a mere label, even the lower philosophical schools realise this. likewise the buddhanature is empty of essence - and this empty aspect is the vast expanse of the dharmadatu that is freedom of conceptual elaboration, yet its natural expression is that of clear light - or luminous non-conceptual primordial wisdom, so it is not a mere absence like space. now to the differences in Yanas: so the different Unions as expressed in the different Yanas have the same basis (Buddhanature) and are merely posited with regards to this apparent aspect and the purity with which it is realised Union of emptiness and appearance - the common mahayana presentation Union of emptiness and clear light - Mahayoga Union of emptiness and bliss - Anuyoga Union of emptiness and pristine awareness (rigpa) - Atiyoga

there is this marvelous word in tibetan, usually I like to talk a lot about buddhist philosophy (because most people overlook the richness of the indo-tibetan scholastic side, it is pretty amazing) but Steve made me remember this word through his post, it is probably one of the most important words or "pointers" in Dzogchen Ati-Yoga མ་བཅོས་པ - ma bchos pa (sounds like "machöpa") means: uncontrived to be uncontrived, to rest uncontrived one can have many lifetimes of fun with this one pointer as far as I can tell

Note to self: one day I will read carl rogers and hopefully slowly learn the art of listening free of bias

that is from Khyentse Rinpoches free ebook on the Madhyamikavatara right? I think without Khyentse Rinpoche as a guiding light - it would be very difficult for many many modern western students(including me) to even feel some kind of "drive" to study these weird subjects I remember living in Boudhanath in Kathmandu - studying tibetan, hating it, trying to do ngondro - hating it, and at the same time I would listen to his recordings for months, slowly making sense out of why exactly do I study this strange language and why exactly do I need to throw my body flat on the floor 100.000 times? May he life long and may his enlightened activity pervade all realms of existence

a very good vajrabrother of mine from sweden became a therapist in that school actually - never read about it - I will do so now. Thanks for reminding me that this is around

now to be also practical - try counceling, best would be with a therapist/councelor that has experience with spiritual practice and the pitfalls of it or just you know, go for long walks, read a good novel, hang out with good friends - be a good friend also, be a person - an ordinary person, not a hermit or holy person a pretty incredible feat in itself if you ask me, to just be a good ordinary human being, with ordinary problems and ordinary happiness and suffering - all held with as much dignity as possible I still work on that one, and probably will never go beyond trying to be a good ordinary human being. enlightenement is great and all - but to be honest, if I look at my neurotic mind, I am pretty happy to manifest as a less neurotic being step by step that is much lesser pressure on my psyche as well - so I am happy that I do not have to manifest enlightenement in this body no matter what, also to be a good human being is almost attainable and managable, still tough for sure, but much less tough then enlightenment

So much to say on this topic, too much even. I just split hairs with you, because why not, nikolai was already practical, I be a buddhist snop then: from the buddhist point of view (the one buddhist point of view I am most familiar with) I would say that the more you understand the "absolute" side of things - the more you will pay attention to the relative side of things actually, but now in a much more wholesome way, not merely fixating on immidiate pleasure, blind materialism and consumerism - following all the whims of ego. I mean more from the Point of view of what to do right now to make sentient beings happy (that category of sentient beings includes the practicioner himself or herself) and you know the more your understand the "absolute" side of things correctly - the easier you will manage to generate happiness for self and others so on one level I would say don't just blame it on the absolute, but maybe blame it on your understanding of it.... which brings me to a tricky second part: there is no absolute against or above the realtive from Nagarjunas PoV, and I dare speak as if I would know that.... just give me a doubt here, because I do not actually fully understand nagarjuna -> anyway it is not as if an absolute side of things would exist brother - its only a method to loosen the fixation on the relative side of things, to get a bit "out of that kind of box" if you know what I am saying it is not meant to create a new box called "the absolute" the realtive side of things is the basis for an ultimate side of things... if there would be no relative how could you conceive of an absolute? so based on that it is very easy to see that "absolutes" are just mental fabrication, labels now in buddhism, if one understands the so called "absolute" correctly then this can be used to get out of all sorts of conceptual boxes such as f.e.: relative vs. absolute or relative and absolute are one or whatever have you... that is a very difficult feat to achieve, and it is probably good to be under supervision while attempting this - otherwise one could end up doing all sorts of things like "denegrating" the relative or also "exagerating" the relative etc etc. or falling into any kind of extreme view and hence extreme type of practice... it is not sooo easy, if one is endowed with a critical kind of mind that is. If one is not so much into doubting thinking and philosophy then you know - pure faith and devotion - and sitting sitting sitting can do the trick (I heard that, but also most tibetan masters say this is a rare kind of spiritual practicioner these days) if one is not this kind of pure devotion/healthy ego/spiritual genius by birth type being then I guess a proper intellectual yoga is important - using this yoga one then opens the intellect to awaken (in tibetan you have ordinary intellect and awakened intellect - that is an intellect that works in your favour, that is used to contemplate the nature of things correctly) - so in no way is buddhist practice anti-intellectual for example. it can be a very deep and fulfilling experience also on an intellectual level, if one gets the right view of absolute and relative that is - if not ALAS! instead of getting out of the box, one builds more and more boxes

I just started to read Paul Foster Cases book on tarot - just the introduction, and I must say I liked it very much if there is time then maybe you want to read Rob Preece book on "the psychology of Tantra" it is not much more then an introduction to buddhist tantra, but a very well written one and from the POV of a long time practicioner and Jungian analyst - I mentioned the book before. Anyway I think you might get some nice insights from reading it, and it is not really a demanding book either. just boil some tea and relax into it. I am kind of a purist and of course I do not think that you can simply say Jung = Buddhist Tantra, or even that you could use Jung to realize and understand Buddhist Tantra completely, but it is possible to approach tantra through a jungian understanding. Open the door that is - once in the mandala palace itself, I would say that Jung can't really help any longer and clinging to jungian concepts, by that point is nothing more then a hindrance in my opinion. His work does help to safeguard the western psyche to some degree from being overhelmed be the psychic energies that tantric practice and symbolism can cause to errupt. So it is like a first savety net somehow, but then again once the practicioner entered the tantric vessel properly - I think then there is no need for nets or probs of any kind, they are just a hindrance to go deeper hope that moves the discussion along I also read the ibntro to Paul F. Cases book on tarot - was a very good read and pretty deep I would say. based on that I would like to mention something / ask another question I do look around for what happened to the G.D. or other hermetic orders, such as Cases BOTA - and one wonders if it all went down the drain? are there any intact practice lineages upheld in a more formal yet healthy way? I mean apart from individuals doing their own magical work? looks like as soon as migicians try to form an order these days it ends in tears and confusion... are there any orders that are functional in your understanding?

generally speaking I would say this is the blessing of coming from a country where they love to debate metaphysics... which in turn produced some very highly sophisticated philosophy in many different schools of indian thought. Many contemporary masters say we can be very thankful that there was all this debating between the spiritual paths happening - based on that we have many incredibly rich traditions now some people like that - some don't and don't forget the siddha lineages of india - sufis, shivaites, shaktas and buddhists