Aetherous

From my limited experience...it's like getting an oil change for your car. Whereas previously the oil was low and not fresh, so the car is kind of clunking along, now your oil is full and clean so the car runs smoothly. It increases the potential lifespan of the car. The oil is what Ayurveda calls ojas (which is produced from the reproductive tissue, called shukra) and the car is a metaphor for the body and mind. So celibacy helps with health and spirituality in a subtle way. Subtle means that some people will notice effects, and some might not really, although the effects are still happening. Also, the person's testosterone levels will be normal, whereas someone who ejaculates often will pretty much always be at half of their potential, or else experiencing relative highs and lows in their levels if they don't do it quite as often (every few days)...there are peer reviewed studies on this which are interesting and pretty consistent in their results.

Ban me if you want to, but I don't have to use occam's razor to show how that's a logical fallacy, honey boo boo. Look it up. <- winning!

Vastu architecture, while not traditionally legitimate (the only authentic texts have to do with temple building, not house building) is very interesting for getting good energy into the place. For instance, they have the idea that your front door should have a window to look through, and the back of the house should also have windows which you can see from the front door...so basically it feels like light and energy can flow all the way through the house. I also like big windows that look out into nature, white walls, natural wood floors and furniture. My parents are designing a bed and breakfast with similar ideas, based off of Swedish and other northern European countries' design, as can be seen on the covers of this and this book. The outside will be red kind of like this. Which I think looks great. This type of design works a lot with how to bring more natural light into the house (for instance, white walls help to radiate the light and brighten things up). Sorry to take it kind of off topic, but hey maybe some off grid people will want these ideas as well!

Yeah that's understandable. Wishing you the best.

That's definitely one view to take. It's an extreme one in my opinion...and is quite popular to adhere to. To answer the rhetorical question: it's up to the individual to decide whether they will become a jerk or not. We have religions that tell us to basically not be a jerk, so I suppose we could say God did his part (in pointing to a better way), assuming he exists.

Studying logic is very good to do.

I haven't tried this but here is an option for probiotics.

Atheism is a sign of overconfidence in one's limited perspective and intelligence. Basically, we haven't even seen the entire tip of the iceberg much less what's beneath the surface. We see a small part of one planet...we haven't even met everyone even in our own city, and the ones we do meet we don't know everything about. The only way to honestly claim there is no God is to be absolutely omniscient and all-seeing. The key here is honesty...be honest about what you know and what you don't. Considering what we know as reality, this world and universe, to be an illusion, is just a method for relinquishing attachment to things and is not absolute truth. Why? Because the illusion is real. Unless you can eat mountains for breakfast, fly through the sky and walk on water, you can't honestly say "it's just an illusion". Do you believe that because someone tells you it's true? That's the same as believing blindly in God. But considering it as such can be a good technique, until the point where a person could possibly do those things. If that's possible. Once again it comes down to honesty about what you actually know. Agnosticism, or "I don't know" is very understandable.

TS, on second thought I probably should have PMd what I said. My bad if it's uncomfortable at all to discuss this situation fully here. I know it can be embarrassing, because then it can feel like you have a weird reputation with the forum. Tribal or gargoyle jewelry doesn't really mean much...it's probably just artwork or their sense of style. If the esoteric type books are all publicly published ones, then these people are definitely not part of any hidden society. Mythological books aren't something I'd be worried about at all. Freemasonry is actually a positive thing...it's basically about becoming a better person. So ritual sex abuse, especially of a child, would not be part of it from what I know as someone who is not a freemason, but has looked into it quite a bit. About sexual body language...well maybe we shouldn't go into your details here, but maybe it wasn't them actually coming onto you or anything. Maybe they were just comfortable with themselves in that moment and weren't thinking at all about how it could be taken sexually. Or maybe they were imperfect and actually had some sexual desire in that moment, but thankfully had enough self control and cared enough about you not to actually do anything. Anyway about the fear...I actually had similar feelings about my own family when going through psychosis. Thinking they were in a some secret society based on details that didn't make sense to me...for instance, my mom got these owl statues from her work because they were gifts you get for having donated so much to a charity. So I could read into it...owls...Illuminati...ahhh! My mom must be illuminati! They are preparing me for something! There were all sorts of things like this at the time for me. I was misinterpreting every little thing, looking for signs everywhere. The effect of this is that all around, I just became more confused, fearful, depressed, angry, etc. It's easy to project all kinds of evil onto our parents, if we're in this disturbed state of mind...when in their perception they're just normal people. Sometimes we know too much for our own good having been part of this age of information...for instance "knowing" that owls have to do with the historical Illuminati. When we 'connect the dots when there's no connection' (or basically think synchronicity means something for real) then it just causes problems for us. For instance in my situation...owls have existed in nature for a long time and only rarely have to do with some secret society...they are actually a creation of God, and can be seen as beautiful and positive...I was completely wrong. So, it can be good to recognize..."I'm just feeling paranoid about everything, I need to chill and let things be." This might sound dumb, but something that got me through this kind of mental state, was basically just relaxing and being involved in things that didn't cause me any concern. For instance, I spent a lot of time watching the TV show Psych...it was light hearted, made me laugh, etc. So maybe it can be good to find something to do that isn't aggravating to these negative feelings...and just live your life for a while without concern. Without assuming such big things. "Mind is gravity" - Max, who teaches Kunlun, says this. It can be peaceful to let go of the mind.

Tough talk time... This ritual abuse thing could honestly just be your own delusions. TS, a while back if I remember correctly, you were talking about how you were experiencing MKUltra type scenarios. While there might be truth to the idea, you should realize that such things are in the realm of "crazy". So please consider that these feelings and possibly memories could very well just be your own creation; delusions of grandeur...maybe your parents never did anything of the sort. Imagine things from their perspective if they are innocent. You love your child for his entire life, and would never do anything to hurt him intentionally (apart from normal family disagreements etc)...then one day out of the blue, he's saying that you raped him in a ritual abuse scenario. Wow. You're not even very religious much less some sort of demented ritualist, and you definitely would never do such a thing. Just try to consider things from an outside perspective. If you're experiencing a type of psychosis, your ideas aren't going to be entirely accurate. You will be connecting dots when there isn't actually a realistic connection. Your feelings will be skewed and untrustworthy. I know...I've been there. And today I still question my assertions, as if I've got a screw loose. Questioning these things is healthy. Normally I wouldn't question someone having been in an abuse scenario...but with your previous postings, and the fact that it supposedly happened when you were a child, makes it very questionable. I wanted to point this out in order to possibly help you. Regardless of whatever truth there is, I'm sorry that you feel like you were ritually abused and raped. That's not a pleasant experience to be wondering if it happened. Oh also...it's totally normal to experience some bad karma coming at you from your parents. It's not that they're trying to hurt you in any way, but this is just the way of things. We have to heal our families. Your kids one day will also experience problems with you, which they have to overcome. Consider that the scenario wasn't them personally, and that whatever you're picking up on didn't happen in this lifetime, to you. It could be genetic memories or something. Or the feeling of having been raped could be a misinterpretation of something very minor that actually happened in your life...for instance maybe one day your dad simply was frustrated and as a child you didn't understand what was happening...so that confused feeling got stuffed down to later resurface. Just throwing out ideas that might help...I'm not actually doubting what you know about yourself. I know basically nothing about your life, so you're the expert.

I wouldn't! lol

This is along the same lines of other ideas that have been shared in the thread.

Birth...awakening to reality...starting at a new beginning...our past is darkened (not fully remembered)...the future is unseen and therefore an adventure.

For power, this solar powered generator looks like an easy option. And here are some smaller ones. For internet, which we all love...my sister recently got a satellite dish for it because she lives too far away from any provider...so that option exists to stay off-the-grid-on-the-net. Would probably take quite a bit of solar power to keep the internet and computer up, along with lighting, etc. For shelter, these tiny portable homes are well done and affordable on a payment plan. Nice thing is that you can easily move it to any land you want to use, and leave your previous land without having built on it. Hopefully you'd be spending a lot of time outdoors because it's so small. For drinking water, berkey filters...and you could use rainwater or river water if it's a decent enough source...or I suppose well water. Or find a spring near you, check the testing they've done to see if it's good enough without filtering. For showering, I've recently seen people come up with units that recycle the water, filter it, and heat it back up. For cooking in luxury, get a big green egg grill. Within the next 20 years I plan on transitioning to live self sufficiently and these are some things I've been looking at.

I was literally just about to post that, lol. It's awesome!

Although this artist isn't one of my favorites, I love the recording quality of this album (which is due to the Burl B2 Bomber analog to digital converter)...

Working on the physical aspect of this...get some ghee, and have 1-2 tablespoons a day. Get organic whole milk, boil it, then drink at least one mug every day. These methods will rebuild your (currently frazzled) nervous system. Also, get good sleep...make it your highest priority to get more than enough of it. And drink a lot of spring water. These methods will not only help in the rebuilding of the nervous system, but also balance you out on a deep level. Eating pears can also help...so all of this is in addition to eating normally, which you should continue doing. Take care of yourself. What you are experiencing is not merely an emotional problem. Breathing can honestly help you, especially if you contemplate positive things during it. Also making positive prayers during it would help. http://doasone.com/BreathingRooms.aspx?RoomID=1 As for the mental and emotional aspects, my only idea is that you should think of what you want your life to be like. The past is over...but the future is coming. What is an ideal life, for you? What do you like in this world, that you want to cultivate around you? In the present we have the choices to either make our ideal future happen, or to not and experience something unwanted. I can guarantee that focusing on your dad being evil (or however you want to describe the posts in this thread) is not going to bring you a good future. Neither is going to prostitutes, etc. This all disturbed energy with really bad potential outcomes. For instance, in your writing you basically wish for your dad to die...that's harming you more than anything in your past. You have the option to be good or to go bad...bad things happening to you doesn't make you bad, but your response does. Breathe...bring life into your soul again. Rise above the past and family karma...you are your own person. Focus on love. Focus on what you like. Let go of the mind and the past...let those feelings and thoughts float away and vanish like clouds in the sky. Become neutral. I'm open to talking via PM any time you need a friend and a boost. Also, seeing a psychologist or specialist in abuse will be a good thing. Well, just throwing that out there.

Here is a declaration of sacred space. Anyone posting excessive off topic comments in this thread on yidams from this point forward will be reported to the moderators and administrator for spamming and trolling...this includes continuing the previous off topic discussions in here. They are not wanted in this thread. Make a new thread or send private messages in order to continue those discussions which have nothing to do with the topic of yidams in vajrayana. Thanks for your cooperation and respect!

The Bible doesn't use that word. Neither do groups with a tradition that stretches back. We can use it here for the sake of gaining more understanding by cross-comparing traditions. The problem would come when someone makes a total mess of traditions, for instance in newage circles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph

I've heard it explained a few times like that. One for example is in "Kundalini Tantra" by Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

No problemo! I appreciate your point of view on this, as well as everyone else.

Instead of pitting the thread, which is supposed to be about yidams, please moderators enforce people staying on topic and not spamming with multiple posts. Nothing against RongzomFan or anyone else. If people want a discussion about lamaism etc, please make a new thread? I am actually interested in a discussion on yidams. Maybe the thread could be split if it's not too much trouble.

Do you think the differences are irreconcilable? The only way this would be the case, is if a Tibetan Buddhist absolutely must worship yidams and gurus or lamas...if there absolutely isn't another way to view it and practice. It's not that I want to combine religions into a mish-mash thing...it's just that I want to explore Tibetan Buddhism as well, which can only really be done through practice. Also, I hope my issue with this won't dominate the thread, which is just about yidams. I suppose I won't discuss it much more in order to keep things on topic, and not on the topic of another religion. Thanks people who responded!

Satire or not...I think there might be something to the idea of people realizing impending doom for others, and doing what it takes to avert disasters.