wandelaar

Yes - we in the West are strange: Sorry - couldn't resist.

@ Aetherous I have read quite some books on Buddhism and Zen, and I listened to Buddhist lectures for some time, but my general impression of Buddhism is the same as with Taoism. The basics are great, but the later scholastic and ritualistic developments are (lets keep it decent) not my cup of thee. So I am not motivated to invest years of my life to becoming a disciple of any one Buddhist guy or school. As to practice, the basic Buddhist practice as far as I'm concerned is meditation (I do just sitting) combined with some basic moral rules of common decency. And further contemplation of the transience of all things and the non-existence of the ego. As to the meaning of bodhisattva you're right that Buddhism is a broad and layered phenomenon, so one could probably defend many positions on the meaning of the term by cherry picking the appropriate quotes.

@ Aetherous You are right - the Wikipedia says that I am wrong. Now I'm not a buddhologist, so I looked up "bodhisattva" in The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, and there it says: So what to believe?

@ Jonesboy Thanks, apparently that is how the presence of Perfect Love for All in nirvana is described in Mahayana Buddhism. Doesn't help my understanding of the bodhisattva a bit. But that's not your fault.

My own definition isn't relevant for now. I'm trying to understand the Mahayana view of a bodhisattva is as it is here propounded.

Is there a difference between attaining enlightenment and entering nirvana?

Indeed. Thus the Bodhisattva postpones entering nirvana out of love for all suffering beings in the world. The Theravada figure of the arhat is more individualistic, and would see no problem in leaving the world alone.

Let me try to cut the knot by means of an extreme simplification. As far as I understood it Mahayana Buddhism promotes the figure of the Bodhisattva and Theravada Buddhism promotes the figure of the Buddha (or arhat). Now the Bodhisattva refuses to enter nirvana as a Buddha until all other creatures have also reached Buddhahood (and thus the Bodhisattva keeps on reincarnating). So one could indeed say that "universal love" kind of hinders reaching the final stage of nirvana as a Buddha.

The following article looks well researched. I'm about halfway reading it now, and I guess it nicely sums up what is currently known from a scientific viewpoint about the possible dangers of meditation: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176239&type=printable

Is this what is called wu wei in Taoism? And if so, could you then further explain how you think this works in this topic:

The great thing about Taoism is that the basic concept isn't actually a concept but just the fundamental way that the world functions. And of course that doesn't die with any one master. Even if all lineages and holy texts of Taoism were destroyed then there would still be the fundamental way that the world functions (aka Tao). And no doubt there would again be people who thought it a wise idea to act and live in harmony with Tao, instead of making a big show of their own (all too often only imaginary) capabilities in forcing the world to follow their will. And so Taoism would simply spring into live again.

@ Zen Pig Could you link to a good and free research paper on fasting?

Well - this sort of fuzzy talk is exactly what fires my combative spirit, but this time I will let my war horse run free and carry on with my daily business as if nothing happened.

It's generally a hopeless strategy to force oneself not to think of something. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Wegner#Ironic_process_theory Much better is to get involved in something else so that one's attention and energy is automatically directed away from the unwanted thoughts.

The only thing I have noticed is that I have come to dislike junk food and confectionery. Not a big problem I guess.

What is your advice as regards diet when practising "just sitting" for one hour a day?

That would be nice.

Yes - that's what makes it bearable. I know it will pass, and that I can handle it.

I have this every time that I meditate. I practice just sitting for one hour. But roughly half way I have to resists giving in to the temptation of finally wanting to do something (instead if just sitting). But until now I have always continued meditating till the very end, whenever I started. Didn't know that this problematic phase was called “hitting the wall”. I thought the expression had something to do with not being able to (rationally) solve a koan.

A quick search reveals that one can find all kinds of articles about this on the internet, so one has to be careful in what to believe. One - possibly somewhat too negative - article is this one: https://skepticmeditations.com/2017/07/23/meditation-sickness/ It contains interesting information and links for further study. I have also found some possibly relevant free pdf's, but I will first read them myself to see whether they are worth linking.

I can hardly imagine you as "combative, in a sense - sure of [your] opinions". You have come a long way. And I have still a long way to go.

This is an important subject! Personally I prefer keeping a middle road in my practices, so I didn't deeply study the possible dangers of extreme forms of meditation and/or chi gong. But as more and more Bums report about what went wrong in their own practice I think it is time to research "meditation sickness" and related deviations. I will open a special topic about it.

@ freeform Great example. A big part of Taoism in daily life - as I now see it - is about escaping inappropriate automatism's and seeing or feeling or just doing something unexpected (or paradoxical) that nevertheless proves perfectly fitting in the given situation.

For some research see here: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/winning-the-lottery-makes-you-more-satisfied-with-life-for-10-years.html

So not believing in it will help. But maybe there are real Empty Force masters, don't know...