Seth Ananda

Seriously I would be blind as a bat if something strange was not going on. I would stare wide eyed for hours, in summer, in the middle of the day, with no clouds around. Forget retina damage that does not affect eyesight, I would not be able to see a thing... And we are talking around 16 years ago, and my eyesight is still good.

Cool, what is your Lineage? I started out in Muktananda's lineage, and then became a student of Virendra Qazi, who is Swami Lakshman Joo's cousin. I am going to reconnect with him again and hopefully he will forgive my break of a few years exploring Buddhism.

Thanks Serene. I am actually suprised that there are not more replys like this one. I guess the Bums consider this the dark side? But as you pointed out, we can change others, without them even knowing we are doing it. Thats because we are Interactive Interdependent Interconnected beings. And we are much more fluid in our 'selves' than we realise. We can never get away from the fact that we change and Influence each other all the time. This makes learning to be conscious of the processes of Influence and Persuasion a crucial subject for understanding in my book. If we are going to Influence others why not be sure it is for the better? As for your brother Arab, I would recommend that you build yourself a life that is so awesome that you become Inspiring to be around. Most teen addicts have a bleak view of the future, and their substance/s give them the best feelings they think are available. so why would they want to stop or cut down? In their current state that would be crazy, Like choosing to have less fun and enjoy life less? Buy him a new bong, find more expansive stoner circles or activities, but you yourself, demonstrate something even better that what he already has and keep the door open for when he begins to want it...

I totally agree. When I was staring at the sun in the middle of the day, I was 4 or 5 days in on no food or fluid, and I think my eyes changed in some way to be able to receive the suns light without being damaged by it. I have had my eyes checked by a professional since then and they are fine. The point is it came completly naturally. I was trying to become breatharian and I had never even heard of sungazing. But every slight catching of light with my eyes was intoxicating. I was very cautious at first naturally but when I knew it was not damaging my eyes, I started doing hours a day. So I believe that it is one of our latent potentials, but I do not think it can be forced in any way at all. I am curious as to whether the sunrise/set gazing can trigger this ability eventually, or does it come about from the body needing another source of sustenance?

My KS teacher always recommended B.N.Pandits works, which I too found great Joy in. Going to start them again shortly. While we are at it, has anyone ever found an English translation of the Tantraloka?

Ok, Title says it all. I have tried being Buddhist for the last couple of years, but really the world view just doesn't suit me. I am very glad for having given it a go, and aspects of its View will always be with me. Here are a few points relevant to my decision making process. 1) I am not sure that Tibetan Buddhism can get many western students very far. After finally meeting a High level practitioner - Changling Rinpoche, and meeting students of his that have been with him for the last 10 years, I am worried. They are exceptionally moral and lovely people, but they [the ones i talked to] are proud of all the Highest Tantra empowerments they have. Some are very consistent in their practices, doing 3-4 hours a day, just to fulfil their vows from all the Tantra Initiation practice requirements, and that is great, but, it is 3-4 hours a day of reciting endless prayers/aspirations/confessions with points of deity visualisation. Where is the serious Insight development or even serious concentration needed for 'actual' enlightenment? Changling was testament to the fact that the path works in a Monastery, where all day every day is all that stuff. But I lost faith that I with my Karma as a father and a house holder can make any decent progression in this path. 2) Then there is Theravada, which requires a ton of Vipashna/Samahdi in varying degrees depending on the school. My house mate is doing very well on this path. This year he has done a 4 month, a three month and then another 4 month retreat, and he is actually seems to be getting somewhere with it. I know many many people who do several 10 days a year, but that does not really seem to give them any great results. Again as a Father, I can not be spending months at a time in Vipashna. 3) And Vmarco will Love this - I am a Theist at heart. I can believe all I want that there is no underlying substance to the universe, [and i really did get convinced by this logically with the E&DO teachings] but I can see and feel the light underlying all things on a daily basis, and my heart knows that I live in a Interactive and Conscious universe. I experience that fact with the deepest layers of my being. Also this is the experience that is central to probably nearly every tradition before Buddhism, from the earliest Shamanisms to the Abrahamic religions, Egypt to India... World Inclusive paths like Sufism, and KS are far more suited to my way of growing and my karmic circumstances and have practices I can use constantly throughout my day to day life. The Sufi practice of remembrance - Keeping ones heart in constant communion with the one - I can use everywhere. And I have missed it so much these last few years. 4) I had some great realisations in Buddhism. An experience of Emptiness, a realisation of No Self... I can continue developing these in a different context. Even the teachings on [not] clinging to subtle states I can still use. Although the devotional practices actually engender clinging, I can use them to get into very deep states far faster than anything Buddhism has to offer me, and then I can apply those teachings... So Great blessings to you all, and special thanks to CowTao {CT} for all your help with Buddhism, and your friendship over these last few years. May all your paths Blossom and give fruit. Seth Ananda.

here is the Shiva sutras: http://www.scribd.com/doc/256443/Siva-Sutra There are KS web sites out there with all the texts available online, I am trying to find my old bookmarks... +1 Guru Yoga's recommendations. I still think that the book 'Consciousness is Everything', is the single best Introduction to the subject. It is the perfect mix of being scholarly consistent, and a Joy to read.

Here are some of the threads from TTB's http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/159-sungazing-question/ http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/12538-bigu/page__p__158283__fromsearch__1entry158283 http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/9341-sun-and-moon-gazing/page__p__111774__fromsearch__1entry111774 http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/213-sungazing-notes/ Its a fascinating topic and experience. I mentioned my brush with it in the bigu thread. I have been planning to start doing sunrise and sunset to see if it helps kick in any cool stuff from previously...

He is talking about the Thugee sect which apparently had ritual murder as a sacrament. The British occupation wiped it out, and it is where the western word 'Thug' comes from. If I remember rightly they favoured strangulation, and they were the Inspiration for the Indiana Jones and the temple of doom movie There has been a very minor history of a few very extreme Kali sects practicing Human Sacrifice. Some of my teachers and a few friends spent quite a bit of time with Aghori's, and most heard mention of the practice still being carried out occasionally by one of the darker Aghori sects. But if you add up the body count, Jesus is still way ahead! {sorry I couldn't resist that} I personally think that groups doing that kind of thing completly misunderstand the wonderous nature of Mother Kali. To me it seems that they see her wrathful side and are afraid, so wish to appease her 'terrible' nature. That to me is not understanding that her wrath [at Ignorance, attachment...] is motivated by a vast vast love...

Cool Mantra But I think Kali gets an unfair wrap. Kali Mantra's are some of my all time Favourites, and as long as one does them in a spirit of genuine Love for Kali, then no harm would come. It feels so good to be back home - In the Tantric tradition, ahh :wub:

Lol, Try teaching the subject. To keep a class of new people Interested, you need to inject something sexual into the subject matter every hour or so... All to get people to try some meditation or some actual Tantra... I guess I kind of run by the idea of give them what they ask for till they want what you wish to offer. Now I finally have people who turn up and want something deeper...

Hi Guru Yoga I am guessing you meant - "But 'not' for a non-dual school like Kashmir Shaivism." If so then that is technically incorrect. From the view point of the practical side of KS, one's practice {or which Upaya one is using} depends on your state. Thus a when one is feeling very dense and dualistic, one uses anavapaya, which encompasses Devotional practices, pranayama, puja's and rituals, and one seeks to merge with the divine... The higher upaya's become subtler and less and less dualistic.

wow, read everything between my last reply and this one. The subject has nothing to do with me

Very Caustic... If you look really carefully [the bleeding obvious] you may notice that I simply Informed my Buddhist friends here that I am stopping being a Buddhist and said why. Then Vmarco decided to chime in, and the conversation ceased to be anything at all about me giving up Buddhism, as it became about why Buddhists [Vmarco's Buddhism] are right and why everyone else is wrong, and I myself have not posted for pages till now, as the conversation became pretty boring for me... So I give you an E- on your analysis of this thread.

Perfect!

Lol, I contend that historically you are right, but that 'God' is not the same god that the most modern followers of theism worship. There are probably millions of Abrahamic Gods. Try a little experiment for me. Hold the picture in your minds eye of wrathful Jehova, jealous and Greedy and Murderous, and Imagine what it would be like to believe in him... Toxic huh? Now try Imagining a View of God from some forms of Shamanism, Neo Platonism, and many Abhramic Mystics. Its qualities are an all embracing love, it is the Single Infinite life force behind all Life forms, and everything rises and falls within it. It does not have a human kind of Personality but it is vastly Intelligent, and it is aware of you, whilst simultaneously being you... Can you really say that these are the same Gods?

Xabir, you can keep posting 1000 line responses if you want, about how the substantialist view is wrong, and is simply a misunderstanding of emptiness but that is missing my point. My point is that no matter how good your argument is, there are experiences had in relationship with 'source' that can not be explained by Buddhism... And that can only be understood in a theistic or Intelligent universe framework.

Cool

To me this is the perfect response really. Xabir has 'seen' it, and you have 'seen' it differently. To me it is all about filters. I can see the light as dependently arising, according to the Buddhist thought, and from that view recognise it as having no Inherit existence, yet from another view the light is always there, underlying everything, and simultaneously being everything. For me there is a Chicken or the Egg conundrum around perceptual Filters and experience. Which came first? Vmarco no doubt would say that all Theism is to do with the minds beliefs, and thus can not be of the heart, but what about an atheist's near death experience where he experiences an infinitely loving and Intelligent universe show him his life's purpose? Or a Shaman in the Jungle opening up to the All or tripping on jungle juice, and experiencing the Interactive Great Mind or Spirit, that all small spirits are made of? Xabir thinks he is absolutely right about his perceptions, but he sounds like a Robot most of the time. I get the vibe of a massive Intellect from him, but he never has sounded to me like he is really really happy, or reading his posts never made me thnk, wow, he has a Big Heart... {sorry Xabir, I like you, but that is how you come across to me} I think, wow if he is the pinnacle of existence, then I don't want it. Then I think of a Sufi Shaik who feels like a sun has replaced his heart chakra, and is an actual embodiment of the deepest Love in existence... Wow! Buddhism has an amazing logical system of thought and debate that really works to take those suited to greatness, but in reality that does not give it any Authority over the Irrational, the Mystical, the Intuitive... Buddhism is very fulfilling mentally, but I feel like my heart has been living in a desert for the last few years, even with loving kindness practice. My heart longs for communion, as my heart is relational in nature. What is it My heart longs to join with most? The Beingness that it Intuits so clearly. Total Universal connection. For me this is the only thing that really satisfies my heart, and if I have to choose, I would rather have a satisfied heart than a satisfied mind. Personally Buddhism leaves too many questions unsatisfactorily unanswered. Like Why? The Big Why? Dependent origination is not an answer, it is an engineering statement. And If I choose to approach the source as sentient, then ask it a question, why does it give me the answer? {if it deems the question relevant} Why does prayer work so well, and why do certain prayers elicit a much faster response than others... It doesnt seem to give a shit if I want a new car, but when I actually need a car, there it is. Or if I pray to become closer to it, well that seems to be its favourite prayer full stop, and shit will hit the fan for a few days, as 'circumstances' magically seem to know exactly what was stopping me from communing with it on a deeper level, and conspire to free me of the burden... E&DO cant explain half the weird stuff one experiences in an Interactive Universe. What about an Issue you might have, that you have for 20 years, but when you are finally ready to let it go, the exact situation just 'pops' up to help you do it? There is an astonishing Intelligence behind the flow of events and things that E&DO can not do any justice to in explaining. Padmasambhava acknowledged that Bramha and Rigpa are the same thing, when he described what all the different traditions call 'this wonderful awareness' although he obviously thought that he had the most refined view of it... Saraha was part Kashmir Shavite and part Buddhist, and one of the 84 Maha Siddhas, and his Queen Doha makes Buddhist scholars quite uncomfortable with all its refrences to enlightened Hindu Yogis... So much so that many translations edit those bits out, or change it... To finish off, I believe in an underlying mystical reality to existence, that gets seen and described in slightly different ways by different traditions. I think the exact reason that religion has had such a powerful sway over humanity, is that it is at least loosely based on what we deep down know is present. This allowed corrupt individuals or whole governments to claim Authority and 'add' a whole bunch of crap to the 'God' or 'spirit' or 'Being' experience. Hence the fact that in the Abrahamic world most Mystics were murdered, for saying God is nicer than what they tell you... But the good side is the religions are evolving towards being accurate representations of mystical reality. Many Christians now believe and experience that God is Love. I think it would be hundreds + years since a Jewish father dragged a disobedient son to the council steps to demand his rights [Deuteronomy] to stone him to death... Islam, outside of the Sudan and like places is becoming quite a force for good. They are actually worshipping a different God to the one they used to. Even if they believe it is the same, The God of hate and vengeance is in their minds alone, {and maybe lower astral realms} but as the image changes to the 'God' that is the actual 'experience' of Mystics, near death survivors, Shaman, everything gets better. I saw this in my own family. I grew up in a fire and brimstone religion, and spent many years waiting for the lightning bolt. That god was not real. I blasphemed in every way I could, I ritually sodomised 'his' Christ, and demanded that he strike me dead for the Insult. It was not till later that when possessed by Pan, I had my first experience of the All within everything. My Family seemed almost dead except for the twitches of hate that occasionally animated them, but slowly slowly, the words of Christ about Love, and caring penetrated them. They became more peaceful, light seemed to shine from their eyes and their whole way of relating to the world transformed. A year before my Dad passed on he stated that he couldn't believe that he had been Christian all those years without having the slightest clue or experience of what God was like. He died in a state of Grace. Anyway I am up too late, and I think I have been rambling on for too long in a tired state already... Peace

Yep, good house mate to have huh? Very quiet... lol Well for question 1, my house mate is a big Ingram fan, hence the stream of intense retreats. As far as I know no one gets Ingrams stuff without doing proper retreats. And for question 2, the practices that really work for me, are because of my personal background, and may not be Awesome for everyone else... But, Remembrance is for me the Ultimate practice. I spent so long in the Devotional path, doing epic stints of devotional practices, that my energy, my neurology are all hard wired to respond with hair trigger sensitivity to Devotion... I Intuit the Being behind everything, I feel the light for every second possible, I surrender myself to it, attempt to be transparent to it, I feel its Intelligence, I pray without ceasing, I follow its prompts without hesitation, I use mantra where helpful, and I try to loose my self in God. All in all, what ever I am doing, i am either focusing on the magnificent Being behind everything, or I am trying to and possibly failing badly, depending on the strength of my attachments... That's the path of remembrance. There is that saying in Sufism that the second you even think of turning towards God, God is already rushing open armed towards you. That is my experience and why I find it so strong. I could sit and focus on my breath but that would be boring and I would be regularly distracted. But If I turn my feeling/attention to the great Being/Oneness I experience an exhilarating surge of energy as if it has been waiting for me, and my heart becomes uplifted, my mind becomes steady and focused, and Light or Heavenly chi starts to fill up my body, and stimulate the higher capacities... {Reminds me of a Jesus quote: If thine eye be single, thine whole body shall be filled with light} On a really really good day, I can dissolve myself via the crown chakra, Into the Light and Sound, and even have short experiences of what mystical traditions refer to as Omniscience. I am uncomfortable with that term and have no way of knowing how accurate it really is, but in that state I am certainly able to know all kinds of things about subjects that Interest me.

If i remember they only ate sprouted grains, and the Essene bread I used to get is very moist and tingly, as it is alive...

Aww Thanks everyone :wub:

This is just... Brilliant! :D Thank you