Seth Ananda

Hi my Bum friends! I was just wondering if people would prefer a sub-forum for more purely Buddhist discussions? I know the Buddhist threads can take up a lot of time and space in the General Discussion forum, and other threads that 'go that way' could be moved over there if necessary? There is already the Taoist Discussion forum, for purely Taoist topics, would people find it beneficial {or less annoying} to have a Buddhist one? Peace! Seth

Thanks Cow, and awesome link -K-! I am gonna read the shit out of those! lol

The same goes for CBT. It can be great for more surface issues, but statistics have shown that many people just do not shift, no matter how 'aware' {mentally} they become of the core Issues or dynamics at play. At some point something deeper is needed

Cool Leon Have you heard of Pierre Grimmes and his Philosophical Midwifery? He is incorporating platonic studies into the psychotherapeutic process... http://www.openingmind.com/ I am studying Transpersonal Counselling as we speak, and it covers a wide amount of 'Views' that one could use with different clients, depending on their proclivities. I Love it. When I am finished this course I am planning to do a Grad dip in Buddhist Psychotherapy which I really like as well. I am also currently finding Mark Epsteins book, Psychotherapy without the self, extremely Interesting. Blessings

Really? Wow... Hey but an Important part of this discussion would be does Buddha Get Mad Shaolin skilz? Or Buddha palm, from Kungfu Hustle? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwsMxVOhPPU

OM! -^-

Thats fair, there is a long track record of that happening here, especially from certain members. But to also be fair, when Buddhism is mentioned by non Buddhists, it is often misrepresented, and at least some people like to see an accurate portrayal of their tradition... And another point, when Buddhism is mentioned there are those here who swarm to discredit it, and one person in particular, who has chosen to hound every statement made by a Buddhist Tao bums member here, even when he is not even mentioning Buddhism...

He did not lie. You do not understand Buddhism. That's fair. I am Loyal, but I do not bend the truth. Yoy did not say "Sunya and I have debated this, and I feel like I won the argument with my valid points, but he obviously still disagrees with me." Instead you Insinuated that you won the argument, {as in he somehow agreed that you did} but that he was to cowardly to admit it publicly with: No bending the truth here, your words. you said it... Nope I am not. and you sir most definitely are not even close. Sure, I have attained certain realisations myself, but I am not Enlightened. Yep. You are lying to your self about your own level of achievement, and then to us in claiming Enlightenment. lol You have not experienced Buddhist enlightenment, so no you are not talking from your experience. You may have experienced something that you mistakenly believe is Buddhist enlightenment, and about that state, who knows? It may be the first step of Taoist Alchemy. But if Buddhist Enlightenment is the first step in Taoist Alchemy, then you have not even taken the first step in Taoist alchemy...

I myself like LTT breathing and use it each day actually scotty, re read the chronology. Sunya expressed an opinion, then you falsely claimed that you had defeated him in an argument, and insinuated that he was to hypocritical and cowardly to admit it publicly, and then refused to allow him to share the 'supposed' whipping you gave him. So it was you who came out looking bad. Cool, and I agree. I disagree, i have seen your Interpretation of Buddhism and it is massively deficient. You have no authority or experience on the subject. But, each to our own...

Ooohhh very mystical! lol. So what about my other questions? What would compel you to brag that you 'schooled' Sunya in a pm that you will not allow us to see, and that you 'won' the conversation but that he is too much of a cowardly hypocrite to admit publicly to his trouncing? Why would you Lie? That is exactly what it is unless you can show us the score chart, that shows us that you did absolutely Beat Sunya in this legendary debate. So That pretty much makes you a convayer of false Information? Again why the need to brag? And when I have hit you with some hard questions, you respond with the very mysterious Nice back peddle. "hey everyone do not look at my dodgy track record, Look over there, at Seth, he is... ...evil!!!" You know from now on, every thing you say is suspect right? You have alluded to events that did not happen, and tried to make your self appear as some enlightened hero, but, BUSTED! Even worse is putting someone down as being cowardly and hypocritical in connection with False events. That is called Bearing False Witness, or Perjury and is federally punishable. Much worse than Name calling. Seth.

Thought I would bring this up again, as I think we 'Need' a Buddhist subforum. The way so many threads are going these days that include Buddhism, and the number of people that are Hostile to Buddhist practitioners... I my self do not want to join another Buddhist forum, as I like the TTB's. I have friends here. For me it would be wonderful to be able to have Dharma conversation with my like minded friends here, somewhere where we will not get attacked or have the thread derailed... Then I will come to the General Discussion to talk to my other friends here about general stuff, and hopefully the anti Buddhists here will feel far less touchy about our long winded discussions clogging up their threads... C'mon Mods, TTB's name is a play on 'The Dharma Bums' already so would it really hurt to add a subforum?

So you telling chi dragon to shut up and asking mods to ban him for disagreeing with you is not dodgy behaviour? You dont want to see me banned, you want to see me banned for a long time... Your sick of Buddhist nonsense, You Love buddhists...?! You called Sunya a coward or a hypocrit or something for not showing or admiting how you 'schooled' him in private messages, yet you do not give him permission to show the 'schooling' he recieved!? lol You are deeply Inconsistent. I feel a core Instability within you! ooohhh! lol. A lack of philosophical and ethical back bone, an inability to be honest about your emotions towards us... And just how did you 'win' and 'school' Sunya? Who decided that victory? Are you being completely honest with your self as you accuse him of dishonesty for not admitting your obvious victory? Did you really win or were you just dishonestly claiming something not yours to appear better than you really are? That would be called lying... Why would you need to publicly brag that you 'schooled' Sunya in a private message, and then insinuate that he was a cowardly hypocrite for not admitting it? Why scotty why? Its a big claim with no evidence, and it definitely insults another member of the board here. Why did you insinuate these things? I want to know your motive's.. do you know why you would feel prompted to say such things? What exactly is the pay off for such dishonesty? Me, I merely react when someone hangs shit on my friends...

Neither have mine. I was refering to your public conversations. Then it is he who schooled you. His stance is what Buddhism teaches, at least Tibetan Buddhism... Once again he was right, at least by Tibetan Buddhist standards. That example just does not work. The Arm you mention was already dependent on other causes [the food that helped it grow, the genetice of the mother and father that shaped it] and just because you somehow create a circumstance where it seems free of other influences, it is still just seemingly free. It is still dependent on the space time continium it seems to exist in, and is dependent on you having put it in its 'free' condition... So again you were getting schooled without knowing it. So anyone who does not swallow your incomplete understanding is a pseudo Buddhist? And I am happy to discuss what Buddhist enlightenment is or Isn't, but you it seems are not. When simple jack gave you an excellent reply on that very subject, you did not discuss, but rather made assumptions about his lack of actual practice. How was that in any way helpful, or in any way not an attack? Defending Buddhism is un Buddhist? What about the Dharma protectors? If we just allowed people to spew distorted teachings the teachings would degenerate and real Buddhism would eventually become lost. Hence Debate being a great tradition historically. I am Happy to Debate, but you were not debating. You were getting Nasty, and I do not have to stand for that. I have not perfected patience. Are you saying that a Buddhist who is not a door mat is not really a Buddhist? No. As I have shown, everyone was being nice here till you started telling people to shut up. Don't play victim. You are a snake in the grass, striking when you can, but shouting 'Poor Me' when someone hits you with a stick. Re read this thread. You started this. Poor Diddums, you got a reaction out of the evil Buddhists. I dont fit this category. I love Buddhism, but I am open to other truths. Once again you allude to yourself as an innocent bystander. Audience, please re read this thread. Scotty speaks for himself as the original antagonist. Does right action mean just lying down and taking it from an ass like you? Well I am not that developed yet. You dont have the capacity to know truth. That was shown the first time someone disagreed with you and you attacked them, claiming they needed get some actual practice. lol. Now as for my Issues: I am Intensely Loyal. I have a problem with that. When I was a teenager, I could take all kinds of Insults but the second someone started on my friends, I would break their nose and punch them till they were unconscious. If I had to pull off a fence post or throw a bottle to do it I would. I gained quite a reputation for it. I have relaxed alot over the years but when I see someone start on my friends I still fly off the handle. I do not know why. Maybe because I had no friends in primary school. It is an Issue I still need to work on. hopefully I can work on it in what ever cooling off period I get served... Seth.

Actually scotty you have been acting like an aggressive tool towards nearly all the Buddhist practitioners in here. I read many of your conversations, and although I can see you believe you disproved them, I can also see you did no such thing. Not even close. I do not have time right now, as I will have to dig for the threads, but in my opinion in the public conversations with Sunya, and even simple jack here {who you have also been acting like an ass towards} they pretty much 'schooled' you. You are just to dumb to see it. The Mods may suspend me if they wish, but I am really starting to feel sick of being part of a community where Idiots like you are allowed to post blatant hate and rubbish against a TTB sub group, in a constant vitriolic spew of Ignorance and continually go unreprimanded. To me, you and a couple of others are basically Internet bullies. Recently a lot of Hate has been directed at the Buddhists. The TTB mods tolerate it. The Buddhist community here is small and I count them all my friends. Blasto/encephalon, Cow, Vajra, Sunya, simple jack. I have learned a great deal off them. We talk from the tradition and what we see or are learning to be the truth. It is an ongoing Investigation for us. But because we sometimes refute the understanding of others which is not always received well. Sure It may be annoying, But Hate? I was amazed at the hostility that came out of the wood work recently. All it really showed was that some specifically Taoist members here, hate anyone that disagree's with them. Some even excused their behaviour by saying 'well this is a Taoist Website'. No it is not. The General Discussion welcome clearly says it is open to all groups. Look at Vaj and Rali's. Now Vaj is annoying and stubborn in his views, but Rali's harasses every post he makes, including ones that make no reference to Buddhism. I personally really like Rali's views when he is not harassing Vajra, but I am amazed also that the mods here have allowed him to hound Vaj for years without reprimand. The Mods seem to think that kind of Internet bullying is ok, at least of Buddhists. Dumb asses like you react to someone elses view because it challenges your own view. You are not a seeker of truth scotty you are an Idiot, championing your hateful cause. You argue, then get a hate filled vendetta mindset. That is what you have scotty. A Vendetta. I don't hate you scotty but I do think you are a Moron. It was made evident, when you used arguments like "the body can exist without air for 17 minutes therefore the body is independent which means emptiness is a false teaching." You told chi dragon to shut up because you dont agree with him, you inferred simple jack was just parroting bodri because of a quote, and from that you somehow inferred that he has not done any practice? wow, where did that piece of info come from? Your mystical third eye? It certainly was not in the text, so again that is just one of your pathetic assumptions. You told Sunya he did not do LTT breathing every day for a year, {how would you know?} You Infered winning an argument no one has seen, 'schooling' Sunya in Buddhism, lol. You are Basically filled with hostility and assumptions and cant tell reality from whatever springs into your over-active and underdeveloped mind. Actualy here is your Greatest hits from this thread: Nice... Lame assumptions... wow you are an authority now scotty! Wow for someone so advanced, how did you infer all the previous rubbish? wow once again with the clairvoyance and incredible mental insight! I imagine that everyone you direct this at is a practitioner... but here you prove your self to be a liar. You are not interested. You said so your self. and tell me again how you 'know' people here do not practice? It should be becoming quite clear to you by now, that you sir are an Idiot. Seth out! See you in 6 months i guess. lol. To all my other bum friends, I love you, but I cant sit by and watch Idiots trash my friends or my tradition. I am not that developed yet and I will never be a door mat. Since the mods will not stop semi retarded Idiots like scotty from bullying and harassing the Buddhists here I feel it is probably my time to leave. It has been feeling toxic here for a while anyway. I myself love both traditions, and feel I had much more to contribute but I cant do it in the anti Buddhist climate that scotty and others have made here while the mods sit on their asses. Thanks for the Good times everyone {not you scotty } Blessings on your paths! Seth Ananda.

Scotty, I am sorry but you are acting like a complete tool and have been for a while. I have followed your long debates with several of the members here, and it is sad to see that you think you understand Buddhism as you clearly do not, nor even began to in those threads. You have shown over and over again, an inability to properly grasp Buddhist teachings, all the while believing you have some solid grasp on them. You have directed a ton of negativity and hate towards Buddhist practitioners and towards Buddhism itself, Mr 'Despiser of Buddhist Beliefs'. You are basically a Loud Angry Fool who thinks if he shouts louder his rather lame Ideas will suddenly miraculously become Truth. Sad. I don't know what causes your underlying sense of inadequacy, probably not being able to grasp something you believe is easy. Relax, don't worry, rigorous mental standards are not for everyone. Not everyone has to be capable of solid Intellectual debate. The Idea that 'You' could 'school' anyone on Buddhism is Incredibly Arrogant and just plain funny. I know you have got pissed off at the Buddhists here [no one likes someone who holds a claim to truth, especially if it threatens ones own precious beliefs], so you have jumped on the Taoism is the best band wagon and are violently defending that stance and attacking Buddhism where ever you can, but really, it just makes you come out looking like a total tool. Seth.

I like to think that Life has no opposite and thus never ends. Birth is the prerequisite for Death, so Death is the opposite of Birth, not Life. I myself have never witnessed any evidence for 'Non Life' as everything feels alive to me. A rotting corpse is full of life. Teeming Living Bacteria is breaking down an old life form, but no where is the Life Force itself absent. Minerals are transforming, trees are breathing, everything is in constant motion. When I watch death, what is it I am watching? The person I knew is gone suddenly, that light I saw in their eyes, that look that was them, is suddenly not there... To me, the body they had is not what made them them, so where did that part go? Their eyes are still there, so is their body, but what was it that carried their body around? That force has suddenly moved on... There is no proof that awareness is limited to the body. We cant really define at all what awareness is. It does not seem to have a substance. there are plenty of cases where people who were hooked to brain machines were declared clinically dead, yet they could give accurate reports of things spoken or events that took place. All while being brain dead. At the same time, we do not want to let the awareness of death [impermanence] really penetrate our lives. We spend so much time imagining that temporary things will bring us happiness, and to me that is our way of protecting ourselves from the vulnerable feelings, that being aware of our Immanent death can bring. Panic. Fear. If we were suddenly told our loved one only had two weeks to live, that loved one would suddenly become very precious to us, we would dote on them, appreciate them, and love every second with them. Our hearts would break open wide. This is so sad to me, as it shows just how deluded we are about our own Impermanence. The reality is we have all been given that sentence. Not by a doctor but by being born. We could die at any second. All our loved ones are going to die also. We have no Idea when or where. The sad thing is that If we were fully aware of Impermanence, we would be fully aware of the precious nature of every moment together. We would really love each other, not just for the two weeks some doctor may one day give us... Impermanence makes us raw and loving and open if we let it. You are fortunate to be having thoughts and doubts about death. Even if death really is the end of us entirely, Living fully with the fact of its Inevitability, will help you really live and really love and enjoy every moment. Then when death comes to you, you will not have the regrets of not having cherished your loved ones, or fully lived your life. You will die bravely and satisfied. For me Buddhism has brought me to this, but there are other paths there as well. Even though I believe in life after death, I think it would entail a massive transformation of sense of self. I would not recommend any path that gives you beliefs that serve to protect you from the truth of Impermanence. Like: "After you die you live in heaven forever, where everything you want you get, and you are waited on by fat flying babies..." This kind of belief lets us falsely believe that everything will work out all right without any suffering. We can be as attached to false things as we want, put of loving our close ones till after the simpsons is finished. For me, as Impermanence sinks through my thick skull, my bad habits no longer seem useful, I no longer seek happiness in things that will not last, and more and more of my attachments just die. This brings a great kind of freedom and happiness. I am now a far better father to my daughter, as I really really appreciate her. I know she could be taken at any second. Its heart breaking and wonderful at the same time. And I am gaining compassion for strangers in ever increasing amounts... [sorely needed lol] I am finding a Happiness not based on things. It comes from awareness itself, when it is clearly seeing reality, clinging to nothing. I believe your partner calls it Rigpa. I aim to Live and Die in this state. It is not my body, my body is like a dream. It is not my mind or thoughts, they are decorations for it. It is the experiencer of everything that will age, change, decay and die. No one can say what it is with any certainty, but without it there is no life, no world, no time, no knowledge, no theory's, no senses, no body... Therefore it is prior to all concepts of the world. The Idea that awareness is limited to the body can only come about because awareness is already there. Awareness is the base of all knowledge. Awareness is always present. Unconsciousness is an experience of a lack of inner and outer sensory data, which includes perception of time. If someone shouts your name while you are in deep sleep you wake up. Something is obviously still there. My experiences of General anaesthetic, and of being KO'd, and from once stopping my heart have showed me that even unconsciousness is a kind of experience within awareness... So why not death? Anyway I have rambled enough. I wish you great Blessings. Love Seth. P.S. Why don't you sign up with your own name?

This is true. The Sant Mat techniques, and all the various Inner sound sects lead [at least for certain types of people] to very powerful states of concentration and absorption, and they do so very quickly once one is used to the process...

Thats fantastic! Thanks SJ

Freaking Awesome my friend!

Hi everyone. As the differences have been well discussed in 1000's of pages, I thought it might be nice to start a musing on the similarities between Taoism and Buddhism. I would love to hear anyone's observations at all, but off the top of my head I can think of a couple of similarities I would like to know more about: Wu Wei and Dzogchen? Immortal Fetus/body and The Illusory body practices? How similar are they if at all? The Non Conceptual attainments? The Role of silence/stillness? Hit me you awesome Bums!

Awesome!

Nice response. Abraham did come from Sumer {Sumeria} as the old testament puts it, and genesis is attributed to him {although I do not know whether historically that is factual} and on analysis Genesis seems to be an abridged version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which makes sense considering Abraham's origins but as I recall it has no mention of Lilith either...

? not me, i Love it