Apech

I don't think that occultism aims towards these things - I think that occultists often do and I imagine this is something to do with the 'culture' of magick and wotnot. I think in a pure sense occultism is compatible with shamanism.

I suspect some of the purists in my sangha would have a heart attack if they read that So you can learn his stuff properly from books??? I might take a look

This is a major difference to the type of Buddhism I'm involved with where great stress is laid on samaya vows. Luckily for me the lama has impeccable conduct so I have not met any of these problems. Is this lack of samaya a Bon thing? or is it just Tenzin Wangyal?

Didn't they survive? None of the early hominids survived in that sense I guess. I wish I could find the article to link to but I don't recall where I saw it. This is a different one: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22494-our-ancestors-dined-on-grass-3-5-million-years-ago/

I read a study recently which showed that one set of early hominids in Africa lived mainly off eating grasses. While another had a mixed diet with meat and so on. So I think it is certain that mankind always ate some grass based foods even when hunter gatherers. The growth of wheat based agriculture is said to have started in the fertile crescent (Middle East) and spread across Europe by the Neolithic Farmers who generally replaced the Western Hunter Gatherer culture which preceded it. The change from hunter-gatherer diet to farming had some major negative health impacts and it usually assumed (rightly or wrongly) that it was simply the dependability of agriculture which was its attraction. So humans were more in control and less dependent on the environment. In fact this change to farming about 10,000 BC (gaining pace thereafter) which is a major factor in the change in environment - most of Europe is man-made and not natural at all.

Yes. We might not agree on this point - and you are undoubtedly more expert in this field than I am. But, if someone comes to the dharma suffering from PTSD or clinical depression for instance would you think it ok to offer advanced tantric practices as remedy? Should you encourage such a person to solve their mental health problems by displacing all their emotions onto the lama? or relying on them in a dependent way? I doubt if this would be healthy. It would take a long, long time for such a person to start to understand that their mental content is empty or to assimilate their traumatic experience in a healthy way - and while for instance, study and mind-training techniques could help - they would have a lot of karmic work to do. In fact this applies to many of us to a greater or lesser extent. Loving and skilful support is undoubtedly needed and this could come from a dharma community - if that community is mature and strong in itself.

Yes, I apologise if I appeared to be victim shaming. That was not my intent. I think it is primarily the fault of the teacher if people are led into the kind of abuse that Sogyal Rinpoche (and many others) seemed to indulge in. It's quite clear in the dharma that in the event of a lama asking the pupil to perform any harmful or non-dharmic activity that they should politely refuse giving their reasons - also that great care and scrutiny is required on behalf of the pupil in an assessment period while they decide to accept the lama as their guru. It is the responsibility of of the lama to teach these verses in order to protect their pupils so they know already how to act. And also to act with compassion thereafter. Having said that Buddhism (and presumably Bon) is a moral path and no one can give up this position. You can't, no matter how devoted you are, just give up your own moral responsibility. Indeed it is a mis-service to your lama not to challenge his behaviour if it does not seem right to you. I understand in this case many 'elder' members of the sangha turned a blind eye to what was going on - which removed the normal protections you would expect to see in this kind of community. But - beyond this - there is the fact that as a pupil, who accepts blessings and empowerments, it is a huge commitment, which rather like a marriage has to be stuck to through thick and thin - even if this involves invoking the wrath of your master. This is very tough and difficult - and only for those with a strong will and true devotion. There may be circumstances where the lama does something outlandish and challenging where you just have to suck it up to honour the serious commitments you have made. But it seems to me that if one were to witness something abusive, then not raising this as an issue is not compassionate to the 'victim', but also the lama and yourself. It's not without reason that the vajrayana is a secret/esoteric path and perhaps a mistake to plant it in western culture in an open and public way. In Tibet it may work because the vajrayana is so embedded in the culture - but in the west it opens up all kinds of confusion and misunderstanding.

Hi, Welcome. Look forward to your questions - although I predict I'll be able to answer none of them

The thread title says neanderthal - so you can go back a bit further than 200,000 yrs. Selective cultivation of varieties and cross breeding hybrids and wotnot are not really unnatural in the sense of GM are they? Its perfectly possible that our hunter-gatherer forebears selected the best grasses, berries and roots in some way and promoted their growth.

Thanks yes I've seen her interviewed and also listened to her father (whose politics are very mild contrary to what the mainstream media like to suggest). I can see that these extreme dietary measures may be necessary for some people suffering from auto-immune conditions and so on but I'm not convinced they are essentially healthy for everyone. Jordan Peterson eats only beef, that's it, nothing else, which is very extreme. I live in a fruit growing area and have some plants myself, strawberries, blackberries, peaches, figs and so on. Nothing I grow is sprayed of course, so yes odd shapes and worm holes abound. I do eat some supermarket fruit - some seems ok but generally low on taste and high on sweetness. I know for instance that commercial strawberries are sprayed with sugar solution before picking to make them swell up - that's why they are generally so big.

I'm curious what peoples view on fruit is. There's a lot a scare stories about fructose but I think that's mainly to do with corn starch being added to so many convenience foods. I take the view that fruit especially in season and local is good for you. But does it fit in any way with a low carb approach??? TM? anyone?

I think in principle there is very little difference between 'occult' and 'shamanic', as occult really refers to the hermetic sciences which are a way of exploring reality, understanding it, interacting with it, seen as 'whole' - that is including dimensions beyond the physical objective - i.e. the subtle realms and the realms of power(s). So both would regard the 'other' realm(s) as being real - accessible - inhabited by intelligencies and entities with which you can interact - explorable as in you can travel there and so on. However the difference might be that whereas the shamans continue to base themselves in the reality of that other world and how to access it - many western occultist tend to get sucked into grand theories and hierarchies which if they were to consider it are obviously a reflection of their own projecting minds, somewhat bedazzling if they are very up themselves and also a bit nasty if their intent is malevolent. But of course a dodgy shaman will do dodgy things also.

I have no idea why you think I was being facetious. I wasn't. I literally had no idea this picture had anything to do with transphobia, I thought it was about smart clothing versus not smart clothing. I thought this partly because it was posted to Facebook by my gay friend who would not dream of attacking or laughing at anyone for their sexual orientation/gender or anything like that having experienced discrimination throughout his life on this basis. If this meme offends you then take it down. I said this before. But spare me the censorious lectures.

It was posted by a gay friend of mine on Facebook and I have no idea what it has to do with transgenderism - its a comment on changing standards in attire over the decades. You should get off your high horse I think. But if you really object, its your site so take it down. I have no idea what punching down at structural targets means - perhaps you could rephrase that in plain English for me.

The abused people all seem to share the wish to surrender their ego (after having some kind of trauma or depression) and chose Sogyal Rinpoche to surrender to. I'm sure that trust and surrender do provide some kind of release/relief from suffering - subjectively - but I think this is a misunderstanding of 'mogu' which is devotion to the Lama - and in the long term they just become (as they did ) victims or naive followers unable to distinguish what is right from what is wrong.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-mathematical-model-unlocks-the-secrets-of-vision-20190821/

Purity of heart is to will one thing. Soren Keirkegaard.

My days of sniffing turtles are long gone.

That would be more interesting if they breathed through someone else's anus.

Seems to have gone. Has it?

If you could keep it going I would appreciate it. Not many use it right now but it used to be quite lively.