Apech

Ah that's interesting - I wonder how many people have this experience. I think you need Michael for the gematria ... all I know is that the hebrew letters have a meaning and a number - but I don't know in this context.

Yes.

Don't worry about impermanence - nothing lasts forever. Yes, the old jokes are the best ones. I have to admit I didn't devote a lot of time to Indian cosmology, kalpas and the like - because I thought it mostly cultural. And the idea that everything is impermanent is practically universal - from Heraclitus to the I Ching. But I did read Word of my Perfect teacher and also studied Gampopa so the description of the suns and rains and wotnot is familiar. I remember when I studied this in a group that most people found impermanence as a challenge but to me I just felt relief. Oh nothing last forever - thank goodness! Also from having studied physics I knew that it fitted perfectly with the understanding of quantum mechanics etc. that we are not dealing with a universe which is solid in the way it appears - even mountains crumble eventually. Though of course, change within a world and the end of the world are different things. Death too - inevitable and unpredictable. Two years ago a very great Lama the Sharmarpa died suddenly with a heart attack - which was a great shock to everyone including me as he had only just come on to my Buddha-radar. Even though I had never met him or received teachings from him - the news of his death was almost overwhelming and I had repeated images of him in my mind - smiling and giving gifts to me and everyone. Only once before have I felt such an impact from someone's death. I can only assume that the impact on me was because he taught the lineage that I practice. When I was about eight or nine years old we went on holiday in Wales and stayed in a farmhouse. My bedroom was in the attic and there was a roof light. As I lay in bed I could look up and see the stars. For some reason the inky darkness between the stars (the skies were very clear there) made me realise very strikingly that I too would one day die. Realising my mortality at 9 years old was a strange thing I think. It was just that that image somehow sparked off the thought. It was a little frightening because the thought was so strong. But not morbid - and yet a fundamental and inescapable truth. I realised that we mostly spend our lives pretending we are immortal. But it would be far better to hold the fact of death in our minds. If we want to be properly alive and alert - and not half asleep. Obviously I did not maintain this moment of clarity but I often remember it. Later I read in Castaneda's books (if his name may be mentioned here without cries of fraud, fake etc.) of Death as an Advisor ... that your death is like an entity which stalks you through your life and the awareness of his strategies is good training for a 'warrior'. This also is a helpful thought to me - provided I don't start getting melodramatic about it. I live in an area where there is an ageing population - and at certain times of year you hear about deaths of people you know or have met. Last years I think there were about seven funerals in a quick succession of people from this village and the next one. I went to some of the funerals. The people here are very family oriented and there is a great deal of overt weeping and wailing - mostly genuine (though occasionally a little fake from some guilt and so on). It can be very moving - and also I feel can open up links to a deeper reality - occasionally bringing 'visions' and other strange things. I think experiences around the death of loved ones is probably the origin of much that is in religion. I know that grave goods are found in the earliest periods among hominids for instance neanderthal and not just homo sapiens. Sorry if this is a bit rambling.

It's a bit older than that. Plato was a latecomer really.

It's goodbye to the Lake District then.

Uranus knows a thing or two.

Been making me laugh for two days now .... https://theconversation.com/rrs-boaty-mcboatface-life-aboard-a-scientific-research-vessel-56633

As a slow struggler through the ngondro - currently on the vajrasattva mantras (about half way through) - I would say that despite the name 'preliminary' they are very deep and profound practices and embody the whole path in their own way. I am getting a lot of benefits although at times its not easy and the very number of them makes it seem like an almost endless task. I just wanted to mention about renunciation. A short while ago it really clocked with me what a powerful energy practice giving up the eight worldly dharmas is. I don't see it as having anything to do with giving up the world in the sense of becoming a hermit - but simply making the basic decisions that your values are spiritual values and not wealth, fame and so on. Again its easy to say the words. But to do it is another matter. But what I observed - given the level to which I have been able to do this - is an immediate restorative effect on the subtle body. It made me realise that these things about conduct - right living and so on - are all about cultivation and ultimately cultivation of energy. This is one of profundities of the Buddhist path that from the very beginning - with taking refuge you are making an impact on your energy body. Its not that you have to do these things first and then later can do yoga, candali or whatever - they are all one in a complete path. I hope this makes sense

Well, as you probably know Bast or Bastet (the 'et' part is just the feminine ending of the name) is a cat goddess usually associated with the North (or Lower Egypt) and hence the Red Crown - sometimes paired with Hathor (cow goddess ) in the south. She became very popular in the late period worshiped at Bubastis in the northern delta. She tends to have two aspects - peaceful and wrathful. Her peaceful aspect is as a nursing mother and her wrathful aspect is linked to lioness goddesses like Sakhmet - in fact she was originally seen more as a lion than a domestic cat. The Egyptians were very fond of cats. She is linked to a certain event where the sun god Ra takes on the form of a cat in order to overcome the serpent Apophis - the sun must do this in order to rise in the east at dawn. Rather like a mongoose in India cats were good at catching and killing snakes - and in this case the snake is seen as the embodiment of all hindrances and obstacles which prevent the path of the sun. So in killing the serpent - the cat is restoring Ma'at or truth of the rightful order of things.

Anubis is a very interesting god. Usually shown as a jackal or a jackal headed man he was one of the most long lasting gods like Isis who persisted right through to the Late Period and the beginning of Christianity. The Roman's had swore 'by the Egyptian dog' meaning Anubis. He was twinned with another jackal headed god called Wepwawet (Apuat) whose name means 'opener of the ways' and he later assimilated some of the attributes of this god. His main role was as the god of embalming and the psychopomp or guide of the dead soul through the underworld. This function links him to shamanist type practices of dreaming and astral travel and so on. He also assisted Thoth the god of wisdom in the 'weighing of the heart' judgement where the good and bad deeds of the dead person were assessed to see if the soul of the departed could pass into the abode of Osiris. The Egyptian for Anubis is Anpu (Anubis being the Greek version). He is usually shown as black faced - black being the colour of both death and regeneration. the embalming/mummification process was actually a magical process for creating a perfect body as a vehicle for the afterlife - and specifically the location of the heart (ib) which is the centre of mind, personality, volition and character). The Egyptians held that a person was not one entity but several. On death these several parts separated. The body (especially the heart), the ka (the etheric life field), the ba (the soul) and the shade ( the void entity) would seperate going in different direction. The body to earth, where the ka would also dwell until its energy expired, the soul to the sky and the shade to the underworld. The purpose of Anubian rites and the assistance that Anubis offered is about how to bring these entities together to avoid the 'second death' - that is final extinction. By assembling the body=mummy, energising the ka, invoking the ba and locating the shade it was possible to create a new entity called the akh - which means effective spirit - which is an eternal light being in which we can find spiritual immortality.

Somehow I don't feel we are any nearer to solving the mystery of the origin of mankind.

If Cameron resigns because of the Panama Papers and the ironically named Blairsmore fund ... I predict the referendum will be postponed and even possibly shelved. Just thinking out loud here.

I wish to be imbued with Spit-it. Bring it on. The relationship between the Fool and the Magician is an interesting one - perhaps you'd like to say more Michael.

Some years ago I spent a lot of time on the Four Thoughts and found it beneficial - but it is very much a Buddhist primer for getting your practice going and later keeping you on the right path. I don't think they should be read as a kind of complete view or indeed as very significant ontologically - for instance the Precious Human Birth is nothing to do with a kind of anthropocentric world view - that kind of view is more Biblical. The reason that human birth is thought of as precious is that it is thought as the best condition for achieving Buddhahood. The Buddhists essentially took on whole scale what was the traditional Indian world view of there being either 5 or 6 possible types of beings - depending on whether you distinguish between gods and demi gods on not. Having got this world view Buddhism then looked at the six possible incarnations and said human is best for practicing dharma. This is specific. Its not saying human's are better than animals or ghosts or gods but that being human is the ideal condition for doing practice. Being in hell is considered to horrible and nasty for you be able to get anywhere dharmically, being a hungry ghost is seen as a perpetual chasing after an unquechable thirst or appetite leaving you no opportunity either, animals lack the intellectual capacity to formulate for themselves what they need to do, demi-gods who are in the frustrating position of being very powerful but not the most powerful beings in the universe spend their time jealously trying to supplant the gods and the gods who enjoy seemingly endless capacities for amusement of enjoyment have no reason to seek liberation (save that according to the Buddhist view their long lives are not eternal and thus they do eventually fall down to the the hell levels through pride). So the best thing to be is human - and given the countlessly huge numbers of non-human beings (think bacteria, insects and so on) its a very rare and precious thing too. So the conclusion is - don't twat about and waste your life on nonsense but get on with your cultivation since you've been lucky enough to be born this way. Buddhists also recognise that even being born human some people are born into very difficult circumstances or in places where there is no dharma and so even having achieved a human birth - if you also encounter teachings then you are even more fortunate and should stop moaning about this and that and get on with it (your practice). Because human beings are thought to suffer - but nothing like the suffering of hell beings - but perhaps a taste of it - and are also thought to have brilliant creative abilities a bit like gods - we are in the mid point. What the mid point allows us to see is that there are beings that suffer and there are beings caught up in endless pleasure seeking - like chains of gold if you like - and because of this perspective it is easier for feelings of compassion to arise. That is you can relate to all the other beings and see the dukkha. This is the cause for bodhicitta which is in the first place the wish for everyone to get happy and enlightened. This feeling sparks inner contemplation which can lead to the realisation of the nature of the mind - ultimate bodhicitta - that's when you really start to 'get it'. The metaphor for this which is drawn from Indian mythology is the 'Wish Fulfilling Gem' - which is a magic object which grants wishes - a bit like Aladins lamp or similar. I think this might be where the 'Philosopher's Stone' comes from as a trope for 'that which we all seek for'. Though it is possible that vajrayana yoga practices do include a unification and balancing of the elements in an alchemical sense - I think when most people say the Wish Fulfilling Gem they just mean that it is your own mind which is the source of your own creative energy, happiness and liberation.

When you call my name it's like a little prayer I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there In the midnight hour I can feel your power Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there

I agree with those who suggest asking for a second opinion. Or you could interrogate your doctor further about exactly how necessary this medication is and what the prognosis is if she does not take it. A web site I looked at said it was for life threatening situations and so I guess its a subject not to be treated lightly. Trusting your dreams /intuition is a good thing but you have to be careful - I have sometimes discovered the true meaning of a dream as different to my first thoughts - and years later. So I would always recommend to test intuition with facts.

All of them are energy exhibiting different states and properties?

And what are they made from?

Just trying to make the point that their lives were not that bitter.

I'm not questioning the Torah. If it says, as I presume it does, the Jews were told to make bricks without adding straw - then this is historically accurate since (as I quoted above) Egyptians did not usually deliberately add straw. Where this factual information is spun - is in saying that this was some kind of hardship or punishment and not normal practice. So yes, factually correct but interpreted through a narrative which is designed to promote a view that the Jews were a) slaves and b ) mistreated. You will recall that while in the desert post Exodus there was a lot of yearning for returning to Egypt - for the lifestyle and the cucumbers and other lovely food and so on - so actually they had a good standard of living in Egypt - which is not surprising since it was one of the most advanced countries in the world at that time.

https://dataplasmid.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/ancient-egyptian-mud-brick-construction-materials-technology-and-implications-for-modern-man/ It seems there was sometimes straw but it was sometimes adventitiously present in the mud because of composting methods.

In medeaval manuscripts knights fought snails. ... makes you think doesn't it.

Indeed for if your 'origin' is your starting off point and your starting off point is where you live, your home. Then where is your origin if you carry your home on your back like a snail? Surely then your origin is everywhere you are - and perhaps nowhere at the same time. Since not having left home, as a snail then you are unoriginated.

No, no that's little boys surely.