Apech

Thanks. That's an interesting and valid way of seeing it. As a Tonglen practitioner I can also say it has a wonderful way of restoring balance in the subtle body. I think most people who first hear of it think that the opposite might happen - that you might through taking in negative energy become a sort of rubbish dump - but the effect is not this. For many years in the early days of the Mahayana Tonglen was the main and secret practice and thought sufficient on its own to lead to liberation.

Why do Americans like short sleeved shirts? Cos of the right to bare arms.

Michael, Could you expand a bit on your last sentence about Tonglen.

Sorry Brian for that brief interlude of silliness. The image of the magician or magus is very central and key to the Hermetic tradition. When the renaissance thinkers like Ficino and Pico started study of the Hermetic Texts they were legitimised by the idea that Hermes Trismegistus (the author of the Pimander etc) was understood as an ancient Egyptian who understood and predicted the Trinity and the coming of the Christ. This was partly a genuine belief and partly a ruse to avoid the inquisition. This allowed the idea of the magus - which means someone who doesn't just wish to be infused with the divine but to operate by manipulating the energies coming from the divine to effect changes in the world. What the Renaissance inherited through the Hermetic texts written in the early centuries AD was a bit of a mish mash of Babylonian, Greek and Egyptian ideas - on top of which you can add some Hebrew Cabala. However it was understood to be mainly Egyptian and distinct but standing alongside Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and Cabala. The idea that the universe is composed of divine substances is probably Egyptian - the idea that you can control and manipulate energies is definitely Egyptian (IMO) and gives rise to both astral magic and alchemy (depending on whether you are focusing on subtle forces or on physical substances). It is actually a short step from this form of empiricism to science - since both believe in the possibility of both understanding the way the universe works and the possibility of manipulating it. Hence Alchemy morphs into Chemistry - but only when the world view becomes narrowed by skepticism. In other words you go from a wider world view which includes divine and subtle energies and so on - to one that refutes anything intangible. In terms of astral magic while the Zodiac is Babylonian in origin and was only introduced into Egypt in the late and Greco-Roman periods, by the time of the Hermetic writing it was fully integrated. But the Egyptians at least by the Middle Kingdom and probably earlier had a system of decan stars (so called because they divide the skies in arcs of 10 degrees) fo which there are 36 (36X10 = 360 = the whole sky). The decan stars seem to have two uses. One is to measure time at night. So the rising of the stars above the horizon (or passing through the mid heaven) marked each hour of the night. These hours were significant tot he Egyptians because they tracked the sun's passage through the netherworld. Most significant being the 6th hour when the sun was regenerated. The other use was a guide of the dead soul - a kind of sky map which allowed the dead persons soul (or the shaman priests soul) to travel across the sky to the east to greet the rising sun. In the renaissance period while the translators and early 'dabblers' in magic fully embraced the Zodiac and the seven planets - they were a bit nervous of the decans which by this time were represented by different figures relating to the Zodiac sign. Its not entirely clear why this is but it probably relates to the idea that they tended to relate to 'positive' planets and signs like Venus, Jupiter and the Sun and try to negate other like Saturn. So they were trying to distinguish between High magic and Low magic and the decans although later accepted were originally thought to be low (possibly because they appear in the Talismanic work Picatrix which is full of witchcraft type spells). The Tarot doesn't appear until the 17 century which makes some doubt its authenticity - but practitioners generally accept that the symbols are drawn from the Western Magical Tradition.

With regard to science and the subtle body - I'm not sure I want lab coated technicians tinkering around with my subtle body - I am happy that subtle energies are beyond the reach of their radar. Whoever said it is right - that the subtle body is more fluid and responsive to being observed and the intention of the observer. In fact it's kind of half way between being totally fluid and being fixed. So differing diagrams of the subtle body which reflect the intent and purpose of the practitioner/observer are all legitimate in their own way.

The people on that Spiritual Science Research Foundation are aligned to a teacher called Jayant Balaji Athavale who they call His Holiness. Athavale founded an organisation in India called Sanatan Sanstha and according to its Wiki page members of Sanatan Sanstha have been arrested for terrorism namely the Panvel, Thane and Vashi bomb blasts. Some dark energy involved perhaps???

@ Nungali 1 ) Swinbourne! you poofta! 2 ) psychopomp - I love that word 3 ) decans eh!

Thanks! Well it's really worrying, both that human nature could allow this sort of behaviour in the refugees - and the likely reaction. I hope the authorities act swiftly and decisively to deal with this. But I'm not holding my breath.

When I think about the Nazi atrocities and Mr. Hitler I always think it could easily have happened in England and the boot on the other foot. It's time to move on - remember, learn lessons but not the guilt.

around the s bend eh? where the sewage flows all day little rats do play.

It's a myth - they don't do it.

How about some internal organs - I hear they fetch a good price on the international market.

Indeed I live near one ... the Moors penetrated northwards to more or less this area. But of course they have added to the richness of the culture, language and even the ancient agricultural technology. Lets not throw babies out with bathwater. But I agree we should not be apologetic for our history, if we were, then everyone else should be and the apologies would have to go back a few thousand years - at least.

Shocked, eh?

I'm not a conservative but this is a nice rant:

As I stated above I agree that this whole situation is a complete mess. I also see that 18 of the alleged attackers are asylum seekers which as I already said should lead to deportation. There has to be an implied if not an explicit contract between the asylum seeker and the welcoming country that they behave in a decent manner and abide by local laws and standards of behaviour. But I suspect it won't be as easy as that - so long term imprisonment is more likely. I think we (Europeans) have to hold our leaders to account for this. What are now being called regressive liberal values have been part of the problem. But our policy makers and thinkers are now in disarray. How exactly do they respond to the situation without falling into a right wing backlash? I think the first step is to stop blaming ourselves for what happens in the Middle East e.g. we created ISIS and so on so it is our fault. I read the other day the core of ISIS is the old Ba'athist Generals from Saddam Hussein's army and not the western extremists (who are only a front).

nineteen one to four these are the odds I can get on completing this ....

leading with my chin my nose behind my left eye I'm a Picasso!

Useful stuff horse crap.

Had to clear whole cache / browsing history to get rid of it - cookies not enough. It might be a Chrome thing i.e. once it gets the error page it caches it and so it repeats.

He's usually shown with one arm raised and the other pointing down and this relates to the magical use of the subtle energies of the infinite (the One and All) to effect change in the physical world. This was originally expressed through working with talismans and amulets where it was thought particular gems, metals, colours and images resonated with stellar forces which were part of the universal soul. This is astral magic and includes planetary deities and things like the decans. So effectively the Magician is channelling higher energies to effect change below - 'as above so below' and all that. The card is related to the Hebrew letter Aleph.

The topic is about whether Dzogchen is superior to tantra - so we need to discuss tantric practices also.

The bodhisattva vow is the commitment to attain enlightenment for all sentient beings and is designed to evoke bodhicitta which is the motivating force behind one's practice. Bodhicitta at the ultimate level is the realisation of emptiness of all phenomena - at the relative level this expresses as compassion. Compassion here is not sentimental feeling but a true understanding that others are experiencing dukkha. Prior to taking this vow you take refuge in the three jewels and part of this is that you are giving up worldly values (known as the eight worldly dharmas ). So first there is a kind of renunciation, a focussing in on a commitment and then there is an expansive focus on positive qualities (generosity and so on). This is in the mahayana and does not apply in Theraveda for instance. Once you get to the vajrayana practice you are now focussing on transforming your mind. So this includes yogas and energy working which is facilitated by having a sound motivation (bodhicitta) and a positive expansive view of your self and others (compassion, loving kindness and the six perfections). So each stage builds on the last like a stupa and your practice is very strong. Looking back from the energy working stage you can see that renunciation and working on positive values is actually powerful energy work. The first is preventing leakage and waste of energy and the second is building a balanced and 'full' subtle body. Throughout these practices you continue to develop more and more bodhicitta and the wish for all sentient beings to receive benefit from your own work (as well as yourself obviously) and this is a real thing. So without a communicative level of the sambhoga kaya these wishes and blessings would be empty (in the bad sense) and just like pie in the sky. So that's what I meant by the second sentence. I wrote this quickly from my own understanding and so if anything is wrong or poorly expressed I apologise.