Apech

Hey who's been taking pics at the Hermetic Sub Forum weekly meeting?

"Ages are All Equal. But Genius is Always Above The Age." If you criticise Billy Blake again I shall be forced to put you on ignore. But then 'opposition is true friendship'.

I agree about drug treatment - but I thought the idea of ancestral memory or encoded feeling states a useful one.

The concept of illusion is potentially misleading and leads to a lot of misunderstanding. Without going into why I just thought I would make this statement.

What is inaccurate about the map?

Karma is nothing to do with God's will ... in fact in terms of ethics (Buddhist at least) it is a reasons for acting well without needing to resort to Divine Commandment or similar. In this sense karma is not Justice ... unless by Justice you mean 'it just is'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonglen all us Buddhists do it at some time or other (except Therevadans).

I help her to stand. Then push her into the road She has signed her will. (really very sorry about this one).

I think its a bit better than that.

Well good ... I read a paper recently which said there was an Eastern Akshobya pure land before the Amitabha one. Any way I am always prepared to defend Pure Land practice ...

That's why it is best just to adopt it as a praxis or guide for ethical choices rather than agonising over how it might work or why certain things may happen. they are karma sure, but stored since beginingless time and therefore of obscure origin.

Nevermind.

Well ... no comment needed!

I think there are two types of offerings. 1 ) things, objects that correspond to the entity (resonate with it) by colour, taste, smell or other aspect. 2 ) things which have value to you ... which you are giving up to show your genuine intent. The first is more normal I think.

Hmmm ... I see a candle lit dinner for two in my scrying bowl.

Karma mean 'action' and originally derives from ritual action of the Vedic religion. It has come now to mean action - reaction or cause and effect. In other words whatever you do has some kind effect, good, bad or neutral (although all these terms are relative and subjective). In Buddhism it is used as the basis for morality, as a guide for how to behave ... that is, act in the knowledge that your action will have implications for yourself and others. Anything beyond that ... and particularly New Age versions of the 'Law of Karma' are a bit unreliable so best to stick to the simple version. If you understand it in this way it will motivate you to be a better person.

My understanding is based wholly on the way you communicate on here ... that is terse one liners quite often negative and with a slight sense of a put down ...like its my fault if I don't understand you ... while I would suggest it is your failure to communicate effectively your point of view which causes my misunderstanding.

That comes across as a little glib to be honest ...

I wonder if you might benefit from conversing more with others. A lot of the material you bring to TBs is excellent and many of books you quote I have studied and read (though usually in part) and I am convinced you are a serious student of your chosen lineage. I do not practice Dzogchen but Karma Kagyu (mahamudra oriented) practice but by reading across I can learn a lot. I recognise that many Lamas speak of higher vehicles and so on ... but in my experience they still support and uphold the basic hinayana and mahayana as well. I would like to hear more of the reasons for your various conclusions than pithy quotes and I think perhaps you are antagonising others (Buddhist and non-Buddhist unnecessarily. But thank you anyway for the scholarly level of information you bring to TBs.

Steve ... we are not ordinary (maybe).

That's the Tao of snacks.

Maybe that's what happens when you donate 2 cents.

I think this thread should be called The Tao of Philosophy which would allow almost anything (in a way) rather than Philosophical Tao which implies a limitation.

You see the bickering is everywhere not just in Buddhist sub.