Apech

My thought is that like all great teachings it is a kind of paradox - you have to work, to build, and so on - but also it is only the True Self from which realisation comes.

Except in that Buddha-nature is not constructed. Buddha-nature is the continuum of consciousness which is our nature. The task is to realise it - or rather it realises itself such that consciousness becomes reflexively aware of itself. The carefully constructed energetic matrix which you refer to is more like the vessel which takes you there than the thing itself. I think we would find if we had the proper resources to research it that there is a common origin in all the systems which work with channels and so on. Much of the early versions come through medical healing approaches in both India and China - and are used (in slightly different ways) by yogis of different traditions to realise the fundamental nature of being and to achieve a kind of perfect harmony and this health.

Perhaps we could say a kind of Weltschmerz brought on by that fin de siècle sense of the jejune nature of discourse itself?

If there were no incels Mantak Chia would be out of business.

Luke, my son, 'psychologist party-goer' is almost an oxymoron, let's face it.

now I feel existential angst - and it ain't pretty.

Thou shalt become fishers of men.

anyone else feel ennui?

punk

Hi, Apart from anything else I think you are to be congratulated on your persistence. Clearly you have a considerable reserve of determination and discipline. I am not personally familiar with BF's methods but I think I get the general idea. There's probably nothing wrong with it as a technique but a path or 'way' is not a technique or even a series of them. I think you should take all methods as just being tools which can be used to achieve certain results - if they don't work (after a reasonable effort and time spent) then just try something else. This is not to say you should gad from thing to thing seeking results - but that you should understand that the path is the grand plan and not the bits and pieces. Very often if you find yourself stuck in some way - and it seems unresolvable after a long time spent then it just means you are approaching the problem in the wrong way. Actually for those who practice without a teacher this is the way we learn. But you need to give yourself little breaks and re-examine the problem regularly to see if you are looking at it correctly. There are some quite famous illustrations of this kind of thing. Like the monkey who sees a tasty nut in a bottle but when he closes his fist around the nut he can't get his hand out the bottle neck. Or a fish that gets stuck in a net and through struggling to get out winds himself tighter and tighter. That kind of thing. If you can find a teacher who knows what they are doing they might help you. But better still just deconstruct your whole problem, examine the parts, decide how it all functions and think of a new approach to try. Do it for say 3 months and repeat. The main thing to remember is that you are not the problems, you are the consciousness which is aware of the problems, essentially you are free, you just have to remember how to be free. Every time you hit a block it is a big lesson which will help you recover the essential unity and health in yourself. I know this sounds a little New Agey but hey. Best wishes and good luck.

The Winter War?

Finnish?

investiture

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago, Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know; We may not count her armies, we may not see her King; Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering; And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase, And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

Mr. Miyagi

For those of you who have always dreamed of doing this:

But don't you think there's more to thoughts and ideas than just habitual preferences?

i think you get my general point. an occasional video on a spoiler box isn't a problem but I still prefer written conversation because I'm getting a bit senile

My life or yours?

Perhaps there's no right or wrong - there's what works and what doesn't work. But from what you say if changing thoughts from negative to positive makes a difference then they are important and necessary (?)

I've found the general attitude in the buddhist community is that it is karma and so if you are rich in this life its through the accumulation of some good deeds in the past - so wealth applauded rather than denigrated. of course the yogi or monk seeks liberation and so tends to own nothing or little for themselves. Also the vajrayana was specifically developed to allow those surrounded by sensual pleasure and riches - such as kings - to be able to practice.

Necessity is from PIE roots meaning 'not yielding' = not ceasing or withdrawing. You could say it means continuously present. Thought from PIE root *tong = to think, feel. In our minds there is a continuous thought process - and thoughts span everything from abstract ideas to vaguely formed feeling. There are different types of thought as I said above. As homo sapiens they are as essential to our being as the organs of our body. Why is this????

You work out why thought is necessary and what it is for.