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Friends that turn you on could end up being friends with benefits! Back to the original question, from one of those photo memes that does the rounds: "Some people will only love you as long as you fit into their box. Don't be afraid to disappoint." As the Duc de La Rochefoucauld said: "What men have given the name of friendship to is nothing but an alliance, a reciprocal accommodation of interest, an exchange of good offices; in it is nothing but a system of traffic, in which self-love always proposes to itself some advantage." Some people operate with a set point and don't like others to move beyond it. Like others I've experienced opposition. I always maintain that my practices and our relationship are not mutually exclusive, that practice actually helps me give more of myself to them.The one's that have stuck around know that I'm there for them and trust remains as I've always backed up words with actions. Others have fallen by the wayside, it can be disappointing but I wish them well and move on.

Just some suggestions and from an outside and uninformed perspective of your situation, perhaps wield the power of your celibate energy to explore issues of masculinity and what it entails to be a man in modern western society. This is something all men face. Robert Bly and David Deida are worth checking out. Learning qigong - grounding, refining and circulation of energy would be well worth investigating too. With all best wishes.

A number of Thomas Taylor's platonic translations can be found in this book: Thomas Taylor The Platonist, Selected Writings

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What follows is how I interpret the statement though of course, caveat emptor and all that, as I'm flawed and there may well be other more valid explanations. Decisiveness in this context doesn't mean rigidity in one's practice that becomes a burden. All sorts of practices can be done to suit one's inclinations and circumstances. It is rather a call to confidence in one's own ability to practice. What this statement is trying to impress is the reality of impermanence and what little time to practice one may have before the end of one's life - having already received the main point of practice with Direct Introduction, it is a wasted opportunity to constantly seek out intellectual reformulations and restatements of the same material over and over again only to find that one has been playing with concepts at the time of death.

If one does not stop the mouth from watering after yet another upadesha, one will fall into the trap of mind­‐made fabrications like searching for the footprints of the elephant in the forest while having left the elephant at home. Given that the time for liberation will not arrive it is necessary to be decisive with one’s practice! Advice from an Upadesha [Taken from:http://translationandtransmission.org/assets/sangye-khandro_upadesha_translating-spiritual-instructions-workshop.pdf ] Other conference papers may be worth checking out: http://translationandtransmission.org/conference-2014.html

Buddhism doesn't suppress the mind, it rests the mind with shamatha. Buddhism also cares, cleans and trains the the mind with the lojong and loving kindness meditations along with practice of the six paramitas.

Don't know if anyone remembers this: The rainbow which appeared surrounding the Guru Rinpoche temple (the holy body of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche is kept here), the day after the 49th day prayer ceremony - on 23rd May 2009.

Ki ki so so lha gyal lo!

Working with 'higher level beings' doesn't automatically mean that you're going to be merging and mixing personal energy with them, or be 'using' them to take 'undeserved' short cuts to spiritual integration. Arguably the normal spiritual observances and practices of any of the major religions/spiritual disciplines automatically involve higher beings which act as observers, guardians and intercessors between humanity and the divine, reciprocally conveying the fruits of spiritual practice to other orders of life, both seen and unseen. They're nobody's fool and simply won't be used. For many practitioners there may never be any conscious contact with them; their presence, though not consciously recognised, may be felt in the positive atmosphere of the practice. Motivation, integrity and discrimination is key and will affect the likely outcome of any known and unknown associations.

Western esotericism has the Assumption of the Godform: http://hermetic.com/stavish/rituals/godform.html

This looks a good'un: Child of the Sun: Psychic & Physical Rejuvenation in Alchemy and Qabala http://www.amazon.com/Child-Sun-Psychic-Physical-Rejuvenation/dp/1522735143/

Hi Tom, Thanks for your patient clarification and sharing your experience. Even if it does not entirely accord with the tradition at least there has been an informed discussion and people can decide for themselves. All the best to you Tom. Agreed, though this Buddhist sidetrack has illustated one point in working with higher level subtle beings and spirits: cultural differences in the protocols for approach.

Please excuse me if I'm misinterpreting your position here Jonesboy, but you appear to be saying that anyone can choose any vajrayana deity/yidam and just visualise themselves as this deity and recite their mantra without regard to any formal introduction or teachings from a flesh and blood lineage holder of the vajrayana. If this is the case, then this is definitely not working in line with the teachings of Guru Rinpoche. From Dakini Teachings: Lady Tsogyal asked the master: Without receiving empowerment from one's master, will one attain accomplishment or not? The master replied: To exert yourself in study and so forth without attending a master and without having received the empowerments, you will have no result and your effort will be wasted. Empowerment is the entrance to the Secret Mantra. To enter the Secret Mantra without the empowerments being conferred is pointless, since it will yield no result and your stream of being will be ruined. Again from Dakini Teachings - regarding receiving empowerments and transmissions for vajrayana deities from masters who have not received empowerments (and by extension those outside the tradition): Lady Tsogyal asked the Master: If a master himself has not been conferred empowerments and he gives them to others, will they receive the empowerments or not? The master replied: Although you may be appointed by a charlatan to the rank of a minister thus entrusted with power, you will meet with misfortune. Likewise, although you may have an empowerment conferred upon you by a master who himself has not received it, your mind will be ruined. Edit: tpyos

Wishing beings to be happy is the formal expression of the first of the four immeasurables - love. In a Buddhist context love has certain qualifications and preconditions which negates using others suffering as a limb for your own happiness. The four immeasurables are usually stated in some form or another at the start of each practice and it goes something like this: 'May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the causes of happiness. [Love] Be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. [Compassion] May they never be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering. [Joy] And may they dwell in the great equanimity that is free from passion, aggression and prejudice. [Equanimity]

You're welcome!

The Greater Trumps by Charles Williams is a work of ficton infused with Tarot lore. Chapter listing: Title: The Greater Trumps (1932)Author: Charles WilliamsContents:Chapter One THE LEGACYChapter Two THE HERMITChapter Three THE SHUFFLING OF THE CARDSChapter Four THE CHARIOTChapter Five THE IMAGE THAT DID NOT MOVEChapter Six THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FOOLChapter Seven THE DANCE IN THE WORLDChapter Eight CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE COUNTRYChapter Nine SYBILChapter Ten NANCYChapter Eleven JOANNAChapter Twelve THE FALLING TOWERChapter Thirteen THE CHAPTER OF THE GOING FORTH BY NIGHTChapter Fourteen THE MOON OF THE TAROTSChapter Fifteen THE WANDERERS IN THE BEGINNINGChapter Sixteen "SUN, STAND THOU STILL UPON GIBEON"

Drinking plenty of water? "In the kundalini experience, water protects all levels or layers (koshas) of the body in a fashion similar to the way nuclear coolant can be shown to neutralize the heat intensity of fusion, and for the yogi this means one’s body is through proper hydration prevented from the various perils of overcharge or short-circuiting (a resulting imbalance of somatic energy and insanity are just two of many ways this might negatively manifest for the careless practitioner).." Taken from: http://www.internationaljournaldharmastudies.com/content/3/1/12

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Thank you for your gracious and patient response to genuine community concerns - sorry, from your exchange with Brian on edits there didn't appear to be a clear answer.

My prime concern here was with the risk of rogue deletion of posts, with the deleted posts being unrecoverable. That they can be recovered is a relief. The mods have the unenviable task of balancing the provision of global editing priviledges with establishing processes to monitor, detect and rectify abuses of those priviledges. The choice is entirely up to them, but if maintaining forum integrity proves too much of an overhead, then perhaps the global editing priviledges should be removed. @Brian/@Dawei - I'm following your exchange on the question of rogue edits, thanks. If rogue edits cannot be detected and rectified by an active monitoring process then this is a big show stopper and really a no brainer - Owners Permissions should be withdrawn. Doesn't the safety and integrity of board members trump the granting of far reaching abusable powers to anyone who cares to request them? edit: Multiple tpyos

Sorry, just another clarification if possible please. Deleted posts can be easily detected and restored. Is this also the case with rogue editing of other members posts?

That's good to know! In that case I withdraw my earlier alarmist comment about a blasé DaoBum Management Team. Cheers!

Thanks Tibetan_Ice! It was clear from the inception of Owners Permissions this could be done. Surely you're shitting us when you say the wording of the agreement was ambiguous and it was a complete surprise to you that you could do this? Perhaps the only good that can come out of this shenanigan is the demonstration that Owners Permissions pose a clear danger to the board's long term integrity. The disconcerting thing is that the DaoBum Management Team seem quite blasé about this. Apech's thread is still missing - what's that all about?