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Not sure if the link to these ebooks on the HGA has already been posted, apologies if they have: http://www.theomagica.com/ebooks

Is ritual magic a true spiritual practice? Podcast here: http://www.yourspiritualbroadcast.com/2014/10/31/is-ritual-magic-a-true-spiritual-practice-ysb014/ edit: tpyo

Start Where You Are: Pema Chodron Turning Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment: Dodrupchen Jigmé Tenpé Nyima A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night: H.H. Dalai Lama Buddhahood Without Meditation: Dudjom Lingpa Being Right Here: James Low Simply Being: James Low Smile at Fear: Chogyam Trungpa Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway: Susan Jeffers

It's in Tibetan Buddhism too and can be called a lha ceremony: http://www.tibetanmedicine-edu.org/index.php/n-articles/lha-and-lha-ceremony Some long life practices with Tibetan Buddhist deities also recall lost and stolen elemental energy.

Phew! For a moment you had me worried! : )

Thanks! : )

Why can't this be mentioned again?

Anything to do with the secret fire without which nothing can be accomplished? : )

It's pretty damned persistent then. When not active couldn't it be lurking and waiting for opportunities to manifest?

Me too!

Not a book but a video series: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/spagyricus His books are good too : )

You're welcome Stefos! Thanks for the reminder

Interesting account here: http://www.inominandum.com/blog/field-report-attack-magic/ As the account mentions, ethics are crucial. From a Buddhist perspective: Practicing the spells of black magic, like deadly weapons - I might be able to cast them, I might not. Not buying the knife that cuts my own throat, May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Also known as Kinkara - associated with Mother Tantra. "The dancing, grinning skeletons ... express a dynamic vision of death and change, viewed as an estatic dance of transformation, unchanging inner essence transcending the constant mutations of externals. Meditation on the impermanence of all phenomena should lead to a joyful freedom from attachment, and not to a morbid pessimism." [Taken from 'The Crystal and the Way of Light'.]

Has anyone noticed that the OP's question hasn't been answered and they haven't made any further contributions to this thread? Hardly surprising considering the usual descent into axe grinding and displays of personal agenda that bedevils/bemaras the subject on this board.

Another good post! So really you are saying that the upheavals that may be brought about are no worse than what many non-practitioners have to deal with in a lifetime anyway? Good point, though I think there's a difference in expecting upheaval and knowing that one may be actively inviting it in, thereby being forwearned/forearmed, and having it crashing down on you out of the blue irrespective of one's state of readiness. The key element is having some semblance of choice. I don't know why the teacher feels that Westerners will not be fundamentally changed. Until quite recently people who had gone through the three year retreat could call themselves lama, but it isn't automatic anymore. The teachers opinion and recent change may be related. Some places do divinations for each potential retreatant to see if it's the right time for them to go on retreat - this is something I will do if ever considering a retreat.

Thanks for the thoughtful and compelling overview, this puts a lot into perspective. One Tibetan teacher I know of discourages Westerners living in the West to do the traditional three year retreat as he argues that they won't be fundamentally changed, and when they get out their job and significant other would have moved on. Worth it if there's fundmental postive and enabling changes in oneself, otherwise unless one has got a real trade/skill and close supportive family/friends, the worse case scenario could be being left to pick up the pieces from where one left off, with no job, no support network, and no new inner resources to meet the challenge. Bummer!

The disruption of anything that acts as a supporting pillar of one's life e.g. job, significant relationships etc. I've read something similar in an interview with a course supervisor of a magical school where as students progress through the curriculum they can experience the aforementioned. Some even end up emigrating. From the accounts given not sure if it's a deliberate backlash or just a natural and inevitable outer readjustment to inner change i.e false foundations of life being blown away like the lightening struck tower. Good to read that no one on the Abramelin yahoo group have experienced this, but as OldChi mentions the book is not a definitive statement but the result of an internet debate amongst magicians and is an account of the contributing author's experience and opinions. Well if I had a career, wife and family and still felt that my life was shit, maybe then there would be nothing to loose and everything to gain. However if I did have all these and was happy, I would, as Jason Miller advises, not be cavaliere with what I had and think twice. But maybe this is a test in itself?

It's a fine read indeed. I remember you posting the warning that achieving KCHGA can have a back lash which Jason Miller also reiterates in the book and here - http://www.reddit.com/r/occult/comments/2e8feo/iama_jason_miller_inominandum/cjx1rpp.

Since the Medicine Buddha was taught by Shakamuni Buddha in the sutras you don't need transmission or empowerment to make a connection - just sincerity and faith. It's always good to get empowerment and tranmisssion if you can but it's not essential for starting out. A Google search on Medicine Buddha sutra practices brings up a few pdfs. Very basically you can visualise the Medicine Buddha in front of you and recite the mantra. Who knows, doing a simple practice may get you into a position where you can receive formal teachings. Here's a site on the Medicine Buddha, http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/medicine-buddha.htm and the issue of the empowerment is mentioned by quoting Thrangu Rinpoche's teaching on a particular Medicine Buddha sadhana: "With regard to the empowerment, you should understand that the Medicine Buddha practice is not solely a vajrayana practice.... this practice of the Medicine Buddha is a combination of what the Buddha taught about the Medicine Buddha in the sutras of the Medicine Buddha and in various tantras. Because it is connected with vajrayana, it is most appropriate to receive the empowerment to enhance the practice; but because it is also connected with the sutras, it is acceptable to do the practice without the empowerment as well."

Close the Buddhist subforum down.

Interesting blog post questioning the role of meditation as a universal panacea: http://magicoftheordinary.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/danger-will-robinson/

Just a quick question please, has the upcoming events thread in the General Discussion Forum been deleted or just unpinned?

Yes, that's the one. Thanks : )

When it comes to disputed history this is probably a good a source as any: http://www.amazon.com/Authenticating-Tibet-Answers-Questions-Lilienthal/dp/0520249283/ "In Authenticating Tibet, international Tibet scholars provide historically accurate answers to 100 Questions and deal evenhandedly with both China's "truth" about Tibet and that of the Dalai Lama and his followers. Designed for use by a general audience, the book is an accessible reference, free of the polemics that commonly surround the Tibet question."