rex

There's also Atisha's Seven Points of Mind Training, the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation and the Lojong slogans.

Hi FD, Glad you liked the handout . I still need to refer to it. There's a teaching on the Wheel of Happiness which uses Discipline, Meditation and Wisdom to mutually strengthen and reinforce each other in a synergistic, iterative turning of a wheel: through Discipline we act appropriately and one manifestation of this is Meditation to train and transform the mind. The fruit of Discipline and Meditation is Wisdom (and Compassion) which naturally leads to Discipline. And so on, round and round to ever-increasing circles of happiness. Best, Rex

Hi mwight I'm just a confused being relying on the insights of others instead of direct personal experience, so I can't really offer an adequate personal definition beyond the general one given by Dzigar Kontrul earlier on. Now all the teachings I've received say that enlightenment is beyond concepts so nothing that can be said about it will ever be definitive. However, personally, aspects of it can be deduced from how enlightened beings manifest to us in various accounts given by the enlightened traditions themselves. Since one of the titles of the Buddha is the Awakened One, then sure, enlightenment is waking up from this dream of life and death. My personal 'definition' - for what its worth - is at variance to your definition which seems to advise that enlightenment is to be avoided because it leads to a putative annihilation. Is enlightenment a nihilistic "complete and total annihilation of self, identity, ego, life and attachments to loved ones/things"? From the accounts of the lives and enlightenment of the Indian mahasiddhas far from it; there is warmth, humour, outrageous behaviour and compassion. Self, identity, ego, life, attachments and loved ones are put in to a different perspective and instead of being context become content. Indeed the passions and the fifty one mental states are worn as ornaments and are the manifestations of enlightened energy.

Hi FD, The advice was from a beginners retreat and designed to protect young seedlings as they sprout - its so easy to lose the thread after the event. After all, we're all ready well trained in samsara and everything in daily life seems designed to distract us from spiritual practice.

No I think we understand each other perfectly; the difference between our views is that you seem to hold to a nihilistic almost fearful view of enlightenment and I don't. That's all.

Perhaps this is refering to a particular view of enlightenment? Does the warning come from direct knowledge? How do we know this? Are there any testimonies to this effect?

Nice quick definition from Dzigar Kontrul: Enlightenment is the complete and irreversible awakening to one's true nature, in which the wisdom of both seeing the true nature of phenomena and knowing phenomena in all their variety is revealed.

Quality thread! This quote from Arya Maitreya's Uttatatantra Shastra fits quite nicely: If an inexhaustable treasure were burried in the ground beneath a poor man's house, the man would not know of it, the treasure would not speak and tell him "I am here!" Likewise a precious treasure is contained in each being's mind. This is its true state, which is free from defilement. Nothing is to be added and nothing to be removed. Nevertheless, since they do not realize this, sentient beings continuously undergo the manifold sufferings of deprivation.

Looking at the faces of depictions of divine beings.

Short audio teachings by Sogyal Rinpoche set to music by Richard Page: 1) Yes I'd like to listen! 2) No Thanks!

This is what should have appeared: http://www.thetaobums.com/Nice-Music-Nice-...hing-t5217.html

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition some gifted practitioners can die for a few days and then come back to tell others what they saw. These practitioners are called delogs: http://www.amazon.com/Delog-Journey-Realms.../dp/1881847055/ I hope the accounts are exaggerated to put the wind up folks so they practice more. One way of training for death is to be aware of one's essential spiritual core and die in that state. Easier said than done of course, and it'll take a life time of practice to be able to have confidence and faith that one has actually stabilised that state. Dream yoga is good training for death as falling asleep is said to be similar.

Hi Lin, Thanks for your Sutra recommendations which can be found online and studied. Now this is just an observation and not a criticism but from the valuable Sutras you mentioned I believe that you do not 'just cultivate Buddhism' but a particular cultural form of Buddhism, namely Chinese Mahayana Chan. From a historical point of view Mahayana Sutras are 'controversial' in that even though they claim to be the words of the Buddha, they cannot with authority be proven to be so. The only historically authoritative Sutras, i.e. those which can be actually traced back to the Buddha himself are those found in the Pali Sutra Pitaka. So from this perspective your notion of the 'Proper Dharma' is based on faith - as is of course Tibetan Mahayana and it's subset, vajrayana. So while I respect your Buddhist faith, I do not hold your criticisms of Tibetan methods as authoritative pronouncements on the value of another Buddhist method, but rather as the considered opinion of a careful cultivator who finds them unsuitable, for perhaps himself, and through observation, those around him. This does not mean that they are unsuitable for all though. I am reminded of a prayer I often recite: In the realization of the great primordial purity, free from limits or direction, There are no distinct vehicles to be enumerated, Yet conceptually, in consideration of students' capacities and inclinations, Nine vehicles arose, may their wishes be fulfilled! May all your dharma aspirations be realised! Rex

Hi Lin, Do you follow a particular Buddhist school and what Sutras would you recommend to read for 100% proper Dharma? Of the Sutras you do recommend, were they actually written by the historical Buddha or by his disciples, or even the disciples of the disciples years after Siddhārtha Gautama's death? Best, Rex

While I don't accord with Lin's objection to the role of the teacher in Tibetan Buddhism what he says is not without merit. Check this horror story out: Fraudulent Teacher & Bad Advice (Again, registration required to read). Caveat Emptor!

Lama Ole Nydahl has a few videos on youtube that can be checked out. For opinions and experiences of general and particular Buddhists there are a couple of threads on E-Sangha (registration is required to read): Lama Ole Nydahl Diamond Way Buddhism You'll find that opinions vary both inside and outside the Tibetan tradition - go with your instincts.

Since chi follows yi this is a moot point. In other endeavours imagination is a source of knowledge, communication and inspiration. To deny the imagination is to deny the human spirit.

"Beware the stories you read or tell: subtly, at night, beneath the waves of consciousness, they are altering your world." Ben Okri

Gamma inducing music? That's a good idea! This site has various brain wave inducing sound files - listening to them they sound like something out of Dr.Who or a John Carpenter film soundtrack. I also now feel a little nauseus as well. http://archure.net/midi/waves/

Have a sub-forum called 'Kunlun and ... '

The road to truth is long and lined the entire way with annoying bastards.

Pan's labyrinth is a brimfull of wonder, brutality and faerie tradition. It's encouraging that topics other than psycho-somatic exercise and Eastern philosophy come up. After all it's in the TB remit to discuss widely and TB would be poorer place if this were not so. From the main page: "Discussion is encouraged to wander eclectically across a wide range of spiritual thought and practice, whether Buddhist, Yogic, Tantric, Judaic, Advaitic, Christian, Islamic, Shamanic, Occult, "New Age", Integral... As long as you are up for a good time, you're welcome to discuss your path."