rex
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Everything posted by rex
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Funny you should mention this Freeform. This internal reading voice can reflect a wholey subjective attitude to the writer. When I read things and think they sound bollocks or are mind numbingly banal or over-stating the obvious there's usually a pejorative reading tone. Re-reading with a Richard Burton voice can make all the difference.
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My opinions don't hold a drop of water either but here goes .. Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche's statement is not dismissive, it's merely pointing out a difference in methodology, not goal. Is there such a thing as a universally accepted Pan east Asian distinction? There's an awful lot of doctrinal dispute between schools. A generously inclusive nine level Tibetan classfication is shared with the Nyingmas and Bon only, interestingly, both custodians of the Dzogchen teachings. There are exceptional individuals in every tradition who challenge forms. However did Hui Neng succeed in getting the Prajnaparamita sutras universally unprotected by all the Zen schools? Forms and methods exist to suit the capacity and inclinations of indivduals. Have you received Togal transmission? Purported experiences? Now this is a rhetorical question, have you had your meditation experiences in the Tibetan tradition validated by a teacher? There's no denying there are similarities and overlaps (see my previous post above). Its not a question of ultimate compatibility of the goal, but of method and the resulting aspect of reality emphasised and worked with. However Longchenpa transmitted the Longchen Nyingtik to Jigme Lingpa long after his physical death. Do departed Zen masters do similar? Do Zen masters achieve the rainbow body?
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Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche has a definite reason for addressing this question - he is identfying the uniqueness of the ninth Buddhist vehicle that distinguishes it from the other eight. Because Dzogchen is a Buddhist path there should be no suprise that nearly all its tennets and views will be found somewhere in the other eight vehicles - all except one. What distinguishes Dzogchen is its working with the spontaneous energy of the primordial state and not the emptiness aspect of it. To this end, it has the practice of Togal (Leap Over), which results in dissolution of the physical body, a tradition and result that doesn't exist in Zen which takes emptiness as the goal of the path, as opposed to Dzogchen, which uses emptiness as the base of the path. Different grounds and paths lead to different results. There is an indepth thread on E-Sangha on precisely this question on the similarities and differences between Dzogchen and Zen (Folks may need to register to read): http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/index.php...=26116&st=0
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In the Supreme Source, a translation of a Dzogchen Mind Series Tantra, the Kunjed Gyalpo, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche mentions that Zen and Dzogchen are not synonymous: "At heart, Zen, which without any doubt is a high and direct Buddhist teaching, is based on the principle of emptiness as explained in the sutras such as the Prajnaparamita. Even though in this regard, it is no different from Dzogchen, the particularity of Dzogchen lies in the direct introduction to the primordial state not as "pure emptiness" but rather as endowed with all the aspects of the self-perfection of energy".
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These three are good detailed overviews, contextualise the various practices, but aren't 'how to' books: The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen - Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche Highest Yoga Tantra - Daniel Cozort Profound Buddhism: From Hinayana to Vajrayana - Kalu Rinpoche This one is a good general overview: The World of Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview of its Philosophy and Practice - Dalai Lama This one is inspirational with hidden depths: The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying - Sogyal Rinpoche Dzogchen is a complete path in itself which doesn't have to rely on tantra or sutra for its methods or philosophy. Some lineages use tantra as a jumping off point into Dzogchen while Dzogchen practitioners avail themselves of tantric and sutric methods as useful secondary practices.
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Who would you like to see go for Lei Shan Dao training in China?
rex replied to Cameron's topic in General Discussion
[Enter stage right] Hmmm, I've got a funny feeling about this which looks a right carry on. TaoBums the face of Taoism in the West indeed! How about stump up the cash for David to come and teach in the US? [Exit stage left] -
I've been told that the lower dan tien has a link to the pole star and the unmanifest.
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Haven't got an explanation, just an assertion based on perennial philosophy: mind, matter and energy are inseparable.
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One book on tantra to recommend a female friend?
rex replied to GrandTrinity's topic in General Discussion
The lover Within: opening to energy in sexual practice Fun, multi-disciplinary, draws on Western and Eastern models. Mentioned before on Taobums. -
Various systems make a connection between cycles of universal energy, the constellations, planets and the elements, and their parallels in the human body's energy cycles. These naturally lead to favourable and unfavourable conditions for certain activities, including spiritual practice. The lunar calendar is used to determine various types of practice, so for example, the waxing moon to connect with male energy and the waning moon with female energy. On the full moon (the 15th day of the Tibetan lunar month) the source of the body's vitality is said to reside at the crown. The Taoist text 'Can Tong Qi' by Wei Boyang also makes connections with moon phases, trigrams and refining the elixir. I think that such connections are more than just poetic metaphor. Yoda - thanks for the further bit on animals in forest retreat.
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No worries, thanks Yoda - that bit about helpful animals piqued my interest. A tropical forest has too many creepy crawlies for my liking. There's even nasty beasties that travel up the urine and lodge themselves in the urethra when one pisses in a river Darin, have you considered moon phases and the astrological timing of your practices? Rex
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Yes please Yoda, I for one would be interested.
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Bouncer a short 10 minute film: Bouncer
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Sorry for the delayed response, I've been carrying(!) the kids up mountains. As you say Geoff Thompson is simply amazing, offering inspiration and advice on how to rise above the worst aspects of urban life - and all without the necessity of becoming a hardened cynical bastard. His books on fear and self protection have helped me a lot and teach the stuff not ordinarily covered in dojos - situational awareness and the psychology of violent confrontation. His next film Clubbed is due in 2008 and is set in the same period when I was a crazy mixed up teenager. Thanks for the link to Edward Hays book, this sort of material is right up my street. Have you heard of Brother David Steindll-Rast? He respects differences but acknowledges that spiritual sanity and experience is not the exclusive preserve of any one tradition which appeals to my bridge building instincts too.
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This has got to be a wind up - you're pulling our plonkers
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Apart from the possibility of trance states, of which I know nothing, I'm not sure if the mind can be emptied. It can be left to settle and take on a non-stick quality with awareness integrated with the risings, so that there is stillness in the movement and movement in the stillness.
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Like what everyone else has said!
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Best Free Books on Meditation on the Internet
rex replied to thelerner's topic in General Discussion
Buddhist Wesoteric Alchemical Orthodox -
Yen Hui got there first.
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Have you seen these? The Endorphin Effect Relaxing into Your Being The Great Stillness
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By happy coincidence I've just been reading Thomas Cleary's introduction to Wu Chen P'ien's Understanding Reality where he mentions that yang and yin have different associations and applications depending on the matter in hand. All that follows is nicked from his introduction: In Complete Reality Taoist practice there are three phases/practical aspects of working with yang and yin: 1) Fostering yang while repelling yin. 2) Blending yin and yang. 3) Transcending yin and yang. Yang could be the original primordial mind and yin could be acquired temporal conditioning. So some practices aim to 'foster yang while repelling yin'. 'Yin convergence' can refer to blending worldly conditioning that has survival utility with the original mind so that the mundane becames a servant of the primordial. Then there is the freedom to be or not to be beyond conditioned response. Movement is yang, stillness is yin. Movement can involve travel, exercise, psychosomatic exercise and ordinary activity. Stillness could be pyhsical stillness as an aid to finding inner stillness; the stilling of undesriable qualities; and a state of inner tranquility in the midst of action. In this context yang and yin both have utility and neither is necessarily preferred over the other. Stillness and movement can have a more subtle application to consciousness in 'transcending yin and yang'. This involves cultivating no fixed duality between stillness and movement so one is 'always calm yet always resonsive, always responsive yet always calm'. According to Cleary this is a basic aspect of uniting heaven and earth within humanity.
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As part of the lojong (mind training) teachings in Tibetan Buddhism I'm grateful to all living beings for affording the opportunity to practice compassion, patience and discipline - without them spiritual practice is contextless. Also at one time or another, according to doctrine, they have also all been my mother or father. Various practices by varying degree call on root and lineage masters, yidam deities, dakas & dakinis, dharma protectors and karmic creditors. Ultimately we have all the same essential primordial nature but on the relative level they are as apparently real and independent as other illusory aggregates grasped at as self and other.
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Yoda has given the standard explanation of dedication, sharing and sealing of positive energy for individual and collective benefit. The background mechanics aren't really explained so merit becomes like an article of faith linked with notions of individual and collective karma. Merit has moral and metaphysical associations and is also a process. On an individual level certain ways of being (attitudes, motivations actions etc.) affect one's energy which automatically puts one in particular states of relationship on both ordinary and spiritual levels - hence the idea of karmic energy flowing through the body's channels. It's not that mysterious really. If you keep generating positive thoughts with the motivation to benefit beings then this will change the quality of energy in your system. So regardless if merit actualy exists or not, it is a skillful method of changing one's energy. Conversely if you get angry all the time this energy may hang around your system and predispose you to further anger. 'Field of merit' seems to have collective and energetic assocations. It may link to morphic resonnance. So it is said that due to the collective merits of a group certain teachers and teachings become available. Teachers and teachings may not appear due to collective de-merits. Merit can affect karma so I've heard that while one may have the karma to meet with certain teachings one may not have the merit to benefit from them - now that's a bummer!
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Formal sitting practice ends with dedication of merit. Then throughout the day in all activities an attempt is made to maintain the continuity of the presence of awareness experienced in the meditation. Since the sitting practice is done with eyes open and hasn't tried to stop thoughts and emotions, or follow, or encourage them, there is never usually the sense of coming out of a trance or altered state, so I jump straight into everyday activity. This way one can practice throughtout the day so the split between practice sessions and everyday life becomes less distinct. Well that's the theory ...