rex

Cheers! The only thing I might add that it doesn’t account for the possibility of allowing teachers to provoke and push people beyond what they think they’re capable of. Dangers of abuse notwithstanding, finding one to trust and distinguishing between genuine alarm bells and inertia’s resistance is a complex affair.

Shakyamuni Buddha taught the dharma and the vinaya as an oral tradition which formed the basis of subsequent schools after his death. As Buddha taught according to the needs, capacities and inclinations of his audience there is no one ‘system’ - while the essentials of the dharma and vinaya are essentially the same in all the different buddhist traditions, differences in interpretation led to the formation of the different schools. There is a certainty and intense insistence in your words which totally disregards a least a millennia of dharma practice. Doesn’t the fact that the dharma still exists and is still practiced at least hint that many practitioners have tested the teachings and found them not wanting? You are of course entitled to your opinions based on your experience, but is it really skillfull to make bold blanket statements which totally ignore the experience of others and who do find value in what they have experienced? Just because something may not be the right fit for you, it doesn’t mean that it’s not right for others. Now this is a rhectorial question not needing an answer, you question Steve about his experience and teachers - what about yours?

Er ... what buddhism are you talking about? Have you ever heard of the Lamrim, or the preliminary, generation and completion stages, the Lamdre? Mahamudra or Dzogchen even?

So you're inspired by the actual Buddha himself, but not what subsequent people have made of his teachings, i.e. the doctrines. That's fair enough, you're in accord with the Kalama Sutra. Now it's not my business to sell Buddhism to you, or anyone else for that matter, but have you considered that other organisations/teachers, (other than the one's you've already tried) may be able to present Buddhist teachings in a way that gels with you and accords with your experience? I've been to various Buddhist organisations and some of them I didn't gel with at all. Not knowing all the details, but getting totally inappropriate advice for one's situation is lamentable. Just boiling all problems down to 'you're empty' smacks of spiritual by-passing - especially if someone is totally new to the teachings. Though maybe those giving the advice were not qualified or knowledgeable enough to help on an ordinary level too. There is absolute truth and relative truth and the relative truth of our ordinary existence can't be neglected. I've gone on off-topic for too long now so will stop here, but will keep an eye out for your ppd.

Funnily enough I don’t enjoy churning concepts to death, especially abstruse ones where the intellect will only take one so far and it may involve years of study, practice and reflection to begin to realise them on an experiential level. While keeping an awareness of difficult ideas, I focus on what I can understand and don’t let uncertainty and confusion get in the way of practice - it’s a graduated path. I can relate to not having access to answers and explanations, it can be tough. From the answers you found it appears that Buddhism didn’t provide you with expanations that fitted your experience, though conversely others who had similar questions may have found theirs in Buddhism. In any event sharing your experience is generous and one of the things this forum is all about.

Reading the other posts you made in this subforum in the space of about an hour, you were more like a rowdy drunk crashing through a quiet neighbourhood.

You're welcome!

Perhaps the Western approach to God through via negativa in texts such as the The Cloud of Unknowing has parallels with the Buddhist concept of Dharmakaya i.e. you can’t really say anything with any authority or pin it down, but as it says in the Heart Sutra, yet it can be experienced. Here’s how some Buddhist teachers approach the question: https://hhdl.dharmakara.net/hhdlquotes22.html http://www.khandro.net/doctrine_dharmakaya.htm

That would be Tenzin Osel Hita. He hasn't totally distanced himself and still practices and teaches.

https://www.dalailama.com/news/2011/statement-of-his-holiness-the-fourteenth-dalai-lama-tenzin-gyatso-on-the-issue-of-his-reincarnation

Sorry it's taken a while to get back to this one. Yes in general I agree, people who are free have no need for followers or leaders, but then you've got to ask the question, free from what? Delusion, the five poisons, ignorance, malice, over-attachment to hedonistic pleasure, debt, duties and responsibilities, the need to work for a living etc.? I don't think anyone is really totally free, but there are degrees of freedom based on personal integration and circumstances. It is good to be your own person, self aware with conscious values. As the saying goes, those who stand for nothing fall for anything. The ability to stand for something will depend on how free you are in yourself. But is it possible to be so self-contained to be beyond receiving guidance and offering support to others? I don't think anyone is beyond receiving guidance and those offering guidance can be motivated by genuine altruism. The rub is, does a teacher receive teachings from another teacher? When guidance is given, is it sought or unsolicited, given as friendly advice from one friend to another, or presented as an imperative? Does it increase the dependence on the teacher, or does it empower the recipients, increasing their personal integrity and independence from the teacher? In some circles declaring that one wants to be a teacher rings alarm bells for those around them. Teaching is a role thrust upon them as a responsibility. Some advice and sharing can be more about the person than the advice itself with distinct self-congratulatory undertones.

Webcast Buddhist Teachings lists online teachings. Check daily as sometimes little notice is given: https://www.facebook.com/groups/173742296293947/ If you're interested in Dzogchen you might also like check out any Mahamudra teachings. All the best.

This Daoist text is well worth a read: Hua Hu Ching Here's a sample: Five Do you imagine the universe is agitated? Go into the desert at night and took out at the stars. This practice should answer the question. The superior person settles her mind as the universe settles the stars in the sky. By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she calms it. Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky.

Oh yes I remember that now - that was a good paper! Posting a link to a paper doesn't mean that I fully endorse everything in it , or even understand it well. I'll get back to the other question you posted on leadership and your discussion with Steve in another post.

Sorry I must have missed something and picked up the wrong end of the stick? Steve’s opening quote was presumably from Bon and about handling the circumstances of our lives which are the result of karma? So the bombshell of “The superior practitioner takes full responsibility for everything that occurs in her life - 100%” is not what it literally states and “does not apply to us in a relative sense. Bindi and Steve are not responsible for everything in their lives.” Isn’t this the response of the mediocre practitioner? “The mediocre practitioner takes partial responsibility.” Isn’t the opening line a bombshell precisely because it is meant to be taken literally? It’s meant to instill horror of wandering in samsara and engender compassion for those wandering helplessly blown about by the winds of karma. That’s the whole point of the Noble Truth of Suffering and the 12 Links of Dependent Origination - through actions rooted in ignorance beings create karma and are born into circumstances beyond their control, though the volitional actions which created the karma were in their control. All quotes are lifted from Steve’s messages - sorry can’t do multiple quotes and editing on my device.

Nice to get a mention but I’m sure that wasn’t me. Not bring free myself I do seek the guidance of others.

No apologies needed. This is a specialised forum with an audience seeking specialised knowledge which you’re generously catering to. It’s not exactly like you’re going on national news media commenting on current misfortunes. Reading some of the responses in the thread I’m just pointing out that wider audiences may not accept these insights and that audience, time and place are important factors.

Accidents, natural disasters, war, disease, famine, political and economic instability, crime - all have victims. For those not following the specialised paths it is counter intuitive and maybe even monstrous to suggest that the victims are responsible for what befell them. It does them and the paths a dis-service to promulgate this view to the wrong audience at the wrong place and wrong time.

I think this perspective on responsibility is for mature practitioners on particular paths. It can be misunderstood, misinterpreted and lead to consternation and alarm for those not following those paths. Unless one doesn’t mind and is open to entertaining challenging perspectives they can be put aside for the time being.

A recent case ... David Goodall, 104, sets out his reasons for travelling to Switzerland to voluntarily end his life: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44069885

I get ants in my kitchen. It usually starts with a few scouts, then if they find something the rest turn up en masse. I don't kill them or lay down poison but remove their incentive by keeping all food, waste food and crumbs etc. (especially anything sweet) from work surfaces and areas where they go. They soon disappear. A few scouts may keep patrolling (mainly early morning/late evening) but soon even they reduce when they don't find anything.

In Kabbalistic terms cruelty is imbalance being a misexpression of the forces of Gevurah.

This is worth checking out along with Rory Miller's stuff listed in what others customers bought: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Black-Book-Violence-Fighting/dp/1594391297/

There's a Tibetan phrase for this, rlung sems gnyis med. An internet search for rlung sems can throw up some interesting hits, for example: http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2765&context=isp_collection

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