doc benway

The ancient animosity between Bön and Buddhism has long since liberated. Who is clinging?

The nature of the rain is the same. In the garden, it yields flowers. In the desert, ... thorns. The Buddhas teach 84000 methods to benefit sentient beings! Speaking ill of teachings from such a beautiful, unbroken lineage benefits no one. Sad to see such disrespect

PS - nice presentation Seeker of Wisdom, I think that should be very helpful for folks starting on the Buddhist path

On the other hand, there is something to be said for cultivating "beginner's mind" “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few” ― Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

never mind the gap take full advantage of it and get a glimpse of...

I would like to send my love to my friends on my favorite Daobums thread. May 2017 be filled with spaciousness, light, and warmth.

You can look at emptiness as escaping negative thoughts, positive thoughts, anything... But i try to be more focused on the who that is escaping - that's where the answers are. The beauty of space is that it has peculiar characteristics - it can accept anything, it hosts everything, it has no point of reference or limitation, it is boundless, it is indestructible, etc... And it cannot ever be separated from awareness, so one is never escaping from anything really. Emptiness is not escape, it is the source, the primordial purity from which all the enlightened characteristics arise. It is self knowing and clear. Even the negative thoughts are simply ornaments because the one who would be bothered has no point of reference... In terms of mind tricks, knowing if you are deluded, and genuine experience - I think some time spent on the cushion is important. You need to develop confidence and stability in the nature of mind as you dig deeper into the essence of experience. In Rinpoche's book, Awakening the Luminous Mind, the first half is spent teaching basic trekchod practice. Connecting with and resting in the nature of mind with stability. [edit: the second half of the book is the 5 Fold Teaching of Dawa Gyaltsen] Here is a practical method -

I really appreciate your support! _/\_

I've never seen a set of 16 Luohangong, I practice a set of 18. Do you practice a set of 16? Thanks

Next you'll be claiming that the USA is not the greatest country on earth...

I've recently added sleep yoga practices - connecting with the clear light during sleep. More challenging than dream practices but the results are also more direct and profound.

The Bön tradition takes exactly this approach. We acknowledge and fully experience what thoughts or emotions are present. In the context of resting in the correct view, they naturally liberate. There is a succinct and elegant method known as the Five-fold Teachings of Dawa Gyaltsen that offer a very direct way to cultivate this. Dawa Gyaltsen's teachings can be remembered in a simple poem - Vision is mind Mind is empty Emptiness is clear light Clear light is union Union is great bliss Here is a link to the first in a series of 8 free online teachings on this method - I hope it helps you.

Off topic perhaps, but... shrug I am reading Introduction to Tantra by Lama Yeshe (great book). He describes a wonderful and simple meditation intended to cultivate equanimity: - Visualize being together with one close friend, one serious enemy, and one stranger. Further imagine the four of you are arranged with your friend behind and the enemy and stranger in front of you. Surrounding this small group is a large group, perhaps all sentient beings. - Look deeply into why you consider your friend favorably. Is it related to blood relation, neighbor, a kind action,...? - Do the same for the enemy. - If you look deeply enough at the why's as well as all other interactions you've had with these people over time, the lines between friend, enemy, and stranger will begin to blur. - As we begin to feel more equilibrium and less bias with respect to these close individuals, we then extend this feeling out towards the larger group. We then begin to become familiar with and continuously rest in this feeling of balance and equilibrium. - If we practice this effectively, it will support the development of equanimity.

For sure, our lives play out in cycles at many levels. In artistic endeavors, I've always found that taking a break and coming back after some time is a very good thing for creativity and productivity. I think it applies in the spiritual world as well. Too much focus and effort over time leads to burnout, staleness, can even lead to bitterness. I think it's healthy to be able to read ourselves, know when we need a break, and act on that in a timely fashion.

Hi Rara, Nice to read such a lovely post. My primary practices these days are all about the spaces in life, the openness that makes room for everything to arise. Warm wishes, Steve

It seems like everything is so focused outside of yourself... the causes and conditions that are responsible for your problems, God... Perhaps it would be of value to look deeper inside yourself? It's very difficult to effectively help others if you are unable to first help yourself. Good luck

Right now my favorite is Ba Duan Jin 八 段 錦, my teacher calls our version Gu Chuan古 傳, it's a little different

The 3rd eye chakra is also used in dream practices in a slightly different way. There are 4 categories of dream experiences - peaceful, expanding, powerful, and wrathful (notice the same characterizations are used to describe deities). The 3rd eye chakra is used to help induce dreams of expansiveness and growth. Practices with chakras are a tool to peak inward; each chakra reflects an important energetic aspect of our experience. They all connect to the central channel. Residing in the central channel is a good "tech" skill to work on. Visualizing, then feeling, then being the fundamental inseparability space and awareness that resides there. "The center of the victorious mandala, one's own body. The source of all positive qualities without exception! Is the expanse within the three channels and the five chakras. I take refuge in this body of emptiness..." - Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche Prayer of the first refuge, the Body of Emptiness Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche makes the highest level tantric and dzogchen teachings accessible to the Western student. Everything is there, for free, online, if you are fortunate enough to be karmically connected. I think you are right in your other thread, karma is the key - simply seeing the truth in that could make your experience with thodgal worthwhile I should think. There is no greater truth than karma. And you can influence your karma; in fact every action we take is our karma. Showing an understanding of that in our lives through our conduct, that is the next step after seeing the truth of it. Then we actually bring those qualities to life - peace, growth, power, wrath. We manifest the perfected aspects of ourselves. This is the manifestation of the 3 bodies... It's not rainbow body yet but I think it's a start... You may want to look more into sleep yoga. It is a direct method to recognize and connect with the clear light. The clear light is the key to all bardo practices which is fundamentally related to the rainbow body.

It is the kali yuga and America voted to destroy the status quo. There is deep seated distrust and disdain for the federal government, for good reason. Their choice will not rebuild but lead to further decay and destruction is my prediction. Perhaps it is exactly what we need to move forward towards rebirth and awakening.

Qi can be applied to anything. In learning to cultivate it, there must be patience, awareness, sensitivity, flexibility, and peacefulness. This is why practices used to cultivate qi are so often slow moving - qigong, taijiquan, zhan zhuang. Once understanding and knowledge of application is there, it can be applied to anything. If you are interested in learning, I would highly recommend that you start with an art that is rooted in it's cultivation, like yiquan, taijiuan, or qigong. If you are interested in boxing, xingyiquan will be the closest in quality of movement.

I think it's all a matter of how we define our terms... The truth is love, if one is actually more awake, they will always be more loving and less bitter. One can be happy whether right or wrong... I am speaking in absolutes, when we speak in relative terms it gets all twisted.

Here is one way I like to think about the many merging into one. It's not so much about merging, it's about losing the characteristics that permit discrimination. Like water is the nature of individual waves or bodies of water, the mind has a nature that can perhaps be said to be indistinguishable from individual to individual. When all is allowed to settle into the base, undifferentiated space and awareness, how would one distinguish one from another. That no longer has meaning. Anyway, cool article and thanks for listening.

Ouch Here is the only public teaching I've seen. The exercise using the 3rd eye is described starting around 47 minutes in. The whole talk is worth a listen. Meow!

There are such teachings in the Bönpo lineage as well.

You can time yourself doing one round of the mala, then all you need is a watch or clock.