doc benway

I am by no means an experienced Dzogchen practitioner but I'd like to offer a perspective about transmission FWIW. I find it to be a subtle communication between master and student regarding the way in which one approaches the subject matter - it is beyond words and action and seems to involve stance, perspective, and receptivity. It's not so much that I am given something but rather I am opened up and prepared to have direct experience or insight. I find it very hard to verbalize or even conceptualize as it occurs on multiple levels and really seems to be a way to help the student to abandon conceptualization and embrace being and more direct contact. I realize that I'm not really saying anything either but there it is, I don't think it is really about something that can be said anyway - isn't that the whole point?

Sorry - duplicate

In my view, attempting to live without food and drink is distinctly anti-Daoist. Daoism is about being natural, unforced, un-contrived. It is about being an authentic human. Humans are blessed with a mouth, teeth, taste, hunger, thirst, and an elegant digestive system. To try and eschew those natural endowments and requirements to follow an idea created by the ego-mind is folly. But then again, it does seem that foolishness is the natural tendency of many humans as well... The other error here is the idea that Qi is a nutrient. In my experience, whatever it is that we label with the symbols Q and I, or C, H, and I, is much more pervasive and fundamental and much less tangible and substantive than that.

Nice list, thanks for posting that. Here is another great resource for books on Dzogchen - http://www.namsebangdzo.com/Books_on_Dzogchen_s/2308.htm It has links to my two favorites - Natural Perfection: Longchenpa's Radical Dzogchen tr. Keith Dowman Buddhahood Without Meditation by Dudjom Lingpa

I know its a dirty word to some, but a more succinct group of symbols that could be used are G, O, and D. I had a similar experience several years ago. I simply 'woke up' while riding in a car, looking at the sun setting over a field and I understood I was the eyes and ears of the world. An aperture through which the universe becomes self aware. It was devastating and liberating at the same time. I knew in that moment that everything is OK and that I was never born and can never die. I understood "I am that" as Nisargadatta puts it. I laughed for days - my family thought I was going crazy so I had to hide it. I tried to describe it to my Shifu and just couldn't find the words. He looked at me with a serious expression and asked "Are you trying to tell me that you realized that you are God?" I was shocked to hear him use that wording because he's a Daoist from Taiwan but that really struck a cord with me and I said "Yes, that's it, that's exactly what it felt like!" He leaned back in his chair, smiled and said "Keep practicing" referring to the Daoist meditation I study with him. My feeling about this experience is that it is a precious gift. It is a glimpse of truth. Christians would call it Grace. Some people try and try and never have this experience. I think such a gift should be treated with reverence. It is a priceless opportunity and can change your life forever if approached in that way. In particular, this is a way toward the meaning of love and the practice of true compassion, as Nisargadatta says in my sig below. At the same time, it is just an experience and it's important not to get too attached or to seek to replicate it. I think it can become an addiction for some. Namaste _/\_

In my tradition, the middle dan tian does not correspond specifically to either heart or solar plexus but is associated with both. As mentioned above, the dan tians are more diffuse "fields" rather than discrete structures.

Especially when the subject matter is holy. When I started reading Buddhahood without Meditation, I found it in a free pdf file. After reading the first chapter, I decided to buy the book anyway. This is one I think I will keep and treasure. Somehow I feel that there is a level of connection or instruction (dare I say transmission) when we hold a book that is lacking with electronic media... especially a book that is published with love and venerance by a small, relatively personal company (Padma Publishing in this case).

I'm reading Dudjom Lingpa's Buddhahood without Meditation. You can get a great deal on the older edition here. From what I've read, the newer edition has some substantial improvements in the translation. That said, if you see the truth of what is being described, a few words here and there are probably not that significant...

I also pledge to communicate with sincerity, civility, and compassion.

Get Him to the Greek - always cracks me up!

My new favorite is Buddhahood without Meditation by Dudjom Lingpa. I will be keeping this by my bed for a while.

Meaning is as important as we make it, or as unimportant. Giving up meaning (conceptualization) doesn't necessarily have to do with giving up hope. It is more like giving up belief, expectation, preference. I think maintaining hope is more like faith, which is different from any belief. It is more that when you give up everything and let go completely, what is left is OK... or better. No matter what anyone takes away from you, up until they take your life, you can still sit or stand and breath and be present. And when they take your life, it's ok too, because "I" am still here in infinite variations will always be. So you can give yourself the gift of putting aside the thoughts of the future and past for a few minutes each day, and see if you are worse for that... or perhaps better. Or not .... you are welcome to hang on if you so choose, but if that's how you feel it should be, why question it in the first place? In that case you can simply let go of the idea of letting go. Anyway, sorry to ramble. Namaste _/\_

Tough questions require tough answers - please don't take offense. It is profoundly important to be aware of this. I think it is also beneficial to ask yourself a few questions. Who is it that doesn't want to let go? Who demands that there be meaning to life? What makes you think that such meaning exists? And if it does, why would you expect to understand it? It is the nature of thought to look for 'why' so that there is the illusion of understanding and security. And yet with all this baggage 'you' want to hold on to, the why's and wherefore's and the self righteous indignation and injury, how does that enhance your life and help you to find peace and contentment? How does it benefit you and others? If all of these patterns dropped away, would a sunset be any less beautiful? The drama is nothing but the obsessive-compulsive nature of mind to ratify everything, narrate your story, stay "in control", understand and therefore perpetuate the illusion of security. You might find it valuable to read some of the Toltec stuff by Don Miguel Ruiz about we create the story of our life, it ties beautifully into the Dzogchen approach of letting all of that simply fall away in favor of being, without the clutter. So in order to be the judge, jury, and executioner of those around you who are equally (or even more) blind and asleep, and simply living their own story and delusion to the best of their ability, you choose to punish yourself in order to not let them "get away scot free." Is this helping to bring you closer to where you would like your life to be spiritually, psychologically, emotionally? And what if you were to allow them to "get away scot free" - would the injury be any worse? Is your attachment to the sense of being wronged, and the associated anxiety, adequate punishment for the ones who have wronged you? And if you do not punish them by eating yourself up with bitterness and anxiety, what then? And what if you could find a place in you where there is sympathy, maybe empathy, maybe even humor and love for those feeling around in the dark and bumping into each other, and even sometimes bumping into you? Could there be some liberation or relaxation in that? Is there any possibility of just letting it go, on a trial basis, to see what happens? You may be surprised... I don't have any answers for you, you have to do the work yourself. It does help me immeasurably to practice letting go. It's possible it was all worthless, but maybe it's exactly what you needed to get where you are now - on the brink of letting go. And maybe this struggle is exactly where you need to be now in order to take the next step. Who knows? I do know one thing - it is never easy, there is always resistance in the beginning. If it wasn't, everyone would be liberated. It is extremely difficult and who knows if it is ever really completed until we die? It is an ongoing process. It's relatively commonplace to have an insight, to recognize your own divinity, to have a profound non-dual experience. What is a real measure of one's progress is to live each moment and make each choice from that very perspective. And you will only do it if you are ready and have the courage, strength, and commitment, to do it. Good luck!

I thought it was because they were so adept at smearing some rouge on one's cheeks before one had any idea what the hell was happening... But seriously, I think this points to an interesting aspect of lineage and gurus. The closer we are to them temporally and geographically, in general, the less pure they appear. In general, gurus are human beings who have had a glimpse. They've been where we want to be. But very few are free from their human characteristics and vulnerabilities. Each guru reflects their unique human characteristics, sometimes in unflattering ways. Quite as lineages reflect a cultural and geographical reflection of truth, method, and ritual. Some gurus are quite princely (Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, DeMello), some are sadly opportunistic or even predatory (Osho, Gurdjieff, Watts), others thoroughly depressed (UG Krishnamurti), maybe even a bit intellectual (J Krishnamurti), or artisitic (John Donohue, Alex Grey). It's mostly when we are so far removed as to really have no sense of their humanity that we make them into archetypes and deities. Not to defend Osho, but his book called "When the Shoe Fits" was one of the best books on Taoism I've ever read. It actually shined a light on the core of the subject that helped me to begin to understand what the classics were pointing to. It engaged me in a way the classics hadn't. He had a glimpse of truth for sure but was unable to resist corruption. I haven't looked at the Vedanta text but I may check it out. I'm currently enjoying the Ashtavakra Gita that's accessible on Ramana's website here. It would be interesting to compare the two, if I find the time.

Good health for my wife and kids...

A metaphysical musing: And if I waken from myself and all direction, And choose from that perspective in every moment...

I highly recommend standing, at least until the postures become easy and stable. It's helped my practice quite a bit though I guess it's possible I would have made equal progress without it - I'll never know. My teacher recommended it but definitely emphasized walking more. Some pretty good bagua players have been known to stand...

And for more passive folks.... A great audio presentation http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/ashtavakragita.html

Ilya Traore....

Great presentation SB - thanks for sharing this.

Any symbol will do...

There is nothing I need, I am already immortal and... there is nothing I can do, I am going to die. Thinking has nothing to do with it.

No - sorry. I'm not referring to GV10.

Have you opened the 靈台 (ling tai) yet? Then all the other points follow suit.

Another perspective - My teacher always preferred the English translation pre- and post- natal, rather than heaven. He doesn't ever explain or discuss philosophically, just emphasizes practice. My practice is all I can share, and it has brought me to explore a number of ideas, like: What was I before I was born and after I die, Where does I end, and other begin? Non-locality and non-temporality of "me-ness" or the observer... It can be an exploration of mortality and immortality. But not through thought as much as direct experience. My conclusion, it is nothing that I can explain or even understand, which means to equate with ideas or concepts. But it is what I already am and I can just be.