doc benway

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I love the hats. For me it shows devotion and respect. It shows commitment and creativity. The symbolism is beautiful and supportive.

I was referring to Josh... 🤩

My gramma used to make me watch Engelbert Humperdink with her. Never quite got it myself but she was a big fan, loved Liberace too!

I recall and don't miss the Buddhist wars here in the past, we really haven't gone down that road lately. It's nice to see the discussion going somewhere now... ironically that somewhere is empty!

If you want to address a goddess, don’t pretend. Language is pretty but doesn’t matter. You need to find the feeling in your heart. You need to be very quiet inside and wide open! And a mantra is best 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Here is one I favor but, alas it is Tibetan... Sherab Chamma Primordial Loving Wisdom Mother All such goddesses embody and empower all enlightened qualities

So you’re a boob guy?

What might you be singing then?

Sean removed and did not replace them.

The moon I was describing earlier in the thread...

... and when she debuted it was borderline criminal!

I just love Tal Wilkenfeld's bass lines!

Because that is what your post said to me and I thought it was both germane and amusing to point that out... PS - I didn’t mean that your comments weren’t worthwhile, rather that they emphasized an aspect of the meaning of emptiness

I prefer to simply practice and leave concepts and theory be as it is...

In other words, words are empty also...

I'll supplement what you said as it relates to personal practice. In meditation, emptiness does refer to empty of the mind, empty of the sense of a personal, individual self. This does not mean that there are no thoughts or emotions coming up (the point I think ilumairen just made), rather it relates to our relationship to them, our tendency to identify with them. When we no longer identify, the content is free to arise and self-liberate. Rideforever posted some inaccurate stuff about emptiness and Buddhism, IMO, but the pith instruction in the first line of his first post has been very useful for me.

There is a problem with mixing paradigms. The way I suspect you are using the word God is not a part of the Buddhist paradigm so the question isn’t valid. Buddhists do not posit a single, all powerful creator, there are many gods and goddesses and, yes, they are not exceptions to sunyata. The concept of emptiness does apply to everything - both self and other. But emptiness does not mean non-existence, it means more along the lines of lack of inherent, independent existence. Buddhists who understand sunyata do not deny existence, it’s more a matter of recognizing inter-dependence or connectedness.

Brilliant film! Had me thinking and talking to my family about it for days.

Mine! .... for me at least ... sometimes

If you're serious about internal work I'd suggest you avoid mixing and matching systems and paradigms. If you wish to work with kundalini, neigong is not the method. Neigong and qigong are powerful but to go in that direction, best not to try and apply a Hindu paradigm We all resonate differently to different methods and perspectives and it's important to find what fits you. The underlying human experience and energetics are what they are regardless of labels and paradigms. On the other hand, the methods, expected results, landmarks, and supports are paradigm specific and mixing them up just makes a mess and leads people astray, IMO. Once you reach a certain level of realization, it won't matter as much but it can in the early stages. In my experience, neigong requires great precision. Precision requires experienced guidance and feedback. I agree with those that are encouraging you to find a teacher if you wish to study neigong.

You are such a loving and calming presence here... Thank you

Credibility for me goes deeper than clothes, cars, and words; and the lack thereof.

Ironically, I’ve felt this way about you... I don’t mean to be hurtful but it is what it is. I’m guilty as charged and have also felt some barbs from you. Perhaps my projection... My apologies. I appreciate you pointing this out.