Vajrahridaya

Actually the texts suggest that he actually did see it coming. Just like Nagarjuna saw his death coming as many great masters saw their deaths coming. You should read, "Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die" By Shushila Blackman... Link to it on Amazon. Check it out Marble... it's a genuinely nice read. Cool..

That was funny... Thank you. I am not a Guru. But I do answer questions to the best of my knowledge. I appreciate your attention.

Be a good Taoist! I retract the rest of this statement for good reason.

Ah... rubbing it right now...

Nail on head anyone? Anyone? That's a good one, sometimes I get mad, then I feel bad, then I get to feel compassionate for both me and the other. LOL!

Buddhas are. I'm a Buddhist, not a Buddha. Not that I need your permission or anything, but thanks. I'm not asking you to buy it... or see it for that reason. Maybe someone else reading will make sense of it and understand something that evolves them? To let you know... when you say... "I don't know"... you are saying your ignorant about something. So... I'm ignorant about many things myself. Just not the same things that you are ignorant about. You taking it personally and getting defensive about it... is... well... What? So airplanes aren't really flying people all over the world? No really... I know what you mean. You'd be surprised actually what people can do when they let go of their ideas about reality and go deeper into dependent origination. Which you are the soul keeper of... yes? I'm being sarcastic. If the crazy majority of the planet stuck in Samsara think I'm crazy? Sadly... they should look at themselves more often.

No, you just took it personally. I'm not the Buddha incarnated, so I'm not omniscient, but I'm on the path and have the signs of direct insight into what you consider mystery. Most people on the planet would think that. So, that's nothing special. Nope. That's not what omniscience means in Buddhism. Though, if I were a Buddha... I might be able to use yogic powers to ascertain such knowledge. But, that's not what it means to know exactly how things happen. To know the way of things, is not knowing every particular manifestation ever. Thus far, I can't remember ever being either. Your just protecting your ego with sarcasm. I wasn't the Buddha. But, that just goes to show how ignorant people can act when their mistaken views are challenged. The Buddha seemed to know what was going to happen because he forbade all his disciples to accompany him. Sheesh. That doesn't say much about Taoism to me. But if it does to you... you go ahead and have your process of progression.

Superior view is seeing reality as it is, through and through and making no intellectual and experiential excuses for ignorance. Being a Buddha basically. Which is far from projecting the idea that because you haven't experienced it or seen it, or because popular society doesn't accept it as true that it must not be true. You call seeing through your 5 senses as the end all be all and you think death is the end. With that conclusion. We can't really move together in discussion Marble, because you will think I'm deluded for the rest of your life that you hold to your idea of life and death. Of course not... a seeing man does. A blind man might have superior sight of energy, ghosts, and auras though, through forced development for compensation. They might even see sound or smell, or touch. You won't be able to make that paradigm shift with me while holding onto your views of reality. Not in Buddhism. Non-duality is basically seeing through duality to emptiness, but seeing that differences is all there is. LOL! See, you won't be able to see where I'm coming from because you won't allow that capacity to come through because your cup is full with your ideas of limitation and your 5 sense limited logic. That's your choice and you life according to your view. So it originates dependent upon your remembered experience and interpretation of experience, so yes, is relative to your accepted level of ignorance as reality. Which you say all the time... "I don't know." "It's a mystery." Buddhahood is equivalent with omniscience. Always has been. LOL! Yeah... true that.

People have their capacity. Those on the lower tenet systems or wheels of the dharma will eventually evolve to the higher turnings if they follow their path well. It's that simple. It's a process of progression in capacity to directly relate and comprehend experimentally. One can jump from any stage of the bodhisattva path to the last instantly. One can jump from the Arahant to the Bodhisattva path at any stage and one can even turn their Theravada voyage into a Bodhisattva voyage through deepening their understanding of dependent origination experientialy without ever having been exposed to the concepts of Dzogchen, one realizes Dzogchen by realizing dependent origination. Dzogchen is just the natural state of realization of dependent origination when fully experientialy comprehended through all faculties. Of course I like when people come closer to a liberated view and Buddhahood. I shouldn't enjoy that? May all beings have the conditions for joy and may they all be virtuous. Should I enjoy confusing people instead? I seem to do this at times but I don't enjoy that. Sure, I'm here to learn to better apply Dharma teaching to both myself and in word expression.

That's an experiential excuse for ignorance. That's both an experiential excuse for ignorance and monism. Another experiential excuse and an intellectual excuse for ignorance. This is a monist view. An experiential excuse for ignorance. Through meditation one can transcend your speculation and actual direct vision. Not for Buddhas. At least your honest with the limits of your experience, but don't limit others by it. What a thoughtful post... thank you. I have nothing to say, other than what a wonderful state of mind this feels like.

I like to correct mistaken views. If your view corresponds with the dharma... no debate.

Your talking about monist non-duality. Buddhism is a non-substantial non-duality so it see's differences and accepts them as reality, while seeing that they are all inherently empty of self existence, but still exist relatively and there is only relativity. Buddhism is an entirely different way of seeing things. There is not an absolute oneness of things and sides. There is not a beyond concept that see's all things as equal. One see's that all things are equally empty of inherent existence, but that only relativity exists, thus there is superior view and inferior view.

That's not what I mean. As in... it's considered the one of all things. These are not considered the oneness of the all. They are merely resultant bodies of from realization and not inherently existent. No, it IS realization. Dependent origination is the dharma and nirvana is the realization of dependent origination. Because it's positive form is the existence of a realized being... i.e. dharmakaya. But because it's dependent origination, it's not an inherent existence but a relative existence. Yes, Buddhahood does not encompass erroneous views, it see's through them and rejects them and applies the dharma to correct them. It's not a oneness, it also see's that there is no oneness. Sorry... your view needs correction.

Buddhism doesn't have an eternal energy beyond name and form that permeates everything that is real from it's own side. These views are not compatible.

Yes, it's like your burning with the fire of compassion, like you want to hug the entire cosmos, and it's too small. It's like your entire being is a blaze with the fire of service and you want the entire cosmos to rejoice in boundless liberation!! It just arises naturally, well for me it first happened through meditation... well to that degree. When I was a little kid I had compassion and it felt like a peace feeling that you wanted to share, but later when I was 20, I really experienced the explosive dynamite compassion where it feels like your entire being is going to crack open out of intense love and good feeling for everyone and you feel everyones pain as this sense of love... like a transformative feeling where pain turns to blissful relaxed love outpouring. It's an energy of connectivity.

Your ego is heavy.

Practically speaking, there sure is. There is inferior realization and superior realization. There are those that are realized and see directly, and those that don't even walk the path. Of course there are differences in realization.

Buddhism is different, always has been. Non-conceptual and conceptual realization go hand in hand, there is no transcendent void in Buddhism. Never has been, never will. You'd have to drop your Advaita view to understand this. Take care. Neither Dwai nor Nisargadatta know what they are talking about when it comes to Buddhist realization.

If he is talking about the aggregate of consciousness, then we know that consciousness is aggregated and not inherently existent. But yes, is formless and if dependent origination is realized, then it does not wither anymore through attachment to it's appearances that arise within it. One is aware of consciousness originating dependently like in the 12 links description. Because awareness is uncompounded through realization and thus is also the master of it's myriad forms it is liberated. Thus, not a source of all, but rather a permanent realization of impermanence and the inter-dependency of all. I don't really understanding, "There is a heaven and earth before things", because for me, heaven and earth are definitely things... or realms of existence defined by the things within them.

You cannot reify emptiness as an essence of things, merely as a quality of things like the wetness of water, or the heat of fire, or the coolness of air, the openness of space, or the hardness of earth, as it's not some sort of space that things flow through. Emptiness is the just the quality of impermanence, and thus the wetness of water is empty of inherent existence as well because it's dependent upon there being water and emptiness is empty because it depends on things, and since things are empty, there's not really some great unifying emptiness as a grand thing or non-thing that truly "is." I suggest you study Buddhism on it's own terms, then see if you can integrate it yourself, personally with Taoism. For Buddhists... Tao as an essence is a faulty concept and does not exist. But, Tao as "the way" of the flow of mutual dependency... is merely just saying that things have "a way" of movement and impermanence, but that doesn't mean that Tao exists other than saying... things move "this way". It seems that Taoists say that the Tao applies both as an eternal source of things and as the way things move, so... for a Buddhist, the same argument against Vedanta applies.

Um... I'm not sure. I think so... hmmm. You can find out through... where are you in the world? I looove this quote. You've said it before... and I loved it then too. Soo clear. LOL! Like water!

Wow... I have the videos of him during his daily life... he certainly does do that. I can see in his eyes! He's so great! I just think of him and...

I would like to read Cycle of Day and Night. I have yet to read this one. I see it around at ChNNR talks every time I go, but I always end up getting something else. Though it keeps popping up.

I've received many positive responses... even if less than the negative ones. The negative ones seem to have something personal to protect. That is all. I do personally wish to protect the Dharma though, because of globalism, there is a proliferation of wrong views and Buddhism could die in the face of mushy new age all is one-ism. There are plenty here who are now reading books that I've recommended. You, Songs, Marble (though we seem to get along mostly), Way, Fruitzilla, ralis, a few others... are not and constantly battle with my explanations of things. So what? That doesn't mean they are right.

Yes ok, but emptiness as well is not established. As Nagarjuna say's, emptiness is also empty. Yes, but that's saying that Tao is merely a process of things since beginningless time and does not give birth to anything, other than a reflection of realizing impermanence. I am willing to understand what you mean by this. Since impermanence is the core of all things, things are not established, thus neither is impermanence established. Thus neither is a core to all things established. I don't yet see that Taoism leads to an equal vision with Buddhism. Like I've said before though... I'm open to being wrong, if this can be placed into realization for me. Thank you for your patience, as it's finally making a bit of sense to me now.