Maddie

Aside from some of the good points that have already been mentioned. Human beings have been cooking long enough that it is part of our evolution now and this is why we can't get away with eating raw food in the same way that animals do. Our digestive systems have literally evolved to "pre-digesting" our food before eating it. 

10 hours ago, snowymountains said:

 

Hey @Maddie, do you recall in which Sutta this story (the Buddha refusing to answer) is recounted ?

I'll have to look that up and get back with you. I have read so many sutas they all start to become a blur after a while lol. But in general in a lot of suitas were the Buddha is talking about non-self this is the context in which he's talking about it.

It's been a minute....

On 7/31/2024 at 2:24 PM, Amituofo said:

How about muscle testing or pendulum dowsing in general or to fix physical ailments, and problems, or improve life in general? Are they against nature/Buddhism to be used?
 

These tools are supposed to help get rid of pain and suffering or help one not to be emotionally volatile or imbalanced (helps us not to create more bad karma) but I'm unsure if there are any karmic risks to using these things or any long-term or unseen harm to myself as an exchange since it is energy work.
 

I am hoping someone who is both Buddhist and has experience in this area can answer, but anyone can feel free to answer. 🙏
 

EDIT 1:
To clarify, I'm asking to see if it aligns with Buddhism and what Buddhists have a say on it as to whether it is a proper practice or tool to help relieve suffering or to improve one's ability to practice Buddhism indirectly/directly, and if there any risks to using these tools or healing modalities or similar.

It's not something that the Buddha taught, but then again there are a lot of things he didn't teach that can be useful. 

On 7/31/2024 at 10:19 AM, Chang dao ling said:

Why did he refused to answer? Any guess?

My guess which is based on his explanations in the sutas is he didn't want people to misunderstand his position and he didn't want them to speculate on things that are a distraction from cultivating for nirvana. Or like one of my friends always said, maybe he didn't know lol.

I think it's commonly mistakenly believed that the Buddha said there was no self. What he actually said was that the five aggregates were not self. When asked if there was a self or not a self the Buddha refused to answer this question.

13 hours ago, Chang dao ling said:

Hi, what did buddha teach about soul? I know buddha teach no self . Here I believe self means soul. So buddha taught there is no soul? If there is no soul who is taking reincarnation? Who is suffering?

That was one of those questions that he did not answer.

On 7/18/2024 at 12:04 PM, Da_Vid said:

Hi I am David,

I believe my Chi is strong but I do not know how to guide it as I more forcing sometimes accidentally,
still I am learning... 

Would someone spare time from now and than and teach me? As I am seeking for a teacher, does someone have recommendation or if teacher reading this, would you please contact me?

I would very much appreciate...

I recommend Winnie the Pooh, most of my best life lessons came from him :-)

about to start soon

34 minutes ago, snowymountains said:

By all means do study spiritual texts, just don't take them too literally.

When I was younger I had been raised by a pretty religious mom and then later ended up in a Christian cult. Obviously I left the cult and later when I became interested in Buddhism I thought all was well. But after a while I started to be kind of miserable with the type of Buddhism I was doing. It was in the somewhat recent past that I realized that I had unconsciously brought some of my cult/fundamentalist mindset into Buddhism and it was not serving me well at all. I am still interested in Buddhism but my interest now without the cult mindset makes it much more pleasant. 

1 minute ago, ChiDragon said:

Somehow, once I was told that the term 'duality' was derived from the concept of yin/yang.  IMO it seems the term is used very loosely without attachment! 

What confuses me is that I hear it used in a Buddhist context often yet I have never read a Sutta where the Buddha mentioned it. 

58 minutes ago, stirling said:

 

All delusion means that you no longer mistake duality for reality.

I hear this duality word thrown around a lot here, but what does it mean in the way that you are using it? 

2 hours ago, Giles said:

 

Absolutely.., it is indeed  a very high bar if you choose to believe that this Buddhist definition is accurate in the absence of your own direct 1st-hand experience... 🤣

 

I'm just stating what it is, I think I had already shown enough healthy skepticism. I'm not even sure if there even is such a thing as enlightenment.  

39 minutes ago, Giles said:

 

That's interesting because (merely IMO/IME) enlightenment is pretty common & reasonably easy to "attain". (It only took me about 18 months after stumbling across a method that actually works).

 

What's incredibly unusual is (again merely IMO/IME) is to stumble across someone who's managed to get on with having a normal, healthy life afterwards.

 

In order words the vast majority cannot even begin to "chop wood & carry water" afterwards.

 

I guess that depends on who's definition of enlightenment you are using. The Buddhist one has a pretty high bar ie. no delusion, no unskillful desire, ect.  

17 minutes ago, stirling said:

 

I'll bet you have, Maddie. My experience is that there are at least a few in almost any decent sized, open-minded town where there are a variety of spiritual centers.

 

In Buddhism there are two types of nirvana:

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(Buddhism)

 

Nirvana with remainder is absolutely possible in this lifetime. Anyone with realization that is still embodied would fit in this category. In Buddhism, complete realization of no-self and shunyata would be the qualifications.

 

I know a number of other teachers where this is the case based on speaking to them about their understanding, including my own root teacher, and several of my previous teachers. There are a few people on this board that meet this qualification. While rare, it is far from impossible.

The only person that I have heard speak that I thought might be potentially enlightened is Eckhart Tolle. 

6 hours ago, NaturaNaturans said:

Do you think such a state is even theoretically possible? I belive strongly, that as a human, both delusions, illusions and emotion are unexcapable. In a way, even colour is a «delusion,» it only exists in our minds.

That is a good question and I am not sure as I have never personally seen anyone that I think fits this description. 

When I was younger I used to be in a Christian cult. 

on right now

Enlightenment or obtaining Nirvana is a technical term in Buddhism. It is when one has seen through all delusion and let go of all unskillful attachments and obtained perfect peace. 

3 hours ago, Mana conduit said:

Try it if you have a soul you should be able to do this stuff in two months 

That's putting the proof before the evidence. 

On 7/7/2024 at 6:13 PM, Cadcam said:

I was always a minor dabbler in occult and mystical things, casually reading and adopting different magical ideas, but then a spirit got ahold of me and I stumbled into serious belief, yet, I did not know what to believe.  I started searching and what I found led me to pain and madness. I found myself living out ideas that evolved on their own, and started overlaying my daily waking awareness mixing with dream and fantasy. I would act out in response to the hallucinations. Eventually these fantasies would break, and I'd wind up in a deep depression. This has been going on for 20 plus years, and after this last psychosis, I think I have broken this curse, because all of the ideas and experiences culminated in a total breakdown. Crossing my fingers.

Have you seen a mental health professional?

11 hours ago, Mana conduit said:

So basically I practice the GOOD energy work which uses nothing but the SOULs positive energy not like other new age bullshit which uses negative energy disguised as positive and Ive gained a few abilities from that which I will tell you how to acquire. (I realized after developing remote viewing that most people have no soul so they can't do this less than 25 percent of people have a soul the NPC theory was right dw if you are self aware you have one.)

 

Abilities:

 

1. Sensing energy and energy strength:

 

basically I can sense energy a little like if I come across a video with awful energy I will be able to tell from the thumbnail and not click and energy strength allows me to fight negative entities and spirits (if they are harmed by positive energy they evil so attack all things). As well as allowing me to escape this universe when astral projecting or upon death (btw I've seen other universes they are way better than this hellhole magic and cultivation in those works actually is visible and easier and there is no suffering so I'ma either make a universe when I die or go to a good one).

 

How to develop this ability:

Imagine lakes in your head feet and hands move the water or feel it moving in a cycle from your head to hands and back to head same with feet keep moving it till your intuition says stop for the day everyday this moves your energy increases its strength and allows you to train sensing energy.

 

2. Remote viewing.

This is a useful ability as it allows you to see entities and spirits as well as checking your energy body for damage. Basically it is what it sounds like except here we are viewing energy as that is easier than viewing physical objects.

 

How to develop this ability:

 

Imagine a place you know far away from you try to see it in your mind if you can't just create it till you can see it in a few months then try looking around and try viewing the energy body of people the same way sometimes you'll see black just push through that blackness eventually you'll see them if you see a grey or black body WITHOUT something in the center of the chest it's an NPC and don't attack entities that are outside you or someone elses body you have no clue if they are stronger than you.

Eventually you'll be able to remote view without creating it and you now have a good ability. I'd give this ability 2 months of training everyday till intuition says stop to develop it.

 

3. Increased strength and durability.

 

Yup you get physical benefits from this too by adding another technique you can increase your strength with energy.

 

How to develop this ability:

 

After 6 months of training or even at the beginning just intend to raise your strength with energy and jump see how much higher you jump (I can currently jump more than 10 inches extra) do this till your intuition says stop and rest till your intuition says do it again or rest for a day or two like one day yes one day no I made the mistake of not resting enough at the beginning stages of this technique and only now I realized I needed more rest.

 

 

 

Anyway if you have any questions just comment and I will reply.

 

P.S only use your own energy not energy from other sources because as a beginner you won't know what's good and what's bad

 

while interesting for sure, this is not the definition of "proof" at least in the scientific usage of the word. 

48 minutes ago, snowymountains said:

 

I see, I'll look for another source probably, he's not my type 😁

Same but that was a long time ago when I was new to all of this and didn't know any better. For what its worth, even that I'm not a Chia fan the book about the sounds is pretty solid. 

20 hours ago, snowymountains said:

 

Curious to hear your "source" for 6 healing sounds ( book/video/web page etc ), I trust you used a good one with minimal woo woo, and probably a source grounded on TCM.

If you want to share, I'm happy to copy whichever source you used 😎

My primary source was actually Mantak Chia which probably isn't that reliable, but the practice predates him. 

13 minutes ago, Cobie said:

imo the 7 churches of the Book of Revelation are the 7 chakras, John is describing his experience of opening his chakras. 
 

 

That's an interesting opinion but he never explicitly says that.