C T

Shabkar sings it much, much better than me.. All appearances are vast openness, Blissful and utterly free. With a free, happy mind I sing this song of joy. When one looks toward one’s own mind – The root of all phenomena – There is nothing but vivid emptiness, Nothing concrete there to be taken as real. It is present and transparent, utter openness, Without outside, without inside – An all pervasiveness Without boundary and without direction. The wide-open expanse of the view, The true condition of the mind, Is like the sky, like space: Without centre, without edge, without goal. By leaving whatever i experience Relaxed in ease, just as it is, I have arrived at the vast plain That is the absolute expanse. Dissolving into the expanse of emptiness That has no limits and no boundary, Everything i see, everything i hear, My own mind, and the sky, all merge. Not once has the notion arisen Of these being separate and distinct. In the absolute expanse of awareness All things are blended into that single taste – But, relatively, each and every phenomenon is distinctly, clearly seen. Wondrous! ~ Shabkar ~

Phenomena adorn emptiness, but never corrupt it Just like rainbows appearing in the sky Or a sudden flash of lightning in the night Harms not the space where they appear Appearances adorn the mind When the primordial ground is found the mind becomes as vast as the sky then whatever appears contains no good nor bad Do not confuse appearances as real or unreal Simply look at mind essence again and again This is the path of the wise

The root of Dharma is your mind. Tame it, and you’re practicing Dharma. To practice Dharma is to tame your mind, And when you tame it, then you will be free! ~ Dudjom Rinpoche ~

for those who deem they are being astrally raped, i wonder if they can dial the astral 999/911 helpline.

Vikara perhaps? If not, cant really add to the list of Vs already mentioned above

I missed C T too

one can nutrify the body, but not know how to nourish the mind or, nourish the mind only, and neglect the body both are essential and will help towards a fulfilling life find the balance - its free maintaining that might cost a little, but worth a lot in time nutritious foods are not those that sit on glitzy display stands in the supermarkets shouting 'organic' 'free range' and what not they are found in discarded bones in butcher shops and within these humble rejects lie marrow... even a bit of it each week works wonders most butchers give them away freely or some would ask for a token sum a few cents maybe just some large knuckle bones, ball joints, femurs a few of these, boiled for 4 to 6 hours, with some carrots onions, sweet potatoes, or add parsnips, turnips and sweetcorn eat with rice... and a bit of kimchi (pickled cabbage, great for metabolism) personally, i like to add a few drops of soya sauce onto the meltingly soft meat simply satisfying round it off with a cup or two of sencha or green tea then sink into a feeling of deep satisfaction the kind that no amount of money in the world can buy...

This supposed 'self', an elemental concoction, fabricated out of earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness, the insubstantial flux of five aggregates – form, feelings, perceptions, thought formations, and sense impressions – all conditionally arising, fleetingly abiding, and inevitably ceasing within consciousness – transient, time-bound apparitions of an ever creative mind; but what then of consciousness itself — unborn, unceasing, non-abiding, and timeless, “that which knows”, but is nowhere located. ~ P. Ladakh ~

Its so very odd that until now this issue still persists. Each time the browsing history has to be cleared before one can sign out. This is exasperating. Will someone from the tech room please look into rectifying this on-going problem? Thank you.

a dear Bum and on-line friend... thank you for passing on the info, E. _/\_

http://www.soriginstitute.org/soriginstitute

Perhaps so. Perhaps also relevant is to consider that we are indeed being calibrated by and through our practice. Yet most tend to heavily focus on calibrating the practice. There is a difference.

yes yes we think we are calibrators.... fine-tuning our way to enlightenment.

The damn problem is most people keep on harping about the wonders of the calibrator

Having experienced deep purging myself, i am able to state with some firmness that contemplating purposefully and insightfully on the 3 marks of existence helped to shine a bright light through all the seeming discord. The realisation that arose did nothing to change the externals but released, internally, all the knots of attachment and aversion. Then it became very clear that challenges and sufferings still exist but these are not mine, they are not my property, and certainly this 'I' does not exist in them, and does not not exist in events that unfold, and it became clearer still that the degree of agitation became infinitely more intense when, in the confusion, I had made the ignorant, and sometimes arrogant assumption that these events were all my doing when in fact the doings happens all on their own due to the highly complex nature of interdependent origination, within which lies all the causes of sufferings which are intimately linked to the false notions of a truly existing self, and also the cessations of same when the same false notion is seen for what it is.... false.

Its been days since i logged on here. Now that i did, it appears that there is an issue logging out. Just thought i'd bring this to the attention of the admin and tech support personnel. Anyone else having the same glitch? Thank you.

Tried that to no avail Dawei.

Hi Taomeow Its very traditional in many parts of South East Asia. The bean-like fruits, affectionately called 'drumsticks', make a delicious addition to Indian curries like dahl, for example. As for the leaves, they taste wonderful in meaty, Chinese soups with some not-so-pungent herbs. The leaves are widely consumed in many parts of the Philippines and also all over India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Both leaves and fruit are reputed to boost virility in men, with some claiming its many times more efficacious than any viagra-like pills. Many Indian families in the suburbs where i grew up have these trees planted around the house. We had one growing in our garden too. Thinking back makes me yearn for a nice curry with them drumsticks lol

Moringa Oleifera super nutritious & immensely beneficial to health http://www.purehealingfoods.com/moringaInfo.php

Relatively, it is said the source of a stream or river begins at the top of the mountain and makes its way to the one ocean but upon understanding the deeper meaning of infinite cyclical processes its apparent that, ultimately, this source is merely relative to that cycle. Immaculate. Perfect. Timeless. selfless transcendence ~ ananda ~

Untouched, undisturbed, This life is perfect just as it is, but still we try to change the world. ~ JETSUN KHANDRO RINPOCHE ~

Contemplating the question 'who am I' has nought to do with that. It instigates and motivates internal shifts, something that you have missed addressing by making allusions to examples of an external nature.

Now, this is something i can fully agree as containing the hallmarks of a maturing stability in understanding reality. There is a clear indication of a certain willingness to allow for things to be as they are, not how they ought to be. Except perhaps that idea about having to induce force of acceptance as a fixed paradigm. It need not be, not as an eventuality, anyhow.

these are merely ideas unique to your own make-up - you carry them to make your world more logical and categorical. But its far from being logical and/or categorical. This world... Its not clear that you are speaking from a place of contentment and peace. Maybe you are at such a place, but its not showing in your words. You said you dont wish to psychologise, but in essence, that is precisely all you have - Karl's psychology. Just because it works for you, you form the insistence that it should work as a rule. Such a stance has its limits, and does not have the capacity to tolerate much, like a brittle, rigid stick. To question 'who am i' requires no answers, and yet you were quick to tie it up neatly and even put a little bow on it. Its a question that turns rigidity on its head. It leads to the dissolution of contracted thinking and unhappy pursuits. You brought up the term 'narcissistic'. Touche, i say.

you missed out 'Who am I'