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Sound energy and tapping into that indestructible reservoir of power is an integral part of Buddhist metaphysics (Mahayana).

It is intellectually accepted that the energy of sound is composed of vibrations, but how many people regard sound in this way? Opening oneself so that the vibrational patterns of incoming sound can merge with one’s personal vibrational receptors, and then allowing the physiology to react without blocking, is rare. This allowing oneself to be touched and moved by vibrational patterns is an important dimension of healing, or apprehending the invisible world, of being fully alive. In this way, we can maintain contact with the universe and the magical forces of Nature. Receiving sound and merging with it is our true energic nature. It balances, it moves with our energies, never remaining still. This is the expression of pure life. Buddhists call it the Dharma, Chinese chi,Christians spirit, the ancients, Harmonices Mundi –the Music of the Spheres. ~ Linden Thorp

marvellous!

I respect your patience, Nungali

Pointing the Staff At the Old Man's Heart WHILE THE GREAT MASTER PADMASAMBHAVA was staying at Great Rock Hermitage at Samye, Sherab Gyalpo of Ngog, an uneducated 61 year old man who had the highest faith and strong devotion to the master, served him for one year. All this while Ngog didn't ask for any teachings, nor did the master give him any. When after a year the master intended to leave, Ngog offered a mandala plate upon which he placed a flower of one ounce of gold. Then he said, "Great Master, think of me with kindness. First of all, I am uneducated. Second, my intelligence is small. Third, I am old, so my elements are worn down. I beg you to give a teaching to an old man on the verge of death that is simple to understand, can thoroughly cut through doubt, is easy to realize and apply, has an effective view, and will help me in future lives." The Master pointed his walking staff at the old man's heart and gave this instruction: Listen here old man! Look into the awakened mind of your own awareness! It has neither form nor color, neither center nor edge. At first, it has no origin but is empty. Next, it has no dwelling place but is empty. At the end, it has no destination but is empty. This emptiness is not made of anything and is clear and cognizant. When you see this and recognize it, you know your natural face. You understand the nature of things. You have then seen the nature of mind, resolved the basic state of reality and cut through doubts about topics of knowledge. This awakened mind of awareness is not made out of any material substance; it is self-existing and inherent in yourself. This is the nature of things that is easy to realize because it is not to be sought for elsewhere. This is the nature of mind that does not consist of a concrete perceiver and something perceived to fixate on. It defies the limitations of permanence and annihilation. In it there is no thing to awaken; the awakened state of enlightenment is your own awareness that is naturally awake. In it there is no thing that goes to the hells; awareness is naturally pure. In it there is no practice to carry out; its nature is naturally cognizant. This great view of the natural state is present in yourself: resolve that it is not to be sought for elsewhere. When you understand the view in this way and want to apply it in your experience, wherever you stay is the mountain retreat of your body. Whatever external appearance you perceive is a naturally occurring appearance and a naturally empty emptiness; let it be, free from mental constructs. Naturally freed appearances become your helpers, and you can practice while taking appearances as the path. Within, whatever moves in your mind, whatever you think, has no essence but is empty. Thought occurrences are naturally freed. When remembering your mind essence you can take thoughts as the path and the practice is easy. As for the innermost advice: no matter what kind of disturbing emotion you feel, look into the emotion and it tracelessly subsides. The disturbing emotion is thus naturally freed. This is simple to practice. When you can practice in this way, your meditation training is not confined to sessions. Knowing that everything is a helper, your meditation experience is unchanging, the innate nature is unceasing, and your conduct is unshackled. Wherever you stay, you are never apart from the innate nature. Once you realize this, your material body may be old, but awakened mind doesn't age. It knows no difference between young and old. The innate nature is beyond bias and partiality. When you recognize that awareness, innate wakefulness, is present in yourself, there is no difference between sharp and dull faculties. When you understand the innate nature, free from bias and partiality, is present within yourself, there is no difference between great and small learning. Even though your body, the support for the mind, falls apart, the dharmakaya of awareness wisdom is unceasing. When you gain stability in this unchanging state, there is no difference between a long and a short life-span. Old man, practice the true meaning! Take the practice to heart! Don't mistake words and meaning! Don't depart from your friend, diligence! Embrace everything with mindfulness! Don't indulge in idle talk and pointless gossip! Don't become involved in common aims! Don't disturb yourself with worry of offspring! Don't excessively crave food and drink! Intend to die an ordinary man! Your life is running out, so be diligent! Practice this instruction for an old man on the verge of death! Because of pointing the staff at Sherab Gyalpo's heart, this is called 'The Instruction of Pointing the Staff at the Old Man.' Sherab Gyalpo of Ngog was liberated and attained accomplishment. This was written down by the Princess of Kharchen for the sake of future generations. It is known under the name 'The Instruction of Pointing the Staff.' (many thanks to Buddhist Centre Miami and Paramito Ladakh for sharing the above)

Yeah, ok, if thats the way you want to put it. Kinda redundant though for a Buddhist practitioner.

Good point! Belief often spawns dualistic perceptions.

Have you considered investigating if the source of the what you call 'gaping hole' has been misplaced? If there's something you dont quite get in any particular quote, please be mindful enough to ask if someone can help to clarify in a way that would make the quote more appeasing to your eyes and intellect, rather than your current practice, which is often this tendency to point out subjective flaws in an otherwise neutral string of words uttered for the benefit of those who actually grasp the meaning enough to reflect on that, rather than read more into it than necessary. Moreover, this particular thread is not meant for discussion. Unlike your repeatedly less-than-welcoming attitude towards Buddhists in the Hindu forum, you're very welcome to open a thread in the Buddhist forum should you have anything substantial to clarify or discuss. Please don't turn this thread into another this vs that thing. Thank you.

In his book, “Children Who Have Lived Before: Reincarnation today,” German therapist Trutz Hardo shares extraordinary case studies of children from around the world who remember details of their past lives. One child in the Golan Heights, a region near the border of Syria and Israel, has a tale that will give you goosebumps. A three-year-old of the Druze ethnic group, a group of people for whom reincarnation is a core belief, told his elders that he knew what had happened to him in his past life: He was murdered. The boy, whose story was documented by Dr. Eli Lasch and then told to Hardo, was born with a long, red birthmark on his head. For the Druse birthmarks like these are an indication of death wounds, says Hardo, and children born with them are paid close attention to for anything they may remember of their past lives. “As soon as a child is born its body is searched for birthmarks, since they are convinced that these stem from death wounds, which were received in a past life,” Hardo writes. If such marks are found on a child they try to discover something from his or her past life as soon as the child is able to speak in order to get the first clues to the circumstances of his or her former death.” Once this particular child turned three and could speak, he told his elders that he was killed by an axe blow to the head. He was led through villages to see if he could remember where he lived, until he came to one that seemed familiar to him. The child said he remembered both the first and last name of his killer with complete clarity. Hardo writes that the boy confronted a man he’d never met but knowing his full name, claiming him to be the murderer. “Suddenly the boy walked up to a man and said, “Aren’t you … (Eli [Lasch] forgot the name)?” The man answered yes. Then the boy said, “I used to be your neighbour. We had a fight and you killed me with an axe.” Eli told me how the man had suddenly gone white as a sheet. The three-year-old boy then said, “I even know where he buried my body.” Lo and behold, the boy led the elders to the exact spot, a pile of stones, under which there lay a buried body. The buried man’s skull showed a split in the front. The boy also led the group to the spot where the axe was buried, forcing the accused killer to eventually confess his crime.

“OM is composed of A, U, M. Viewed as the seed syllables of the Three Vajras, they represent the Body, Speech, and Mind of Noble Lady Tara. Protecting all beings by nonconceptual love, compassion, and wisdom, and completely abandoning all wrongdoing of body, speech, and mind, is “Lady.” Going far beyond the limits of samsara and nirvana is Exhalted or Noble. Protecting all sentient beings from the cause and result of fear and suffering is the Liberator or Tara. For this reason, from my heart, I pay homage to you, Noble Lady, with devotion of body, speech, and mind.” ~ Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche Smile of Sun and Moon

precisely!

Frankly i find your comments quite bizarre at times, 3Bob. A quote is just that... a quote. Its entirely up to the reader to bake it well or not, just like cooking - you have the ingredients there, and if you know what to do with them, something nice and tasty will result. If it turns out unsatisfactorily, don't go blaming the ingredients.

A fundamental sense of opportunity ~ 17th Karmapa When Buddhism talks about emptiness, it is not talking about a type of non-existence whatsoever, but rather the teachings on emptiness point to the notion of possibility, that anything can happen. The teachings on emptiness are about a fundamental sense of opportunity that is a part of reality, a fundamental presence of a gap or a space in which anything can occur. So this is the basic notion behind the Buddhist teachings on emptiness and dependent arising. And these teachings on dependent arising are present in all of the different vehicles in Buddhism, both the greater vehicle and the foundational vehicle.

http://www.today.com/news/return-life-how-some-children-have-memories-reincarnation-2D80550946?cid=par-huffingtonpost

Ideally, the practice and the result arising from that becomes inseparable, seamless, at some point. I think total integration means exactly that. In Vajrayana it is said that there is no distinction between ground, path and fruition. Of course, for beginners like myself there is still a lot of conceptualisation around this, but if practice is maintained on an even keel, then gradually, and with mindful attention, i can see how the layers start to interweave.

The unmanifest... nice. Or, the manifesting continuum of one's pure potential directly influenced by, and integrated into, one's longing for inner freedom. In this way there is the presence of awareness of motivation, urgency, commitment and inspiration.. some of the key factors in keeping one's practice fresh and fulfilling. Every prostration performed can be a symbolic gesture of renouncing obstacles that get in the way of achieving one's deep spiritual potential. The action is vital. Then it no longer remains as mere lip service.

Yes, that is the way the Buddhist yogis who practice with a Dakini partner do it. How did you know?? The length of time needed would of course vary, and largely dependent on the partnership and also the karmic disposition of each partner involved. Many Dzogchenpas who walk this path find inspiration from the teachings of Padmasambhava to Yeshe Tsogyal, the Dakini Queen.

Afraid his status as an immortal cannot be ascertained fully, but at least he existed at some point, which does give the account some weight and lends a bit of substance to the OP. Im sure there is a Taoist lineage somewhere that recognises (or had recognised) his saintly status. In fact, a passage in the book Love & Immortality in China endorsed his immortalship (sp), claiming that his internal cultivation enabled him to predict events with uncanny accuracy (besides other transcendental skills he had acquired).

finger goes down throat an imitation plunger does the job nicely

Zhang Liang's not a mythical figure, as per the wiki article. Monkey aka Sun Wukong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong

So much wheelin' and dealin' happened back then - corruption was rife, not to mention conspiracies, rebellions, etc - a most colourful era in China's history. Not all the players got to become immortals though, save a handful, & Zhang Liang was one of them. Im sure with a bit of digging around a few more names will surface.

Monkey crossed my mind, and i was actually going to post it up, but then i thought, hey, Monkey's a mythical figure, so i gave up.

Not sure if Zhang Liang was a criminal, but he sure had some notorious streak in him. Its believed he eventually became an immortal serving as one of Laozi's assistant in heaven. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Liang_%28Western_Han%29

Ah, ok.. Thank you for clarifying. Maybe you can write to FPMT - they might be able to assist with your search.

Are you sure its in Sanskrit?