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Lololol you're a funny guy, Apech.

I have, the odd time when reading your posts, visualized you looking a bit like Hagar the Horrible. Big, broad, & bearded. so wrong, so so wrong.... (shakes head) Nice to be able to put a correct face to your posts from now on. respect for vid!!

Insanity is the unconscious urge to do the same thing over and over again, anticipating a different result each time. ---Einstein, on the foibles of human hair bits.

Usually due to ignoring subtle body traumas which cannot be consciously detected and rectified. When the winds of memory moves (Tibetans call this lung), the traumas stir, begin to sway, then seeps in and out of gross consciousness, making some people cluelessly think, feel, do & say things which they usually, under other circumstances, will not indulge. This is repeated in patterns, subject to various universal forces and internal maladjustments, yet, despite all the influences beyond their control, in retrospective self-reflection, they usually know when they end up feeling displaced by repeated guilt, shame, hatred, envy and self-loathing, all these compounded by unrecognised, cyclical habitual ignorance. This is generally the style of living of the majority of people. Meditation can realign the subtle body in some sense. It takes much work and time. Guided by expert knowledge, this process of subtle body realignment can hasten somewhat. Still, there has to be affinity and a deep enough yearning for freedom from the subtle ties that bind. Most of the time, the conduct of frequently posting members here are not reflective of 'the majority of people'. There is hope yet, i think. This is why TTB is the only spiritual forum i have stuck with over the years. There are a handful of really neat realizers around. (sorry off-topic)

Thanks for the interest shown thus far. Looks like its going to take off from Monday next!

Buddha fought no one. He lived and loved with complete equanimity. What He taught was that we should each explore our truths & falsehoods personally, deeply, to see if they are actually true/false all the time, or do they change occasionally, and what happens when one goes beyond the brittleness of these dichotomous choices that lay in our minds all the time. He threw the ball back at everyone as if saying, be responsible for your own salvation.

Sure, if you want to flow with that, by all means, sir. I was more thinking Bruce Lee... be like water, not contending, that kind of shit. I fight too, if i have no other choice. Or in the MA centre. But this is not a ring, nor a brawlroom situation every day. Apologies for being overly simplistic. Trying to cultivate frugality in thoughts, words & deeds lately.

'Fighting' & 'against' are basically anti-ethical to spiritual cultivation.

I apologise for not making clear that purchasing the book is not a requirement. The intention was that a key passage will be extracted every few days to be inserted here, and whoever's 'signed up' with interest to participate can reflect and discuss as appropriate. Perhaps every Monday? Anyone can participate but all posts/comments/questions have to be subject-related. This will stem unnecessary deviations.

A good and noble friend of mine who made good many years ago in Oz.

Some of the most enlightening snippets i have read here have been from participants of genders other than male. Mind you, a few animals too, of all different sizes, shapes, colours, sex...

That what you said is karma too.

It works when the individual 'jerky' karma is exhausted. How else will it work? Most people wont stop eating until full, and will start eating again when hungry. You and i are no exception. Neither are the wise and the foolish. For the wise, when hungry, they are mindful of that, and when full, they are mindful of that too. Seldom are they without correct aim. Its the aim that matters ultimately. If the aim is good, hitting the target becomes assured, and the task is achieved with little effort and with completeness, meaning there will be no residual mess (karma) to clean up after. For the foolish, they sometimes neglect to differentiate between the two. Their minds occasionally drift to desserts even before starters are served. So their aims are many, and often hazy, even dispersed. That doesn't mean they are jerks -- the way of cultivation becomes more open for such people.

Espanol > English languages are beautiful; help to build bridges...

That which the Buddha encouraged were ideals to be aimed at. What Atisha pointed out as instructions were gateways toward those ideals.

She is exchanging her Wisdom essence, represented by her stillness, with the male, in dynamic movement (representing Method). The wolves symbolise obstacles. The one bird in flight represents two wings in union, which is necessary as nature intends, before it can fly. Thats my take anyway.

“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear, that will be passed on for generations to come. ”--- Thich Nhat Hanh

Its because of this Dharma-ending age that the priority becomes more urgent to discern true and false teachings, also true and false teachers. Perhaps you have your personal reasons for uttering that statement, but from a Vajrayana perspective a practitioner's path cannot be completed (reach fruition) without refuge in the Teacher, who is part of the triune of Lama, Yidam and Khandro, = Ground, Path & Fruition, or View, Meditation & Action, or Buddha, Dharma & Sangha. At the more subtle energetic body level, the triune consists of Channel, Winds & Energies. This is a logical sequence to the whole of the Mahayana path, and all 3 are interconnected -- at the level of result, these 3 unfold as the Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya and Dharmakaya, ultimately. Just to further clarify: At the gross level, the practice one takes on unfolds as ground (view), path (meditation) and frution (action). At the subtle level, it unfolds as channels, winds and energies. At the subtlemost level, it unfolds as lama, yidam and khandro. The above can also be further classified, in terms of approach, as Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga. At the culminating point, the Svabhavikakaya, having dissolved all gross and subtle defilements, the inseparability or union of Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya & Dharmakaya becomes established in the practitioner. Where waverings are completely exhausted, that level is known as 'Mahasukhakaya' or buddhahood. In Chinese, this triune is known as Sanshen. In Vajrayana, for example, it is said that those of lesser intelligence works with ground, path and fruition. Those of middling intelligence works with channels, winds and energies, and those of superior intelligence works with lama, yidam and khandro. But this is not to be misunderstood as something discriminatory, rather, it affords recognition of the various capacities of individuals, and every single practitioner can avail of teachings and practices accordingly, either by gradually ascending the Path or, should affinity allow, be able to skip some of the lesser preparatory stages. So it does not follow that one can actually dispense with a teacher if one has the goal to attain complete fruition. Of course, we all have the freedom to utilise what knowledge we have to work a way towards the same goal, but some knowledge can prevent obstacles (what you call sufferings) more than others. Hence, the general encouragement for Mahayana practitioners is to always be open to following a good teacher, devotedly, for a period of time (usually many years) as this ensures a more stable fulfilment of one's spiritual aims with as less hiccups as possible.

two zero one four? nice one!

Part II.

thats good!

screenplay by Balzac cold winds slowly drape over the warmth of summer...

Its good you don't frequent this section of TTB because you obviously do not have much to offer in terms of Buddhist insights. Why do you even bother to show up now, this one time, is it just to voice your disgust? Nothing positive to contribute? Bye.

Who are these polluting posters? Either you back up your statement with facts or i'd suggest you take your comment back.

Some Buddhist debates which started in the early 1900s are still going on until today, with no resolution yet reached. What advice on reformation have you to offer then, in order to neatly re-package this unruly slum of a place? When you see posters coming on to make fun of Buddhism, denigrate Buddhist teachers, belittle the lineage and the practices, why do you stay silent? Why should you stay silent?