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Repentance is one way to instil awareness into one's harmful habitual tendencies, to ensure that negative emotional patterns are not given room to recede into the subtler aspects of consciousness, where it will drive future repeats of similar patterns. Developing this habit fosters a lot of positive virtue. It helps to strengthen patience, tolerance, fortitude, empathy, humility, spaciousness, courage and compassion. All very essential qualities for a sincere spiritual aspirant. From the Buddhist perspective, repentance is not connected with sin and guilt. Its more about finding the resolve to be free of habits detrimental to the cultivation of the paramitas. Repentance also generates merit necessary for keeping one's samaya stainless. Yet, it does not mean damnation if one flouts the vows ~ it means next time be more mindful. Without cultivating the habit of repentance, it will be hard to observe the cessation of delusional reactive habits, which are the ignorant stuff that basically is like tying a karmic stone around one's neck.

people who feel drawn to leave (anywhere) to go somewhere else is still subject to craving. Hermits are not foolproof. They make choices too, like anyone else. Its understandable to feel swayed by their sereneness. Sure they manifest that, but a truly content person manifests that even if they are in less-than-ideal conditions. one ought to be content wherever, if the small heart and big heart are in harmony often. Its ok if its not sometimes, part of the sentient process.

Quite some incomplete ideas being formed here on the concept of karma. Karma is more than reaping what is sown. Karma begins to roll from intention, gathers momentum from action, which habituates (gives birth) to a similar repetition of same intention, which again births a similar action... thats basically what karma is. Habitual tendencies and karma are synonymous. Anyone who can cut even one negative habit is said to have cut that particular root and so prevent said karma from perpetuating. Anyone who can repeatedly instil positive intent is moving in the direction of merit, even before action commences. Merit means gaining enthusiasm and sustenance from having acted in accordance with the positive intent and seeing the fruits arising thereon, and repeating the same will yield the same result, again and again. Because karma manifests on various levels, some of which cannot be seen by those who have not yet stabilize meditative mindfulness, a little confusion and misunderstanding often follows. Its ok, quite the norm. In order to see the workings of karma, look into one's state of mind with great attention, and see how its moods affect one's actions (or inaction, in some cases). The good thing about karma is that its easily manipulated. Change your mood, and that brings immediate transformation to whats going on around you. Choose a different response to one which is driven by negative habit, and future obstacles are already averted. Keep doing it, and a new positive habit is instilled. Mindfulness and attentiveness are the keys that unlock the ability for this process to become more and more refined. In short, karma is the law of process. Nobody can deny the existence of processes. It is that which defines the whole of existence.

Entering the conduct of the Bodhisattvas, by Khenpo Kunpal, a direct student of Paltrül Rinpoche. Kindly translated and offered as free download by Andreas Kretschmar. http://www.kunpal.com/

fearing yet yearning this heart forever ablaze consuming itself...

Freedom is right there, wherever you are. Boundaries are only imagined, there are none. Quit being afraid, quit imagining there are all these things you have to do to get to an imagined paradise. Paradise and you have never been separated. Whatever you think and do creates this illusion of a split, which then creates an illusion of self and a path, which then creates a need, which then creates a cause, which then creates an effect, which then creates the grand illusion of leading a purposeful life, which then creates the illusion of security, which then creates the illusion that finally you have cracked the immortality code, which then causes arrogance, which then causes insecurity, which leads to needing verification, which leads to more searching, which leads to bigger splits, which leads to more paths manifesting, which leads to greater needs for confirmation whether what you found is really the right code, which leads to more insecurity, which leads to greater arrogance (since arrogance and self-centredness is inseparably based on delusion), which leads to wastage, which leads to confusion, which leads to ignorance, which then leads to repeats of the whole cycle again and again, like a hamster running inside a wheel. When you are finally tired of running, of searching, go home, and mind your breathing. Watch each breath with wonder. One day, one of these will be your last. This is an inescapable fact. What will you do then? This is ALL you need to establish. Right at that moment, what will you do? All the mastery of knowledge and energy you think you have acquired in so many years of practice culminates at that point ~ what will you do? Live aware each moment the closeness of life and death. The union of expansion and contraction, the cycle of arising form and receding emptiness. There is no mystery. The secret is there, in each breath. In and out, in and out.....

The above is a blog i follow, and this neat reminder, posted today, i thought would be nice to share here: Accept everyone exactly the way they are Accepting everyone exactly the way they are is compassion: we are merely an exaggeration of our true nature and uniqueness. Wouldn’t we all liked to be accepted exactly how we are, with our temporary relative attributes and ultimate potential of Buddhahood? Of course this doesn’t mean that we accept ego’s games as being the whole story. We come from different places, far and near. Before Earth, we could have come from anywhere. Outside the body, there are no limits, but most of us are unaware while in that state, being driven by our karmic propensities. Because we are sentient beings and not enlightened, at birth we forget all previous infinite existences. And so, we have been educated into one of many different cultures, believing we are these, when all along there is something unique under the surface. If we are honest, we get on with very few people. In our relative existence, while talking to others we rarely ever see eye to eye. In silence, however, we do…interesting, that! It is said there are 84,000 different types of beings, which are varying combination of Klesa: these are the disturbing emotions, which all stem from one - ignorance of our true nature. Because of this ignorance, we create hope and fear. Through this we cling to others who display similar traits, and therefore cover up any uneasy feeling about this basic ignorance. To be honest, we hardly ever find anyone with whom we can communicate. We just join in! All we can do is be ourselves. The absolute in the relative. We do not have to join a group in order to be where it’s at. Just be content being you, and you will be where it’s at!

Thats still happening in Tibet, beneath all the facade of 'progress'.

are usually all fluff.

But maybe they accepted knowing you were better than what drove them to kick your butt in the first place, otherwise they could have simply shrugged their shoulders and let you fumble on your merry way. Sometimes acceptance also include the welcoming of knowledge of someone's potential, and in that, encouragement is given accordingly. Its probable...

pyramids and slaves one day, the pyramids too will vanish with time...

SJ, thanks.

It is periods of sitting interspersed with other activities. The Roshi is the pillar which holds the whole practice in place for the group. Rongzom Fan is wrong to diminish the central role of the teacher in Zen.

you're free to do what you want, guv. edit to add 'guv'.

Haha you made a (wrong) blanket statement about them, and you accuse me of being judgemental??? (sigh)

then they are not really hardcore. hardcore means a Zen practitioner who observes and practices Upaya (Koan is classified under Upaya), and in Zen, Upaya must also include accepting guidance from a Roshi. Just because someone says they are a Zen student does not necessarily mean anything, least of all, a full commitment to the path of practice. Without full commitment, then you cannot call them 'Zen people' in full confidence, unless you are just using the term loosely. If you were using the term loosely, it means you are only half-hearted in terms of contributing to a more in-depth discussion. If you have no wish to contribute whole-heartedly, what is your motive in starting this topic?

I think they are actually all 'not-self'. Self denotes limitations. Infinite potential and perimeters do not get on too well together. Bound to clash thru all the fluffiness of identification, of labels and conventions. Self and conventions are synonymous. Conventions and labels are synonymous. To drop all labels, one can do well to drop all processes leading to the birth of a self. The birth of self is the birth of duality, of limits. Self is a journey into contractiveness. The real exercise is to head out in the opposite direction, and see where that leads. Some call this exercise 'Invoking Drala'. Interesting concept.

Just listen to yourself for a minute here, SJ. Im really sorry to say this, but this is like reading from a textbook man. Is this how you conduct your life daily, in your interactions with people? You seem, whats the word.... fixated. Zoned out. Please forgive me if this seems a heartless thing to say, but its the first thought that came up. You can call me 'bastard' now, i dont mind. I dont like to see my friends trapped, even in the name of salvation. And you, i count as a friend.

And you are of the opinion that one progresses from sila, samadhi to prajna thru scrutinizing the Dharma, is that it? Just to be clear.

I did take it up, as you suggested. And a good answer came from the Ven. Rahula, who states that Tanha is not only related to sense pleasures and physical gratifications, but also the desire for, and attachment to ideas and ideals, views, opinions, theories, conceptions, and beliefs (dhamma-tanha).

No wonder you are stuck.

If someone is free from averse reactions on either spectrum, truly, there is no need whatsoever to bother with Buddhism. The Buddha (as do all cravings, skt. Tanha) arises in light of views arising. With the cessation of views, all cravings will be extinguished. Why? Because all views are based on a self. Tanha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81 Three Kinds of Desire: http://www.buddhanet.net/4noble12.htm

Also, to assert that that person's view is right is also an error.

The Dharma is not meant to be scrutinized ~ it is a distillation process. Do you understand what 'process' means? It means we each have our own powers of discernment. Some are more powerful, some less. You are asserting that someone's power of discernment is flawed. I am asserting there is no such thing, vis-a-vis too many variables. Information is simply that: expedient means. Again, these can't be right or wrong. We use what is needed, what we have the mental capacity to absorb, and base our view from the understanding which we have distilled from there. It is an individual relationship with Dharma, a personal process arising from how much delusion we have been able to descale from our cognitive processes. Therefore, to say someone's view is skewed, distorted, and wrongly motivated is an error.

Please accept my apology for choosing the wrong word to use, Oildrops. It was not my intention to imply a dependency. I misunderstood your position.