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I am still quite puzzled where you are hoping to take these sorts of assertions. The only thing watching you is your own mental stage director, and you are acting out the script which you are constantly updating and re-writing on so many levels, yet none of it exists outside your own imagination, of which you have in grand supply. All these percepts which you deem lowly are in actual fact neutral by nature. It is the energy of grasping, clinging and aversion which makes them turn out to be either lowly or not. There really are no scales available to measure their worth. Each individual acts out their own script according to their mental formations. Spiritual cultivation in a way is the process by which we recognize that even though we each have our unique script, nothing is there to prevent us from re-inventing or re-wiring the script we have thus far accumulated and have been conditioned to believe its written in stone and therefore unchangeable.

Mind and heart has to work in tandem. This is the the ultimate union which overcomes dualistic tendencies. Wisdom does not arise without Right Effort. Right Effort does not arise without wisdom. Its a symbiotic process, not one taking precedence over the other.

Only in the cultivation stages where one goes thru certain practices to transform old (negative)habits by gradually focussing on a new set of positive habits. This can be done in a multitude of ways, beginning with first having the right intentions or aspirations. When transformation has been effected, then these new habits will take root and become second nature, arising in spontaneous ways and in all situations, similar to a child being naturally drawn to its parent. Once stabilization is maintained on a constant basis, then these new qualities cannot be said to remain as mere intellectual contemplations.

Then you are a wise individual. Wiser still is if you will cease to label the buddhist community here neo-buddhists, western buddhists, etc. What is your purpose in so doing? Not everyone on this Forum hails from the West. There is a healthy input from Buddhists who come from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and other Asian countries. But i understand you are fairly new here, so i am saying this for your own reference.

Wow, that's great, Seth! May your plans become reality, and wishing you the very best in your noble pursuit! You might be interested to keep this link as a reference in case you might want to clarify certain thoughts with an experienced, qualified Buddhist Psychotherapist at some point during your course - - http://www.awakeningtosanity.net/about-me.html Much blessings!

I do understand where you are coming from, Tulku, but your view is quite off from the buddhist perspective. I am not saying you are wrong ~ i am sure some folks will see the logic of your argument, but in the Higher path, such views are fully negated because they will still give rise to dualistic tendencies. Having sight and hearing does not automatically qualify one as a proficient driver, and there are many who have both, drove for many years, yet have no clue as to the actual workings of the car. Yes, we cannot drive a car blindfolded or with our hearing impaired. But enlightenment is not the same as driving. Its more like knowing what a car is, its potential, and what its capable of doing. For this, no great power is needed. Simple awareness is more than sufficient. But unfortunately most people are by nature dissatisfied, and from this the 3 poisons take root, and thus is born the twelve links, and also the wheel of suffering is set in motion following this, which causes the cyclical perpetuations of samsaric death and rebirth to be seen as fundamentally real, and this is the main obstacle to remaining undistracted in one's primordial essence of Buddha Mind.

From the Prajnaparamita: O Subhuti! When one develops the excellent Mind of enlightenment, even the ten virtuous deeds, the four absorptions of the form realm and the four contemplations of the formless realm, the practices of an ordinary person will become the training associated with liberative virtues. So this will become the cause of omniscience. As an afterthought, i recall in the Dzogchen teachings that Virtues are of two types: Merit-making and Liberative. The cultivation of siddhis to aid one on the path is classified under Merit-making (also known as Method), which can be exhausted, whereas Liberative virtues (also known as Wisdom) is essentially inexhaustible, and to generate both is usually encouraged by the various schools. However, the cultivation of Liberative virtues take precedence over that of cultivating Merit-making virtues, although this again depends on the level of one's mental abilities.

Sunya, I am not against the cultivation of siddhis. Tulku said siddhis are necessary for the achievement of enlightenment. Do you think this is an accurate statement? I see siddhis as a by-product of the process of initial trainings in the conceptual path of understanding of what Buddha essence is. During this phase, some will taste expanded mind states, and depending on one's karmic disposition and openness, these mind states can be honed and then used for healing, energetic cultivation, enhancing teachings, etc. Others who do not have the karmic disposition can have glimpses, but they do not remain, and no amount of chasing or training will bring about its development. Most times, people attempt to cling to the glimpses and hanker after these siddhic powers, mistakenly thinking that without them, Enlightenment becomes unreachable, like Tulku here for example. This is the view that i am trying to redress here. So i do not see the development of siddhic powers as a prerequisite to uncovering realization of the nature of Mind. And i do not think its a fundamental requirement on the Vajrayana path either. But depending on which school one affiliates with, some will put more, some less, emphasis on the cultivation of the Paramitas, and almost no emphasis is put on the cultivation of siddhis purely for its own sake, as precursors to Awakening.

One does not need to cultivate the divine Sight and Hearing faculties in order to understand that we are covered by the denser graspings brought in thru the 6 senses. Just like you have clearly demonstrated your understanding here. Does this mean you have developed divinity in those two faculties? If you have, good for you, but i think you have only begun to uncover it, so this goes to show its not necessary to have these divine gifts or powers fully tuned before understanding and putting into practice what the Buddha actually taught can be achieved. I am stressing this in case others who want to take up the Buddhist path get confused by your assertions.

This is your definition, not the generally accepted Buddhist definition, Tulku. One can most certainly attain deep understanding of the causes of karma thru scriptural studies of the Suttas. When the causes are seen and abandoned, first conceptually then non-conceptually, until such time when stability arises and becomes pervasive, there is no hope of attaining psychic powers. This reality is not empty. It is simply void of intrinsic permanency. To say reality is empty is not in accord with the teachings. Everyone's buddha nature is already self-perfected. You cannot do anything to make it more perfect. If you gain siddhi powers that does not mean your buddha essence is greater than Cowtao's, who have no siddhi powers. But if you do gain them, then you have the added responsibility of doing right by them.

I dont think you understood what i said.

Siddhis are cultivated virtues, much like any other virtuous deeds one accumulates along the path to awakening. Actual Awakening itself is not regarded as a result of accumulations. According to Buddhadharma, the Awakened state is self-perfected. There is no need to perform any merit accumulations to 'attain' enlightenment. According to the Buddhist teachings, Buddha essence is not a separate state, and no amount of merit accumulations will bring one closer to the Essence, for one has never been separated from it from the beginningless beginning. It is due to conditioned and habitual patterns that has heaped layers of delusional fermentations over one's original state, and as a result, beings believe they are wandering in Samsara, when in fact, Samsara itself is an imagination brought forth by the mind constantly wandering (distractions) due to the non-recognition of one's primordial state ~ this is the result of clinging and aversion within the six sense realms. The practice of accumulating merits may or may not lead to Awakening, but the fruits of sufficient accumulative merits will still the mind enough to uncover expansive realities beyond the mundane-fold which non-accumulators abide in. The harvest of siddhis are not indicative of the Enlightening state; however, the Enlightening state will enable the realizations of siddhis effortlessly if one so desires. While some may opt to hone their siddhic skills while training in the stability of recognizing the nature of Mind, there are others who may choose to ignore this aspect of the path. Without first setting one's mind at ease and abiding in Calm, the pursuit of siddhic powers can actually hinder the realization and subsequent stabilization of the innate state of Buddha essence.

:lol: HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH... ...THE MULBERRY BUSH THE MULBERRY BUSH HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH TIL WE GAIN SIDDHI POWERS?? You trying to become some sort of cult spiritual head or something, Tulku? Where did you pluck these ideas from i wonder. This sort of wild fantastical claims are surely not in accord with Buddhadharma, so that is one tradition you can discount from your fantasy here.

Excellent! *****

You have my vote on this, Seth. I was not very sure at the start, but am fairly certain this is quite necessary. Tis great you had the foresight to suggest such a timely addition ~ i hope the Team will take your idea seriously this time on.

Well, my respect for you as an individual has not changed one bit, Scotty. Just because you make blanket statements which starts off with 'You Buddhists' (well, i am Buddhist, and i am a regular poster here, so....) does not mean you are any less deserving of respect as a fellow human being. Sometime ago, we had a little discussion, and we made clear some things, and also, based on some of the values which were evident from some of your posts going back to the time when i first came on the forum, you are still sound in my books, and even if you think that i have sided with some others on this matter hence you no longer wish to respect my position, its okay by me, you are free to make any deductions you deem fits your present consciousness. Certainly i, nor anyone else, can deny your prerogative on whom you want to call friend. I was a bit disappointed by your inaccuracies in some matters relating to Buddhist thought, but then, we cannot hold everyone to account for their lack of understanding. Even though you may be mistaken about some formed ideas you have about Buddhism, it does not change the fact that you are sincerely wishing to grow and become a happier person, as does almost everyone i believe, and in that we can find a common ground to perhaps negotiate some peaceful understanding and empathy?

Battle? Seriously? No winners. Good luck. Seriously needed.

Went to bed at about 3am this morning, and awoke at 5.30am to go for a morning walk. Nice.... its quite breezy here, so i had to walk a bit more brisk than usual ~ enjoyable nonetheless. At some point during the stroll, i did become mindful of how the mods are sometimes put into very dicey situations which require a high degree of astuteness and patience, and i thanked the stars we have some wonderful individuals here who have the big heart to volunteer their precious time to get things running as smoothly as possible so that we pseudo-Buddhists can continue to strut our pseudo creeds while grouping up to go hunting for Taoist militants and bash them over their heads with our pseudo-illusionistic clubs made of pseudo-buddhist plasticky stuff. (reflecting on the situation at hand, it might be worth seriously considering a sub-forum for the pseudo-Buddhists?) Its almost 7.30 now, and i am about to start my pseudo Buddhist practice, beginning with aspirational, wish-granting prayers for the benefit of all beings, so i was wondering if anyone here would like for me to intercede on their behalf to pray for the blessings of mercy, grace, compassion, equanimity, peace, good health, long life, freedom, joy and love? (Disclaimer ~ semi-pseudo-authentic intercessor, so you might or might not get the benefits... ) How about you, Scotty? It may not be so real as to meet your discerning standards, but i have been told that God loves a trier, so hey, even if it aint half hot, at. least. its. lukewarm.... O btw, i have been inspired by Scotty's admonishing reminder that we should do more practices first, before we are qualified enough to engage in discussion with him. Which is why i have not responded to any of his mistaken views with any of my mistaken views, since i think i do not spend enough time on practice. Thanks for the wake-up call, brah.

Ah, i see... then you are one of the fortunate ones. Its good to know you are making the effort to learn and to discover more. Its a great habit to have, so well done, my friend. When we can cultivate the eye to see beneath the surface of things, often, we may be filled with surprising finds, just like when one goes treasure hunting. The good things are often laid hidden beneath, or sometimes, people cover up the good things as a sort of camouflage so that the gems are not gotten at by too many, in which case they may end up devalued. I could be wrong, but i think in many aspects, Taoism is something like that. Just a small observation if i may... If you want to know more about Buddhism, then The Tibetan Book of the Dead, although an essential reference for the more serious student of Buddhism, would not be too appropriate as a source material to get a good foundational grasp of authentic Buddhist philosophy and practices. Thank you for the kind reply. Much appreciated.

That's a pretty negative view in itself, dont you think? Not only is your understanding of it negative, its completely misconstrued. Enlightenment is not some form of escapism. As my friend VJ likes to say, you need to study more so that you are able to make correct assessments about what Buddhism is, otherwise, if ever you find yourself at a sit down over dinner with friends and the conversation turns to Buddhism, you might just end up being looked at with funny eyes.

This statement is not in sync with the Buddhist path. In Buddhism there is a distinction made between Nirodha (Cessation) and Nirodha Samapatti (Cessation with attainments aka Correct acquisitions). Nirodha entails cessation, but with the qualifier Samapatti added, then it leads to cessation with result, which basically means there are Right things which one can desire, for example, it is not wrong to desire the right kind of awakening. Not all thoughts are to be discarded, otherwise how can one turn the mind towards the Dharma?

Well, its a normal human tendency when they see a cat stuck in a tree to think they know the best way to help it descend. But sometimes in our ignorance we forget that the cat is exactly where it wants to be, and no amount of coaxing or advice will help until the cat itself decides its got enough and makes the next transition... it may climb down if it chooses to, or it will jump. Some cats can jump from very high altitudes and land pretty intact on their feet... maybe Tulku is one cool cat, and he will land on his feet too. I think he will make much progress, and we should let him find his own answers without meddling too much. Not much point if all the good advice we think we are giving end up frustrating ourselves, and then, it may end up that we begin to doubt our own words. That will be quite tragic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SIiI49vicc&feature=related

But the whole point of his exercises is that he does not buy in to your assumption that he is 'depriving' himself in any way, shape and form. He is convinced its others who are depriving themselves of what he doggedly thinks he is about to attain, whatever he thinks That may be. This could work for some, in the sense that such determined shutting off of all external opinions may serve to funnel a sort of realization which otherwise may not happen if he takes in too much of other's ideas and views, but what i cannot wrap my understanding around is why come on to a forum to express concepts which are primarily and exclusively suitable only for himself? Then, i figured that perhaps he is attempting to burn all his own conceptual bridges by talking himself into a corner until he has absolutely no options left but to walk the talk. Many have tried to rationalize with him, and that wont work. Attempt to reflect his thoughts off one's personal experience, but that wont work. Make fact-based rebuttals, but all in vain. Coaxing wont work either.... he is like a cat stuck so high up a tree that its almost desperate enough to leap off if it gets too hungry or thirsty. Its no use to think that the cat will somehow find the path which it took to ascend the tree, and use that to find its way down from the dizzying heights. After all, to begin with, it never consciously marked a path as it began its climb.