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I believe animals have no concept of a self at all. Could be wrong. Generally speaking, Human ideas relating to self is the cause of dualistic thinking, which is not present in beings other than humans.

This too is a concept, yes? (Virtue has more than one connotation. In some instances its associated with what is good and right. However, 'virtue' can also reference the true nature of things. For example, by virtue of energy we get light and heat etc.)

The Buddha said to the king, "By watching the ceaseless changes of these transformations, you awaken and know of your extinction, but do you also know that at the time of extinction there is something in your body which does not become extinct?" King replies that he does not know. Buddha: "I will now show you the nature which is not produced and not extinguished." "Great King, how old were you when you first saw the waters of the Ganges?" The king replies he first saw the river when he was three. Buddha: "Great King, you have said that when you were twenty you had deteriorated from when you were ten. Day by day, month by month, year by year, until you have now reached sixty, in thought after thought, there has been change. Yet when you saw the Ganges at the age of three, how was it different from when you were thirteen?" King replies no difference to the seeing when he was three, thirteen and even now, at sixty-two. Buddha: "Now you are mournful that your hair is white and your face is wrinkled. In the same way that your face is definitely more wrinkled now than it was in your youth, has the seeing with which you look at the Ganges aged, so that it is aged now and was young when you looked at the river as a child in the past?" King: "No, world honored One." Buddha: "Great King, your face is in wrinkles, but the essential nature of your seeing has not wrinkled. What wrinkles is subject to change - what does not wrinkle does not change." Buddha continued, "What changes will become extinct, but what does not change is fundamentally free of production and extinction. How can it be subject to your birth and death? Furthermore, why bring up what others say: that after the death of the body there is total extinction?"

Isn't the title of this thread rather strange? I can think of plenty of excellent reasons NOT to commit suicide!! And none of 'm are driven by those 3 yukky words. (not that your point was not clear, but the title just seems odd, is all) Never make feeble attempts to live your life according to other people's standards and expectations. Its going to be futile. Live according to your own standards. If you do not have one set up, then the usual alternative would be to hitch onto other people's, and what happens then is that they will swarm all over you, not with any malicious intent, because they think they are doing you a favor, and that is when all the conditions arise for you to get all messed up inside. There does not seem to be a third alternative, is there? Whenever we feel down in the dumps, its a harsh reminder that some of our priorities need immediate scrutiny and some radical changes made if necessary. An examined life is a life of virtue, as they say. Anyway, i really hope you can discover some up-beat reasons why life is precious and to be cherished. Maybe one good thing to do for those who really think their lives have become meaningless is to exchange their existence with one of those innumerable numbers of people in Somalia who are literally clinging desperately to life. This way, at least someone, just one even, out of the hundreds of thousands, who appreciates life gets a chance to realize their dream. I understand you may be hurting, but there are always choices available where you do not have to push yourself to the precipice in order to exercise them. Pray you will find a way thru'.

May i give a theory as to why Mr J did not save himself? Well, for a start, he had contemplated on the matter, and decided to leave the decision to his Father. ("If it be thy will, let this cup be removed.... " - not sure if i am quoting accurately) The way i see it, his death/resurrection is symbolic of the need to kill the ego (since ego's effects manifest bodily) before 'pureness of spirit' can be evolved. His resurrection then points to ultimate mastery over both extremes, that of life and death. He achieved the pinnacle of the spiritual path.. the deathless nature, or Parinirvana, for want of a more familiar term. Doing so, he showed others the way to remove 'the yoke' - I think this 'yoke' references the ego. This was pointed out in Gal. 5:1 - "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, and do not let yourselves again be burdened again by the yoke of slavery." One Christian scholar commented: "Christ has set us free from the yoke of bondage through the Law. Jesus took upon himself the yoke of law and fulfilled it. Therefore, through him we can be set free from the yoke of sin and death." That's how i see it anyway.

Are you implying he does not? :lol:

The way you 'designed' this post makes it hard for someone to zone in to what exactly you're trying to say. I mean, you do have a purpose for it, what with all the profound 'pointing out', right? Santa Claus saving dying children (and adults?) in Africa? !! Surely you're way ahead of most of us, well me anyways.... Not sure bout Serene Blue, but i really do try to learn something whenever i come across your posts, but this... man.. ... here, have my biscuit (just kidding ok?)

This is a very useful interview which contents have an indirect bearing on the subject of cultivating Heartmind - http://www.dharmalife.com/issue26/playing.html

I very much agree with this post. Acting out of spontaneous goodness, for a true cultivator (aka bodhisattva in buddhist lingo) can become a reflex, just like pulling one's hand away from a fire. There is no analysis involved, either before, nor any need to reinforce it with more analysis post-action. One simply goes about one's business safe in the knowledge that no harm was done to the flames... (just kidding ) May i know, in your path, what is the recommended practice to attain to this stable and true nature which you have mentioned?

All sorts of things? Meaning all the non-tree elements, right? Like oxygen, sunshine, rain, soil, manure, wind, darkness etc? All these elements coming together to bring forth what is conventionally called a tree? Existence exists. There is existence. Labels like "You", "I", "We", "He" and "She" are merely conventional word arrangements whereby the possibility of communication becomes enhanced. Cant bear to think what the consequences will be if you venture out on the streets and start proclaiming, "I DON'T EXIST!".

An alternative take on 3 Kinds of Spiritual Teachings: 1) Cultivate and practice goodness in thought, speech and actions. 2) If above cannot be achieved, practice 'Do no harm'. 3) If (1) and (2) slips off, try again. Or else, try number 4. 4) Keep silent.

There appears to be immense purpose to living a lie, and living in the self-grandeur of delusional stories. People can weave tales out of living such lives, and fill their days, and nights, with distraction after distraction after distraction, so the mind is always neither here nor there. Most people cant stand being idly alone, and accepting the idleness without a tinge of guilt, as if its wrong to be doing nothing in particular. Its okay to be idle sometimes, to let everything settle into their own state without us always trying to manipulate outcomes. During those rare moments when one can can just sit, and go, "Aah... wonderful peace - just as it is" - there is really no purpose, no motive attached to this at all. Such instances of bejeweled stillness, of presence, is self-fulfilling... one no longer become overly concerned with where such moments lead. Simply letting things be...

Yeah, it seems rather strange to apply such a loaded word - war? Honestly, i think what Mr Vmarco meant to emphasize was the fact that enormous efforts will be needed to bring about a radical shift from the now-epidemic confusion and invert it to its enlightened face. Can be done, though - imagine.... all the people, living for todaaay! Even so, it still boggles my mind why a person who advocates the 'short' path have to make such lengthy posts? Have you any ideas, VJ?

No doubt. More than this, at the highest levels, there is no sick energy as such, understand? Disturbed emotions for sure, but underlying these, at the energetic levels, its simply energy. Authentic healers thrive on their ability to go right to the essence of energy and not remain stuck at the coarser levels where dualistic poles operate. Beyond boundaries - the term speaks for itself. Such boundaries exist where people's minds are still caught up in notions of good and bad, positive and negative. All paths, be they healing or spiritual, speak of Union, of returning full circle to where it all begins and end, which is Emptiness, or Hollowness. Its not difficult to heal - everyone has the potential, but hollowing out oneself so that no good nor bad can distract one's state of being is slightly harder to maintain at a constant level. Its clear the gentleman you cited, Mr Yap, has mastery over this. To be a top notch healer one cannot afford to have a distractive mind.

May the blessings return to you a thousand times a thousand, Ya Mu. Thank you.

Hi Ya Mu, I was not referencing all paths/all teachers with regards to fee-soliciting. No hang-ups here about teachers of other systems charging for their work. Merely pointing specifically to that manual i recommended - should someone pick it up and decide its material makes sense, and would like to take it further, then they have two options: either find the commonalities contained in the book which they can utilize in harmony with their existing practice system, or seek out a genuine Vajrayana/Tantra teacher, take up refuge with him or her, do the preliminaries, all the while with the aim of learning how to heal others and self. From experience, these teachers do not ask for a fee, so the caution i offered was a direct one in this regard. However, donations are always appreciated, though not demanded, and there will be no special leg-up for those who have the capacity to donate more, nor will those who donate less or none be disregarded. This is my own experience with this particular path, and this is what i have shared with others here, as a guideline in case people want to take it up and not sure what to expect if they do. Be assured that i was not discouraging others from paying to learn, nor was i disparaging those teachers who do impose a fee. Of course, those who decide they want to pay tend to take the learning more seriously due to being financially committed. It also shows their seriousness. But there are some who sincerely wants to learn healing, but cannot afford the normally excessive and lingering charges, so to these individuals, i am pointing out to them that there are options. I think this is important. Most teachers who charge for their tuition seldom if ever tell others of these other options, not sure if its because they think less of these free systems, that they are less effective perhaps, or for whatever other reason which i do not want to speculate on. I am not residing in the US, so i think your offer, though sincerely appreciated, cannot be realized at this point. But if i were to one day decide that i want to promote healing on a larger scale, i am committed to following in the footsteps of those masters who work off donations. In the meantime, my healing practice is limited to a few close friends and family members, and a few pets as well.

In the higher Buddhist tantric paths the adepts get to master methods to absorb 'sick' energy and transforming it into light. The more negative the energy the greater and faster the transformation. In this way, not an ounce of negativity is dispelled out so there is no chance for the proliferation of negativity where innocent sentient beings can accidentally pick up. All negativity is absorbed into the subtle body and alchemically transformed into its enlightened aspects. This is achieved thru the complete mastery of seeing into Wisdom and Emptiness at the launching stages of the Path. Of course this seeing involves years of training. This method ensures that the problem of where negativity goes is completely neutralized. No more debates. No more time wasting. Direct utilization of essence energy - good or bad is only in the mind. Beyond mind, where is sickness and purity? a manual for understanding this Path (one of the better ones): Secret Teachings of Padmasambhava - Essential Instructions on Mastering the Energies of Life. If anyone finds this manual agreeable, the next step is to look for a Teacher who can guide one further. Make sure he or she does not, i repeat, does not, ask you for payment in exchange for teachings. You should be able to decide if you want to make a circumstantial donation or not during the course of being a student. There shouldn't be any baiting nor hidden clauses where once you accept the Path then the higher you go the more you have to pay in order to get more advanced teachings or transmissions. Those who attempt to rope you in in this way are to be avoided at all costs. Run away quickly. Bear in mind though to be prepared to give at least 5 years before realizations bear fruit. Once it does, your eyes will tell...

You need to understand, Seth, that Vmarco is advocating the Short Path - this i presume would involve punctuating posts with absolutist statements, for effect perhaps, and loads and loads and loads of wordings to justify why its a Short Path. Thank god sages like Dogen, Bodhidharma et al were more to the point... Another gem of a post, btw. Well done, friend. _/\_

Of course it sucks. If indeed SR is guilty, then its him who will suck hardest. Even if he is not the instigator, he is sucked. Loser both ways. His sucking karma...

Ultimately it is. Whoever wants to carry another's ball and chain as well, then yeah, you are right - its their loss too.

Well... all i want to say is - If you think your respect have been compromised, then you ought to sever whatever idealistic notions you have harbored regarding this man, and dump whatever books of his that you may have. Just drop everything. Can you do it? Be without any opinion? Right now? At the end of the day, its not what another person does or not do, its what we carry inside that matters. All i can say is that there could be factors involved which we are not privy to at this point in time, hence to form judgements based on one news report surely says a lot about our own level of openness. Not that we should be so open as to turn a blind eye to stupid behaviors, regardless of position. Merely being open enough not to close our minds before the man himself admits to the transgression. If he had really been abusive, but pretend and carry on otherwise, then its his loss. Ultimately. Its his ball and chain.

Sogyal Rinpoche is not a monk.

Other than that part about cancer, of which i have not aaa clue as to its origins, thus have no wish to speculate, i'd say this is a very good, insightful post. So thanks for adding some spice to the topic Twinner! I especially liked the last couple of paragraphs. Well said. In my experience, its as if there are two worlds, both discernible, both useful... one that arises thru contact (of the gross senses) and another, subtler one, which can be discerned thru coursing in sheer awareness, where all gross contacts subside. In this second world, nothing moves. Just awareness being aware, of both the world, and of the one who is aware - Within, so without. In this second world there are no cause, no effect, no karma, no birth, no death, no non-cause, and no non-effect, in fact, its an existence within an existence, but just no graspable thing present. Once in a while, i get to extract some of this no thing-ness and spread it out among this mundane existence, making it a tad lighter.... One of these days, when these two worlds become closer to merging, i hope to be able to catch flying bullets like Neo.... ( half kidding... )

Indeed its a difficult subject to wrap one's thoughts around. So many different levels need to be cleared before a semblance of understanding what actually transmigrates post death can be had. According to buddhist scriptural allusion, its the subtlest consciousness that leaves imprints behind, and if these imprints are not completely purified, they can be left as a sort of legacy in the world. This works in the positive and negative sense. Of those people who have done great works for mankind, long after they have passed, we still speak of them with fond respect and remember their deeds with admiration and we in turn become motivated to pursue those qualities we have learned to admire in these individuals. Conversely, we also come across and find hard to discount deeds of great disgust, heinous crimes by individuals or groups that has stamped the history of mankind, and can never be erased. This is an example of how imprints get left behind. In this sense, the person dies, but the deeds dont. So no matter how insignificant an individual is, his or thoughts/actions matter, whether they affect one other or en masse is not the point. The point is to be accountable for what we put forth while alive. Children are the legacies of what sort of consciousness we create, and this is how consciousness perpetuates. Hence the urgency within Buddhistic circles to encourage followers to purify their minds. Purified minds brings forth purified thoughts, and so on. If i can succeed in the quest to clear all my baggage before i die, i can imagine what sort of peaceful environment i can leave for those around me. Should i manage to set an example of how far my cultivation has taken me, then my family and close friends might become encouraged, and maybe do something good in their lives too, and in turn, they pass on the legacy etc. So in a sense, bodhisattvas are very responsible individuals who remain always vigilant of their thoughts and deeds. Hence Mindfulness plays such an integral role in its path to cultivation. As for the different realms, one could say they are metaphorical, yet not completely, because we can distinguish different levels of behavior and thought patterns among humans. All kinds of different nuances to the human condition can be evidenced thru observing how people behave... i think we are clear on this. So those who behave in animalistic ways leave behind animalistic seeds for others to pick up, and those who behave in sagely ways leave behind sagely seeds for others. As for being reborn as an animal or a ghost and all that, lets not ruin our fragile minds with such speculations, eh?

It would be naive to say all buddhist lineages are endowed with immense purity. There are a few who have deviated. Making sweeping statements in this regard, like Vmarco has, is not very skillful nor helpful. The Kali Yuga has wide implications, and is not caused by this deviation. More than likely, its the opposite - the deviations are the effects of it. As this ending age gains momentum, simultaneously people lose heart and faith, and such disheartened souls make it more difficult for purity to remain. Instead of allowing the teachings to 'carry' the people, it has turned out that people are vainly attempting to carry the teachings, and as humans, there are bound to be human tendencies, of which mental desperation and various other human factors get tangled into the equation. Its a difficult task to totally put aside human whims and simply allow the teachings to shine of their own merit.