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Thank you for the thoughtful response. I'm quite familiar with the jhanas, and the basis for their arisings. In my view, the stilling of thoughts (as propounded in the steps leading to the onset of the 2nd jhana) does not equate to any sort of ultimate goal of thoughtlessness - imo this is a misunderstanding. Rather, I believe it refers to the 'blowing out' of discursive thoughts (leakages as mentioned in my post above) that hamper concentrative insight, whereby diligence in acquiring this concentrative insight (aka discernment) is born out of a solid foundation in vipassana. So there are reasons to support the believe in a strong correlation between vipassana bhavana and jhana cultivation. "Jhana is a meditative state of profound stillness and concentration in which the mind becomes fully immersed and absorbed in the chosen object of attention. It is the cornerstone in the development of Right Concentration." -- Access To Insight

It wouldn't need dusting off otherwise, right? lol

Time to dust off dem tinfoil hats?

Sigh. It gets worse with each reply. Good luck with your toy, lad.

The more you try to portray your understanding (of what you think karma & sagely advice is), the more you reveal your spiritual maturity.

Its funny people think karma is all just gross stuff, like being randomly hit on the head by a loose antenna while strolling past someone's balcony. One could also get subtly 'hit' by a loose piece of thread that flew out someone's window - just because its not felt does not in any way mean the 'hit' did not happen. Its all relative. Denying liability does not magically stop karma in its tracks, and if such a thought exists in a person's mind, then the one who makes that assumption has much to learn yet. Proclaiming one's denial while at the same time maintaining condescending views says much about the true depth of where that person's at.

Theravadin master Sayadaw U Tejaniya:

Modern day Nossy? #Nostradamus

We seem to have seasonal agent provocateurs on TDB. Its a strange phenomenon. I'm a firm believer in patterns, and there's definitely a noticeable one here, promulgating the trend.

How about, "There are dark govt agents in TDB pretending to out dark govt agents seeking to discredit sincere spiritual practitioners"?

Followed by claims by scientists in San Diego https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-vaccine-san-diego/509-e18e37f6-347c-4b08-ad33-910968abb04f

Same term I used in a note to a friend lol Was in Ireland for 26 years. Left for Malaysia last August. Timely too.

Admirable conviction, although for me personally, preference is to maintain acceptance of all and any possibilities. This has gone so fast and wide that its now almost (99%?) impossible to determine 'exact findings', and if you happen to be one dependent on such before allowing your own intuitive insight to kick in, then I wish you the very best. Sincerely. For me, the better option would be to study patterns, and fit as many pieces of the puzzle together, with the awareness that no matter what, it wasn't a full box of pieces to begin with. As for suppression, one simply have to take a cursory glance in Trump's direction, followed by a cursory read of news reports under headings such as "The end of Trump", or "Trump hid the truth" etc, coupled with Redfield's admission (which I posted here a few hours up) to see the implications clearly. Your response actually caught me by surprise. I was like, "How could one as bright and aware like VF not see it?" But then, there are many things I don't see clearly as well. Im learning to quell my reactionary tendencies. Work in progress.

Australian scientists claim vaccine success - https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2020/02/22/2208707/australia-claims-it-developed-vaccine-for-covid-19

CDC's Redfield admits to misdiagnosis of flu deaths when in fact it was caused by Covid 19. This was confirmed by Redfield, who also admitted to doing posthumous testings when probed by Rep. Harley Rouda. Japanese news portals reported that a Japanese caught the virus in Hawaii before the Wuhan outbreak. https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-11-20-intl-hnk/h_1319f66f92245a2fe4ec63fe91ab66c9

Bloody Cheltenham business as usual. Attendance figure: 60,000. Over the next 2 days, about 40% of this crowd will be making their way back to Ireland. Reliable sources told me that Ireland will lock down like Italy come 6pm Monday. Isn't that just genius timing? Your PM said its ok for more to get infected in order to develop herd immunity for future epidemics. He is stupid.

I don't know who Gary Weber is, but nowhere in the sutras (and tantras) did Gautama emphasise thought-free meditation. The oldest technique for meditative absorption (which is not meditation itself) is Vipassana, first referenced as Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana), the very first set of meditation practices taught by him to the immediate sangha. Bhante Henepola Gunaratana sums up Vipassana neatly by alluding the initial steps of Vipassana Bhavana to foundational mind training (not no-mind training, as in Zen, but a widely misunderstood term nonetheless), which is basically Ngondro in the Dzogchen context. He said, There are bits of reference to thoughtlessness in some Zen/Chan commentaries (none in Theravadin as far as Im aware), but these point to freedom from discursive thoughts, and not its literal meaning. When Huineng, the 6th Zen patriach attained satori (or Wunien in Chinese), he penned the famous lines, "Since all is void, where can dust alight?" Wunien was later incorporated as the central tenet of Chan. In a Lion's Roar article by Wing Shing Chan, he explains Wunien thusly, As far as the teachings in the Platform Sutra goes, thoughtlessness refers to the cessation of discursive thoughts, and also, where the mind no longer 'leaks'. Leakages are attributed to an untamed mind, and are said to be fetters that hinders the cultivation of concentrative absorption, eventually to equipoise, or in the words of Huineng himself, "An idealessness mind". The Sixth Patriach further stated, "Learned Audience, in this system of mine one prajna produces eighty-four thousand ways of wisdom, since there are that number of defilements for us to cope with; but when one is free from defilements, wisdom reveals itself, and will not be separated from the essence of mind. Those who understand this dharma will be free from idle thought. To be free from being infatuated by one particular thought, from clinging to desire, and from falsehood; to put one’s own essence of tathata into operation; to use prajna for contemplation, and to take an attitude of neither indifference nor attachment towards all things – this is what is meant by realizing one’s own essence of mind for the attainment of buddhahood."

Silence is a mere springboard. A prop. Even a crutch if there's dependency/attachment. True meditation is to simply arrive at a point where its really okay with the view & realisation of how all things in all moments are in a constant state of flux, but at the point of steady meditative absorption, one is neither pushed nor pulled by this flux . There is a presence or a sense of ease in all situations, and simultaneously an absence of craving for any one particular state over another. For eg, from the Advaita perspective, Sat-Chit-Ananda, that supreme endeavour and immaculate fruit, encompasses all of reality, not just aspects of it. Authentic (states of) meditation interpenetrates reality in much the same way.

Music, chanting, silence, yoga, mindfulness, prayers, looking at a candle flame, any other form of ritualistic observations, including even extreme practices like self-flagellation (yes, thats promoted in some cults), psychedelic usage, bondage, and any sort of forced or corrupted sensual deprivation .... these are all nothing more than warming-up exercises that, if done properly, promote a certain desired spaciousness that leads to proper flow or absorption (aka meditation). In my understanding, meditation cannot be "done". One is either "doing" or "meditating". It can't be both at once. So, if one is listening to music, then listen. Be enraptured, be enamoured with that while the music plays. In silence, be completely silent. Let that silence penetrate the whole of one's being (and see how proficiently able can one remain there) - it pays not to confuse all these preparatory exercises with the actual unfolding of meditation.... that which begins where the warming-up ends. Some types of ritual practices will fulfill the purpose of getting into the zone, while the more extreme/perverted ones tend to exacerbate delusion, and can even produce psychosis and/or other harmful states.

Dear Steve, Thank you for highlighting the misperception (fm the Dzogchen pov). Its quite a common error that even seasoned practitioners make, so it bears noting.

Is there an international body thats actually tasked with keeping tabs on who's abiding or not abiding with the rules set down? I'd imagine these tests are all done covertly in places where sunlight never enters, or it may be just the opposite: The facility is so obvious that no one would dream of looking in, perhaps where the sign outside says, "Fabric detergent manufacturer". In this age of strife, its doubtful that a treaty's enough to make countries 'behave', or play ball for that matter.

That must've been surreal.

The Mother/Feminine principle in Buddhatantra Insightful talk by Lama Rod Owens. (If preferred, skip the first 5.5 minutes intro)