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Buddhist mind training exercise is somewhat like a life-long dedication to keeping a katana (samurai sword) honed at all times. As a dull-edged katana would induce unnecessary resistance when a cut is made, so too an untrained mind when attempting to cut thru delusions and dualistic habit patterns. A sharpened, polished awareness instantly cuts through with ease, and leaves nothing out of place. In this way, the mind swiftly returns to its centre, and the katana to its scabbard once the function is complete - one resting in mindfulness, the other, in readiness. Wielding and resting of both becomes one immaculate, seamless action, and to an observer not familiar with subtle seeing, its as if nothing moved.

"Gradually I began to recognize how feeble and transitory the thoughts and emotions that had troubled me for years actually were, and how fixating on small problems had turned them into big ones. Just by sitting quietly and observing how rapidly, and in many ways illogically, my thoughts and emotions came and went, I began to recognize in a direct way that they weren't nearly as solid or real as they appeared to be. And once I began to let go of my belief in the story they seemed to tell, I began to see the 'author' behind them - the infinitely vast, infinitely open awareness that is the nature of mind. Any attempt to capture the direct experience of the nature of mind in words is impossible. The best that can be said is that the experience is immeasurably peaceful, and, once stabilized through repeated experience, virtually unshakeable. It's an experience of absolute well-being that radiates through all physical, emotional, and mental states - even those that might be ordinarily labelled as unpleasant. This sense of well-being, regardless of the fluctuation of outer and inner experiences, is one of the clearest ways to understand what Buddhists mean by 'happiness'." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche ~

The Sikhs and the Gurkhas share similar martial DNA. This means they have a certain advantage when it comes to toughness and resiliency, and that's why some of the world's elite and specialised military units consisted of Sikhs and Gurkhas.

maybe dancing 'in'?

As they draw near to the nature of things The words of the learned become mute. All phenomena, subtle by their very nature, Are said to be beyond expression in words or thoughts. The mind is placed in the nature of the emptiness of all things. In this samsara, thick with the mirages of appearances That even the Tathagata’s hand cannot stop, Who can let go of belief in existence and non-existence. ~ Gendun Chophel ~

Any insight gleaned from any of the posts here is an accumulation, and the odd disagreement could well indicate purification. There should be no expectation of immediately apparent results, but the seeds continue to be sown. We should not worry too much about the results, but instead simply focus on joyfully planting the seeds of Dharma.

The Two Accumulations of Merit and Wisdom The very essence of the Buddhist teachings, the Buddha Dharma, is to cut through fixation. Fixation and attachment are the roots of samsara; they bind us to samsara. Mind has the capacity to generate powerful thoughts which can serve to loosen up our fixations on samsara. Thoughts that carry such power are known as ‘conceptual merit’. The purpose of accumulating conceptual merit is to change our negative patterns into virtuous ones, to loosen up our habitual fixation on negativity. Eventually, the gathering of conceptual merit brings fixation to an end, allowing wisdom to dawn. Once grasping and fixation have gone, the Buddha nature is revealed and can be recognized. The power of merit ultimately leads to the dawn of wisdom, the recognition of our Buddha nature. To attain enlightenment one must gather the two accumulations, the ‘accumulation of conceptual merit’ and the ‘accumulation of non-conceptual wisdom’. One truly possesses relative bodhicitta only through having gathered considerable conceptual merit. Therefore, the Bodhisattva-caryavatara teaches many methods for generating conceptual merit. When relative bodhicitta has firmly taken root in your mind, you are able to generate a power of merit through which absolute bodhicitta, non-conceptual wisdom, can arise. Non-conceptual wisdom is none other than the recognition of the Buddha nature, egolessness, profound emptiness. This recognition is beyond thoughts; it utterly cuts through all fixation on samsara. The practice of relative bodhicitta furthers the accumulation of merit; the practice of absolute bodhicitta furthers the accumulation of wisdom. In addition to gathering the two accumulations, one must also purify the two obscurations. These are the obscurations of afflictions and the obscurations of cognition. To attain enlightenment, both, meaning the perfection of the two accumulations, and purification of the two obscurations, have to commence together. Generally, one can say that the two accumulations are the remedies for the two obscurations. The accumulation of conceptual merit remedies the obscuration of the gross afflictions, and the accumulation of non-conceptual wisdom remedies the remaining subtle levels of afflictions and the obscurations of cognition." ~ HE Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche ~

Perhaps a key but subtle difference would be the degree of manipulation involved in each? A craftsperson works with a base object, say a block of wood for example, to create a form, whereas an artisan releases his or her creativity into the base object, in the process allowing a natural & intrinsic beauty to free itself out of the block? Idk, sounds very romantic, but may be true somehow.

Q : What's a brahmachari? Sadhguru : The word 'Brahmachari' literally means... Brahman means ultimate, Charya means the path. A brahmachari is someone on the path of the ultimate. Or in other words, a brahmachari is someone who is not willing to settle for small things. So anybody who has created anything worthwhile in their lives, in pursuit of that goal, have naturally denied themselves the simple pleasures that other people are having.

devastating such a significant site to the Tibetans impermanence

Norway

Nah, you can't attach poop bag dispensers to fire hydrants.

Dedication and attachment are radically different in their scope. A person, for example, sets a goal to climb Everest. He or she goes to great lengths prepping for the task ahead, making sacrifices, disciplined in putting aside physical and other mundane comforts, implementing austerities and what not to optimise conditioning mental and physical dexterity so as to ensure the best possible outcome in attaining the goal. Very often those who set their mind fervently on achieving something develop one-pointed determination to reach their destination. They have a vision that ordinary eyes dont have, and guided by this vision, they set out on a journey of discovery, fulfilling human potential. This is not an attachment in the ordinary sense of the word. Those who dont share a similar vision rarely have any real grasp on what lies behind the dedication, and could easily mistake the process as laden with attachments. Similarly, those who are devoted to a spiritual call or a divine mission are often misunderstood, and have been accused of various unpleasant things by well-meaning observers.

Within the sky-like empty mind, habitual tendencies and disturbing emotions are just like clouds and mist. When they appear, they appear within the expanse of empty mind. When they remain, they remain within the expanse of empty mind. And when they dissolve, they dissolve in that same expanse of empty mind. ~ Guru Rinpoche ~

If this was last year i'd have been more cocky with the determination.

well observed, LL! I was scratching my eyebrows trying to figure out the breed.

Thanks, Siva. Apparently its possible to begin the pilgrimage from Nepal. The highway has been built, and videos indicate a fairly smooth ride all the way. Im thinking of doing this pilgrimage in 2020. Chinese visa not an issue for me. Grew up & went to school with many South Indians in Malaysia. Tremendous people they are. Many of whom are still good friends till this day - some friendships having begun back in 67. Imagine... 51 years, and still going strong. South Indian food's unbeatable, imo. Much much more to my liking than the Northern style of cooking.

Im not sure, but i think in the Buddhist teachings the encouragement is to learn how to cut the root of emotional reactivity by way of cultivating increased mindfulness (or awareness), and also the 6 paramitas, which together works like a balm or antidote that gradually pacifies the root cause of negative emotionally-reactive states so that one can maintain a level of diligence and enough foresight so as not to put oneself so far back against a wall, as if leaving some room where there is some space in which a different response can be accessed if one so chooses. That diligence and foresight are said to be two of the fruits of meditation practice on the 6 paramitas.

Profound spiritual experiences are effulgent displays of rigpa - like strands of colourfully beaded hair connected to the head, but they are not the head itself, although they are also not separated from it. Underlying these experiences there is either a sudden or prolonged lapse in the habitual functions of dualistic mind, and one should recognise it as such to avoid confusing hair and head. Rigpa in its essence is not an experience, just as one does not say that hair is a result of experiencing the head. No wonder people remain confused over this term when they associate it with some sort of mystical or enlightening experience - unsurprisingly, there is that flittering feeling as if Rigpa is some kind of elusive butterfly. The most apt description of rigpa is original natural wakefulness. It is called 'original natural wakefulness' because its latent nature resides as a potential, and therefore rigpa cannot be fabricated, contrived, or manipulated. Its manifestation and ripening is proportionately dependent on the arduous and precise practices that are found in various Buddhist and Bon sects which must be applied with diligence in accordance with keeping of samayas and other austere requirements. Similar manifestations akin to rigpa may be found in other traditions and spiritual paths, but they are not exactly the same as rigpa, because rigpa, according to source teachings, have very specific and subtle connotations - so subtle that it can even vary from one Vajrayana lineage to another. As an analogy, think of rigpa like a way of learning a new approach to sleep that will ensure one wakes up completely refreshed. The potential of waking up completely rested, recharged and fully awake lies in the continued maintenance of this new way of falling asleep. If the maintenance of that particular approach to sleep drops, the force of the potential drops accordingly, and one then reaps the result directly proportionate to the level of potential tapped. So, with this analogy in mind, rigpa is like the relational force at play between the time of falling asleep and the condition one is in upon waking up, and that in turn determines the state of how the rest of the day goes. One can experience the effulgent effects, but not the actual relational process by which these effects manifest. Hence, the hair is not the head, though inseparable from it.

From a Hindu perspective, how does Arunachala compare with Mt Kailash in terms of significance? This mystical mountain is well touted as the supreme throne of Shiva, as well as the Hood of Shiva because they believe its actually hollow inside and Shiva resides within.

Scene in a Malaysian shopping mall CNY 2018

Mind is by its very nature empty, yet appearances arise from it without obstruction. Out of the unobstructed emptiness of mind the whole range of appearances can manifest without limit. On a relative level, phenomena manifest through dependent origination; this is inseparable from the emptiness of mind, which is the ultimate level. Freedom from extremes is realizing that emptiness and dependent origination are one and do not contradict each other. Confusion lies neither in the appearance of things, nor in the fact that they are manifested by mind, but in one’s own misunderstanding of the emptiness and luminosity of mind. ~ 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche ~

One way or another, directly or indirectly, all emotions are born from selfishness in the sense that they involve clinging to the self. Moreover, Siddhartha discovered that, as real as they may seem, emotions are not an inherent part of one’s being. They are not inborn, nor are they some sort of curse or implant that someone or some god has thrust upon us. Emotions arise when particular causes and conditions come together, such as when you rush to think that someone is criticizing you, ignoring you, or depriving you of some gain. Then the corresponding emotions arise. The moment we accept those emotions, the moment we buy into them, we have lost awareness and sanity. We are “worked up.” Thus Siddhartha found the solution — awareness. If you seriously wish to eliminate suffering, you must generate awareness, tend to your emotions, and learn how to avoid getting worked up. If you examine emotions as Siddhartha did, if you try to identify their origin, you will find that they are rooted in misunderstanding and thus fundamentally flawed. All emotions are basically a form of prejudice; within each emotion there is always an element of judgment. ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche ~