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I always considered devotion and sacrifice to be fundamental approaches that moves a devotee closer to the discovery of his own divine essence (atman). The act of engaging these two paths sounds to me not different than forms of cultivation.

...and you too

Grief imparts lessons we all need to learn in its presence. Some do not feel it, not even in the slightest. It can be masked over by other emotions coming to the fore instead. Yet, its likely to resurface, though years might have passed. Its better to immerse in it when fresh, to literally under-stand it, Serve the time, as it may. Offer deference, submit to its might. Its the only way to wear out its interest. Grief and other powerful emotions are wrathful deities waiting to sooth the tormented.

that is common practice in Asia. In India its also common to see Hindus venerating holy Buddhist sites, and vice versa. Mount Kailash is sacred to spiritual aspirants and masters across all traditions in that region. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean its not happening. Its not a competition anyway. Diversity in culture and views can be a cause of celebration and a basis for developing trust. Why not/

Your karma dictates that you think in this particular way now. Who knows, yesterday maybe you thought differently, and tomorrow, different again, depending on what transpires in your mindstream moment to moment. When you are thirsty you normally dont address the thirst by going to sleep, right? Thats an easy one. Karma means when thirsty that state dictates that you take action to quench that thirst in order to quell that particular and temporary longing. Doing this wont accrue any negative or positive karma, but nonetheless there is karma at work - we call it neutral karma. But if that thirst is ignored, then what follows immediately is an opening or a potential for other outcomes to occur. In the resulting circumstances, either positive or negative karma begins to sprout and take root. Karma is simply volitional impulses, from the Buddhist pov. Its what one does with these impulses that dictate or set in motion a complex outflow of thoughts, memories, sensations, emotions, and reactions that accumulatively is called karmic tendencies ------ Good or bad merely the subjective takes on these tendencies.

In a state of conscious stillness, or undistracted silence, a gentle humming sound prevails even when thoughts have subsided. It is believed this humming or audible vibratory sound is the 'music' of primordiality, and this is the exact same sound that reverberates in one who has reached a state of unbroken contemplation (sahaja samadhi i believe). It is a sound that is not only heard by the sense of hearing, but is at the same time experienced by all the other senses, where vibrations appear in different frequencies... Like how some experienced meditators 'feel' light and hear 'silence', and some even 'taste' music. But for the everyday mind, a mind that is not exposed to sublime knowledge, either these heightened sense of experiencing subtle vibrations are absent due to simple ignorance, or they are only known fleetingly. Those who manage the odd time to get a taste of this 'magical vibrational feeling' that permeates the being as if surpassing the grosser levels of consciousness are those who say they have 'found' inspiration, 'used' it to achieve a result, and then 'lost' it. Through various means people try to access this inspirational state of being - music, meditation, art, yoga, qigong, etc are various approaches that are common to this quest. So is chanting. Mantra recitation is the perfect expedient to connect with this vibrational spectrum. Over time, this connection will gradually become more pervasive, and the state of remaining in contemplation becomes more permanent. It is important to know what particular mantras are suitable to the individual though. The most effective way to know is thru association with a master in a lineage that practices with mantras.

visiblemantra.org is a good resource. and this: https://www.wildmind.org/mantras/method

What is meant is that animals do not have as keen an ability, or in some cases an absence of it, to identify with shortcomings because their perceptive tools do not include the kind of dualistic build-up that most humans tend to gather from the time that unique sense of I-ness takes root in consciousness.

There is one obvious difference between animals and humans - tendencies. Human consciousness have ingrained tendencies to identify with perceived shortcomings, usually with unsatisfactory outcomes, whereas animals lack this function, even though within their consciousness is found significant degrees of instinct and intelligence.

evidently so, liminal. yet, from one standpoint that is fundamental to the philosophy which I adhere to, there is no denial of imperfection, nor of static perfection - instead, there is a continuum of causality where one is free to identify with in various degrees, or not - it is the strength of identification, and oftentimes repulsion, that determines various states of mind, ranging from absolute despair all the way through to perfect peace, and whereby the self, when looked for in this spectrum, is nowhere to be found as existing independently. Certainly, there are conditions which bring about dissatisfaction, depression, anxieties, questions of self-image, abuse, and so on, but in none of these conditions is a solid self to be found, unless of course there is a conscious choice which insists upon owning these seemingly limiting states of being by way of contrasting these against their opposite ideals which are seemingly more satisfactory. It is this owning that creates contraction which forces a 'self' into existence.

For a long time, I had struggled with this apparent conflict that seems to beset most of us. Then, after investing some years in routine meditation practice of just resting in mind's primordially perfect nature, I came upon the understanding of thusness. This insight is predicated on the premise that perception, any perception at all, happens thru the senses, and these senses are by default tainted by the gross and subtle accumulation of thought patterns and habits that follow on from these patterns. The realisation of thusness comes when overwhelming dependence on the senses is loosened or removed. This does not imply that the senses are bypassed (ignored) on the way to being real, which is impossible but yet remains something that many still doggedly attempt to do by employing various means, like resorting to substance abuse for example - in actuality, it is to manifest a state of being that does not identify with whatever is perceived via the senses as belonging to a 'me'. From this realisation onwards i came to taste a kind of freedom that had eluded me for a long long time, the kind that enables an awareness to instantly recognise that the true cause of discontent are not hardships, problems, perceived layers of weaknesses and mental and physical agitation, but at the root of all of this was a lack of intelligence in fully adapting to and integrating the wisdom of not-self, aka thusness. This wisdom and the constant communion with the pervasively pure, self-perfected inner nature of mind is realised as arising spontaneously, whereas before the realisation, it always seem to be a such an immense struggle to try and use one to reach the other.

Same is true all over SE Asia actually. Another amazing SE Asian plant with great healing properties is moringa, aka drumstick tree. The pods are delicious and the leaves are supposed to be packed with nutrients! https://www.google.ie/search?q=moringa&oq=moringa&aqs=chrome..69i57.3166j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

@dwai In the process of inquiry into the Self, is it crucial to stick to this premise of 'abiding in the I'? Are there any other similar descriptive phrases that can be used? Im trying to understand how a non-intellectual process can be effected by attuning itself to a task known as 'inquiry' which is seemingly implied as a 'non-inquiry' when reflected against the suggestion you made to try and describe oneself in a fraction of a second. I think its a good suggestion - in so doing, similar to being hit with a Zen cudgel, there is an instant collapse of all forms of subtle clinging (notions of separateness), one would imagine, so my question is: Why then would this be called an inquiry, which in my mind implies some form or other of mental/analytical exercise. Apologies for the interruption. thank you!

Im not sure if the principle of 'dog eat dog' in the political arena will ever shift in terms of application, and frankly what the implications of this are pertaining to the US as a whole will not mean as much to me as it is to you and others who live there, so i can understand some of the sentiments that pop up here. My focus, as from the beginning, is simply to study how a narcissistic megalomaniac/misogynist handles what is seen as the most powerful political seat in the world.. and so far he is doing an awful job. I think the latest exit poll in Alabama on his waning popularity is a tremendous indication that he is on the way out.

late

Spaciousness points to a neutral position - that's why it became such a prominent conceptual tool in the 3rd turning. In the 2nd turning, the emphasis was mostly on equanimity, both as a means of practice that lead to the development of wisdom and compassion, and also as the fruit when wisdom & compassion is integrated into's one's path. In this sense, its a pathless path because the map and destination is essentially not-two. The 1st turning was mostly focussed on personal effort to develop mental and physical pacification through the assimilation of dharma study together with vipassana and shamatha meditation.

America is not lost

Watch the clip above

You can live in hope while Trump's fake presidency is quickly being dismantled, as it should.