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Good points all, except tibetan medicine is influenced by both Indian ayurvedic, older Bon medical and shamanic traditions, as well as pulse diagnosis from China.

Drops (red and white) are basically the subtle substances that coat the inside of the channels. Thru the Fierce Woman practice (Tummo), Tibetan yogis learn to melt these drops and direct them to various points in the body, and while so doing, spontaneously causes great bliss to arise.

Yeah, he mentioned, in a genuinely self-effacing way, that he needed to ponder on it in more depth as he hasn't actually reflected on it before. That was quite refreshing, i thought.

According to Buddhist belief, this age that we are in now is known as the Age of Strife. In this age, it is no longer possible to find faultless teachers. According to the words of Pundarika, the second Rigden King of Shambala -- Due to the age of strife the masters have both qualities and faults. There is no one who is continually free of any misdeed. Therefore disciples should, after carefully examining, Follow someone who has mostly good qualities.

Words of advice from HE Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche for Western students

Only on some mundane levels does it not go past the goofiness and mushiness. As wisdom develops, the generosity takes on a broader scope, selflessness is uncovered, leading to actions that are free from karmic rebounds (which is suggested to be the Buddhist equivalent of wei wu wei) since there is no attachment to a self that experiences the emotional entanglements often associated with the often misunderstood notions of what constitutes 'compassion' in its broader sense.

not sure if the Buddha can take credit for that quote although im sure its a state of mind that he would have encouraged.

Not sure about tradition D, but tradition B certainly does not encourage giving up self, nor renouncing only self. What tradition B does encourage, however, is to find out for oneself if life is lived better when there is a strong clinging onto notions of an independently existing self. If the answer is yes, then one must therefore live the truth of that assertion; to do otherwise is what creates conflict, and conflict, as we know, can wreak havoc on so many levels. If the answer is no, again, one follows the same path of living accordingly. What can cause confusion though is the tendency to live undecidedly, switching from one mindset to another so as to fit the self to situations, when in fact, upon searching with some fearless honesty, its clear this cannot be effectively done, because repeatedly, one will likely come upon a small problem - and this problem is that 99.9% of all our thoughts, our internal and external dialogues, our actions, are all done for the mere ideas we hold of a self-existing entity known as 'Myself'. Herein lies the eternal damnation of existence - we want to fit a made-up, illusory self to situations, when all the while, the wise move would be to enable the intelligent or enlightening aspect of consciousness to create situations whereby one does not become duped by the falsity of such a fence-hopping premise. When we finally tire of chasing after something non-existent (no mountains, right?), what happens? For some of us, this can result in the realisation that we have exhausted all our options, and finally, in our frail-like non-self we let go, or give up.. the clinging falls away. When the clinging to that which we mistakenly cherish more than anything else in the world ends, the subsequent result can get very interesting... So in tradition B, practitioners are told to devote attention to that process, usually thru contemplative practices. Its a lifetime's work for me and some of the folks I know here, and away from here.

Now I live in what is called a moment but rarely am I there... This place called 'Now' is not more dignified, nor divine than my regrets and longings my hopes and fears Let whatever takes me hold me, and let me go into where the waves, the tears, and time are no longer bound by these seams of identities. ~ Cloth of Stillness ~ kien chu

Why must it be a game when there is a choice to do these things authentically, with the sort of engagement that enables you to partake of all seemingly mundane activities with total involvement, leaving no gaps nor venturing forth with hesitance? Bypassing sense inputs implies immediacy - it means the end of separation - no contraction, nil anxiety, and conflict-free between you and that which commands your attention in the moment, whatever that may be, even if that is something as basic as becoming one with your breath. To be able to function on such a level surely does not mean open eyes and see nothing , listen and hear nothing , sniff and smell nothing, or abide and think nothing - if anything, it is the exact opposite of what you have been taught to believe.

'Indulge in compassion' - you have framed it nicely. Indulgence implies selectiveness, as with your apple analogy, but what do you think will be the likelier outcomes when one dismantles this selective processing? Are you thinking that there is no means by which the senses can be transcended? I assure you its not that difficult to simply rest in pervasive awareness without the least fluttering of any of the sense doors.

From the Mahayana perspective, its not that the self is false, but the notion of an independently existing entity (as the self) that is truly false. When this is realised, it is said that compassion will arise spontaneously from having uncovered the clear sightedness of dependent origination. At around the same time that this clarity begins to reveal its unbounded essence, the aspiring bodhisattva will actually begin to gradually discard arrogant notions of self-independence, and this in turn will arouse compassionate views that will eventually lead the aspirant to consider others (the bodhisattvas are first taught conceptually to regard all beings as having been their parents at one time or another) as even more important than the self-ideating self, if that makes any sense.

It was actually a response to 9th's misspelling of the word (bhodi). I thought it was important should someone take an interest in looking for the meaning. But yeah, basically its the same concept as the message in the video. Bodhi roughly translates to mean a buddha's faultless, untainted, perfect vision of the nature of reality, something that is not beyond the reach of all human beings, according to Mahayana beliefs. In essence, the way towards such a vision is to remain unfettered by delusion (as ascribed to in the video) so that the continuous flow of conscious awareness of the nature of reality remains unhindered. _/\_

Im only 8th. Incomplete yet.

I dont know

its bodhi. moving on..

Most of us tend to have some stale subtle energy that usually needs discharging from time to time. Either we can do it ourselves thru various means (qigong, exercise, prostrations, tantric yoga, martial arts, etc) or most times it just remains building up inside without the knowledge of most people. In those that are not aware, this build-up can then express outwards (think of how a boil does its thing and you get the idea of the process) as illness, disease, chronic or short term fatigue, moodiness, depression and a host of other unpleasant and discomforting conditions if it is not released mindfully. In this instance, the fact that your partner felt encumbered could be due to the build-up of this stale energy coming into contact with refreshed energy, and a recoiling-like reaction ensued; in this case, the reaction manifested in those ways you stated above.

good one!! lol

We, as humans, possess unlimited potential, so anything is possible. By definition, one who speaks untruths is dishonest. One who habitually speaks untruths is habitually dishonest. Its not that difficult to deduce.

I dont think you are cuckoo at all. Skilfulness is an apt term which has deep significance if one's aim is to remain authentic. It usually revolves around total honesty, which is what you seem to show here.

There are quite a number of ways to train 3rd eye 'vision'. One way is by applying radical mindfulness. Basically what this means is that you have to reroute the ways you think, to watch everything you say, and respond to things in ways that are not contained within the spectrum of your 'normal' responses and habit patterns. For example, if you sleep on your back usually, then you have to sleep on your side, or belly down. If you eat 3 regular meals a day, decrease it to 1, or even increase it to 5 if thats your choice - quantity is not a factor; what is important is the imposition of drastic change. If your routine is doing hours of meditation a day, stop meditating completely. If you do only a little sitting meditation, increase it to 2-hour stretches, 3 times a day.. In short, just watch all your thoughts, speech and actions rising, pause for a few moments, think how you would normally react or respond, and then choose a different response. Do this for a couple of weeks at first, then maybe prolong it to a month, then 3 months, and so on. It sounds rather easy, but really, it can be quite challenging, but fun too, as long as you dont go too hard on yourself. It has to contain an element of joy in it. Some of the people i know who do this practice keep a journal as some sort of reference and to record down their insights and inspirations, maybe the difficulties that comes up and how they feel around them, and most importantly, noting before/after dreams. The main purpose of this exercise is to uproot how your senses have been dictating your everyday life, and applying transformative methods to regain control over them. This is one of the most effective and safe starting point.

Some wisdom-orientated knowledge is quite useful if the aim is to transit with minimal fuss.

Btw Tibet is now a barren place as far as esoteric cultivation is concerned. Should you one day be ready to set off, you can pm me for some leads on where to go and contact info. Or you can try to reach one of the bums here by the name of Rigzin Trinley. Last I heard he is doing translation work in India for his Tibetan teachers. He hasn't been present here in a long time though.