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Has it really been almost 2.5 years since this topic was born?? Doesn't feel that long ago.

Quick guide

There's talk the dzogzen school is on the lookout for a gatekeeper.

This excerpt from Thanissaro Bhikkhu is probably closer to what's being alluded to with regards to Gautama's teaching on Anatta (non-self) --

Crush the eggshell of the mind and unfold your wings in the open sky. Destroy the hut of duality and inhabit the expansive mansion of pure awareness. There are no other enemies or obstacles to overcome and vanquish. Ignorance - dualistic thinking - is the great demon obstructing your path. Slay it right now and be free! ~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

🙏😊 thanks, Dzogchenyogi

Sincere thanks to Dzogchenyogi 😊🙏

🤗😍

far away, so close this earthy, sweet aroma free smells, everyone

Could you please clarify a bit on the connection between those with big claims, how they then awaken as black magicians, and finally, the question regarding astral projection? Also curious how these are tied in to the Root Verses of the Six Bardos?

oolong from Taiwan my friend swears by Longjing tea fragrance of Zhejiang

the tea house tea shines soothing are teas from Japan genmaicha for one

Depends. If you were to ask a Vajrayana practitioner, you'd be informed the Buddha turned the Dharma wheel on 3 occasions, giving teachings to the 3 types of 'hearers' - the solitary ones that prioritise self emancipation by practicing the Middle Way, then the bodhisattvas who vow to calm sufferings of beings by the embodiment of Bodhicitta, and finally, aspirants that follow the path of Mahamudra and/or Dzogchen. This group will propose that there isn't a single teaching in all 3 turnings that did not come from Gautama.

BODHIDHARMA "Through endless ages, the mind has never changed. It has not lived or died, come or gone, gained or lost. It isn’t pure or tainted, good or bad, past or future, true or false, male or female. It isn’t reserved for monks or lay people, elders to youths, masters or idiots, the enlightened or unenlightened. It isn’t bound by cause and effect and doesn’t struggle for liberation. Like space, it has no form.You can’t own it and you can’t lose it. Mountains, rivers or walls can’t impede it. But this mind is ineffable and difficult to experience. It is not the mind of the senses. So many are looking for this mind, yet it already animates their bodies. It is theirs, yet they don’t realize it."

Unanswerable questions provoke endless philosophical and theological debate, whereas unquestioning awareness is a pure and simple presence beyond disputation. ~ Paramito

The comment was in response to your OP "Buddhist meditation for extinguishing the self". Imo, there are no meditations in Buddhism as implied in the OP. This is because, from the pov of Buddhist praxis, the self is nothing more than a prop - it's apparentness and existence is a conglomeration of nothing more than mental imprints that came about out of our habitual ways of grasping at sense impressions. With this tendency, it's unavoidable that our relationship with the world will tend to be based off the mistaken view of a constant subject/object split, which then begets and propagates all sorts of other conflicting ideas and relational views with the external world. This brings about stress because we continue to operate from a false premise. Correcting this by realigning & reconcialating Right View resolves the dichotomy. This is the fundamental goal in Buddhist contemplative practices. To expend precious energy by chasing after the annihilation of a mirage-like self is pernicious yet commonly practiced - its a habitual thing, one which perpetuates all sorts of unnecessary strife. * Venkatesh on Right View - https://tricycle.org/article/right-view/

Bruce Lee reflexes! a natural endowment smooth operator

Maybe the real bogeyman is not the side effects, but the habitual tendency to be overly analytical and critical of our thoughts, physicality, and emotions. This habit often reinforces the clinging and aversion dynamic, which in turn reinforces cyclical periods of highs and lows, leading to feelings like being trapped in a generally perpetual state of melancholia. Sometimes it really helps to simply let it all go, and just rest the mind within a pervasive sense of spacious openness. This isnt the same as spacing out. As Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche once said, "Rest in natural great peace, this exhausted mind, beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thought, like the relentless fury of pounding waves in the infinite ocean of samsara."

"IN most of our relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another our costumes of identity are on straight." ~ Ram Dass

Imo, with sufficient rightly directed contemplation, one arrives at the realization that what's truly vital is overcoming dualistic tendencies, and not, in any manner, to attempt practices that open doors which lead to self-annihilation. This, I'm quite certain, is not an objective in authentic Buddhist praxis.

Compounding error. Such is life.

Then the tendency to mistake the finger for the moon becomes real. Common error.

something stands alone. That chap. Could not count past six don't write when sleepy

wide enough for all St. Patrick Street, Dublin pint of Guinness, please