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Buddhism 1O1: Ultimately, nothing matters; Relatively, everything matters. Keep the view on the ultimate, but observe constant vigilance in daily conduct of body, speech and mind, so says Guru Padmasambhava. There is no margin for acting inconsequentially and callously for those who are serious dharma practitioners.

A primary goal of seclusion practice, from the Buddhist yogic pov, is to get a feel for what being on the threshold of near-death bardo feels like. Some say its an exercise towards gaining familiarity into/of the unknown by venturing to radically challenge one's deeply ingrained habits of body, speech and mind, which these yogis believe have been accrued over lifetimes. And no, its not ok to kill people in the pursuit of Buddhist liberation. Cant speak for other traditions. Although i would argue that the Hindu tradition especially is simply too diverse within which there are innumerable, complex views which makes it immensely challenging to assess it all and draw the conclusion saying, "There, this is the definitive guideline" in relation to what Stosh had put up for review. Being that most of the strict Hindus are vegetarians, it lends weight to the idea that the Sanatana Dharma generally do not condone killing in any form. In fact i believe its part of their custom to treat life as sacred.

Compassion from a Dzogchen perspective - Keith Dowman/Flight of the Garuda

till you think 'bout it you wouldn't know what to do when your number's up

Looks up a few posts crunching an apple, she winked, "come Haiku with me"

this ^

Just avoid extreme measures in whatever choices one makes. And be vigilant for repercussions arising from them. Extreme resentment can easily lead to all sorts of denial and will likely trigger regretful action arising from misplaced intentions. ps.. Remember: V is for Vegetable, not vengeance v late edit (to add 'makes'. Not sure how it was omitted. Maybe it was stolen!)

We will be more inclined towards simplicity when we practice to resolutely understand that the ground from which spring doing and non-doing is not-two, and not-one either. When this understanding is gained, then work towards stabilising this view, not by any technique or method, but by simply resting non-conceptually and repeatedly, in brief moments, in this view of the vast expanse. Let these brief moments gradually lengthen. From here, where stability begins to pervade one's being, transcendence will arise spontaneously. This is the way towards unknotting all relative/dualistic views and positions.

I'd rather take responsibility for my own emancipation and work accordingly.

http://www.kalachakranet.org/

Thats the 2013 figure. Currently stands at 1.386 billion... and counting http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/china-population/

than having some prunes how they speak in Ostrayyah beats me what they sain'

Indeed thats one of the most effective means to subjugate unseen, negative forces, but it not without hazards and risks. Some, due to confusion, ignorance and sheer ego, have veered into a chasm when they tried to follow this approach. As a very ordinary practitioner, I for one will not dare say i can do this with unwavering confidence.

Whenever we attend teachings, our teacher, whom i consider to be enlightened, never fails to remind us never to get overly excited when we make progress in our practice, nor get overly frustrated when the progress is halted by some obstacle or other. He further explained that patience is a very important quality to cultivate, generally, as well as specifically for those who have moved on to a spiritual path. In cultivating patience, according to his view, the most effective approach is to suffuse our sense of attainment and also 'failures' with sufficient humour and light-heartedness. He said those who dont take themselves too seriously tend to make swifter progress than those who appear to be too serious (whenever he talks about this subject, at this point, he likes to make a serious scowling face, and then breaks into a belly laugh!) - putting up the appearance of seriousness, which he said many of his students tend to portray whenever he is around, is not really conducive for cultivating 2 of six excellent virtues of the Paramitas, namely Viriya parami and Khanti parami. Viriya parami has to do with increasing energy, diligence, vigour and effort, while Khanti parami is the training that leads to the virtues of heightened tolerance, forbearance, patience, endurance and acceptance. He further emphasised that Paramita number one points to generosity. Whenever this generosity is mentioned, students will think of charity and making sacrifices for others, but he said that while that is partly correct, the primary objective of developing this paramita of generosity (Skt. Dana parami) is to loosen self-grasping, which means to say that if we wish to overcome negative mind states by reaching out towards Viriya and Khanti paramis, like a pea shoot reaching towards the pervasive warmth of the sun, then Dana (generosity) parami is symbolic of that warmth. This is the foundation. He concludes that the remainder three Paramitas act to support us, much like water, healthy soil, and Co2 act to support the natural growth of that pea shoot. Its a very symbiotic process how the pea shoot just allows the process to happen. Likewise, he said, if we simply concentrate on developing the necessary qualities of the Paramitas as those mentioned above, then we are also like that pea shoot, allowing the process of progress to unfold in its own time without us meddling with it unnecessarily. To avoid interference, we have to lessen our tendency to be overly critical (serious face again) and conceptual - the approach or attitude needed to achieve this is to bring some humour into the practice, he laughingly said. Whenever i hit some kind of a static, stubborn invisible block, i will recall the above advice of my beloved teacher. To me, it makes a lot of sense, and inspires me to remain cheerful and expansive. I hope you can find some joyful inspiration in this too. edit to add 'it'

Issue with this long-standing problem persists. Despite recent upgrade it is unfortunate such a simple matter has yet to resolve.

In actual Buddhist understanding, you will find that there is no mention of good and bad karma. This is a Western view, and one that is lacking in accuracy. The Buddhist view does not regard predeterminism as an acceptable guiding principle in the understanding of karma. Karma does not confer merit nor punish in the absence of such.

Correct! One action, with no gap separating the seer, the seeing and the seen. Keeping this at the forefront of mindfulness is the way towards the cultivation of knowing the true nature of all things. Meditation is the practice towards increased mindful awareness of this inseparability. The Buddhist notion of 'ignorance' points at those instances where there is a cause or causes which act as contributing factors that bring about an absence or temporary obscuration of this awareness. What we call a 'rock' is simply a coming together of non-rock elements - its never a rock, but a process. At some point in this process a rock is apprehended, and there is the immediate thought of solidness and permanence. In actual fact, non-rock elements form, persist for a period of time, and subsequently de-form back to an elemental state, which may or may not retain some of the qualities of its previous formation. Therefore, a rock may become stone, a stone may become a pebble, a pebble may become sand, sand may become something else, and so on, which eventually may re-form to become rock again. But if we look at a rock and believe it only possesses rock elements exclusively, then misapprehension will result. The above is also directly applicable to the formation of a self, and all other objects that are apprehended by and through the senses. To train the mind in becoming aware of the simultaneous presence of both rock and relative non-rock elements, the self and relative non-self elements, closes the gap of apparent separation and allows for correct insight into the true nature of things to arise. Cultivating such an insight allows for compassion to arise effortlessly. Conversely, cultivating compassion will also lead to the eventual arising of insight. In Mahayana terms, insight meditation is wisdom-training, while compassion meditation is method-training. Both approaches will yield the same result. Some find affinity with one or the other, and thats ok, because on a deeper level these two expedient means are all-inclusive - eventually the expansive insight peaks - at this time, clear seeing gives rise to an effortless knowing of both rock and non-rock elements arising and subsiding simultaneously.

Michelle was one of my childhood friends actually. Even back then she had a charm and ability to hush the boys, who happily enough were quite satisfied with taking a chatter respite to simply gawk whenever she showed up.

There is no unmoving mover behind the movement. It is only movement. It is not correct to say that life is moving, but life is movement itself. Life and movement are not two different things. In other words, there is no thinker behind the thought. Thought itself is the thinker. If you remove the thought, there is no thinker to be found. ~ Ven. Dr. Walpola Rahula ~

“One of the principal evils in life, according to Buddhism, is ‘repugnance’ or hatred. Repugnance (pratigha) is explained as ‘ill-will with regard to living beings, with regard to suffering and with regard to things pertaining to suffering. Its function is to produce a basis for unhappy states and bad conduct. Thus it is wrong to be impatient at suffering. Being impatient or angry at suffering does not remove it. On the contrary, it adds a little more to one’s troubles, and aggravates and exacerbates a situation already disagreeable. What is necessary is not anger or impatience, but the understanding of the question of suffering, how it comes about, and how to get rid of it, and then to work accordingly with patience, intelligence, determination and energy.” ~ Ven. Dr. Walpola Rahula ~

With respect to understanding what karma is from the Buddhist pov, these two quotes explain it quite succinctly. Both these quotes are from two of the most learned monks in the Theravadin tradition: Karma acts in multiple feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped both by past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present. ~ Ven. Thanissaro Bikhu Instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early Buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is doing with every moment. Who you are - what you come from - is nowhere near as important as the mind's motives for what it is doing right now. Even though the past may account for many of the inequalities we see in life, our measure as human beings is not the hand we've been dealt, for that hand can change at any moment. We take our own measure by how well we play the hand we've got. ~ Ven. Dr. Walpola Rahula

In the quote above, it clearly stated Cakkhupala was an arhat. I do not yet have the insight to comment on that level. Its obvious that we are here discussing karma prior to enlightenment, isn't that right?

The processes which allow both these examples to occur are none other than the propensities of karma.

The question you posed was whether there is karma attached in accidentally kicking one's dog. Imo, there is, to a greater or lesser degree, regardless of intention.