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Skepticism around this subject among western sanghas are not really at all surprising, especially among the various Theravadin sects. If you are able to connect with a Tibetan sangha perhaps that will yield a more fruitful outcome, although this would also depend on which school the sangha is affiliated with. In the Nyingma tradition, the school im most familiar with, its quite common to find the masters and the yogis being rather sympathetic in such matters, although I have no doubt adepts from other Tibetan schools are just as exposed and well informed in relation to spirit disturbances etc, but perhaps its down to emphasis that seems to create some sort of difference to those who choose to scrutinise in that way. Disclaimer: Im only highlighting the above specifically in relation to your current predicament, and not implying any comparison to determine if one path is more superior to the other. In relation to devotional practices, there are basically three types: Preliminary, middling, and superior. Again, this is speaking from the Nyingma perspective, although the other Tibetan traditions, while having their own unique format and modes of practice, in essence there is no difference with regards to the pith instructions especially in stressing the need for cultivating bodhicitta thru accumulating the necessary merits found in the preliminary exercises. The grounding or preliminary approach is one where the practitioner seeks to observe the basic guidelines set out in the tradition they find affinity with: It begins by first taking refuge, paying homage to one's lineage masters, renouncing samsaric activities, generating the wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, accumulating merit thru reciting mantras and prostrations, mandala offerings, and so on. In the process, one might develop some level of affinity to one (or more) of the many Mahabodhisattvas or Buddhas (or even Shakyamuni Buddha himself) in that particular tradition, and from this grows a more specific relationship with that particular representation of one's own enlightened essence. Following on from this, one's practice becomes more focussed and more time and energy is directed towards strengthening the birth of a more intimate spiritual bond. This bond will only strengthen by increasing one's devotion - not so much to seek help from an outside figure, but to energise one's motivation to work on oneself using the enlightened qualities of certain deities as inspiration. If this is not done, then the bond will once again return to a dormancy, or simply as a seed of potential, waiting for another spark to reignite it again. The middling approach is much the same as above, except now the aspirant, having achieved some stability thru fulfilling the accumulations, is ready to proceed with the higher tantras which would require empowerments. At this stage, a maturing aspirant will have become familiar with the inseparability of outer and inner refuge, the inseparability of relative and ultimate bodhicitta, and also the inseparability of guru, yidam, khandro and one's own enlightening potential. This increases one's confidence in the path, and all previous subtle doubts will have subsided. In the most traditional sense, if the lineage master detects that one still has even the slightest traces of doubt, then the empowerments will not be bestowed, and the student is told to complete another round of the preliminary practices, which takes anything from 3 months to a year, generally speaking. The superior practice of devotion is where one has reached the stage in which all dualistic views have subsided, equanimity arises spontaneously, where all sounds become mantra, all that arises is seen as the mandala of perfect union of bliss and emptiness, and all activities are performed for the benefit and enjoyment of leading others to the shore of enlightenment, without any traces of separation and/or discrimination. This effectively means one has attained buddhahood in one's lifetime. A worthy aspiration indeed. The above-mentioned merely outlines the scope that's involved. Check out Berzin Archives, Wisdom Publications and/or FPMT for more authoritative insights. All the best.

Most Tibetan lamas acknowledge that there is a reality where spirits, psychic entities, unseen malevolent forces, poltergeists, and so on conduct their influences, and which unfortunately find their way into our reality. Generally the advice is to take refuge in the Triratna, make offerings, and conduct prayers to pacify any encroachment which becomes noticeably troublesome, and this is usually done via peaceful means. Sometimes it will happen that the presence(s) can become overly stubborn and begins to exert an increasingly negative influence on an individual/property/business despite sincere efforts made to appease, and yet fail to yield any positive shift. At this stage, it may be recommended that a more wrathful but non-harming intervention be adopted in order to resolve the matter. Im not entirely convinced that laypeople will have access to these wrathful exorcism liturgies and ritual practices, but should an individual become thusly oppressed and unable to shift certain 'things' in their space, help can always be sought from a Buddhist community nearby. If there is none available, then one may have to write to a few masters and hope they will assist, although it should be noted that most times assistance might be rendered even without the person knowing about it. I remember one time someone was in such a situation, and went to request help from a Buddhist sangha. The sangha got together and did pujas etc on his behalf, but it didn't resolve the issue. A short time later, a young lama visited the area, and was told of the incident. The young lama said he was not personally in the position to help, but said that his teacher will. So he asked to meet the troubled individual. The young lama gave this person the name of his teacher, and told him the next time he felt the onset of oppressive forces to say the teacher's name out loudly and to command the oppressive energy to cease its activity immediately. He followed the advice, and was released upon the next disturbance, never to be troubled again. I was also told that how such things will resolve would depend on karma, affinity and devotion level. Sometimes the teacher will ask the oppressed to bear it out otherwise the karmic connection will not be exhausted. But after asking, usually the teacher will still do some intervention secretly whenever he or she comes across oppressed individuals. Personally i find devotional practices to be very good in armouring oneself against unnecessary psychic disturbances. There are also some secret mantras which can cut through any kind of negative activity, but unfortunately these cannot be shared publicly. All the best.

Im not thoroughly well-studied in all the many different Buddhist traditions, but i believe the practice of 'following the breath' is synonymous with shamatha meditation, and not vipassana. In Tibetan forms of meditation both shamatha and vipassana are very clearly distinguished, whereas in the Theravadin traditions its not so clear because there are elements of both in their main practice of vipassana, but they do not associated the concentrative aspect to shamatha, rather they just say its all part of vipassana. The Tibetan approach will eventually lead to an integration of both methods as well, but at the beginning usually this is not so encouraged.

It is said that if you do not meditate, you will not gain certainty; If you do, you will. But what sort of certainty? If you meditate with a strong, joyful endeavor, signs will appear showing that you have become used to staying in your nature. The fierce, tight clinging from dualistically experiencing phenomena will gradually loosen up, and your obsession with happiness and suffering, hopes and fears, and so on, will slowly weaken. Your devotion to the teacher and your sincere trust in his instructions will grow. After a time, your tense, dualistic attitudes will evaporate and you will get to the point where gold and pebbles, food and filth, gods and demons, virtue and nonvirtue, are all the same for you - you will be at a loss to choose between paradise and hell! But until you reach that point (while you are still caught in the experiences of dualistic perception), virtue and nonvirtue, buddhafields and hells, happiness and pain, actions and their results – all of these are a reality for you. ~ Dudjom Rinpoche

This would be similar to vipassana, or what some would term as 'clear seeing'. 'Clear Seeing' means no particular attention is given when thoughts come and go. Freedom from grasping and aversion is the final result of such a practice.

Welcome! What part of Ireland do you live?

Interviewer: So what do you have planned for the future? Me: Lunch Interviewer: No, like long term? Me: Oh.. (awkward pause) ...dinner?

pharmacopoeia punitive concoctions all public disservice

Do you see this as the primary reason why reading is such an addictive activity, that people are actually interested in gaining knowledge, to make the unfamiliar, familiar? Perhaps you are right... A quick search on the net showed that a survey found 26% of people read to access new information and knowledge, contrasted against 15% who said they are captivated by the pleasure of pure fantasy, a means of escaping current reality, and an avenue to exercise the imagination. Only 4% cited spiritual enrichment as their main motive. The same survey found roughly 2% of buyers cited the reason for doing so was simply due to being attracted to the feel and the smell of books. Measure this against an annual global publishing turnover of US $113 billion, and no sign of declining sales anytime soon, in all likelihood there is already a ripening demand for chocolate, fresh linen, or coffee-aromatised magazines, even books. Perhaps even edible ones! Whoever takes the lead on this can and will certainly tap into a share of this burgeoning billion dollar industry.

tree; rarely the turd nonsensical turd babble the ear of the ear wot?

As potential, i would say yes. In relation to how energies manifest, there are multi-faceted means, whereby, in the eyes of some, it may seem to appear varied, but ultimately, its just a dot, a bindu, or bindi.

Lol no worries, Taomeow. What i actually had in mind was to seek your deep knowledge on the art and science of feng shui, but only when/if you are willing, naturally

Not only in the West is this number shunned, but in many parts of Asia, especially among the majority of Chinese folks, there is a strong aversion to 13 because adding 1 and 3 = 4, which in Cantonese rhymes with 'death'. Even though on its own 13 is actually an auspicious Cantonese number, equating to an assurance of success and longevity, this is not enough to augur a preference for its usage, whether as a number on a residential address, or even as car registration number. From a feng shui perspective, misfortune and negativity can be averted thru the application of various means, or to put it positively, the environment and objects in it have certain beneficial albeit inert qualities. Most people have some sort of inbuilt sense of wanting to arrange things neatly, to declutter, a preference for light, clean air, pure water, etc, but not a lot of people have an eye for harmoniously blending all of these factors together in such a manner as to allow the various components to mesh in such a way so as to bestow the highest benefit to those who happen to find themselves in that environment. This is a subject which i am not too well-versed in, but i believe someone like Taomeow, if she would graciously share her thoughts, will have excellent insight into this topic at hand and do it great justice.

"The one whose mind knows the clarity of perfect wisdom is never afraid or even anxious. Why? Because when being at one with the living power of wisdom, the mother of all the buddhas, that person has the mind to remain in a state of undivided contemplation even while ceaselessly and skillfully engaging in compassionate action. The wise one is enabled to act because of concentration on a single prayer: "May all beings never leave the path of enlightenment, which is their own true nature and is empty of separate self-existence." ~ Prajnaparamita Sutra. In the above commentary, the state of undivided contemplation is simultaneously the path and fruit of mindfulness.

Mindlessness has some rather negative connotations hence the preference for the term 'mindfulness'. I would disagree that mindfulness is superficial. In its most profound state, mindfulness is the equivalent of unshakeable alertness, non-dual awareness, arising of spontaneous wisdom & compassion, and all of this permeated with deepest relaxation and effortless ease - this of course is from the Mahayana perspective. With enough practice, mindfulness supplants the reliance on sense inputs and connects the mindful one to the state beyond mind. However, again from the viewpoint of Mahayana, this state beyond mind is not the same as mindlessness. In fact, it is mindlessness that restrains a being to habitual reactive states, according to that same philosophy. It is certainly possible, and ok too that other traditions should have a different take on the term.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnvMGN38rU0

this might have happened due to an absence of certain compassionate aspects to your practice. Do more charitable work. Shift your focus towards helping out others who are in need. You need this to regain some merit.

What was the empowerment for, if i may ask?

Then it would be safe to assume that whatever you generally and loosely express here with regards to Vajrayana, its custom, tradition, values and core practices are nothing more than mere speculation, subjective opinions and hearsay. I have nothing personal against you, sir... what i have a problem with is information that is inaccurate and steeped in speculation, yet made out to portray otherwise. That is a clear tendency of yours which you need to introspect seriously. Its not that you are wrong - probably just a bit over-enthusiastic.

Before we continue to play this tug of war, could you please clarify/verify if you have trained under a Vajrayana lineage and have received at least one empowerment from the lineage master? Details please if affirmative.

Was the claim not implicit when you declared the professor lacked the wisdom of realization? Perhaps i missed something.

If I may be direct... Yes, your premise was completely flawed.

Are you implying here that you are able to discern this 'wisdom of realization' in an individual? Thats a mighty claim.

You might want to clarify this with Jonesboy.

A transmission is not any sort of sustaining power, Jonesboy. Moreover, it is beyond my scope to speculate if that is indeed what the Buddha said, which i would tend to doubt anyhow.