Sunya

This post would've been a lot better without the first paragraph. I'd say that going beyond fear won't eliminate self-grasping. There can still be joyful self-grasping I would call 'ego' a pattern of thinking that leads to self-consciousness. It is the pattern of thinking with the presumption that there is a separate self/soul, a center of awareness somewhere behind the eyes rather than in and one with the World.

Indeed, very cool.

There's a lot of progress being made in solar capturing technology. If really efficient solar technology is created, then solar panels can be put into deserts like Taklamakan or Sahara, or in the US in places like Utah and Arizona where there's not much happening except rocks and sunlight. In theory, this would power the world, but then we'd need ways to store it and transport it. I certainly think future technology can be nonpolluting. The human mind is vastly creative, but thus far we have yet to see how pollution effects us. There has been a duality between people and world, and that illusion is crumbling slowly. I wouldn't discount human ingenuity or the technology that we can create for our needs.

This is where I find your view too spiritual and lacking in education and real world insight. See, it can go both ways. The rise of technological advancement was inevitable, and all the unnecessary things that happen/ are happening are due to dangerous ideas like atheism and nationalism/fascism (China), evangelicalism and white supremacy (US), and fundamentalist xenophobia (Islam). None of this has to do with technology. It's a very good thing that the Tibetan average life expectancy is now 67 instead of 35. The lack of religious freedom is unfortunate, but the two are not caused by each other. I see a much brighter future of the world. Eventually, hopefully soon, technology will make life much easier for everybody (not just the rich), and people will be able to have much more time to focus on dharma.

Well then you're creating a whole new word because that's not what materialistic means. And just to note, for most of us earthlings we are indeed all trapped by conditioning based on the senses since, well, that's all we have access to. But you do the same for modern Western culture. You bring up all the bad things about the advancement in food production, public health, and medical technologies which lead to population growth. I think it's a very good thing that people can eat and live longer and suffer less. You keep flaunting the enlightenment hat. It's pretty, but we've all seen it plenty of times. Plus, it makes you look fat. And it doesn't even belong in this conversation. We're talking about ancient cultures in comparison to modern cultures. This has nothing to do with insight into emptiness. Enlightenment does not make you a genius who doesn't need to learn or research or question your beliefs about worldly matters in areas of science, anthropology, history, sociology, psychology, etc. They are in different realms entirely.

You said problems in third world countries and how these problems were caused by Western materialism and technology. The obliteration of the Native Americans was definitely caused by white men, but that's not what we're really talking about. We were (I thought) talking about problems in third world countries. This whole conversation started after ralis called Tibet a third world country because of the lack of proper health standards and quality of life.

Which means what?

What problems? If you're talking about slavery or lack of proper sanitation and medical technology, those problems existed way before the "white man" even heard of such places. The "white man" after all had such problems too. Medieval Europe wasn't such a hot place to live in, but science and technology lead to advances that benefited everybody. Nobody is stopping anybody from living a spiritual life. We live in a free society, and there are plenty of teachers here and plenty of retreat centers, etc. But the crutch is that to consume you must produce. If you don't want to consume the quality goods such a materialistic world produces, then you are free to move to Asia. Population levels naturally balance after after a third world country becomes a first world country. If you look at population levels in the US, they are remaining relatively the same. Most of the population growth is happening in Asia. The "white man" will actually become a minority soon.

Female genital mutilation practiced in Africa and parts of Asia so that men could have power over women were due to western materialism? The human sacrifice too? The caste systems of Tibet and India also were a result of Western technology? What about how 9 year olds get married to old men in Arabian countries? Caused by Western technology too? I don't understand where that idea is coming from. Could you give one example to clarify In what sense are you using the word materialistic? The view that everything is made of matter? Or being overly concerned with material wealth? I don't see ralis as exhibiting either characteristic.

Let's talk about the benefits first. You can live till at least 70, be treated for a multitude of diseases or problems and survive, drive anywhere, fly anywhere, be able to have this conversation. The cons, yes there are cons. Many are overworked to the point where mindless entertain is the only way to escape. It's certainly a high cost. For those who have the spark, they can go to Amazon and order books that teach them dharma which is then delivered to their door in days. Then they can go and meet with a teacher if they want. Nobody is forced into slavery. You buy into the "American dream" and then put on shackles of debt, but if you live frugally you can have your cake and eat it too. The great thing about today is that we actually have the means to choose. Nobody forces you to focus on material gain. You can go live in Ladakh or Sikkim or Nepal.

ralis, did you know that in China they treated and prevented the h1n1 virus with TCM and herbs? I wouldn't call out traditional medicine as backwards in anyway. Properly integrated with modern medicine, it can be very useful.

Could you please stop doing that? Your god karma is coming out. Not very helpful if you want others to you openly

I know. If you lived in your left then you would only be moving your right side and not the left.

Quite true. If you only lived in your left brain then you wouldn't be able to move the left side of the body, which would be quite a shame.

I found Yantra Yoga too much. Maybe I'll learn it later if I can take a class, but right now I'm enjoying sun salutations. Very simple flow of movements and easier to learn. Vinyasa Yoga is also fluid and most yoga aligns with breath. Nothing wrong with yantra yoga at all, but it's not beginner friendly and not easy at all to learn from the book or dvd. OP, I'd highly recommend the book Healing with Form. It's excellent, and you would be benefit from getting it and doing the simple practices inside which work on healing each element. Sounds like you have an energy imbalance, as we all do really lol. I have the book in pdf form. Here it is: http://filevo.com/n102r7xf0fas.html Tenzin Wangyal released a book/dvd this month called Awakening the Sacred Body which focuses on releasing prana blockages and imbalances using Tibetan energy practices. I just got it, and it's quite good.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense to me that it may not apply if you're into self-transformation, but I'm still fairly young, almost 25, so I'm probably still dealing with a lot of past karma. Haven't fulled transformed it all yet. I do rather find it interesting how taking somebody's birth time can give you information about them. I don't really understand how that works. Wouldn't that mean that those born at the same time as you would have the same archetypes to deal with? I view karma as personal, though of course are interconnected to the universe at large. I'm just trying to figure out how the stars play into it.

Thanks for the response guys! Yeah I'm probably not going to see this guy. I am open to astrology though and would love to see a real astrologer. I just doubt the new age astrologies. Thanks for your post. Really interesting, and I do agree with you. I myself am going down a path of science (psychologist), but I really only want to use the skills I gain there as supplementary skills along with those gained through meditation and energy work, the ancient way of healing. I also have a problem with people who claim the modern way as the best way, and I often get in arguments with dogmatic skeptics.

Thank you for the clear observation. V feels it is his duty to respond to everyone and Ralis has a huge axe to grind as the crusader who's come here to protect the bums from the evil Buddhist. So, it's a rather cyclical thing happening for the last year, maybe more, and nobody has benefited from it let alone them. I think in some strange way, they both think they're helping each other (V more so), but really I think they're doing the complete opposite.

Yes that is correct, and I totally dig that idea. Contact with an alien race would definitely unite us together and give is a bigger picture of humanity and its relationship to the universe. Also keep in mind that prior to that first contact in Star Trek, there was a nuclear war so humanity was just a bunch of tribes. There were no governments let alone nations. I think that sort of condition makes it a lot easier to embrace radical change, where as today there would be too much to lose.

Actually you don't do awareness. Awareness does you. More accurately thoughts do you but thoughts aren't separate from awareness. It's totally possible to rest in awareness while still having thoughts and actually is necessary for integration or else a false duality occurs between awareness and thoughts. This is a practice in Dzogchen. Once you have a taste for awareness, you mix it into thoughts, feelings, activities, and more complex activities and conditions (sex, skydiving, giving a speech).

Who do you know that has actually permanently and severely injured themselves doing something like that? I hear a lot of these warnings but I've never actually heard of anyone injuring themselves. What could possibly happen? The body is self-correcting.

Depends what you mean by "working hard" If you mean menial physical labor then machines can take care of that, but of course engineers and scientists will still work hard, but you're assuming that most people just work to earn a paycheck. That isn't true. People other things in return like seeing the fruits of their labor go to something meaningful and productive. Look up the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. You don't seem to acknowledge that intrinsic motivation exists. I'm not sure how you could say that about communism since communism never existed. You must be preferring to socialism. Anyway, this is neither since this system has the absence of money entirely. There is no sharing the wealth. There is no wealth. Good are produced based on demand through a direct relationship with supply, and supply is created and sustained to be abundant.