Sunya

Ohh, I see. Suffering is not bad then. Got it. Very deep. The word you're looking for is apathy. I guess every selfish teenager is enlightened?

Well, you're going to have to talk to the Hindus about that. They think Buddha was an avatar of Vishnu. Maybe Vishnu made a deal with the Jade Emporer? Those who are truly enlightened have great compassion for the world and act to help others. Sitting in silence does not help anyone, except the blissed out fool who think he's enlightened.

The pictures at the top of his site are pretty funny

I have the book in PDF... but really there's no point in practicing thogal until you've mastered trekcho (which means being able to rest in rigpa constantly)

Guys, I'm not a mod or anything, but if you post in the Buddhism forum could you please learn to use Buddhist terms correctly? Emptiness means dependent arising, as in no-self, conditional, relative, causally linked, etc. In this thread alone I see people constantly using the term incorrectly. Things don't arise from emptiness because Buddhist emptiness is not nothingness; it's not a formless source of everything. Emptiness is not an 'it' at all. Emptiness is simply a description. Don't reify it to be something. That's totally missing the point. It is said that the world is empty, the world is empty, lord. In what respect is it said that the world is empty?" The Buddha replied, "Insofar as it is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self: Thus it is said, Ānanda, that the world is empty. - Suñña Sutta None of this makes any sense from a Buddhist pov. Voidness does not mean nothingness, but rather that all things lack intrinsic reality, intrinsic objectivity, intrinsic identity or intrinsic referentiality. Lacking such static essence or substance does not make them not exist —- it makes them thoroughly relative. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81

It's all in the mind. We create our reality. The only difference between a dual and nondual existence is a change in perception. There is nothing intrinsic about anything. This is a self limiting belief. Not sure what you mean here... Samsara means the world of conditioned existence, suffering, attachment, never being satisfied, etc. Nirvana is the freedom from that. I think you got those terms confused. Anyway, the nondual truth is that Nirvana is Samsara... It's not a separate place or heaven or anything. Nobody is saying that emotions are bad. Emotions are fine. It's identification with emotions that's the problem. The perfect Buddhist world is where everyone recognizes their true nature, which is primordial and spacious freedom, and to act from that truth instead of from the miconception inherent in a dualistic mindset. You are assuming that what you experienced was actually the enlightened state, and from that misconception you are judging the contemplative traditions. You did not experience your natural state. It is not a state of nothingness. This experience is what Tibetan Buddhists called a state of no-thought, but it is actually very blissful and peaceful once you let go and stop clinging to who you think you are. The next step is to integrate that state with energy (emotions, thoughts, the body, the world). I am sorry, but you are not enlightened. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can move on. Nobody has to prove anything to you. We each have our own paths. You seem to be stuck and are obviously frustrated. I can understand that. Ultimately you have to prove to yourself what is true and what isn't.

awesome...that's a great book for dream practice. I would recommend also getting Crystal and Way of Light

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

Pretty sure that the Heart Sutra is very important in the Zen tradition and is chanted by monks. I do not agree that studying Buddhist view is not part of Zen. It very much is, especially at the beginning.

Try not having sex for a while while doing qi gong.. give it a couple weeks.. you'll feel things, little vibrations here and there, some heat, some chills.. I mean you won't get any fireworks or anything, but pretty soon it starts to feel good. Then as you learn to calm the mind, you can go deeper and start to make progress. A good question to ask is what sort of feelings are you trying to escape by seeking stimulation? What is boredom exactly? Who is it that is bored? Be curious.. inquire.. feel.

Interesting. Does Bodri talk about the anapanasati stages in this book? BTW, do you guys think that Bodri has actual experience of this stuff? Is he talking from experience or parroting what he learned from Master Nan and other sources?

Ah, very nice. So he goes into detail about signposts and certain phenomena happening so you can gauge where you're at? That's interesting. Maybe the book is worth getting then. One question that pops into mind for me though is -- are these phenomena truly the same for everybody? Don't we all have different karma to work though? Hmm...

So is this book good because you learn about how Greek mythology connects to spiritual progress? Or are you guys actually learning meaningful and practice things from the book?

So it's just a collection of quotes from sutras? I was a bit disappointed. Thanks for posting it though

heheheh

I'm just saying it how I learned it. I was taught by Theravadin nuns in Bodh Gaya during a retreat about this. Maybe the nuns were secretly Mahayanists then.

This is incorrect. An Arhat in the Theravada tradition is not the highest attainment. They recognize that the Buddha is a much higher attainment but see Arhat as a more realistic goal to strive for.

double post

Have you read Namkhai Norbu's Crystal and Way of Light? It's a great book for an introduction to Dzogchen. I'm not sure if he has a center in California, but I do know that it's possible to join the Dzogchen Community as a member and then access restricted manuals for practice. He also gives our regular world wide transmissions through webcast. Ah, just remembered.. Namkhai Norbu will be in LA June 22nd for a 2 day retreat.. You should go Ken McLeod is good for beginners, but he is usually talking about I AM and confuses that with Rigpa. Same with Surya Das. What they teach is not really Dzogchen I'm sure there are Dzogchen masters in California, but since I live on the east coast, I'm not familiar with your neck of the woods. Any Nyingma teacher will focus on Dzogchen. Gelugpa and Sakya focus on Mahamudra. Kagyu is sometimes focus on both. But Mahamudra and Dzogchen are pretty similar actually. Both are profound paths to enlightenment. Most important thing is to find a teacher you connect with because the essence of the Tibetan path is the pointing out or transmission that occurs between teacher and student. Since you seem practice oriented, I would recommend looking at Nyingma and Kagyu teachers. They tend to be more practice and less scholarly focused than Gelug and Sakya. Also, check out this really cool interview by Daniel Brown, psychologist at Harvard Medical School and Tibetan translator/long time practitioner -- http://bcove.me/6gz19fhz

OK. I called you an asshole not because of what you say but how you say it. I haven't been here in months. I left due to the incessant argumentative attitudes from some members. Now I see the same from you, someone I used to respect. Your snarky, arrogant, and condescending attitude makes me wonder why Xabir even bothers responding to you. He's always respectful and calm. If you're so enlightened why the anger and hostility? Where's your respect toward another being on the path?

Lucky, Stop being an asshole.

The way I understand it is that 'bug' is an idea, a mental concept. We reify (or make real) the concept of bug to be self-existing, independent, and real. In actuality, there is no bug because 'bug' is an idea that only exists in the mind. In actuality, what is actually there is beyond self (an independent bug) and oneness (bug as part of everything). In other words, the reality of bugness is beyond all mental concepts and labeling. If you're still with me, then looking back on what you said "when a bug is dead, is it in a state of non-existence?" There never was a real bug existing in the first place, nor is there a real bug which can be in a state of non-existence after the form of bug is gone. So the concepts of existence and non-existence depend upon the assumption that there is a real independent thing called bug which has existence and then lacks existence. Neither is true though. Even when the form of bug is there, that bug lacks self or an essential nature so no categories (ie. existence, nonexistence) can be applied to it.

You can get a book on Dream Yoga and practice. Tenzin Wangyal and Namkhai Norbu each wrote a book on the topic with instructions

Would prostrations like in Tibetan Buddhism have a similar effect?

This is a good article from the Kagyu pov on the two truths. http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/buddhism/cul/cul03.php