Sunya

I don't really know much about the dissolving practice. How does it work? Sounds like vipassana except instead of bare witnessing all sensations there is the intent to dissolve.. Is that right? Could you perhaps type up some instructions on how to do it? I'd get the book but am currently unemployed.

Very interesting post Xabir

We are not fighting traditional armies anymore. Terrorist cells have no national affiliations. Who are we going to nuke? There is no deterrent for them. Their goal is simple: to bring back the good old days of Muslim supremacy and for everyone to be Muslim. And they are willing to die for their goal. Jihad, holy war, is part of their book and their book is unquestionable since it is the literal word of God as spoken through their Prophet. How do you fight that? I'm not saying all Muslims are hell-bent on taking over the world but there many sympathetic to the cause. My dad worked with an Egyptian guy for 15 years. This guy was very 'American,' and yet one day he admitted that he would join the 'cause' if he needed to. He was not sad at all when 9/11 happened. Now think about how many moderate Muslims there are in US and Europe. No threat my ass. I know that the best cure for this problem is education and secularization. This is the best cure for any fundamentalism. But at the same time we cannot ignore the imminent threats out there, put our heads in the sand, get rid of our defenses, and hope that these problems go away. How is that pragmatic in the slightest? We need to focus on a long-term solution that does not involve just killing terrorists, since this of course just creates more, but as a short term solution it's all we have.

Saddam and Taliban were both brutal dictatorships. I don't care if it was about oil, though I hardly see that point since oil prices continue to rise.

When millions of Muslims are brainwashed daily that the whole world must be an Islamic state and that America is Satan, I'm quite glad that the U.S. has a standing army. The world has changed incredibly since WW2, more so than all of the previous years combined. Ever since WW1 and the fall of the Ottomon Empire, many Muslims have gone nuts. Secularization and modernization are not on their priority list. They long for the old days of Muslim supremacy. Their religion tells them that they are the best and yet all they hear is how the West is so great -- does not compute. Oh and their 'holy land' -- no not Mecca but Israel for whatever reason -- is controlled by Jews, people who do not accept Muhammad. Anger and fundamentalism are the response. The West did not create Muslim fundamentalism, as much as hardcore liberals want to believe that, and it certainly is a real threat. Oh and another common liberal response is that fundamentalism is a minority. Not true. Most Muslims are pretty sympathetic to the cause. And if you think that fundamentalism is a 'gross distortion' of the Quran, I suggest you actually read it sometime. It's not all birds and daisies.

I was going to but there are no jobs in that racket at all, plus I want to be more pragmatic about how I help others. Simply teaching them theory won't really get to most people. After I learned that 'mindfulness' is being more and more respected as a psychotherapy, I became very excited about doing that. For what I'm doing, it is rather linear. I don't join first and then go to school. I apply to the military university and then, if I get in, they make me an officer and I begin schooling. So the 6 or 7 years that the doctorate takes is actually counted toward retirement. And there's no way that they will deploy medical officers as soldiers before or after school. Military is desperate for medical officers... so I sort of found a loophole for how to get free graduate schooling, a stable and interesting job, and easy early retirement For most other positions though, I would say your advice is accurate.

Thanks for the quotes, interesting stuff. not sure how I feel about it really. I won't be in that situation though. You do have some choice as a medical officer over what you do. I'll hopefully be researching the efficacy of mindfulness for anxiety,depression, and PTSD for my doctorate and will work in that area.

I'm applying to be a clinical psychologist for the Navy. They will pay for my tuition, pay me officer salary while i'm in school, pay for me to get licensed, and then give me a nice job where I will be able to, hopefully, help the many soldiers who truly need psychotherapy. I think it will be a rewarding experience and I look forward to it. In the end, I will retire by 50 and then maybe open up a meditation retreat center somewhere in the mountains. My advice is to go to college first and enter in as an officer. Also, make sure you know exactly what you want to do in the military. They treat their health corps members very well (doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, dentists, etc.) and will pay you to go to medical school. If money isn't a problem, there are still good reasons. As mentioned, you get trained to be a confident leader and you're part of a community who looks out for each other. That can be a nice feeling. Military certainly isn't for everyone. If you're a very individualistic person who can't bear the thought of following orders, then it probably isn't for you. Same goes for those who want a lot of control deciding where they live. Personally I would enjoy moving around and living on bases.

I'd say you had a good insight of the impersonal aspect of your true nature. You realized why try to seek fancy clothes or achievements when we are all part of this spontaneously perfect is-ness. Right? Very nice It's certainly not something to laugh at or downplay. Next step would be to analyze who is aware of this impersonal and perfect state of being. Good article for you to read if you want.

I would recommend getting the Yantra Yoga book by Namkhai Norbu if you want to learn real Tibetan yoga. 5 rites are good though, but very simple.

It's like asking someone to critique the Honda Civic service manual and repair guide.... to do so you have to be a very experienced mechanic. Daniel has been meditating for atleast 20 years and done many retreats. The book is really just his own experiences of the territory which have been verified by others as well -- he is an MD so knows quite well that peer review is necessary. Many of the posts on DhO are of people who come to the board and say 'wow I read the book and it's describing exactly what I went through and helped me to go deeper' - so yeah, something there. As for dogma, the book has little of that. But it's good to question. I don't agree with everything in the book. I'll reserve my comments though until i'm an expert mechanic

Difficult to critique a practical work written by someone who is clearly a master of meditation. I don't believe anyone here is qualified.

Could you define 'source' ? and 'experience' too? Just want to be clear...words are tricky.

Very interesting...

I think you two were married in a past life...

But why do you care so much? Its my observation that people like you get upset but you guys are the ones that fan the flames. He's just a very enthusiastic person, lol. I love him but I disagree that the emptiness teachings need to be shoved down everyone's throats. If we look at the Buddha as an example, he taught according to people's conditions. Some were taught no-self, others were taught Self. Teaching no-self to those who need Self can be extremely detrimental. Learning from him, I don't participate in these discussions anymore since I'm unable to know exactly what sort of teachings someone needs. But I do agree that ultimately emptiness is a higher realization than nondual Self and I've explained many times why.

You feed the fire and then get upset when flames erupt

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.

I agree. I think it's true that science tries to do too much and it's rather unnecessary to figure out an equation for everything, but at the same time the belief that everything began at a single point in time is strange. Many atheists love science and abhor creationists, but at the same time they ascribe to this theory of a beginning which is basically the same thing: a causeless cause. Through observation, we can see that everything has a preceding cause. How can a causeless cause be? Unless, as more modern physics theories suggest, this cause was from another dimension; yes this universe may have 'begun' at the big bang but all of reality is actually eternal.

It was either skillful means (so people believed) or the Buddha truly did teach using a subtle body in "astral realms" and these teachings were then written down and taught as the Buddha's own word. Either way it doesn't matter. Do the teachings make sense? Do they work? That's all that matters. Buddhism is entirely pragmatic.

There are contending theories (see M-theory) that many physicists are subscribing to which make more sense than the Big Bang theory. These theories do not have time beginning at a single point and the big bang as a first cause, but rather the big bang as an effect of a previous cause. Personally I think it makes much more sense for the creation of the universe to be preceded by a previous moment which caused that creation, such as the contraction of a previous universe or, like in m-theory, when two membranes touch each other, all of these theories have the common-sensical understanding that a causeless cause is absurd. Much more logical than "the first cause happened because it had to happen" - sounds very childish, sorry.

Ya.. western cognitive awareness is growing. I decided to do something which in my eyes is more pragmatic and go for a doctorate in clinical psychology. That way I can teach mindfulness based therapies to the depressed, anxious, or maybe even schizophrenic. Should be an interesting job. Might even join the military so I can retire in 20 years.

Wow, very interesting account of realizing no-self by Richard.... thanks for sharing xabir.

What you're looking for cannot be found in mainstream movies. I would suggest "Waking Life"

tuning in..