Sunya

Pu erh has a lot of good bacteria in the leaves from fermentation (like yogurt) -- I personally don't wash mine and instead drink the first infusion. I don't want to waste the probiotics

awesome movie!

What's the future of humanity (2012?) -- Will things get worse before they better? Are we improving at all?

You're thinking of Vajrasattva, that's not Santi.. lol

It's all method. Direct mind to mind transference. Inspires surrender and devotion...and it works.

Look, there really are no secrets in Buddhism. To become fully realized, all you have to do is study what the Buddha taught or find a book by a good Southeast Asian, Chinese, Japanese, or Tibetan master who puts things into a more modern context. It's rather simple. All you need is the view, and that is no secret. The view is like a path so you know where you're going. Sometimes people want a faster method of transportation, or perhaps they have a certain obstacle that they need to go through. If you have a rhino infront of you, you need to know how to overcome that obstacle. There can be a specific method for that situation, but it won't help in other situations.. and can actually be harmful. For example, shooting a gun into the air can scare off some animals while others will just pounce on you. So teaching everyone the method of shooting your gun into the air will just be stupid, wouldn't it? Also, if someone is too stupid to handle a gun.. they shouldn't even try it. Freedom of information isn't always the best thing, especially when the majority of people have no clue what they are doing. People don't understand the first thing about spirituality, so teaching them certain methods will only harm them, or will just waste their time. If you believe that there should be no secrets, you really need to go out and meet more people and see what they are like and their current state. Not only are most people not ready at all for anything beyond the slow methods, but they would degrade the essence of the high methods entirely and they would lose value. This is what our society does. Look at shamanism, it became huge and now the majority of shamans are just stoners and druggies that worry about Atlantis and how big their next crystal will be.

Your view is that thoughts/concepts are language and that when you transcend language, you experience things as they are. This is your view, relative to your experience. In time, your experience will deepen and you'll see that there is more to thoughts/concepts than language. Mind is a deep pool and concepts lie in the formless experience as well.. Very subtle concepts. Some belief systems work better than others. There is nothing wrong with saying that. Your belief that enlightenment is beyond causes and conditions leads you to think that belief systems don't matter. I'll trust the enlightened masters who have actually treaded the path and gave pointers along the way. You're like a person who stands on the bottom of a mountain, yelling at climbers and giving them advice. What good is your advice? Climb the mountain first. About the topic, I have no interest anymore in arguing which path is superior. I still don't agree that superiority is subjective, I do still think that you can say objectively that a certain path is better, much like you can objectively say which map is more accurate at getting a traveler to a destination, but I'd rather figure that out first through experience. Arguing with others seems like a complete waste of time now, and besides, whatever you guys are doing now could be perfect for what you need at the moment. So I'll repeat that whatever Vaj is doing is not indicative of how all Buddhists feel and act. His intention is the opposite, but I do agree that he might be doing more harm than good.

Why hide guns from children? Why have a minimum driving age? Some methods would only prove to be dangerous if put into the hands of those that aren't ready. Anyway, most if not all Vajrayana methods are public nowadays. But it helps to have the transmission which is really more like an energy/blessings transference which really helps get the practice going.

The realization of luminosity, or nonduality, is realized by all mystical traditions because they all aim to dissolve the self (thoughts and sensations), but the realization of non-inherence does not come from dissolving the self. It comes through inquiring into the very nature of self on a grand scale. The self of luminosity must be seen through. This is what you keep missing. You think emptiness means luminosity, when actually emptiness is the nature of luminosity. Please share more of your exalted wisdom with us. It's obvious that your deep practices have truly developed you into a kind, wise, and patient being. I think any tradition has qualities of kindness, patience, and skillfulness as marks of wisdom, and whatever your path is, you're surely failing. Sorry.

Sounds like you were just connecting to a deeper part of yourself, the part that is full of anger and fear, the part of you that makes you post in such an aggressive and hostile way.

I'm not very lucky, so please don't bother. Yes once you have clear realization of your true nature, there is no need to have attachments. They simply go away. Once you recognize the sky-like nature of mind, why would you still grasp at the clouds?

I don't think you're flawed Songs, I've seen you contribute a lot around here in the past year or so.. Anyway, Vaj is an interesting person. I've known him for years and I generally I agree with his view, but I don't agree with his way of action, especially on this board, and we've butted heads about that many times I don't think it's skillful to argue incessantly and aggressively with people because, assuming that Vaj does have the truth, that could only push people FURTHER away. Now, bout the whole truth business, yes Vaj is zealous but he is not anymore fundamentalist than any of you. His views are rooted in the study of texts and experiential experience, just like you I'm sure. So it's an opposition of views. His view is that emptiness transcends the nondual realization afforded through other paths. Your view is that all paths lead to the same realization. The latter view is what's "PC" these days. We want to believe that all cultures have the same value, therefore all religions have the same value. It's not "cool" to say that one is better than the other. Is the Western european civilization more evolved than the ones present in Middle east at the moment? I would say yes, their systems are centuries behind the West, but try saying that in public and see the response you get. What about religion? Well I'm sure many here will agree that Taoism, Vedanta, and Buddhism are more evolved than Catholicism and Islam, which are not mystical paths at all and cannot lead to the same place. Is it wrong to say that Taoism is a superior path to Catholicism? All his zealotry side, Vaj is pointing out something interesting. We're all very attached to this concept of equality, this flat-landing, which is really just a political thing and isn't rooted in facts. Three vinegar tasters = not a good representation. If you think that the end of suffering is the end of joy, you obviously never met a Buddhist teacher. Look up Dalai Lama on youtube and look how joyous he is. The end of suffering brings tremendous joy, but this joy is not conditional and temporary so it is not the same as the worldly happiness you're referring to. This joy is a joy of release, the joy of freedom.

Seriously?

/shrug His point of view is backed up with good arguments as well as his own experience, so... I don't see that as the same as being dogmatic/fundamentalist since that relies on faith not experience. If you have such a problem, why don't you provide a rebuttal to the content? All you do is say the same thing, every post. You mock with sarcasm and blanket statements and criticism. That's not a good way of pointing out how your position differs from anyone else's. Saying "you're wrong" 40 million times is just a waste of your time, isn't it?

This movie sucked. I really enjoyed the series but the movie was just plain bad. I paid 14$ for a ticket to see it in 3d..ugh. The 3D wasn't really worth it.. and the movie itself has horrible script writing, not to mention terrible acting. If you're under 12 you might enjoy this.

Nice. That'll help him. Send him back into the wild and hope he gets help!

Tell me about it. Considering I spend the majority of my week at work.. I'm really starting to dislike this whole game. I mean, is it even possible to escape being an expendable unit in this society? Being a monk now really doesn't sound so bad. Or just a hermit. I'd love a job that's not a 'job', something meaningful and interactive and actually beneficial not only for me but also for those that my services affect, but that's impossible me thinks. Even if I become an acupuncturist, I can't escape sales and marketing and other contrived aspects of business. I'm working on cultivating an equanimous and joyous mindset to cut through the negative emotions that working brings forth. It's hard. Wake up and stop being so dramatic and selfish. You think you're the only one who's suffering? EVERYONE is suffering. Life sucks. It is your responsibility to cultivate yourself and train your mind to not to become affected by negative emotions and in turn see the true nature of your interdependence with reality. That is YOUR responsibility. Nobody, and specially not some mystical invisible force, will do that for you. It is our views that create our reality. Your view is creating your own demise. Nobody is causing your pain but yourself and your attachment to your negative concepts about how things should be and your idea of what happiness is. It is our reactions to life that dictate our experience.

Couldn't find you either Susan, but I eventually did by searching Santiago's friends.Maybe your privacy settings make you unsearchable? There's a way to create a facebook.com/SusanCarlson link.. which makes it easy to link others to your page. go to http://www.facebook.com/username/

You're kidding right? He was only telling the truth. Ban the one causing all of this, not those reacting. Mod squad really failed on this one. Same thing happened back in April when alwayson was inciting everyone and gold ended up being banned for simply pointing out an obvious fact, like Pero just did. Good members get punished while those who are only here to argue and lack civility go on posting. Does this kid need to be reported? Nobody really takes him seriously when he insults us, so nobody reports him, but when he gets insulted he clicks the report button and magically people go away. You're only encouraging him.

Yep, infinite regress. That's the only way to stop the mental yearning for a first cause... which is really just attachment to the idea of linear time. Modern physics has models of different dimensions now.. and no good physicist will tell you that there needs to be a beginning. That's ancient thinking.. but all the Monotheistic religions are based on it.

Yep, just PM me your email

Sorry.. couldn't help myself.

You mean in a 12 year old way? then I concur. I remember that saying was popular on the internet over a year ago. Seems like alwayson is behind on his memes.

Sorry Leon. Why don't you look for writing jobs since that's your strong suit?