Sunya

I lost count how many times I've seen you say this. Are you a man of your word?

very interesting

Thanks for the tip. I downloaded El Topo and will watch it soon. i read somewhere that he made El Topo before he took LSD, and Holy Mountain afterwards. i'm curious to see if I can tell the difference, i'm guessing El Topo will be much more coherent. Holy Mountain was awesome, very symbolic, but I wish I had some LSD to chase it with because some parts were just

The 4 Seals of the Dharma: All compounded things are impermanent. All emotions are pain. All things have no inherent existence. Liberation is beyond concepts. I'd like to clarify the 2nd seal with my cursory limited understanding.. In Buddhism we are taught that all emotions are pain. this can be very hard to accept, and I know this to be true.. i'm completely addicted to pleasure feelings. but if you analyze with mindfulness you will realize that even the most pleasurable emotions have subtle grasping and suffering. and when this pleasurable feelings fade, we feel a sense of loss. because we identify with this pleasurable happy feelings, we grasp at them. the happy feelings you speak of are impermanent, if your will to live is based on happy feelings then sure enough eventually you will lose that will to live because happiness is impermanent. So, since our mind is what actually constitutes our experience: the emotions themselves aren't pain, but our grasping towards them causes pain. the yearning for pleasure, and the disdain for pain.. the emotions themselves are empty. they are simply vibrations, but our mind gives them substance. All emotions are bliss and emptiness if you realize their true nature. The book "What Makes you Not a Buddhist" by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse is excellent, covering the 4 seals in a pragmatic no-frills writing style. highly recommended http://www.amazon.com/What-Makes-You-Not-B...t/dp/1590304063 this is not particularly inclusive to Buddhism, as I was taught the same thing by a Hindu teacher and i'm sure Taoists say the same about the impermanence of emotions

I asked Robert Bruce about this [if you don't know who he is: http://www.astraldynamics.com/ (he has highly developed clairvoyance)] (5:04:35 PM) Robert Bruce: the reason lots of people see this is because lots of people believe in this. We need to counter this 'belief' so it is not manifested. So we need lots more people to believe in a bright future. (5:05:12 PM) Robert Bruce: 2012 is just a date. (5:05:49 PM) Robert Bruce: it will come and go and life will go on as usual. I am sure another date will replace this. Some people need a date ahead depicting change. (5:05:59 PM) Robert Bruce: If you want to change the world, start with your self. (5:07:29 PM) mix: ah, thank you for the response. so all the coincidential events (crash of financial systems,, mayan calendar) are only fueling this mass intention for smething to happen (5:07:50 PM) Robert Bruce: yes (5:08:02 PM) Robert Bruce: To put this in technical terms (5:08:06 PM) Robert Bruce: Bollocks! (5:08:27 PM) mix: hahah (5:08:32 PM) Robert Bruce: this date will pass and life will go on

kind of related - cool article on astronauts and experiences http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/...our-brains.html

they are measuring some interesting side effects

the physical processes cause energy? or does energy cause physical processes? does the fact that changes in awareness can be measured by brain activity necessitate that the brain is the cause of awareness? or can these brain changes by effects of a deeper non physical cause? mind activity has not been proven to come from brain, cognitive scientists are still clueless

i think of this as an exercise in contemplation, not as a philosophical intellectual exercise, since that is just 'mind trying to find mind' the mind is empty, we are told that over and over again. it has no inherent existence, and is dependent. this is mere word play and only on the level of thought. through experience I see that the "I" consists of momentary flashes of awareness. awareness of perceptions (senses, body), thoughts, memories, emotions (which are themselves thoughts). breaking it down, mind is just momentary flashes of thought. now that's as intellectual as I can get, because after that then there is the "watcher", the supposed perceiver, the little man in the head (early renaissance thinkers actually thought a little man existed in the forehead), so getting that far, what's next? can't think about the watcher, since the watcher is the perceiver of thoughts, now the transcendence of thoughts is required, the laser like precision of awareness self inquiry. where is the source of I? does this source exist? does a self existing, real, watcher or perceiver exist? i don't know.

find a realized teacher to guide you, stop asking advice from people who are still stuck in samsara like yourself I'm far from realized, but I do understand that Shamata (one pointed concentration) practice is crucial for a stable foundation, or else the mind is still wild because of its latent fixation with itself. you chose the breath as your object, stick with it. keep breathing, when emotions come up pay them no heed, keep focusing on the breath. The breath is your refuge. remember: emotions are thoughts too, and thus they are empty. Indeed, this is the recommended Buddhist approach, tried and tested, and this explains why Buddhists generally are very stable people. Stable Shamata before Vipassana is the recommended route by Tibetans as well as Daniel Ingram, as well as the typical Zen approach of Zazen prior to Shikantaza. I also had 2 Hindu Shivaite Gurus who gave me shaktipat and they both stressed concentration (on breath or mantra) as the main practice and not to focus on any phenomena or emotional clearing. Working with energy stirs up the deeper levels of consciousness, like taking a stick and stirring up muddy water. Whatever comes up must be let go, if you keep attaching to whatever comes up then you are only continuing the cycle of habituation. Break the pattern; let go.

just to clarify, this is not what the Buddhist emptiness means. same word, different meaning. what you are talking about seems to be a state of no-thought.

can you define mind? mind, like God, has different meanings for different people. "Let us make distinctions, and call things by their right names." -- Henry David Thoreau, Wild Fruits.

Tantra uses all means to gain enlightenment, such as sex and alcohol. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave up his monk robes and became a lay person, getting married and doing other things so as to understand the Western problems. he was a master of Tantra and Mahamudra, and I have no doubt about him being highly realized. Bodhisattva no doubt. I always found his books to be incredible. the way he can relate to the Western mindset, his language and communication, and his teachings I found to be of great help. the books Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, the Heart of Buddha, and the Myth of Freedom I find to be invaluable for those seeking clear, no bullshit, pointing to waking up. but, like Gold says, it's all up to your own interpretation and connection.

I like that.. or "don't believe in the one who thinks", but then that would imply a false duality. since thoughts are just empty, there is no "thinker" but either way, the point is to stop believing thoughts. quite hard actually for someone like "me" who is so engrossed in thoughts. I put "me" in quotes since the validity of this me is still not definite

why not just take a rebirth control pill? much easier.

I think rebirth happens every millisecond.

It's really a bit more complicated than this.. talk to some advanced practitioners, talk to some teachers. This has nothing to do with power. Like Gold said, Thogal is a very powerful, advanced, and perception altering practice. You seem to share the same mentality as Tim Leary did, Let's give LSD to everyone because its so amazing, not realizing that not everyone is ready. This is the information age, we expect everything to be out in the open and dissected, properly categorized, organized, and compartmentalized. Secrecy scares us, so we automatically assume that this secrecy is negative, and the people behind it are doing it for their own gain, not ours. Gold, what are you talking about exactly? climb over a tantra that was written in the stone? if you're talking about Tantra being part of Namkhai Norbu's teachings, then I think I can comment on this, as I've wondered the same thing. i've spoken with advanced students of Norbu, and listened to a webcast where he said that direct introduction and Guru Yoga (connecting with mind essence of Guru to pull you into your own nature) is all you need, theoretically. But we're all different, and this won't work for everyone. so Tantra is taught as a supplement. if you enter Rigpa right away, then obviously you are a ripe practitioner and will receive high teachings (trekchod followed by thogal), but if not then you gotta get real and do some purification. the Direct path of working with awareness is very difficult for many people, so other practices are given. you're given a toolset and use what works for you.

*Poke*

Straight up ignorant remarks have no place here, get your facts straight bud. If you don't understand the skillful means [method,purpose] of devotion, guru yoga, and Bodhicitta (all of which eliminate any negative side effects of completion practices (such as gtummo) then don't comment at all. No one needs a 4th grader giving their opinions about getting a PhD. Getting a history lesson on Tibet from Michael Parenti is like getting your world-view from David Icke. Tibet was far from perfect but it wasn't the hell-hole he makes it out to be. Yes it is taught that the practices of Tantra came from the Buddha Realms; this is what is written in the Tantra scriptures. You can think of it as Buddhas taking astral form to teach high level yogis, who then taught disciples, and the unbroken lineages continued on. The Tantras came from India, Tibetans do not claim ownership, but they did fine tune the cycles from generation to generation. Since 60% of the male population were monks, they had a lot of time to get things right. Everyone dies, it's called Karma. you think having "balanced elements" makes you immortal? get real. if Santiago died falling off a rollercoaster, then KAP is obviously bullshit, right? because he could easily fly away, right? FRAUD! Tibetan Buddhism only came out less than 60 years ago. Tibet was an isolated society, with no separation of religion and state. It's a tough transition to the diverse modern and secular world where people expect instant enlightenment while working a job, having kids, cheating on their spouse, and worrying about fitting Vajrayana into their religion mix stew for the purpose of eternal bliss and unlimited frequent flyer miles. There are plenty teachers out there that teach high level practices, (Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche*), but yes commitments are required by most. that's because the practices are dangerous without devotion and proper view. Look at yourself, and your habits. how many traditions, practices, teachers have you stumbled through in the past couple years? Be honest, and ask yourself if maybe these teachers are right in thinking that most people aren't truly ready for what they think they want. Finally, it is proper to investigate your teacher very thoroughly. Not just the teacher, but yourself also. If you don't know what your goal is, don't know what the goal of Buddhism is, and don't know whether or not your teacher has the means to take you to that goal, then it is your karma to be with a "Sith Lord Lama" *Namkhai Norbu gives free, open, transmission (direct introduction) to Dzogchen through online webcast every 6 months. He is one of the most progressive Lamas out there, not teaching Dzogchen as the gradual approach but as a complete direct path without preliminaries and "ass kissing"

what is "yi" ? your truth. just because some "radical" people tossed together a few unverified facts and theories, you jump right on the bandwagon, doing NO research for yourself. have you personally met 'high level' psychics, shamans, Tibetan masters, Mayan experts, astronomy and physics experts to verify if anything is truly going down? you speak about brainwashing but are you any better? I respect the hunt for truth, but possibly this zealous hunt is creating more mis-truth than unraveling anything at all.

the question is what 'worked' and if this is inline with your actual goal

are these vids on youtube? damn you China...damn you..

any of you KAPers awaken the fiery serpent yet?