Sunya

So deep

I think this quote from Kyle is pretty clear on the meaning of space in Dzogchen, which like the term 'mirror is used as a symbol or metaphor, not as a literal description which would only lead to formless state.

This seems more like hinayana view, rather than mahayana. In mahayana it isn't understood that the mindstream ceases completely, ever, but that may be a goal in hinayana. Certainly is not a goal in mahayana, at least based on what I've read and heard From Walpola Rahula's What the Buddha Taught: "If there is no Self, no Atman, who realizes Nirvana? Before we go on to Nirvana, let us ask the question: Who thinks now, if there is no Self? We have seen earlier that it is the thought that thinks, that there is no thinker behind the thought. In the same way, it is wisdom (panna), realization, that realizes. There is no other self behind the realization."

TI, This is just a friendly discussion. There's no need to take things personally. Also, the quote you used does not say anything which supports what you say. You're reading too much into it based on your expectations and experiences, which is why I suggested a teacher, but of course it's your life and you don't have to listen to me. "To penetrate the light is not to realize the cause of the light." It says so in the footnotes of the pdf you linked to, since you do not believe me. Also from http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/19.7-Nimitta-piya.pdf "To penetrate the light means to actually submerge in the light " Nowhere is this suggested in the sutta. If you disagree, please show the exact sentence where this is implied. Vipassana is the practice of penetration, and in fact this language is used quite often by vipassana teachers, such as Mahasi Sayadaw. The goal is to penetrate the object, whether that's the nimitta or any other phenomena. To try to merge with the object is jhana meditation, but this in and of itself will not lead to liberation. Anyway, see this thread where Daniel Ingram talks about this http://www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/283675 You're saying Venerable Bhikkhu Sona, abbot of the Birken Forest Monastery is a non-practitioner who is full of crap? And where is the radical interpretation? I did not say vipassana is a cause. I said " to penetrate the light (the nimitta) means to directly see, or realize the cause of, which is vipassana." Vipassana is the practice of seeing the cause, gaining knowledge of, clearly seeing, etc. phenomena. You see the light with great clarity, but that's jhana. If you see the light and penetrate it, that means you see that the light is impermanent (made up of smaller moments of light which cause the next moment of light) and lacks inherency, thus penetrating the object to see its true nature. This is vipassana. Yes, these are good books. If you're interested in vipassana, Shaila Catherine's Wisdom Wide and Deep is quite good. In both Ajan Brahm's and Shaila Catherine's books, the nimitta is used as an object to enter jhana, so if that's your goal, that's great and I do not mean to discourage you. I am only saying that the Buddha did not gain enlightenment by focusing on the nimitta and entering jhana. That's all.

How are you getting all this from that passage? Nowhere does it say that the Buddha 'gradually learned how to make the light and the visions remain' This is the complete opposite of what the passage suggests. The light described is also not the light you're talking about. It's the nimitta, or sign, which precedes jhana or one pointed concentration. It is a mental phenomena correlated with the breath. If you want to learn more about nimitta, see this http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma/nimitta.html and this http://simplesuttas.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/jhana-wars-pt-6-the-great-nimitta-debate/ Also, you seem to be obsessing about visions and such, when the passage is clear that the Buddha realized the cause of the nimitta and visions by analyzing his experience. When it says "the knowledge and vision arose in me:" it does not mean that the knowledge and vision of forms arose. Vision in this context means seeing clearly. See this sutta: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.than.html Also, to penetrate the light (the nimitta) means to directly see, or realize the cause of, which is vipassana. IMO you would really benefit from finding a teacher to guide you since you are mixing too many different ideas which are not very useful. If you are interested in jhana/vipassana meditation, a Theravada teacher can be of use. You can also contact Daniel Ingram directly for guidance on the Dharma Overground forum. He's an expert in both jhana and vipassana and is an authorizd teacher in the Mahasi Sayadaw lineage. If you're interested in Dzogchen, then it's best to find a teacher in a Dzogchen lineage. But learning from various passages and books and creating your own interpretations will only cause confusion.

What's with the hostility GrandmasterP? Thusness is not a guru and isn't selling anything. You're making baseless assumptions. The lingo here is standard dharma talk. If there's something you don't understand, you can simply ask. But coming in here and acting this way is pretty disrespectful

All Buddhist paths lead at least to realization of clarity. What makes Buddhist paths unique is the emptiness aspect (kadag)

That's xabirs site, and he does post stuff about Malcolm sometimes :-P

Unless you've tried Tapatalk, you won't know just how good it is on a mobile device. The interface is really good and preferable to the mobile version of this forum. Every other forum that I frequent supports it so I can access them all using the Tapatalk app. I really like its features where you can easily see all threads you've participated in and see updates, so it saves a lot of time when browsing. Anyway, it should only take 5 minutes to install the plugin and it's free, so there isn't any downside to installing it. Here is the link to installing it on IP Board. Very simple. http://tapatalk.com/activate_tapatalk.php?plugin=ipb

Bump. Sean, please enable Tapatalk plugin on here

I loved this anime, season 1 much more than season 2. Really fun watch!

Any word back? This would be awesome. I use my Android phone more often than my computer these days and would love to browse this forum on Tapatalk.

I recommend getting this book - A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night: A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Dalai Lama -- It's not just a translation (although the text is included) but also a commentary by one of the greatest Buddhist masters of our time.

Can't wait. I love Baraka. Simply wonderful.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spotlightsix.zentimer&hl=en I was looking for a meditation timer and came upon Insight Timer. There's a free version, but I got the paid version to support the developers. It includes some nice sounds of tibetan singing bowls which go off after the alotted time. You can also create interval bells too, like a 5 minute warning bell to tell you that time is almost up. It's not only a timer, but it keeps track of your meditation history and gives you statistics. You can also see who is meditating at the same time as you, which is nice... kind of like a virtual sangha