Simple_Jack

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Everything posted by Simple_Jack

  1. Innate Purity of Phenomena

    Simple_Jack replied to Simple_Jack's topic in Buddhist Textual Studies

    This is how to strictly understand this from a Dzogchen perspective: http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=14929&p=206339&hilit=samv%E1%B9%9Bitti#p206339 ...Dzogchen rejects the two truths, because relative "truth" is not true, being a deluded cognition. But Dzogchen does not reject appearances which appear to ignorance (ma rig pa). Dzogchen substitutes vidyā and āvidyā (rig pa and ma rig pa) for the term "pāramārtha satya" and "samvį¹›itti satya". Also one will discover that Dzogchen, in rejecting the two truths, also rejects ultimate truth, as it states in The Mind Mirror of Samantabhadra: Since there is no ultimate, also the name ā€œrelativeā€ does not exist. And as it says in Soaring Great Garuda: Since phenomena and nonphenomena have always been merged and are inseparable,there is no further need to explain an ā€œultimate phenomenonā€. So not only is the relative negated in Dzogchen, so is any concept of ultimate. ~ Loppon Malcolm

  2. The Superiority of Tantra to Sutra

    Simple_Jack replied to RongzomFan's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    You should use Ashley Shaeffer memes:
  3. Take a look at the example of the four yogas from Mahamudra and the four ting 'dzins of Dzogchen semde, here: http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=6459&start=120
  4. Thanks, TI, but I'm well aware of the polemics. This does not make the above statement utterly invalid.

  5. The Superiority of Tantra to Sutra

    Simple_Jack replied to RongzomFan's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    Here, we have these statements by Malcolm: http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=15528&start=40 Here is the critical point that everyone over looks. All Mahāyāna paths whether sÅ«tra or tantra, have one thing in common: realization of the three kāyas. Each path works first at the nirmanakāya level, i.e. at first that's all you can see; then the sambhogakāya level, and finally, at the end one can see the dharmakāya personally, then one is a Buddha. This is the same whether you are practicing the six perfections, the two stages, or trekchƶd and thogal. The only difference is the amount of time it takes, and the methodology used. Even in sÅ«tra the obscurations are not regarded as something real which need to be abandoned. The Abhisamayālaį¹ƒkāra states: The wisdom of the exhaustion and non-arising of taints is called ā€œthe awakened stateā€... The state of rigpa is all three kāyas combined, but while you still have obscurations, the nirmanakāya level is all you can experience. If you can experience the sambhogakāya aspect, you are a person of high realization, meaning you are beyond the third vision. I want to make it clear, I'm not in favor for nor against the rhetorical devices used to differentiate each system, but at the end of the day: the commonality of each Mahayana path, is expressed by the wish to achieve buddhahood, for the sake of all sentient beings, regardless of the means it employs to arrive at that result.
  6. They're definitely complementary, but the path of Dzogchen differs because of thogal, which informs the epistemology of Dzogchen. This is how Mahamudra can be summarized: Mahamudra is Dzogchen semde in drag ~ Malcolm Although, the approach of these two paths differ, they are both regarded as leading to the same result i.e. buddhahood.

  7. The Superiority of Tantra to Sutra

    Simple_Jack replied to RongzomFan's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    I didn't mean to imply that this was a Dzogchen tantra. Although, zhitro is an important terma revelation, that has a direct correlation with Dzogchen.
  8. Even Karma Chagme admits that these paths don't line up.
  9. I should have included that it depends on the teacher also: http://www.zenforuminternational.org/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=9625
  10. Nope. If anyone wants clarification, on the usage of koans, then I recommend asking those questions here: http://www.zenforuminternational.org/viewforum.php?f=32.
  11. Recognizing "unfabricated presence" is not the ultimate aim when using koans as a method for realization. IMO, it's best to keep Zen and Dzogchen separate and to not conflate the principles of their respective paths, since the path of Dzogchen has a unique approach with specific ways of using its terminology.

  12. The Superiority of Tantra to Sutra

    Simple_Jack replied to RongzomFan's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Hundred_peaceful_and_wrathful_deities Guhyagarbha contains the view of Dzogchen, this is why the thirteenth chapter of Guhyagarbha emphasizes that the mandala has always been naturally formed* [ye nas lhun grub] . So it is a very different approach. It is not really the approach of the two stages. - Loppon Malcolm "The wonder of it! This marvelous, astounding event/reality (Dharma): From that which involves no origination, everything originates; and in that very origination, there is no origination! The wonder of it! In it's very enduring, there is no enduring! The wonder of it! In it's very cessation, there is no cessation!" - Guhyagarbha Tantra Vimalamitra states [per Malcolm]: "Everything arose from non-arising; even arising itself never arose." *http://vajracakra.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=1203&start=150 FYI, I have deprecated this rendering in favor of "naturally perfected" because of a commentarial passage I found in the commentary of the klong drug tantra. - Malcolm

  13. The Superiority of Tantra to Sutra

    Simple_Jack replied to RongzomFan's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    Mahayoga -- http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Guhyagarbha_Tantra.
  14. I ended up doing a search on the internet to see if there were any video and/or audio commentaries on Lama Tsongkhapa's Lam Rim Chen Mo/The Great Treatise On The Stages of The Path To Enlightenment from any venerable teachers...Lo and behold, I found some resources which I think are good enough to share. For anyone interested you can read the text from a 3 part translation on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Great-Treatise-Stages-Path-Enlightenment/dp/1559391529 A collection of mp3 files from a set of teachings on this text by H.E. Choden Rinpoche: http://www.lamrim.com/lamrim/ Audio commentary by Abbess Thubten Chodron: http://www.thubtenchodron.org/AudioLibrary/index.html A link to someone's youtube channel, that has a set of talks given by H.H the Dalai Lama, on the Lam Rim Chen Mo at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA (also included in this link is a partial listing of his other teachings on this text given elsewhere): http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL63437123ADC315D0 Another youtube channel with a video series of talks on the Lam Rin Chen Mo: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChenrezigCtr?feature=watch This is from the official website of H.H. the Dalai Lama which has recordings of numerous teachings and appearances at events, press meetings, etc. I'm posting a link to a series of talks on Atisha's Lamp For The Path To Enlightenment and Tsongkhapa's Great, Middling, and Concise Treatises on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment: http://dalailama.com/webcasts/post/267-18-great-stages-of-the-path-lam-rim-commentaries Other recommended video/audio commentaries from that website: Je Tsongkhapa's Praise for Dependent Origination - http://dalailama.com/webcasts/post/226-praise-for-dependent-origination--avalokiteshvera-permission-initiation Je Tsongkhapa's The Three Principal Aspects Of The Path - http://dalailama.com/webcasts/post/289-the-three-principal-aspects-of-the-path
  15. A commentary on a commentary, by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, on Aryadeva's "Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way" --http://www.amazon.com/Aryadevas-Four-Hundred-Stanzas-Middle/dp/1559393025.
  16. Yeah, I didn't feel like typing something, so I thought it appropriate to repost that. If you feel it's inaccurate, you can get clarification here: http://www.zenforuminternational.org/viewforum.php?f=32&sid=a2dab359c5b9fa5f01f023ad053bf4a1 http://thetaobums.com/topic/33574-substance-dualism-in-buddhadharma/ The theory of the body of light is predicted on the fundamental state of reality being something called wisdom, which has five lights, which are reified as physical matter. Upon completion of the path, one sees this matter in its real nature once again and the elements of the body "revert" to their original nature as wisdom (i.e. through the process of thogal one eradicates all the afflictive obscurations which prevent one from seeing things just as they are (yathabhutaį¹ƒ)); Body of light is a realization....

  17. The Superiority of Tantra to Sutra

    Simple_Jack replied to RongzomFan's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    The Guhyagarbha Tantra, is very important, in the Dzogchen lineages.

  18. Simple_Jack replied to PimonratC's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    Well, even the Abhisamayalamkara, makes correlations between the 8-fold noble path and the bodhisattva path - http://books.google.com/books?id=X5WVKneaS-YC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=eightfold+noble+path;abhisamayalamkara&source=bl&ots=Wo919FPikG&sig=XelnLM2ErpBYUd_ebpPo100xHdM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Uhn4UvePMeimyQG0uYGIAg&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=eightfold%20noble%20path%3Babhisamayalamkara&f=false

  19. The Superiority of Tantra to Sutra

    Simple_Jack replied to RongzomFan's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    Speaking of Dzogchen tantras, here's good news from Malcolm: http://www.vajracakra.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&p=16041&sid=21cdd87a40a638d5a6730d45503ffaf3#p16041 "... However, one text from that collection, Intrinsically Clear Wisdom, The Aural Lineage of Vimalamitra, will be published to launch to our new Imprint, Zangthal Editions. Check back here for more info. After that, we plan to release the Rigpa Rangshar and the Rigpa Rangdrol in one volume in a limited hardcover edition some time next fall. The deal with Intrinsically Clear Wisdom, The Aural Lineage of Vimalamitra is that if you have not had instructions on Dzogchen trekchƶ and thƶgal from a qualified master, you won't understand it and so you shouldn't buy it. But as of this juncture we are not policing people. That could change and we will let you know."
  20. Yes, guidance from a teacher, is indispensable in this sect. Dharma talks and pointing-out instructions are a prime feature: http://thetaobums.com/topic/33392-a-zen-koan/ It's not enough to just read a book of koans or public cases. Ch'an/Zen/Seon requires a teacher-student relationship. A student is assigned a koan to work with, which they then periodically report to the teacher for clarification/instructions and to test their understanding. It depends on the school.

  21. Jhana in Taoism?

    Simple_Jack replied to Kajenx's topic in Daoist Discussion

    ...How we bind ourselves in our own self-made limitations.

  22. Jhana in Taoism?

    Simple_Jack replied to Kajenx's topic in Daoist Discussion

    Taking this into consideration, we should then reflect on how we are skewed towards extremes, in every moment of our day-to-day experiences. In subtle and gross states of experience and manifestations of thoughts, in the meditative and post-meditative periods, deep dreamless sleep and dream states, etc.; whether we stray towards reification and depreciation, affirmation and rejection, craving and aversion, etc.

  23. Simple_Jack replied to PimonratC's topic in Buddhist Discussion

  24. Simple_Jack replied to PimonratC's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    Haven't read any of his books, yet. Thanks for posting this.

  25. Simple_Jack replied to PimonratC's topic in Buddhist Discussion

    We'll agree to disagree, but Mahayana should be viewed in terms of being built on the "Foundational Vehicle", which is the current Dalai Lama's reference to Hinayana. Many of the key principles, of Hinayana, appear throughout the Mahayana sutras, albeit in a modified form at times. Of course, there are many instances where they are provisional modifications, such as the examples from the "Tathagatagarbha Sutras" above. Indeed.