Vmarco

Sure,...prajnaparamita is used by Mahayana,...yet can not be fully understood through Mahayana,...but through Vajrayana. It is if Theravada is about How we are,...Mahayana about is similar to Where we are,...however, to realize Who you are, one must understand When we are. "Other Emptiness" (Jonangpa) has only recently been recognized by the Dalai Lama,...thus labeling it a Tibetan invention is deceptive. Although the Mountain Doctrine was written by a Tibetan,...it draws from all known Buddhist sources of the time,...not as an invention,...but a scholarly review.

Perception cannot observe emptiness, only the consciousness beyond the 6 senses can,...and until emptiness can be consciously observed, the way things are cannot be understood. Remember,....dukkha is a consequence of the desire for things to be other than they are,...the 6 senses cannot observe the way things are,...only the way things are not. Emptiness cannot be perceived. Perception only perceives the illusion of motion,...that is, form. But form is empty, and empty is form. Perception only perceives within time,...there is no Present in time. All perception is the past,...even expectations of a future arises from the past.

I like the line on emptiness as potential,....however, the words "Its the space between things" can be tricky,...because it's really the space of the thing. In other words,...empty and the thing are one and the same,...space doesn't end at two things,...space is the two things, between which is, from a relative point of view, perceived space. When observing as a Tathagata, there are no things through which relative space is perceived. Another way to say this,....if you removed all things, you would not be left with space,...because there is no space, or relative emptiness, without things or form. Form is empty, and empty is form. Relatively speaking,...there is no form without empty, and no empty without form. However, once the perception of Yin/Yang is transcended, there is the Other Empty,...the Empty beyond One and Many,...beyond Here and There,...beyond Time and Space. Theravada hardly mentions it,...Mahayana barely mentions it,...however, prajnaparamita embodies it.

I think he is suggesting that Buddhists are suppose to be passive,...and that is not true,...except for Westerners that don't understand Buddhism. "In fact, one of the precepts of the Bodhisattva vows is to take strong countermeasures when the situation calls for it. If a Bodhisattva doesn't take strong countermeasures when the situation requires, then that constitutes an infraction of one of the vows." HH Dalai Lama

Did not Buddha go beyond Indian thought? For example: There’s a story in the Buddhist scriptures of a talented monk who wanted to find out the answer to the question, "Where do the four elements cease without remainder?" Through meditation he reached the Heaven of the Four Great Kings, who did not know the answer. Next he went to the thirty three gods in a higher Desire Realm heaven, but none of these rulers knew either. He then asked King Sakka (Indra), the king of these gods, but Sakka did not know the answer. Up and up he went asking all sorts of gods at each and every higher level. Finally he came to Great Brahma, the Creator, Uncreated, Knower of All. When the monk finally achieved an audience with Great Brahma, Brahma appeared in all his majesty and glory announcing, "I am Great Brahma, the Conqueror, the Unconquered, the All-Seeing, All-Powerful, the Lord, the Maker and Creator, the Ruler, Appointer and Orderer, Father of All That Have Been and Shall Be." The monk then humbly and respectfully asked his question, but all Great Brahma did was repeat, "I am Great Brahma, the Conqueror, the Unconquered, the All-Seeing, All-Powerful, the Lord, the Maker and Creator, the Ruler, Appointer and Orderer, Father of All That Have Been and Shall Be." The monk eventually got frustrated and said, "I know you are "Great Brahma, the Conqueror, the Unconquered, the All-Seeing, All-Powerful, the Lord, the Maker and Creator, the Ruler, Appointer and Orderer, Father of All That Have Been and Shall Be," but I asked you a question about where the four elements cease without remainder. The Great Brahma replied, "Listen little monk, don’t embarrass me. All these other gods are listening and think I know everything. If you want to know the answer to a question like that, don’t ask me. I don’t know the answer. For a question like that, you have to go ask the Buddha."

You be the judge....and then ask,...why is the Western Media focusing on "militant Buddhists"?

Jefferson, Paine, and other Founding Father loathed Conservatives,...who at the time, called themselves Federalists. Considering that Conservativism has been psychologically shown to be a mental illness, it is not surprising that Conservatives, like Tea Party fanatics, reconstruct history to make their talking points more palatable for their ignorant base. Some Conservatives have realized that however,...like the Texas Tea Party, who controls the Texas State Board of Education, and wants Thomas Jefferson out of text books. Freethinkers such as Thomas Paine, the father of the North American Revolution with the British, and the person who coined the term United States of America, often spoke of the insidiousness of Christian scripture. Thomas Jefferson, another U.S. founding father, said, "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus will be classed with other fables." The American Revolution guerrilla leader Ethan Allen was even said to have stopped his own wedding until the presiding judge affirmed that "God" referred to Nature and not to the god of the Bible.

"One millionth of 1% false is completely false" Jed McKenna Or, as McKenna correctly said, "99.9% of the World's so-called wisdom, East and West, for the purposes of awakening, is about as useful as a glass of warm spit with a hair in it."

From an absolute point of view, that is correct. Emptiness implies that there is something that is not empty. Form is empty, and empty is form,...which does suggest that empty is "around" form,...but that form itself is empty. As form is illusion,...so to is the emptiness of form. However,...what about the "Other Empty"....the Emptiness beyond Yin/Yang,...the Empty beyond One. Too bad that literature of the Other Empty, such as The Mountain Doctrine, or Prajnaparamita is virtually unknown to most.

Islam in a nutshell.... Muslims unquestioningly accept the Shahada, that is, that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger. To understand the dynamics of that, simply ask a Muslim why he believes in the Qur’an, and he will say, "Because the Qur’an is the infallible words of Allah written by his prophet Muhammad." If you continue the inquiry and request that he divulge how he knows that Muhammad is Allah’s prophet, the Muslim will, without the slightest pondering, respond that he knows that Muhammad is Allah’s prophet because it says so right in the Qur’an. This is a faith-driven circular reasoning common to all three Abrahamic religions and their hundreds of denominations. They believe that their Holy Book is the correct Holy Book, and only their Holy Book correctly describes god. Muhammad (570–632 CE), the Abrahamic teacher who, prompted by persecutions upon Arabs, such as those continued by Pope Gregory (540–604 CE), the Father of the Dark Ages, invented the Arab version of monotheism. Interestingly, this new religion supplied the pedophile prophet with many attractive wives, the youngest of whom is said to be nine-year-old. Of course, verbalizing such facts could get me detained by the Mutawa—the Islamic religious police—and as I, like most, don’t fancy having a fatwa issued regarding my stating of facts, unraveling the disease of Islam, such as its self-authenticating Qur'an, is difficult.

Once more you've shown your inability to comprehend English. I never insinuated,...not even in the slightest,...to obliterate anyone,...nor would I. However, you clearly have a pattern of inciting, dare I say, hatred for others,...such as your above post,...pointing to VMarco as one who wants to obliterate people, when he was in fact pointing to the belief system of Islam,...not the people who believe it. There will NEVER be peace through inter-faith,....through tolerance of beliefs,....but ONLY by letting go of beliefs. Know Allah, no Peace; Gnow Peace, no Allah. The Heart essence of life cannot be understood through theism. As Chogyam Trungpa said, "we need to let go of theism." As for me,...I look forward to the Kalachakra War as soon as possible. Not that I'm for war,...but for most, like yourself, it will take war, both inner and out, to rid the world of belief systems that think people are their beliefs.

I vote that this thread, a pro-Muslim view, go to the pit. Overall, from stories I've read, the Muslim minority of Myanmar, who by the way, own the majority of the Country's private wealth, and treat Buddhists like scum infidels, are quite oppressive towards Buddhists in daily life. This latest clash was fueled by two incidents,...first involved a Buddhist woman attempting to sell a gold hair piece, worth an equivalent of $200 in gold. The creepy Muslim merchant would only pay $100,...and as the woman attempted to counter for $120, the merchanct sneakily damaged the piece, and in traditional Muslim form, offered $50. The police were called, and the Muslim got caught in their unconscionable act,...which riled the Muslims to initiate incident number 2,...that of 4 Muslim males attacking, and then setting fire to a Buddhist monk. Next thing you know,...the world is condemning Buddhists for retaliating. The way I see it,...Muslims invaded Myanmar in the 14th Century,...and it's now time to purge the Country of this disease. I personally like to see the religion of the pedophile Prophet removed from all of Asia,...and along with Judeao-Christianity, obliterated from the world.

From the One, spirit (the in-breath/out-breath of perceived creation) arises. I don't view Spirit as Creator, but as a deCreating Force, that which shows us the way back to Source,...which Spirit is part of,...for neither the One, Spirit, nor Other (Yin-Yang) are part of Source, or the Tao. No level of perception (that which arises from the 6 senses) can understand or observe the "way things are." Perception can only observe the world that surrounded us,...never, ever, the world that surrounds us . To better help this realization, love should be viewed relatively and absolutely,...absolute love is Unconditional,...thus, if there is any condition tagged with love, it is not absolute love. For example,...Spirit is a condition, and although Spirit may point to absolute love, Spirit is not absolute love. "those desiring speedily to be A refuge for themselves and other beings, Should interchange the terms One and Other, And thus embrace a sacred mystery."

No,...they are not someone's ideas. Ideas only arise from the 6 senses.

to offer a difference,...what is a liberal? On September 14, 1960, John F Kennedy said, "a Liberal is someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, that is what a ‘Liberal’ means, and I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’" John F Kennedy September 14, 1960 if you're not Liberal, you're Illiberal.

Can one really, or ever, manipulate a box from inside the box

"Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one." --- Albert Einstein

Conservatism is a mental illness, but can it be treated? http://nh.craigslist.org/pol/3698694583.html

http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/rnr/3710150911.html Conservatism is based on paranoic hate, fear, greed and sociopathic selfishness. Conservatives lack a normal level of compassion are are truly antisocial individuals. There is a very fine line between violent criminals and conservatives which is why conservatives are such warmongering, murderous and racist scumbags. Don't forget Hitler and the nazis were conservatives, NATIONAL socialist party is Fascism and Hitler wanted rule by the corporate bosses. The first people he imprisoned were the trade unionists and he railed against communists and his opponents were the social democratic party of germany. This is why Bush's presidency with it wars of aggression remorseless nationalism (flagwaving like swastika waving) looked most like fascism. This is why despite their destroying our economy Republicans support corporate rule and used tax payer dollars to bail out the bankers with trillions of our dollars yet did nothing to help out Americans. What you conservatives do not understand is it is basic divide and conquer. The Belgians did this in Rwanda. They separated one group of Rwandans from another group. Told one group they were superior and the other group they were inferior. Then decades after the Belgians left the Hutus and Tutsis were massacreing each other. When a nation is divided the people are pitted against one another, to fight against one another, that way the true enemies, the bankers, military industrial complex and the war racketeers can sit back while you destroy yourselves. Now snap out of it and wake the hell up. You idiots are destroying our nation as much as the bankers and the government is. Stop playing to their game. Become a rational thinker. Study: Conservatives have larger "fear center" University College London researchers say brains of the right-leaning have big amygdala, small anterior cingulate http://www.salon.com/2010/12/29/conservative_brains/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/aug/13/usa.redbox A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity". As if that was not enough to get Republican blood boiling, the report's four authors linked Hitler, Mussolini, Ronald Reagan and the rightwing talkshow host, Rush Limbaugh, arguing they all suffered from the same affliction. All of them "preached a return to an idealised past and condoned inequality".

Psychologists say conservatism is a mental illness A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity". As if that was not enough to get Republican blood boiling, the report's four authors linked Hitler, Mussolini, Ronald Reagan and the rightwing talkshow host, Rush Limbaugh, arguing they all suffered from the same affliction. All of them "preached a return to an idealised past and condoned inequality". Republicans are demanding to know why the psychologists behind the report, Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition, received $1.2m in public funds for their research from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The authors also peer into the psyche of President George Bush, who turns out to be a textbook case. The telltale signs are his preference for moral certainty and frequently expressed dislike of nuance. "This intolerance of ambiguity can lead people to cling to the familiar, to arrive at premature conclusions, and to impose simplistic cliches and stereotypes," the authors argue in the Psychological Bulletin. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/aug/13/usa.redbox It should be called Bushitis and found in the DSM-IV

Signs of psychopathology can also be seen among conservative Republicans, especially when you consider a wide range of illness indicators. In his award-winning 2005 book Dr. James Whitney Hicks discusses 50 signs of mental illness including denial, delusion, hallucination, disordered thinking, anger, anti-social behavior, sexual preoccupation, grandiosity, general oddness, and paranoia. Now I'm no clinician, but it seems that prominent Republicans have evidenced each of these ten telltale signs of mental illness over the past year: 　 1) Denial: humans did not evolve; Obama is not a native-born American Christian 2) Delusion: climate is not changing 3) Hallucination: God ordained me to be President 4) Disordered Thinking: being for small government that's huge in the bedroom; being anti-contraception and anti-abortion 5) Anger: 6) Anti-social Behavior: toward women, gays, minorities, anyone without an umbilical cord or trust fund 7) Sexual Preoccupation: a fervent compulsion to control when we can mate, with whom we can mate, and precisely how we are allowed to mate (which I lampoon in Why Do Politicians Want to Police Dick and Jane's Private Parts?) 8) Grandiosity: even Rick Santorum recognizes Gingrich’s "over the moon" grandiosity 9) General Oddness: Ron Paul 10) Paranoia: pretty much all of them, all of the time

Although some may take offense, let's be honest,...political conservativism is a mental illness. http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Society/Conservatives_Deconstruct.html Characteristics of a Conservative include: Rigid and closed-minded see the world as a dangerous place Low complexity of complex thought Impulsively aggressive Intolerant of ambiguity Afraid of loss Haunted by death Just looking at some of the synonyms used for Conservatism, should give an idea of this mental ailment: illiberal reactionary bigoted closed-minded obstructionist rightwinger reversionary intolerant prevarcator discommodity chickenhawk anti-progress iniquitous arrogant atrocious arrant perfidious faith-driven McCarthyite loutish anti-Constitution bellicose diabolic anti-ACLU peccant easily media-ted republican belligerent Fear and aggression IMO, conservativism should have been included as a mental illness in the DSM years ago,...unfortunately, some members of the DSM board are themselves inflicted with the disease of conservativism, and thus have kept it out. IMO, no conservative, or likewise mentally ill person, should be allowed to run for public office, or be allowed to engage in any creditable public news capacity. And, it is of the upmost importance to limit any certified conservative from possessing firearms,....like conservative, Tea Partier's Adam and Nancy Lanza of Sandy Hook. My personal view is that it is likely impossible to curb the mental illness of conservativism by way of reparative therapy,...thus, until a brain operation can be perfected to correct their cerebral wiring, drug therapy may be the best hope. The survival of humanity depends on immediate action regarding the mental illness of Conservativism,...they are the largest threat to the world,....greater than, Global Warming, Nuclear Proliferation, Poverty, the War on Women and LGBT's, and all cancers combined.

An thus, the first Lojong proverb says, treat everything you perceive as a dream. This is a preparation for bodhicitta. Once one realizes that everything perceived (everything imagined from the 6 senses) is a dream,...and that dreams do not exist (that is, exist = to stand alone), then that which is conscious beyond the 6 senses, reveals itself.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10786-cows-pigs-and-sheep-environments-greatest-threats.html

Ideas are surely perceived,...the Tao is impossible to perceive. All those who have truly realized the Tao, have gone beyond perception,...that is, beyond the 6 senses. It is 100% impossible to perceive the Tao. Lao Tzu said, "the Tao doesn't come and go." Buddha said, "the Tathagata does not come and go." The 6 senses (perception) cannot perceive that which does not come and go,...perception can only perceive motion. All motion is illusion. The Tao did not arise from a need to explain experiences,...nor did the Tathagata. According to Avalokitesvara, and seconded by Sakyamuni,....hearing is the best way to uncover the Tao. "As soon as one sense-organ returns to the source, All the six are liberated." Avalokitesvara...Shurangama Sutra