Vmarco

So,...can you envision a peaceful society (topic of this thread) with people needing vicious, protective animals where millions per year (4.5 million in the US alone) are attacked every year? My view is quite simple,...people with vicious breeds are not considerate of others.

No,...the swastika is the most sacred of geometries. There are 4 pair of lines @ an Arch-angle flowing from a center point. If you uncover why form is empty, and empty is form, you will come to appreciate the beauty of the swastika,..not as art per say, like curves, but because it induces nirvana when understood what it points to. It embodies the Matrix of perceived life in as few strokes possible. The Matrix Ancient geometry began with 1, while Sacred Geometry radiates from Zero; as a White Flower descends, out of the Stillness of Light, across the thresholdless threshold of Consciousness; spawning a green ray, the one without a twin, expressing the urge to multiply, the compulsion to create; unfolding from One, a trinity of three Zero planes at 90 degree arch-angles, the primary colours of simulated divided-light, simultaneously dawning the Nine of Them, the Ku; together, an alliance, as the 7 Gods of the Popol Vuh, manifesting primordial waves which effect movement, within the optic planes of The Matrix; the first reflection of Zero. Light does not travel, not even a fraction in all Eternity; whereas simulated divided-light appears to move in wave-particles, time birthing space, enclosed by Metatron’s Cube, reproducing itself 186K MPS slower than the Stillness of Light; dividing-multiplying within The Matrix, appearing to flow between its convex planes at 90 degree arch-angles, in the direction of the division of seven, compressing spectra into form; veiling the Transcendent Dimension. VMarco 　 　

Yes, not everyone is interested in a peaceful society. And those who aren't, have vicious dog breeds, enable bullies, etc. What are some other traits of inconsiderateness towards society-at-large of those with no interest in a peaceful society? Seriously,...I appreciate the imput.

That is what the Heart Sutra instructs on,...although having an excellent commentary, like the Heart Attack Sutra, is even more helpful. What cannot realize the void, is that which arises from the skandhas,...the 5 aggregates. The Heart Sutra is explicit on this. Thus you must access another way of seeing. I'm not a teacher, but will be glad to dialogue on the subject as you uncover the process. Everyone puts their boat in the water so-to-say at a different point. For me, I realized early on that I will never understand Who I am, without the awareness of When I am. Doing so alters your complete point of view,...it acts as an absolute bodhicitta lojong or means to truth realization. Some absolute bodhicitta lojongs would be: *Treat everything you perceive as a dream. *Find the consciousness you had before you were born. *You will never understand Who you are, until you realize When you are. *There is no Present in time. *Between meditations, treat everything as an illusion.

It is an instant recognition of how winding light waves crystallize into form, and how form unwinds back to higher frequency light,...it symbolizes the cyclical polarization process,..how spectra condenses into form through a multiplication-division process, and the reverse, of radiating back to spectra. The swastika shows that form is empty, and empty is form,...the fundamental viewpoint of how a bodhisattva sees. Bon shamans didn't use the swastika for a lucky charm. The swastika shows in a moment, the complete process of divided light,...and thus points to Undivided Light, and the Tao.

Bullying is a symptom of a deeper problem that the current society does not want to address, probably because nearly half the population (here in the US) have a propensity towards the route trigger of bullying,...that is, conservatism. http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Society/Conservatives_Deconstruct.html It might be possible for a liberal to be a bully,...although I've never heard of a case. Although liberalism is demonized by conservatives, such as conservatives stunch rejection of any anti-bullying legislation, a quick read of an American definition of liberal, shows the insanity of conservatives claims: 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.’" In other words,...if one is not liberal, they're illiberal. How can a peaceful society ever occur in an illiberal society? "it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" J Krishnamurti

That's good advice,...however, ever try to imagine the times when you acted desirable, and held that image,... wonder how that would be.

Exactly! Who was the last National Politician who didn't put their faith-based agenda before their oath to the Constitution? Not in my lifetime.

Shows there was time when swastikas were acceptable,...even in America. For me, the swastika is the most beautiful symbol in the world. http://bon-encyclopedia.wikispaces.com/file/view/TheFloweringLightTantra.pdf

Love Only Waits on Welcome. If you wish for love, don’t focus on love,…uncover all the barriers you built against welcome. In Buddhism, welcome is seen as the dharma or highest quality of a person. Real love does not avoid,...perfect love is not coddling,...authentic love shines it light on all the barriers (beliefs) that people have built againt it. True love is honest,...honesty does not tolerate dishonesty. All beliefs are dishonest. All beliefs are barriers to love. 　 A Lojong proverb says, "find the consciousness you had before you were born." To realize that, it is suggested to first recognize that everything we perceive is a dream. Through treating everything between meditations as a dream, all anxiety dissolves, because what's there to worry about,...as the Lojong says, "there's nothing real about our confusion." Thus, through the release of worry comes ease, and through ease the depth of a woman (Aphrodite) no longer frightens us. A frightened man fears Aphrodite. Men, as author Tim Ward says, "wants the foam, the aphros of Aphrodite, but not her depth." Men do not want the wisdom of Aphrodite to get inside them. "They want to watch her on TV, see her on film, or better yet as a porn star, so there's not even a face to remember, just body parts." I feel most people are frightened of love. Welcoming love can make everything one thought meaningful to be meaningless,...a realization that all hopes and fears are irrelevant.

That's an admirable pursuit,...and even burning with a fire of passion to take a leave of absence. With such devotion, the universe will have little choice but to accommodate you. As the post above, I also recommend the Heart Attack Sutra to you. Wishing you all the wishes you wish for.

I've not seen anything to doubt Norbu about. As for the Heart sutra,....Karl Brunnholzl 'The Heart Attack Sutra' is the best commentary on the subject. It should be on the top of all Buddhists read list.

I love this story of "immortals" 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."

I don't know, but have no reason to doubt it. I suppose the myriads of Buddhas and Arhats mentioned in the sutras would have the appearance of being like gods to a 3rd dimensional, sentient being, but I see them all as equal. Kind of like many thangka painting with little high or over selves. For me, I don't pay too much attention to that stuff,...but focused more on Dependent Origination and the nature of Emptiness. I'm a big fan of the Heart sutra.

Awesome,...presented in a way that shows the Tao as easy. As for spirit, it arises as a consequence of the perceived separation from the Tao,...a motion or energy to return to Source,...which it can never do,...because the perceived separation never really existed.

Yes,...it is like that. The Suchness of the Tao is beyond energy.

Sure, god could be associated with "spirit"....the in-breath/out-breath of duality. However, there is "spirit" in the Tao. Spirit is born from the Tao, but there is no Tao in Spirit. Spirit is simply the yang/yin motion to return to the Tao,...which it can never do,...because a condition cannot enter the Unconditional.

That doesn't jive. I can buy into an idea that god is the "highest energy one can conceive" however, the Tao is beyond all energy. To best "conceptualize "the Tao, visualize reaching the so-called speed of light,....Einstein showed that not only do space and time change as speed increases, so does mass. In the case of mass, however, the change is an increase rather than a decrease; the faster something moves, the greater its mass becomes. The cerebro-centric say if an object were ever to reach the so-called speed of light, its mass would become infinite. However, to move an infinite mass would take an infinite amount of energy–more energy than there is in the entire universe. Thus, how does any phenomena ever attain the speed of light. It doesn't! When reaching the so-called speed of light,...time stops, mass ceases to be, and motion/energy no longer exists. The Tao has no energy. Think of the Tao as the still center of a horrific hurricane. The Tao is stiller that that,...it is causeless fulcrum upon which duality effects its motion (energy). Motion/energy is within time. The Tao is timeless,...dimensionless, unconditional, changeless, causeless Presence.

Yes,...both are illusory, and impermanent. There is no One (non-duality) without a Many (duality),...no Here without a There,...no Center without a Boundary. The Tao is beyond the One and the Many, beyond the One and Yang/Yin. The Tao birthed neither the One nor Yang/Yin,...although the One and Yang/Yin were born from the Tao.

Yes,...god has many definitions,...and all of them are conditional. God (god), n., 1. A being (condition) conceived as the omnipotent (condition), omniscient (condition) originator and ruler (condition) of the universe (condition), the principal object (condition) of faith and worship (conditions) in monotheistic religions (conditions). 2. The force (condition), effect (condition), or a manifestation or aspect (conditions) of this being (condition). 3. A being of supernatural powers (condition) or attributes (conditions), believed in and worshiped (conditions) by a people, especially a male deity thought to control some part of nature or reality (conditions). 4. An image of a supernatural being; an idol (conditions). 5. One that is worshiped, idealized, or followed (conditioned). 6. A very handsome man (condition). 7. A powerful ruler or despot (conditions). 8. Used to express disappointment, disbelief, frustration, annoyance (conditions). As for the Judeao-Christian god,....Most Christians believe the God they invoke while spreading their faith, is love. However, in the whole of their Holy Book, the Bible, it only suggests the idea that their God is love at the very end, in the late 2nd Century apology 1John. In fact, when viewing the full length and breadth of the Bible, their Patriarch is clearly a murderous, pro-slavery, vacillant, petty, racist, conditional God. And amazingly, a God who is so insecure, that it demands to be worshiped, obeyed and prayed to. Many believe that their god is light. The late second century apology 1 John, says, "God is light, and in him is no darkness." But what is this light and darkness? Reading further, one finds "darkness is in the past, but the new commandment is true and in the light." 1 John 2:8 refers to the perceived light and dark of duality. The light of the Abrahamic religions, by their own texts, is merely one aspect of Duality’s electrodynamic spectrum, not unconditional, undivided light. Thus, for most, there is no deep understanding life, but only superficial understanding of light and dark? To translate the Christian view of "god is light" is saying "god is yang, and in him is no yin." What many Taoists fail to grasp is that Yang/Yin, although born of One, and thus effects its motion upon the Tao, is not the Tao. Lao-zu correctly said, "The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things....The Tao gives rise to all form, yet is has no form of its own."

God arises from the desire for things to be other than they are; whereas Emptiness is the realization of things as they are. Everything that arises from what is other than Suchness, is illusion,...or in the case of the god meme, a delusion. The realization of Suchness, is to see things as they are. For example, Undivided Light is proof that no god exists. http://thetaobums.com/topic/19803-what-is-light/

Jackie Kennedy wore the swastika,...well, before she was Kennedy http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=slv8-tyc8&sz=all&va=jackie+kennedy+with+swastika

One doesn't need medication to hear voices,...a simple electrodynamic vibration is enough. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.11/persinger.html I haven't heard any voices in my head that I didn't put there,...but have certainly recognized a feminine force within the cyclical universal polarization process. I just never had a need to personify it.

Thanks for the corrects. I agree with your assessment. I'm not a political historian, or even close. However, from a spiritual point of view, Adolf (der Fuhrer) is quite upsetting to me,...because of the swastika. The most ancient and sacred of all known symbols is the swastika. Before the Nazis hijacked this emblem to signify their desire for a master race in the mid-twentieth century, the swastika was viewed as a symbol for luck and properity on several continents. I’ve seen a photo of Jackie Bouvier, who became known later as Jackie Kennedy, wearing an outfit with a large swastika embroidered on it. I’ve seen swastika-shaped lucky key rings that said "Drink Coca-Cola" and hundreds of other pre-World War II memorabilia that use this symbol. The symbol is now so taboo in Western society that it is only seen in connection with racism, violence, and the Holocaust. In India, the Hindis still use the swastika to mark holy spots, and its appearance in association with their deity Ganesha most likely encouraged the idea of the sign as good luck. The swastika is also the most auspicious symbol in Buddhism and is often found on the images of Buddha. The emblem is related to Buddha’s sacred heart, the soles of his feet, or the palms of his hands. Before Buddhism reached the trans-Himalayas, the native Bönpo considered the swastika to be the most sacred of glyphs. As mentioned in chapter one, Vajrayana arose as a hybrid of Buddhism, tantra, and Bön shamanism. Tönpa Shenrab, who is held in high regard in Bön spirituality, had a royal birth at the Palace of Nine Swastikas, indicating that this symbol of eight equal lengths in a right angle configuration around a center point even predated contemporary Bön. Some say that Bön shamanism began 18,000 years ago, making it the oldest spiritual practice on earth. According to the Bönpo, the swastika was an important aspect of their resolve to cultivate heart-mind—the natural mind, disrobed of the garments of beliefs. Through heart-mind, the Bönpo realized rigpa, the quality of being liberated from the concept of good and bad. The meaning of rigpa, although the same for the Vajrayana practioner, has alternative definitions for others. These other meanings of rigpa include a belief that there can be a union of opposites, or that emptiness is the goal. For our purposes, rigpa is the perfection of gnowing that emptiness is form, and form is emptiness. Much of the ancient wisdom has taken on so many layers of interpretation that the underlying gnowledge has been smothered. Fortunately, our intent is focused on the exploration of magick, not all the nuances of philosophy. Thus, for our purposes, we are going to view the swastika as a symbol of emptiness and form. The left-facing, unwinding or counterclockwise swastika of eight lengths (four pairs at ninety degrees) on a center point represents form into emptiness. The right-facing, winding or clockwise swastika, also of a ninety-degree rotational symmetry, corresponds to emptiness into form. The swastika exemplifies the nature of nine, like an eight-spoked wheel on an axle, or eight-petal flower on a stem. Whereas Buddhists, especially before the Islamic invasion of central Asia, held a nine-point dorje in the right hand, the Bönpo held a swastika. The two ritual implements are equivalent in that they both represent, and are intended to bring awareness to, the nine optic planes of phenomena. Although the dorje is a more masculine approach, the feminine is equally present in the dorje, and although the swastika (as used by the Bönpo) is a more feminine approach, the masculine is likewise equally present. Although the swastika is still used in Asia, in the West, this most sacred symbol is detested. What a shame for humanity.

I believe there was a Jesus Christ. The prototype of a personified Christ was developed by Paul’s followers and aristocratic admirers from the Talmud stories of Yeshua Ben Stada, the locally notorious Yeshua [Jesus] the Notzri [Nazarite]. This Jesus, born in 7 BCE during a Jupiter–Saturn conjunction, had a stepfather known as Joseph and a mother named Mary. On the eve of Passover in 28 CE, he was convicted of sedition by Pontius Pilate and subsequently hanged. His hanging was not the planned means of death, but proceeded because those who were to stone him were late. Since the end of the day was near, which would have postponed his burial until after Passover, the soldiers allowed the alternative death by hanging. Following his death, his followers dubbed him the Passover Lamb. Actually, the term "christ" grew out of Memphite philosophy—literally, the Krst, the anointed ones, like the Risen Horus/Apis. Then in the fifth century BCE, the word Christos, referring to an "awakened one," crept into Greek subculture, and this word can be found in the works of classical writers, such as Aeschylus and Herodotus, the father of history. Curiously, this was the same time in which Siddhartha Buddha, the light of Asia, realized that religion is a man-made fabrication and a direct result or consequence of the desire for things to be other than what they are. According to recent research, many ideas in the New Testament were lifted from Buddhism.