Vmarco

Watch the Dalai Lama's talk on The Four Noble Truths (netflix). http://www.amazon.com/Dalai-Lama-Four-Noble-Truths/dp/B00005UO7Q The "key" to all Buddhism is Dependent Origination. The Four Noble Truths are about Dependent Origination. To understand Dependent Origination, find five Absolute Bodhicitta aphorisms, and repeat them numerously, everyday,...for example. 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. An Absolute Bodhicitta aphorism is a ground upon which Bodhicitta can be realized. Relative Bodhicitta aphorisms are fine,...but only address the relative. "Relative and absolute, These the two truths are declared to be. The absolute is not within the reach of intellect, For the intellect is grounded in the relative." Shantideva 9.2

Who can explain this? Is it suggesting that sexuality (post-puberty copulation)promotes youthfulness and longevity? Because physiologically that's not so. Youthfulness and longevity are related to the thymus gland,...the butterfly like endocrine gland associated with the Heart chakra. The thymus gland begins to atrophy, thus diminishing its particular hormone excretions, at puberty,...and the more sexual a person, the quicker seems the atrophy. Certain herbs, like He Shou wu have been shown to rejuvenate the thymus (which some endocrinologists consider the "fountain of Youth." The thymus is actually a huge subject,...but with very little unbiased information. V

"those desiring speedily to be A refuge for themselves and other beings, Should interchange the terms of I and Other, And thus embrace a sacred mystery." Shantideva 8.120

Why do people automatically rush to dissect a messenger, instead of deliberating on the message? Hui Neng uncovered the Light that he is by way of a message,...he didn't realize it through studying the Fifth Patriarchs bio, nor did the Fifth Patriarch lay hands on him, and shaktipod him into awakening. Absolute Bodhicitta proverbs are intended to be a ground upon which bodhicitta is realized,...if we focused on the bio of who wrote the proverb, how will bodhicitta ever be realized? Realization of non-duality, the subject of this thread, does not arise from a teacher, but a message understood at a particular juncture when the "instant" is observed. There is no Present in Time. As Dolano said in the above youtube,..."where are you in the instant?" However, observing the instant, the Present, the Now, is very difficult,...which is why the true truth seeker does not seek truth, but discerns all the barriers built against it. The "instant" is evently observed by recognizing what is not the "instant." The "instant" is not a perceived present. Perception can only view the past. Accept what is not the Present, and evently you will stumble into the Present. Ponder on that every minute of every day, and you may uncover it in a single lifetime. Because everytime you recognize the false as the false, it effortlessly dissolves, and your basic goodness becomes more and more obvious. V

She's a long term student of Osho, and still lives in Poona, next to the ashram. If you hear her speak, its obviously Osho, not Gangaji, that was her ground. Personally, I find Gangaji evolving quite well,...its a good sign. These teachers are, most likely unwittingly, pushing the envelop, so-to-say, of the students capacity to accept an honest dialogue. Theistic beliefs is a huge barrier. Even Osho was appeasing to god beliefs in his early literature, before evolving beyond that nonsense. However, you would be correct to suggest that there are very few fully honest realized entities around, at least publically,...and those that are, would surely be killed if they publicized their awakened state. And I guanantee that none of them are attached to a religious belief system,...beliefs cannot enter the Heart. "Relative and absolute, These the two truths are declared to be. The absolute is not within the reach of intellect, For the intellect is grounded in the relative." Shantideva 9.2 V

1. Ah! Good one. Yes, searching is pointless, as UG Krishnamurti said http://www.well.com/user/jct/cover.html 2. Great "start" about Buddhism,...my apologies. I would have to agree,...to sort out all the Traditions and Lineages without Short Path guidance would be a folly. http://wisdomsgoldenrod.org/notebooks/23/5 V

Putting Jeff Foster is the company of Kristnamurti,...whether Jiddu or UG,...is bizarre. Eckhart Tolle is surely not awake, but at least he writes some meaning ideas, like, "we need to draw our attention to what is false in us, for unless we learn to recognize the false as the false, there can be no lasting transformation, and you will always be drawn back into illusion, for that is how the false perpetuates itself" But please, don't take this critique the wrong way,...you're entitled to whatever flavor of the week you wish,...just seemed kind of odd to see someone regress from that marvelous list you shared. Ramana Maharsi's self inquiry method, 'Who Am I' One of his students put this together: I too found much inspiration from Wie Wu Wie. Also L Collot D'Herbois' Colour. Unfortunately, I'm unaware of a great book on the subject,...by someone who has been there since the 13th century. However if you hear of one, let me know. In the meantime, if you really want in on what is non-duality on TheTaoBums, check out the thread 'What is Light.' V

Exactly!,...but for most, that is difficult to understand before letting go of the subject. Thus it was stated, "Therein lies a clue to understanding Emptiness,..." In other words,...shifting from the illusion of "getting" to giving and being regiven (reflected back) for that which is perceived to be given, is ground upon which bodhicitta can be uncovered. V

With that in mind, I heard a statement by Esther Hicks,...I don't know Esther Hicks,...I could care less about peoples judgments about Esther Hicks, and their tendency to discredit messages because they have been media-ted against the messenger,....nor have I any concern if Esther Hicks killed more people than Justinian, Pope Pius VI, and Bernard Gui combined,...the quote however is sagaciously unique, with the pithiness that can uncover a metanoia, like when Hui Neng (later to be the 6th Zen Patriarch) heard one sentence by Hung Jen. "We teach meditation, or quieting the mind, because it is really easier to teach you to have no thoughts, than to teach you to have pure, positive thought. We would rather you be in a state of appreciation, than in a state of meditation, because in appreciation you are a vibrational match to Source [Higher, non-skandha Self]." Esther Hicks

Interestingly, in describing his new book, Deepak Chopra said. "think about what you can give, not what you want." Therein lies a clue to understanding Emptiness,...by way of transcending attachment to subject and object. "those desiring speedily to be A refuge for themselves and other beings, Should interchange the terms of I and Other, And thus embrace a sacred mystery." Shantideva 8.120 V

What Right View Buddhist would use the word "divine?" Are you attempting to go for a Zen teaching, that is say, to dissolve the question? Or are you actually attempting to bring/merge some core Abrahamic religious views into Buddhism,...as if such conditions (divinity) could actually enter the Unconditionality of Emptiness? V

1. Enslavement is not liberation. Anything that steps between a sentient being and their direct experience is not ground for liberation. No Christian can ever realize bodhicitta, as long as they are a Christian,...it's impossible. 2. If your definition of compassion is contrary to Robert Thurman's, as quoted in post #20, which is also the Dalai Lama's definition, which comes from the Bodhicharyavatara, then your concept is wrong, according to Buddhist views. "If I have any understanding of compassion..., it all comes from studying the Bodhicharyavatara" HH Dalai Lama

The primary mover for the release of the Dead Sea Scrolls from the grip of the cabal controlling them for so long was Robert Eisenman, Professor of Middle Eastern Religions and Director of the Institute for the Study of Judeo-Christian Origins at California State University, Long Beach, was a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem and is a visiting senior Fellow at Oxford University. His Ph.D. was from Columbia University and he was a Senior Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Studies. In meticulous detail Robert Eisenman shows that The Righteous Teacher was James, The Wicked Priest was the High Priest Ananas and the Spouter of Lies was none other than Paul. This of course seen from the perspective of the writer of the sectarian scrolls at Qumran. If The Righteous Teacher was James, and St. Paul was the liar, then who was Jesus in the sectarian documents. He must be there as a player at least as important as the others. However, the evidence shows that there is absolutely no mention of Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls because Jesus as a living historical figure, portrayed by the Gospels, did not exist.