Bubbles

Ditto

??

Thank you so much MithShrike, especially for this

Adulthood begins when you can take care of yourself and take care of others. If, knowing that, you are waiting for other to take care of you, you're a child. If you blame others for something you could have avoided with a minimum of awareness and self reliance, you're childish.

There are two ways of removing friends. -The first one works if the one to be removed is logged in TTB. You can do it by pointing the mouse cursor over the screenname. A small window will appear and at the left side of it, under the avatar, you can click a 'remove friend' round button. -The second one is by going into your profile>manage friends. You will be given a list of your friends and at the right side, you will find the same 'remove friend' button. Hope it helps.

Thanks for that Marblehead

I don't want to do readings on TTB And anyway I would really need your exact birth details.. Be well WWROA

Thanks to you Stosh for provinding me opportunities to contribute. Have a nive week-end too and a great party for the New Year to come. Thanks to you Marblehead for hosting this thread in your heart/mind space and supporting my contribution. Be well

I agree. That's why I wrote 'to be continued' at the end of my post. I had planned to show some the differences I could see so that some balanced point of view could be reached. Yes. Because one thing is to say that our will doesn't come from our consciousness, another is to say that we should be kind of volitionless. Nietzsche gives a great importance to the will, as long as it is originated from the subjective body forces. The superman is exactly the one who can contain all the contradictory forces within him without trying to suppress one. Out of this internal tension will come out something great.For eg, in his analysis of artistic creation he explains how the artist should be in a kind of ecstasy/drunkness of the mind ( as a result of the intensification of the internal forces in him) that pushes him to put of himself into the things created. The forces are his innate drives for sure. Actually Nietzsche doesn't buy the separation between the individuals and the environement. It has to be taken as a whole but without having/ending with a closed totality. He rooted his philosophy into an Democritean/Heraclitean viewpoint, so no One we should return to.

Hi WWROA, To assess how Gui Si year will affect you, one need your year/month/day/hour of birth and place of birth. Otherwise it is like any reading you can find in the newspapers.

It looks to me that there is no straight or easy answer to this. Following Marblehead suggestion, we can try having a closer look at how Nieztsche and Chuang-tseu views can meet and separate. For sure, Nietzsche is not a taoist stricto sensu, but there is a lot in common between Nieztsche and Taoism. For a start: We find at the beginning of the §354 of Nietzsche's Gay Science the following: 'The problem of consciousness (or more correctly: of becoming conscious of oneself) meets us only when we begin to perceive in what measure we could dispense with it: and it is at the beginning of this perception that we are now placed by physiology and zoology (which have thus required two centuries to over take the hint thrown out in advance by Leibnitz). For we could in fact think, feel, will, and recollect, we could likewise "act" in every sense of the term, and nevertheless nothing of it all need necessarily "come into consciousness" (as one says metaphorically). The whole of life would be possible without its seeing itself as it were in a mirror: as in fact even at present the far greater part of our life still goes on without this mirroring, and even our thinking, feeling, volitional life as well, however painful this statement may sound to an older philosopher. and we can compare it with what we find in the famous chapter III of Chuang-tzu ( translation B.Watson) about the cook Ting: "Cook ting was cutting up an ox for Lord Wen-hui. AZt every touch of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every move of his feet, every thrust of his knee- zip! Zoop! He slithered the knife along with a zing, and all was in perfect rhythm, as tough he were performing the dance of the mulberry Grove or keeping time to the Ching-shou music "Ah, this is marvelous!" said Lord Wen-hui. "Imagine skill reaching such heights!" Cook Ting laid down his knife and replied, "What I care about is the Way, which goes beyond skill. When I first began cutting up oxen, all I could see was the ox itself. After three years I no longer saw the whole ox. And now - now I go at it by spirit and don't look with my eyes. Perception and understanding have come to a stop and spirit moves where it wants. I go along with the natural makeup, strike in the big hollows, guide the knife through the big openings, and follow things as they are. So I never touch the smallest ligament or tendon, much less a main joint. "A good cook changes his knife once a year-because he cuts. A mediocre cook changes his knife once a month-because he hacks. I've had this knife of mine for nineteen years and I've cut up thousands of oxen with it, and yet the blade is as good as though it had just come from the grindstone. There are spaces between the joints, and the blade of the knife has really no thickness. If you insert what has no thickness into such spaces, then there's plenty of room - more than enough for the blade to play about it. That's why after nineteen years the blade of my knife is still as good as when it first came from the grindstone. "However, whenever I come to a complicated place, I size up the difficulties, tell myself to watch out and be careful, keep my eyes on what I'm doing, work very slowly, and move the knife with the greatest subtlety, until - flop! the whole thing comes apart like a clod of earth crumbling to the ground. I stand there holding the knife and look all around me, completely satisfied and reluctant to move on, and then I wipe off the knife and put it away." "Excellent!" said Lord Wen-hui. "I have heard the words of Cook Ting and learned how to care for life! Chuang-tzu shows how one can upgrade from the human level to the celestial level (sage). At first the cook is overly-conscious of what he is doing, he acts intentionnaly, using his personal will. Then, three years later, he was better at it, but still encountered difficulties, and finally, he find the ox by spirit and doesn't look at it with his eyes_ implying by that that he disconnected his actions from his consciousness. His activity comes from within, from the deeper and obscure part of himself. Now, we should notice that at times, he says that he needs to be careful at what he is doing. Counsciousness comes up when one is encountering obstacles. Its function is to help temporarily when the situation requires it but then can vanish In Nietzsche quote, we have a similar take on it. Consciousness is secondary in the course of life. Life doesn't need it to operate and produce actions. To live at our fullest, we just need to allow all its resources, forces etc act spontaneously. , In chapter 23, Chuang-tzu: "Not yet! Just a moment ago I said to you, 'can you be a baby?' The baby acts without knowing what it is doing, moves without knowing where it is going. Its body is like the limb of a withered tree, its mind like dead ashes. Since it is so, no bad fortune will ever touch it, and no good fortune will come to it either. And if it is free from good and bad fortune, then, what human suffering can it undergo?" No conscious volition can lead anyone to spontaneity. This was also Nietzsche's criticism towards the status given to consciousness by the old philosophers and the emphasis he put on the body as the real source of knowledge and wisdom. 'We admit here that the totality of the organism thinks, that all the organic components contribute to the thinking, the feeling, the willing, thus the brain is just a huge concentration device" ( Postumous fragments 40 translated by me) To be continued

You must have written this out of distraction. There is no effect without cause. If you want to brush up your understanding of emptiness, read the following: An extract of The middle way (faith grounded in reason) by H.H. Dalai Lama. Part II: an exploration of Tsongkhapa’s three principal aspects of the Path p141-144 Meditating on emptiness 9. Without the wisdom realizing the ultimate nature,even if you gain familiarity with renunciation and awakening mind, you will not be able to cut the root of samsaric existence; strive then in the means of realizing dependent origination. We've already examined emptiness quite extensively in the chapters on Nagarjuna's Fundamental Stanzas on the Middle Way, and so we need not explore that again here at length. In the next stanza, we find the true understanding of what emptiness means. We read that, 10. When with respect to all phenomena of samsara and nirvana, you can see that causes and effects never deceive their laws; and when you dissolve the focus of objectification, you enter the path that pleases the buddhas. If you have dissolved all appearances of true existence without vio­lating the laws of cause and effect and the world of conventional reality, then you have found the true understanding of emptiness and entered "the path that pleases the buddhas." We then read: 1 1. As long as the two understandings—of appearance, which is undeceiving dependent origination, and emptiness devoid of all theses—remain separate, you will not have realized the intent of the Sage. As long as your understanding of the world of appearance, or conventional reality, and your understanding of the world of empti­ness, the ultimate nature, remain at odds with each other—when they remain separate and undermine each other—you have not fully understand the intent of the Buddha. Then, Tsongkhapa writes further, 12. However, when, not in alternation but all at once, the instant you see that dependent origination is undeceiving,the entire object of grasping at certainty is dismantled, then your analysis of the view has fully matured. This presents the criteria for having fully understood empti­ness. When you understand emptiness in terms of dependent orig­ination and you understand dependent origination in terms of emptiness, like two sides of the same coin, when you have com­pletely negated inherent existence with no residue left behind, then your realization is complete. Normally, when we perceive things in our day-to-day experience, we see them as possessing some objective intrinsic reality, and then we follow after that appearance. But once you truly understand emptiness, then the moment you perceive a thing, that appearance itself is adequate to instantly trigger your understanding of emptiness. Instead of immediately grasping on to a thing's intrinsic reality, now you are instantly mindful that, "Yes, it appears this object is intrinsically real, but that is not so:' The appearance itself automatically induces your understanding of emptiness. When that happens, then you have completed your process of analysis. Then in the next stanza we read: 13.Furthermore, when appearance dispels the extreme of existence and emptiness dispels the extreme of nonexistence, and you understand how emptiness arises as cause and effect, you will never be captivated by views grasping at extremes. This stanza echoes Chandrakirti in his Entering the Middle Way (Madhyamakavatara), where he writes that, just as reflections, echoes, and so on are empty of any substantial reality and yet still appear though the meeting of conditions, phenomena—form, feeling, and so on—though devoid of intrinsic existence, arise from within emptiness with their own characteristics and identities.' The point is that emptiness itself acts like a cause for the flourishing of the world of multiplicity; all phenomena are in some sense manifesta­tions of emptiness—a kind of a play that arises from the sphere of emptiness. This stanza echoes those lines from Chandrakirti's text. The final stanza is a conclusion, which urges the practitioner to engage in these teachings. Tsongkhapa writes: I4. Once you have understood as they are the essentials of the three principal aspects of the path, O son, seek solitude, and by enhancing your powers of perseverance, swiftly accomplish your ultimate aim. This has been a very brief explanation, based on the Three Prin­cipal Aspects of the Path, of how to bring all the points we discussed in the previous chapters to bear on the sphere of actual practice.

It's much simplier than that. My point is the following: there is a whole tradition of practices and teachings behind and around the Heart Sutra. Thanks to them, you have had an access to this text at some point of your spiritual journey. So I was just putting into some context what being a Bodhisattva entails in terms of practice and realization. Because Lao-tzu quotes, Osho's 'anyone who gives you a belief system is your enemy' etc.. veil what the high level Buddhists masters have said about it. A lot of people can have some temporary glimpses of what emptiness is and be deluded about their level of realization. That's where traditions and teachers can be useful: putting things into perspective.

Hi Marblehead, This is a huge but very interesting task. It takes time to develop what you already wrote and I am not sure I would do better than you anyway. Will see it later

Hello everyone, Please find below a genuine teaching about the practice of Bodhisattvas. I have chosen this one because it is quite clear and helps understanding what it really entails to be a Bodhisattva. You would see it is quite far away from what you have read here and there. I can't post all the text so, this is only the beginning of it. If you want more just follow the link at the end of it. Thanks " The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva By Ngulchu Thogme (1285-1369) Commentary by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Copyright, Marpa Foundation 2001 Ashland, OR 97520 Commentary based on an oral translation by Suzanne Schefczky, Taiwan 1993. Special thanks to Ari Goldfield for his careful review of the root texts, and to Pema Clark and Yeshe Parke for proofreading the Commentary with care and devotion. PLEASE NOTE: THIS TEXT IS A DHARMA TEACHING, AS WITH ALL DHARMA TEXTS, IT SHOULD NOT BE PLACED ON A FLOOR OR OTHER DIRTY PLACES. ONE SHOULD NOT LICK THEIR FINGERS TO TURN THE PAGES NOR PLACE MUNDANE MATERIALS NOR OBJECTS ON TOP OF THIS document. AND IT SHOULD BE PLACED ON THE TOP SHELF OF A BOOKCASE OR OTHER CLEAN PLACE FOR DHARMA MATERIALS. IF YOU NO LONGER WISH TO KEEP IN WRITTEN FORM, PLEASE RETURN TO A BUDDHIST CENTER OR DESTROY BY FIRE WHERE APPROPRIATE. The basic structure of the text illustrates the complete path of the Bodhisattva in 43 verses, which include a verse for each of the 37 Practices with an additional 2 verses in the beginning and 4 at the end. The first 2 verses are the traditional ones which express homage to a deity, the embodiement of enlightened qualites and then state the purpose for writing the text and the author’s commitment to do so. The main body of the text is divided into 3 parts, the first which deals with the causes that give rise to bodhichitta (the mind of awakening). The mind training of a superior individual is discussed in the second part of the text, where the central topic is how to engender supreme Bodhichitta. In this section there are 5 main divisions that give advice on how to develop Bodhichitta and how to keep it from degenerating. First one should realize the equality of self and other and learn how to exchange one’s own happiness for another’s suffering. Secondly the text shows how to bring all situations of worldy life, including obscuring emotions and mistaken views onto the path, or how to integrate them into one’s practice. The third is how to practice the six perfections. The fourth describes how to work with one’s negative side and failures, and finally, there is a summary and dedication. The third main section is the conclusion, which contains a recapitulation of the purpose of the text, the reasons that establish its integrty in relation to the tradition of the teachings, an aplogy for any errors that might be found and a dedication. In summary, Ngulchu Thogme has given the entire structure of a Bodhisattva’s path: from first engendering bodhichitta in one’s mindstream, to maintaining, and then further developing this bodhichitta up to the level of enlightenment. When reciting the 37 Practices, as a Dharma practice it is recommended to read the Prostration before Practice #1 and all Epilogues A-E after Practice #37. Aspiration of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche May the virtue that arises from working with this text Contribute to the liberation and happiness of all beings. Let us begin by developing the enlightened attitude- that we want to attain the perfect state of Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, in number as vast as the sky. To accomplish this state, we must diligently engage in listening, reflecting, and meditating upon the genuine teachings. In general, the tradition of the Mahayana contains two types of practices: one purifies obscurations of the mind; the other develops a sound motivation, a good attitude. The former practice, in which we purify our mind of mental obscurations and stains, is the “progressive stages of meditation on emptiness,” about which I wrote a book of that name. These progressive stages progressively lead the meditator from the relative to the ultimate. This text fits into the latter category. Its title in Tibetan is The Thirty-seven Practices of a Bodhisattva: a Summary of the Heart Essence of a Bodhisattva's Conduct. This full title indicates two points: first that the text condenses all the Mahayana sutras, which teach the conduct of a Bodhisattva; and second, that it summarizes the heart essence of a Bodhisattva's conduct, of which there are thirty-seven main practices. In Tibetan, the word for "practice" literally translates as "to bring into experience." So, 37 practices can actually be brought into experience. While The Thirty-seven Practices of a Bodhisattva contains a few stanzas on the progressive stages of meditation on emptiness, the text deals primarily with meditation on the relative. Beginning of Text The Practices themselves are in bold italics, the commentary is in normal font following each stanza. Prostration Namo Lokeshvaraya. You see that all phenomena neither come nor go. Still you strive solely for the benefit of beings. Supreme Guru and Protector Chenrezig, to you I continually bow with body, speech, and mind. Namo Lokeshvaraya is a Sanskrit phrase that we use in prostrating to the Tibetan deity, Chenrezig, the Lord of the World. Chenrezig ("you") is the Noble One who dwells on the bhumis. Chenrezig has seen that on an absolute level no phenomena of samsara and nirvana exist in their own essence. Therefore, he realizes that phenomena neither arise nor cease, neither come nor go. Though realizing that phenomena have no self- nature, Chenrezig still works diligently on behalf of others. He has abandoned self-interest and strives only to benefit beings. Ngulchu Thogme, the author of this text, addresses his own lama as "Supreme Guru,” whom he knows to be inseparable from the Protector Chenrezig. He acknowledges their union in one breath by prostrating continuously to his Supreme Guru and Protector Chenrezig. By "continuously," Ngulchu Thogme indicates that from now until he has reached enlightenment, with the three doors of his body, speech, and mind he will always respectfully bow down. The Bodhisattva Ngulchu Thogme, who composed this text, was an amazing being. His life contains wonderful stories of great loving kindness and compassion. I cannot recount all the marvelous episodes here, but will choose a particularly significant one. When just a small boy in Tibet, on an especially frigid day Thogme's parents dressed him warmly and sent him out to play. Not long after, they saw their son outside completely naked. When questioned, Thogme explained that he had come upon a hill of freezing ants; wanting to keep them warm, he had sheltered them with his own clothes. Clearly, even as a child Thogme's loving kindness and compassion were extensive, signaling that in a previous life he had meditated on bodhichitta. Similarly, if we meditate strongly on loving kindness and compassion in this life, in a future life we, too, may display Thogme's remarkable qualities in our early youth. Author's intention The perfect Buddhas, sources of benefit and happiness, Arise from accomplishing the genuine Dharma. Since that in turn depends on knowing how to practice, The practices of a Bodhisattva shall be explained. The Buddhas are the source of benefit and happiness. Benefit refers to a temporary state within samsara. Practicing the genuine Dharma benefits us temporarily by preventing us from being reborn in the lower realms- in the hell realms, the animal realm, and so on. By practicing the Dharma, we can gain a precious human rebirth in which we again practice the Dharma. While benefit is a temporary condition within samsara, happiness refers to the ultimate state of liberation and omniscience. The Buddhas are the origin of both, namely temporary benefit and ultimate happiness. How did the Perfect Buddhas, the source of all happiness and benefit, themselves arise? From having practiced the genuine Dharma. To help us accomplish this aim, Thogme intends to describe the practices of male and female Bodhisattvas. Practice 1 Commitment Now that you have obtained a precious human body, the great boat so difficult to find, In order to free yourself and others from the ocean of samsara, To listen, reflect, and meditate with diligence day and night Is the practice of a Bodhisattva. This precious human body with its eight freedoms and ten endowments is rare and difficult to obtain. Not all human bodies are precious because not all people study the Dharma. A precious human body indicates an individual with great faith in the Dharma, the wisdom with which to analyze and comprehend its teachings, and the diligence and joyful effort with which to practice it. The body is compared to a great boat able to carry us across the ocean of samsara, across the suffering of this existence. With this body, we can attain peace for ourselves and, more important, for others. Our motivation is to carry all sentient beings across the ocean of the three realms of existence. Thus, we promise that day and night, without laziness or distraction, we will listen, reflect, and meditate on the genuine Dharma. First, we listen. Then we use our intelligence to analyze what we have heard-we reflect. Finally, we meditate upon what we have heard and analyzed. This is how a Bodhisattva practices. The Tibetan phrase for precious human body actually says "the freedoms and the endowments," a reference to the eight freedoms and the ten endowments that compose it. This is not the time or place to explain these factors, but Jamgon Kongtru Lodro Thaye's The Torch of Certaintysummarizes them; and Gampopa's Jewel Ornament of Liberation presents an extensive explanation. Practice 2 Detaching from passion, aggression, and hatred Passion towards friends churns like water. Hatred towards enemies burns like fire. Through dark ignorance, one forgets what to adopt and what to reject. To abandon one's homeland is the practice of a Bodhisattva. Like one wave of water following hard upon the other, the more one is drawn towards friends, the more one's passions increase. The basis for this attachment is taking friends to be truly existent. When fire burns, it consumes all the fuel that feeds it. In the same way, hatred towards enemies is like a fire that consumes one's mind. In the grasp of attachment and aversion, passion and hatred, one forgets what to adopt and what to reject. This forgetfulness is described as the darkness of ignorance. There are two ways to give up one's homeland. One is by directly abandoning it, just packing up and departing. The other is to relinquish one's attachment to home by not taking it to be truly existent. The latter is the more important. The homeland in some places is called the fatherland, in others the motherland. It is the land of our birth or any country to which we are attached. We are bound not by the country itself, but by taking it as real. Therefore, it is very important to know that the fatherland, motherland, or homeland does not truly exist. Gampopa was born in a place called Dhagpo, where the circumstances for practice were so favorable that he stayed there, obtained high realization, and even came to be called Dhagpo Rinpoche, so closely associated was he with that place. Though Gampopa remained where he was born because it benefited his Dharma practice, he stayed without attachment. But if one's homeland does not provide suitable conditions for practicing Dharma, if it is a place of disputes and fights, then it is advisable to physically leave it. Practice 3 Relying on solitude Giving up negative places, Mental afflictions gradually decrease. With no distractions, virtuous activities naturally increase. When mind becomes clear, Certainty in the Dharma is born. To rely on solitude is the practice of a Bodhisattva Negative places are those where one cannot practice the Dharma at all, or where unfavorable conditions make one neglect practice. In giving up such places, afflictions will subside. They will not be eliminated all at once, but will gradually diminish-first the coarse and then, one after the other, the subtle ones as well. When you are alone in an isolated place, distractions caused by outside objects wane, while virtuous activities of practicing the genuine Dharma naturally grow. Solitude clears the mind and sharpens awareness. From this mental clarity, certainty and deep trust in the Dharma are born. Male and female Bodhisattvas do well to occasionally seek solitude. To reduce mental afflictions, abandoning negative places benefits both the beginning practitioner and the Bodhisattva who is an ordinary being. But if one is an Arya Bodhisattva who dwells on a bhumi, then there is no need to abandon places of negativity. It is actually preferable for Bodhisattvas who know how to take negative places to the path remain where they are. Some Bodhisattvas take birth in countries where conditions for Dharma practice are not very good. For the benefit of bringing the Dharma there, they do not abandon their fatherland. For example, Marpa the Translator traveled to India three times. The first time, he studied in India for twelve years, the second time for six years, and the third time for three years-twenty-one years in all. He did this to bring Buddhism to his homeland, an activity in accord with Naropa's prediction that Marpa would return to Lhodrak, the land of his birth, in order to spread the Dharma. That is exactly what he did: Through Marpa, the Dharma was heard, analyzed, and meditated on in his own country. Other Bodhisattvas give up their country to benefit beings elsewhere. For instance, Milarepa's student, Rechungpa, was born far from Lhasa. But as Jetsun Milarepa predicted, Rechungpa went to Yarlung, near Lhasa, and built a monastery called Lharo Dolgyi Gompa, where many beings studied and practiced Dharma. Rechungpa's path was the opposite of Marpa's in that he left his own land to benefit people. Some Bodhisattvas are able to practice the Dharma precisely because they have lost their country and all their possessions to enemies. In such a way the Lord of Yogins, Milarepa, was deprived of everything. His painful circumstances brought him to the Dharma. Therefore, he attributed great acts of kindness to his enemies, because through them he became a Dharma practitioner. On the ultimate level, Milarepa realized the equality of friends and enemies. On the relative level, he developed pure love and compassion for all sentient beings, friends, and enemies alike. As a result of his bodhichitta, even Milarepa's worst enemies became his disciples. We, too, must meditate on loving kindness and compassion for all sentient beings, without distinction. Maybe we can develop bodhichitta in this life, maybe not. If not, there is a good chance it will arise in a future life. http://www.dharmadha...of_a_bodhi.html Edited: the website where I found this text seems dubious to me but anyone who know what are the 37 practices and who is Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche will forgive me.

The superman comes up from fully acknowledging and drawing the necessary practical conclusions (from Life viewpoint) from the Death of God. The superman is the one who decides to be equal to the task to live a life where there is no God. When there is no God anymore, there is no external/transcendent morality, the reference point of humanity is no longer the ‘good’ man ( the man who lives a moral life in accordance with the priests morality).Since the priests morality operating mode was to eliminate some part of life features identified as bad, dangerous etc.., removing it means that the superman will be a man who integrates all life contradictions within its being. “the supreme man would be the one who has the greater diversity of instincts, and those with the greater intensity within the limits of what is bearable. In fact: where the man-plant appears strong, we find some instincts that oppose powerfully (for eg Shakespeare), but under control.” Posthumous fragments, X, 27 ( translation by me, with my limited skills) According to Nietzsche, the superman type has never probably existed. Some men have come close to it. Nietzsche admire Shakespeare, Hafiz, Cesar Borgia, Napoleon, Goethe for eg but these are only prefigurations of the superman, kind of models for lack of real examples. As you can see, the superman is not a German feature. It goes beyond nationality. I am not sure, the sage ideal can fit the superman ideal. The sage seems to me be too lukewarm to fit the superman figure. About Nihilism: Nietzsche was not nihilistic in so far as going beyond good an evil is something different than nullifying good and evil. Our nihilistic times are those in which morality can’t do the trick anymore (because God is dead) but we don’t have anything in replacement. We are at a loss: people can’t find any operative values, all our past ideals have become dead. Of course the morbid ideals (Church etc) were life destructive but at least there were ideals. Now that they have become ineffective, there are no ideals anymore. The nihilistic man is not capable of creating any new values, he doesn’t strive towards a greater life intensity (which is the real purpose of the will to power) but he takes pleasure in a dozing happiness, in a life becoming weaker and weaker. Life is what is feeling itself. The more intensively Life feels itself the more Life is alive. Being alive is the purpose of Life, but not only to maintain itself but to develop this aliveness to a even greater intensity. This is the core of the will-to-power. The will to power is not firstly the will to dominate, but the will to more vital power. This feeling-itself feature requires that Life bears and endures the feeling (singular on purpose here, not a misspelling) when it grows and become more intense because at some point intense pleasure is also intense pain, intense aliveness brings intense sensitivity. Life at its highest point is overabundance of itself and then has no choice but to give itself gratuitously. This gratuitous giving of itself is what for eg, great artists, creators are capable of. Not every life can do that. In each individual life, there is a tendency to avoid this and this is exactly when life begins to turn against itself. This is what Nietzsche calls ‘morbidity’. The strong are those who can endure and bear the feeling of being more and more alive without trying to escape in fabricated ideals that negates or deadens life. So Nietzsche is not nihilistic, he is promoting values: the values he is promoting are those of Life. And the values of Life are immanent, they don’t come from something external to Life itself. The fact that he negates objective values doesn’t mean there are no values. Subjective values are those of Life and there is no equalitarian relativism in it ( which is what nihilism is about). As for his relationship with Nazism I’ll leave it to you to make your own opinion after some research on the subject. I am not here to support Nietzsche, but I do think that the case is complicated because one has to take into account his outrageous and exaggerated style of writing, which was entirely part of his philosophical project and has to be included in any interpretation we make of his works.

Thanks for all your kind words, Marblehead. Edited to add 'all'

Every sacred text in every tradition can be interpretated in various levels. In this regard, what Nieztsche did was just offering a level of interpretation according to his own philosophical presupposition. Remember that he was first a philologist and and he perfectly knew what an interpretation is. He clearly stated that there was no truth in the absolute meaning of it, just interpretations according to one's life settings and values ( look at what GmP quotes from Genealogy of morality). His way of reading the Gospels is just that. They are not Nietzsche 's new Gospels but the Gospels according to Nietzsche. To him- and you can call that an opinion or assertion if you want- Life should be/is the ultimate criterion because the values are all deriving from it and everything we do/think come from it. We can accept this assumption or not, but it is the basis of his whole philosophy. Supermen are exceptions in our world because our world is the product of an historical sequence that originated from Socrates and the morbid relation to Life he set up. Nietzsche said he wanted to go back to the pre-socratics. What Socrates/Plato initiated, it being reinforced by the priests and by the middle-class democracy values ,has generated into our nihilistic world. So supermen are necessarily an exception to the rule in our nihilistic world. The third Reich is not at all something that Niezsche would have wanted. Because the Supermen are a type of men unrelated to any class, race. Niezsche was not antisemit. His works ( the Will to power book) have been falsified by his sister and brother in law to fit nazi ideology. The idea that there is nothing objective is not to be taken in the sense that the world out there is not real, but in the sense that we won't be able to find what the living roon chair is in itself/by itself because there is no real objective truth to be found. To make it short and somewhat caricatural, this idea of objective world came from Plato's distinction between appearances aka 'sensible world' and reality aka 'ideas world' and then confirmed with some adjustments by Kant's distinction between phenomenom (the world as it appears to our mind) and noumenon (the world as it is). Objective truth is, according to Nieztsche, something that has been set up by the herd lead by the scientists who use reason, logic as counter-power to Life, impose moral/epistemological values on it in order to control it. What the living room chair is, is the meaning it has for you as an individual . This meaning is to be found either in how the very Life that permeates and sustains your being relates to this object or either in the dominant meaning you adopted from the group you belong to. Apart from that the living room chair is nothing objective. I am sorry, my command of English language is limited so I may not be able to explain what I want in a meaningful way

I am speaking impartially. IMO Nietzsche made very discerning, relevant and cogent analysis, but I find very discerning, relevant and cogent analysis in a lot of philosophers whose presuppositions are quite different from Nietzsche's.

Nietzsche took the word 'psychology' as the mental characteristic of a person or a group as being subordinated to the way Life deals with itself.

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http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-12-24/barefoot-gen-manga-creator-keiji-nakazawa-passes-away