konchog uma

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Posts posted by konchog uma

  1. Posted

    Clearly a misunderstanding of Karma.

     

    Karma cannot be transferred and it's completely silly to concern yourself with such nonsense.

     

    People absolutely can infect us with their issues such as anger, neurosis, and of course the other side of the coin with love, light, compassion and peace, but Karma cannot be transferred. We should be mindful of the people we choose to spend out time with and I'm all for extended solitary or silent retreats, but it's not other peoples Karma that we need to be worried about. We create our own Karma and sadly for most people this happens unconsciously.

     

    thank you

     

    not like its effective to reason with the OP

     

    but its good you point this out for everyone

  2. Posted

    my logic might be flawed, but its still taught that the buddha prophesied that. Whether he did or not doesn't depend on my logic being ironclad.

     

    and as far as the truth goes, no i don't think it can be taught. finger, moon... you can encourage people to practice meditation, nondual awareness, etc, but you can't illuminate the truth in words, writing, etc.

     

    imho

  3. Posted

    Thanks TI,

     

    in the interest of not derailing the thread, i suggest we start another one to talk more about it.

     

    unless we're done talking, in which case, i can only reiterate that i don't personally have a lot of familiarity with clear light. I am not even sure i understand it. I am encouraged to study deeper into the matter by this exchange tho, so thanks.

  4. Posted

    have you ever played the game where you pass a secret around a circle by whispering it, and by the time it gets back to the person who started it, its something completely different?

     

    the 300 years between Shakyamuni and the Pali texts are like that.

     

    I am with alwayson: Nagarjuna was, according to prophesy by Shakyamuni himself, the first person in 400 years to understand what was being illuminated. The reality of reality is non-conceptual, so nobodies words could possibly have it right. It is free of the four extremes. It is only apprehendable by direct experience, free of conceptual designation and mental imputation of any kind.

     

    If the theravadans or any of the 24 schools had apprehended that, then Nagarjuna wouldn't be the first to understand the Buddha. So it seems that they didn't. Since they misunderstood the Buddha, and were lost in attempts to conceptualize the teachings that they couldn't understand, I don't really take them as completely authoritative.

     

    I think we can have the general gist of what Shakyamuni taught, but to me personally, there is no authoritative text or teaching that is the Buddha's words. It is all subject to the interpretation of unawakened beings.

     

    just my 2c

  6. Posted

    Hi Konchog :)

     

    I've been reading Natural Perfection: Longchenpa's radical Dzogchen.

     

    Where do you find all of these good books?

     

    I haven't read that much, but so far, Dowman's introduction has blown me away.

     

    First off, the definition of rigpa!!!

     

     

     

    For me, this has confirmed that my "satori" moments are in fact "rigpa". I especially like the mention that rigpa is "a constant experience of pure pleasure". Bliss! I guess I am one of these rare people who have realized rigpa without a transmission from a guru.. :)

     

    The other part that is blowing me away is the mention of "light":

     

     

     

    Finally! Someone who describes the light and identifies it as rigpa.

     

    And talks about it too, as light!

     

     

     

    Sometimes the light is so bright that it is blinding.

     

    Thank you for pointing out this book. Wonderful!

     

    :)

    TI

     

    Hi TI,

     

    i liked Dowman's introduction better than his translation of Longchenpa, but thats just me. The commentary was okay but overall i was really into the commentary and underwhelmed by the rest of the book. You're welcome for pointing it out. I hope you benefit.

     

    As far as rigpa and light goes, it might depend on who you ask. I was at my friends apartment the other night listening to Lama Glenn Mullin give a talk on Rime (non-sectarian movement within Tibetan Buddhism).. he talked about mother and child clear light, and someone asked if that was like rigpa, and he said that rigpa was just a window to the clear light of consciousness, but they were different. He said that rigpa is just a step on the path, and that ultimately resting in clear light is of a higher order. ??? confusing, but he's got 35 teachers and "lama" in front of his name so i consider what he says to be more or less authoritative.

     

    All this assuming that you are referring to clear light and not some other light in Buddhism or Dzogchen which i am unaware of. If so, apologies, i am just an ignorant student lol

     

    I don't understand well enough to comment on that, but rigpa is just a state of awareness, in contrast to marigpa (avidya), ignorance. It is vidya, nondual wisdom. I am not sure but i don't think that there is anything inherently luminous about rigpa per se. Furthermore, light so bright that it is blinding sounds more like kundalini than either the rigpa or clear light. Perhaps others who have more experience with clear light states of mind can comment. I have watched myself fall asleep lucidly a couple times but can't say that i am familiar with clear light.

     

    Not to be contentious, i am only communicating in an attempt to further all of our knowledge about these things. i am not interested in arguing about these concepts. I am pretty sure we understand each other tho

  9. Posted

    i liked god delusion even if i didnt agree with some of it. i forget the details but i remember my impression of it.

     

    i've been reading Gen Lamrimpa's "Realizing Emptiness: Madhyamaka Insight Meditation" translated by B. Alan Wallace

     

    Its good, lamprimpa is wide awake and wallace is really readable. I am halfway through and its been all philosophy and foundation so far, and none of the meditation instruction yet. I got it to study Tibetan vipashyana (lhanton) and ended up getting a heavy dose of madhyamaka emptiness. But i love that stuff so its great. Gen Lamrimpa spent two decades in solitary retreat and only came back out to teach because the HH Dalai Lama requested that he do so... so he insists that he doesn't have extraordinary insight, but the book is written in a very lucid way about a very slippery topic.

     

    and this just arrived today:

    Approaching the Great Perfection

    by Sam Van Schaik

     

    i look forward to it

    • Like 1

  15. Posted · Edited by konchog uma

    HH the Sakya Trizin chants it this way.

     

    thanks, i see there are several different versions

     

    that berzin page mentioned a couple of them, like the heruka version HHST was reciting

     

    maybe it should be called "the approximately 100 syllable mantra" :lol:

  19. Posted

    My understanding is that Buddha did not deny the existence of gods but viewed them as not being a source of refuge in that worship of them would not lead to liberation. I understand this to be because the consciousness of a god is tainted by pride and thus although they may have great powers for long periods of time, they do not see things as they really are which is the essence of enlightenment.

     

    I also think that the Lord Buddha woud refute the idea that it is possible to posit the idea of God = Absolute since if a being was the absolute i.e. infinite ... it would have no possible relation to the finite. The possibility of relation of finite to infinite lies in non-dualism which was to a certain extent 'hidden' in the Buddhas original teachings but became the core them of Mahayana through Nagarjuna and others. In fact the Hinayana concept of Nirvana retains a kind of duality in that there is samsara to escape from and nirvana to go to ...

     

    thats my understanding too

     

    thanks

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    I understand what you mean. No worries. By 8 mala rounds you mean (8 x108)= 432 times a day?

     

    Yes, I'm still in the foundations stages of my guru.

     

    well, first, best wishes to you, and blessings of success on your ngondro

     

    secondly, i dug this up real quick

     

    "Vajrasattva mantra recitation and visualization may be undertaken merely within the context of sutra practice, before

    beginning any practice of tantra."

     

    and

     

    "Vajrasattva mantra and visualization meditation may be practiced for purification whether or not we have already received a tantric empowerment (dbang, Skt. abhishekha; initiation, “ wang”) for some other Buddha-figure. In either case, we may practice Vajrasattva either with or without thesubsequent permission (rje-snang; “jeynang”) of Vajrasattva, though we at least need oral transmission (lung) of the mantra."

     

    from Berzin Archives http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/advanced/tantra/level1_getting_started/vajrasattva_purification_basics.html

     

    so in light of that, i guess you will find ample description of the visualizations. The ones i was referring to are the white Vajrasattva sitting at the top of the head, radiating white light down into and through the body as the mantra is said. Or one can visualize themselves as Vajrasattva with one face two arms, a bell and dorje, no consort, radiating white. As it was taught to me, the first is for generation stage, the second for completion stage. But if you're doing 100,000 recitations under a guru's guidance, that could apply.

     

    i don't utilize Berzin Archives extensively, and it is the first i have seen HUM PHAT appended to the end of the mantra. (about 3/5 down that page) As it is commonly called the hundred-syllable mantra, i am surprised to see different versions of it with different numbers of syllables. No big deal, but can anyone clarify?

  22. Posted

    It's a cult craze because of who works on the show, and how it's written.

     

    Lauren Faust (Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends) took the lead on re-engineering the brand for the new series, and animators from shows like Samurai Jack are involved in the development. The show contains a lot of geek/nerd culture references as well as popular media references. In essence, it's just really well done on a lot of levels.

     

    Hasbro and the MLP creative team took advantage of the show's initial popularity among non-target audiences and started including references to fan created memes in the show, which pretty much set up a feedback loop that solidified the fan base.

     

    Obviously I'm a fan, but I don't derive a whole lot of spiritual inspiration from the show - some of the Aesop's are pretty weak, actually. I think it's important to acknowledge that the show was created to sell toys.

     

    thank you, that helps me understand it a lot better

    • Like 1

  23. Posted · Edited by konchog uma

    My Reincarnation is a great film. I like how it portrays Norbu as really normal-seeming.. he has some crazy abilities.

     

    I liked how his son's journey was right on time for what he needed to do for Dzogchen Community, as far as leadership training and organizational skills were concerned. It seemed like he was walking away from his own legacy but he was walking his own path according to his destiny. Strong lesson to never judge another based on relative concepts.

    • Like 2

  25. Posted

    oh yes exactly so rv. It was his estimation of what the west needed from vajrayana, from Buddhism, and from meditation in general. I respect his not being locked into his own traditions in a dogmatic way, but instead he was able to adapt and shapeshift while retaining the integrity of the dharma. That is something that most lamas could not possibly do in my opinion.. CTR was a truly rare creature in that regard.

     

    I have come to love Shambhala Buddhism for what it is, and although I still study under a traditional Drikung Kagyu lama, I am active at my local Shambhala sangha. My girlfriend is a dorje kasung, if that means anything to anyone, and i am on the council. Its really one of the most amazing communities i have experienced in my bouncing around different sects and branches of Buddhism since i started exploring. Its funny because a lot of traditionalists knock it as "buddhism lite" and that sort of thing, but i find the shambhala community to be more engaged and involved with the community and each other than any other sangha i have sat with. I just went down to the county jail this morning and led meditation and dharma discussion with inmates, and the organization that runs this through the chaplains office is almost completely staffed by shambhala members, with some other sanghas thrown in here and there... i would say that most leadership is Shambhala and the volunteers are 50% shambhala.

     

    Its strange because my Drikung Kagyu temple has a great lama and access to genuine vajrayana teachings and practices, empowerments and initiations etc, but the practitioners are just there to practice, and don't even make much eye contact with each other.. its something that a few people have acknowledged as "not a strong community". Its rife with spiritual materialism too.. westerners who think they are the shit because they have a lama and empowerments (at ~$50 a pop!)

     

    don't get me wrong, i am all for supporting lamas, and empowerments are great. Its just ironic. And shambhala costs money too, but there is strong lineage energy there.. i understand that its not for everyone, but its not exactly buddhism lite.

     

    anyway, i digress. those are my thoughts, and then some. I love shambhala, and chogyam, and am a big fan of his son Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

    • Like 2