GrandmasterP

If the think that eternalistic and nihilistic are insults then some of our Buddhist chums must have pretty thin skins.

Right again Deci. How do you do it and whence such hostility?

I liked him in Lord of the Rings.

Blasphemy. Stone the unbeliever. HH Dilgo Lama Dama Ding Dong ( Dildo to his 'friends') has forgotten more nothing than your guy ever knew.

If Dilgo is his real first name then I'd venture that his school days were less than happy days.

Running order for Buddhist Board threads on TTB. OP: " This is the answer to everything." Poster 1: " Nope, that's shit that is." OP: ' Tisn't'. Poster 1: ' Tis too!' Poster 2: " You're both wrong. Lama Dama Ding Dong knows everything and he says that......." OP+ Poster 1. " Lama Dama Ding Dong is a twonk and so are you Poster 2." Poster 2: " My Lama can beat up your Lama." And repeat... Endlessly.

There are crepuscular and diurnal moths as well though. Moths can't become butterflies as such, this time around; anymore than we could become a sloth. Maybe in the next incarnation. I'd quite fancy 'sloth' as a reincarnation option; those lads seem to have the right idea.

Who trusted God was love indeed And love Creation's final law Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shriek'd against his creed (Tennyson: In Memoriam) Hope that helps.

India is kinda set up to suit wandering saddhus and the odd 'white' saddhu you meet knows that hence that's why they are there in the first place. Temples provide safe places to sleep. Sit still long enough in or near any Hindu village and some kind lady will bring you fresh water minimum, generally a home cooked meal and, if you're lucky a nice cuppa chai to wash it down. One old boy near our compound pitched up and was fed and feted to such an extent that he decided to stick around. Before too long the villagers found him a hut for his own. The he put up a little Shiva shrine and started doing poojas. Next thing he had quite a 'congregation' and they set up a cow dung business to raise some cash to do up the shrine. The guy never ever spoke ( but he could speak, he had been a shopkeeper before he took to being a saddhu). Super nice chap he was and he could communicate most anything just by looks, gestures and whistling. We put to and paid for a PA/ Amp system for the 'ashram' that grew up around him. That was a bit of a mistake with hindsight because whenever they had a sunrise pooja their amplified music woke us all up.

PS. As a soon to be retired working-lifelong trade union official I have resolved to spend part of my retirement penning a magnum opus on UK salary inequality with relation to race and gender. Thinking of a catchy title for my book and in light of a recent blockbuster mega million bestselling paperback I have decided to call my work... " Fifty Grades of Pay."

Race and ' Equal Opportunities' is an industry here in the UK that keeps lots of people in cushy jobs and sweet salaries. It's in their own interest to keep stirring the pot and identifying inequality and dissent where , usually; no dissent existed. We are all of us human beings. Equal and the same. Almost all human beings treat other human beings as they find them. If someone is OK with you, you're as likely as not to be OK with them. No more fuel for any possible fire from me on this issue. Nuff said.

Some of the worst offenders have been bounced off Dharma Wheel and come on her to continue their arguments. I don't think that'll end anytime soon. BKA has the right idea IMO maybe a permanent banner or message or some such at the top of the Buddhist Forum to say that anyone posting - by posting- accepts they are only posting their own opinion. That might help weed out the single-sect evangelists and monomaniacs. We've always the come back then of.... "Fair enough, but you know and we know that's just your own opinion."

There's always light at the end of every tunnel though. Fair enough, it may be an oncoming train. But nevertheless...

Makes sense. After all Dogen (was it?) reminds us that... "Nothing comes from nothing- nothing ever could, But somewhere in my youth or childhood... I musta done somethin' good." ( Or is that a number from ' The Sound of Music'?)

You are right to do so MH.

4bsolute you might usefully check out Dogen's Bendowa. http://www.shastaabbey.org/pdf/shobo/001bendo.pdf Brad Warner ( the Hardcore Zen dude here....http://hardcorezen.info/focusing-on-nothingness-and-apatosauruses/2895 ) will have a Dogen book out soon, that'll be worth looking at too. Zen's not all about Koans. Koans are like one of the the concession stands at the festival that is life. Other concession stands with differing T shirts are available. Plus there's a beer tent.

Got it in one there Viscount. Outstanding post. Kudos.

You are a good teacher Nungali. That training partner learnt a valuable lesson from you ( after he could stand up straight again).

Interesting lineage with Samantabhadra (Choku a.k.a. ' Goku') as the originator. 'Goku' also means ' Heaven'.

Two monks, A and B, were arguing about a doctrinal problem; each insisted on his own opinion and rejected the others as fallacious. Monk A said, I am going to see our master and let him arbitrate, so he entered the chamber of the master who was at that time accompanied by an attendant monk who stood behind him. O Master! cried monk A. I just had an argument with B. My interpretation of such-and-such passage in a Sutra is this . . . but B had a different interpretation and insists that I am wrong. Please tell me who is right and who is wrong? The master said, You are right! Monk B heard about this and rushed to the Master. Master! How can you say that A is right? According to the authoritative commentary of so-and-so, my interpretation should be right, and his wrong. The Master said, Yes, you are right! The attending monk who stood behind the master and saw the whole event could no longer maintain his patience. He proceeded forward and whispered to the master, O Master, you can either say A is right or B is right, but how can you say both of them are right? The Master turned his head and looked at the protester, saying, Yes, you are also right!

Yes , you are right Deci.

Why would a moth want to become a butterfly? Do you mean 'caterpillar'?

I wonder if people with addictive personalities might make the best cultivators? If you're someone who gets 'hooked' on stuff then getting 'hooked' on cultivation is maybe a positive and one that, being an 'addict' you're likely to stick to.

Bump. Someone was asking about PL elsewhere.

India is easy enough for visas. Lots of westerners theree who have been there years. Worst call is you pop over to Bangladesh for a week then come back in, generally a coupla hundred rupees sweetener to the local Panch (Mayor) sorts out any issues. I was there on winter contracts for five years, we went out in October/ November and came home end of May each year. May through August in South India sod all happens cos it's too hot and then the Monsoon arrives. Any major work happens between October and May.