manitou

I think I see why you're a celibacy seeker, lol. Actually, I'm guessing you don't have to seek it at all. It probably comes to you on the natch.

The commonality to Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike, in which he elucidates each degree of Freemasonry and the character requirements for each, is astoundingly similar to that which you have posted. But why should that be surprising? The Inner journey to True Self must certainly cut through all those qualities which you have just enumerated, as do the 33 degrees of Freemasonry. In fact, the 33rd chapter of the book is non-existent; it only goes up to 32. The 33rd cannot be put into words, much as the Dao not being able to be spoken of. I have a problem with one statement in the above 16 requirements, and it is probably only from my own lack of understanding: 4. The Rosicrucian does not Boast. He knows that man is nothing but an instrument in the hands of GOD, and that he can accomplish nothing useful by his own will; the latter being nothing but the will of GOD perverted in man. To GOD he gives all the praise, and to that which is mortal he gives all the blame. He is in no inordinate haste to accomplish a thing, but he waits until he receives his orders from the Master who resides above and within. He is careful what he speaks about, and uses no unhallowed language. It rubs up against me because it places God as 'the other'. To me, it's all God, no hierarchy involved, merely Is-ness. When it says, to God he gives all the praise, and to that which is mortal he gives all the blame. In my view, there is no praise nor blame, no good or bad. That is to live in duality. It all just Is - all is One, with two sides. The light of the yang, the shadow of the yin; but the necessary interplay of both. Perhaps you can help me understand this. a very excellent thread, Bodhicitta. Thank you for taking the time to relay all this.

Has the same ring to me as 'do you believe in Santa?' And the same outcome. I remember the humiliation I felt when I found out there was no Santa - I felt like a bit of a fool for believing in the first place. Like I'd been had. 'Do you believe in god' seems to be just another placeholder for Santa.

Must mean he didn't exist.

Many of us here have transcended the paths that were our springboard into the Oneness of all philosophy and spiritual thought. Thank you for your honest and open introduction. You are in the process of transcending the structure of Christianity - sounds like you already have. I too had to go through a born-again mentality before I could transcend it. Yes, we are the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus was an enlightened one. Some would call him the 'son of god'. Well, we are too the 'son of god', if you wish to look at it in that context. The only difference between someone like Jesus and us, is that he was in full Awareness of it, we are not. But we get closer to this realization on this forum. We find it through the martial disciplines, or the Buddhist disciplines, or the Daoist understanding. To me, Daoism or Buddhism are the final springboards to the true journey into ourselves, which is where we finally find the I Am, the mystery - which to some degree must be transcended as well. Anything that is structure must be transcended to find what and who we are looking for. We are looking for ourselves and our identity - and we are the walking, talking, thinking head of the spear that is known as the Logos - that wonderful and beautiful mathematical dance of Shiva that is the One Life. The dance that has love at the center; the dance that has love as the purpose. That which we must transcend is ourselves, not just a philosophical structure. We must transcend and get through our own egos, our own judgments, our own opinions, our own conditionings, our own preconceptions. Our minds cry out for clarity - true clarity - where the Great Wisdom is found. This is the wisdom that is channeled up within us when we can get out of our own way. There are many here who have gotten to this point. A transcended Muslim is a Sufi. He has eschewed the structure of Islam, and is a total freethinker. The way he has done this is through 'true Jihad'. Not the 'jihad' that is misunderstood by those on the bottom rung of Islam - but the Islamists who understand that True Jihad is doing battle with and overcoming the flames of Ego. You are in the right place, friend. Just keep your eye on the ball. Your soul yearns for the truth, and you have outgrown your structure. You're in the right place.

One of Lin Yutang's 3 treasures: 'never be the first'

I just caught that last sentence with CT's comment - I had missed it before. 'Otherwise, our responses come from our own pain and confusion and tend to compound rather than alleviate suffering.' Boy, that rings true.

And doesn't this seem to be the state of affairs in the world? Well intending people taking action and making the situation worse. Yes, 'don't just do something; sit there' - the formula for wu wei and seeing the real. Through the not-doing is the play seen. Through non-interference only can the 10,000 things find their natural order of their own accord. Or, more contemporarily put, 'let the chips fall where they may'. And yet, thing get done. A Great Mystery, if you ask me. But living proof of the Logos in action.

After you, indeed. A beautiful mantra for mindfulness. Presence and absence, yin and yang, gain and service. The bellows of the Dao. Thank you, Old River.

I was doing some research on 'pith instructions of secret mantra', to find out what Jampal Gyepe Dorje was referring to. Among other references to Illumination on the way, I came across the King of Prayers, which just makes my heart bleed. Unable to copy and paste it for some reason, but I will retype it here: The Seven-part Practice 1 I pay homage with body, speech, and mind To all Buddhas, past, present and future, To all those lions amongst humans, as many As there are in the worlds of the ten directions. 2 Through the power of this prayer of noble conduct, In my mind's eye I see all those Victorious Ones. With as many bodies as there are atoms in the worlds, I bow to them all, the Victorious Ones. 3 On every atom, amidst bodhisattvas, Are as many Buddhas as there are atoms, And similarly I imagine the whole Sphere of phenomena filled with Buddhas. 4 With an inexhaustible ocean of praise, Through oceans of sound made with the organs of speech, I speak of the qualities of the Victorious And praise all those who have gone to bliss. 5 With the finest flowers and finest garlands, With the sweetest music, best unguents and best parasols, With the best butter lamps and the finest incense, I make offerings to all those victorious Ones. 6 With fine clothes and the best fragrances, Aromatic powders heaped high as the kind of mountains, All arranged in the most excellent fashion, I make offerings to those Victorious Ones. 7 I imagine giving all the Victorious Ones The most extensive and unsurpassable offerings. Through the power of faith in noble conduct I blow and make offerings to all Victorious Ones. 8 Whatever wrong actions I have created With my body, my speech and my mind, Driven by desire, anger and confusion, Each of these I openly acknowledge. 9 I rejoice in the merit of the Victorious Ones And of Bodhisattvas in the ten directions, Of solitary Realizers, trainees and the perfected And in that of all living beings. 10 I urge those protectors who have just gained Buddhahood -- enlightenment without obstruction, Who are lamps for the worlds in the ten directions, To turn the unsurpassable wheel of the teachings. 11 With folded hands I request those who wish To display the passing into parinirvana, To remain for the benefit and joy of living beings For as many aeons as the worlds have atoms. 12 I dedicate the slight merit I have created Through reverence, offerings and confession, Through rejoicing, exhorting and through requesting, To the attainment of highest enlightenment.

Isn't it amazing how that works? I too am reading the "wrong book" written by a Rinpoche that I hadn't intended to order. It is exactly what I need right now. Couldn't be a closer fit to my current state of being and understanding.

I do too, lol. I wondered about that when I wrote it.

Rumi says 'Like the shadow, I Am and I Am Not.' Would these be the ultimate two indivisibles? I am assuming that non-entities would be ideas, judgments, distinctions? In the Dream Yoga book, the Rinpoche speaks of meditating upon the similarity and Oneness of the sleeping dream and the waking dream. The dream-like quality of everyday life. It seems that both everyday life and dreams speak to us in the same riddles and puns. they are the same. I sometimes wonder if this is why dervishes whirl. To go beyond focus on apprehended objects; to go beyond conceptuality in a very physical way. A means to an end? There is a certainty that arises whose keystone is cemented in Love. When phenomena and events are viewed through the eyes of Love, is this too conceptual imputation? Or is Love the reason for the season? The essence of all of it? Or is this a grasp as well? Doesn't feel like a grasp, maybe it is. And doesn't complete liberation seems to go hand in hand with service? Service such as Steve's description of how he now relates to his patients? As a servant to their being, a loving presence and witness to their expression. Would not Steve be doing mankind a service by starting a ripple here, as he alluded to, with other practitioners? Even a very small ripple extends out greatly. Certainly there are others who feel the hollowness of their occupation, who have a great desire to return to the Self that went into medicine in the first place - to be of service to mankind.

Steve, I feel the essence of what you are feeling, experiencing, and I am thrilled for you that your path has taken you through the mundaneness back to the reasons that you went into the medical field in the first place. I had wondered about that, seeing the state of western medicine today. It makes my heart so happy to know that you are again happy and have a purpose beyond just showing up from 8 to 5. And when you said "people already feel more confidence in their ability to recover", doesn't this seem to be the essence of it? i think it is! Are we not our own healers, whether knowing it or not? We place our faith in others, but isn't it really us that is doing our own healing? Our bodies being redirected by another to manifest health? Yes, our dysfunction. In being willing to subjugate ego and allow ourselves to be seen as vulnerable, such as what I'm doing at the present time in my PPF thread - to be willing to expose our dysfunction and shortcomings - what an incredible payoff we receive. And yet, it takes a leap of courage to do that. It can be a bit humiliating at first. To 'surrender to win', as they say in recovery programs. And the depth of the surrender, the depth of the peeling of the layers, just never seems to end. it seems that when we get to the very core issues is when we start really feeling some degree of liberation. i had no idea that Tibetan Buddhism - or any Buddhism, for that matter, was of this nature. I wasn't listening, even here, for so many years. Too busy talking, telling you what I thought I knew. And yet I knew nothing. I know nothing now. I am so ready to follow instruction. I am teachable. And this is new. A new gratitude and peace envelops me now, and I see it glowing from between your words as well. I'm so glad that I know nothing. Phew. What a relief....

This is one of the most profound things I've ever read. it put me back into the Sutras, into the Buddha-lands, where every ending is a beginning; a cacophony of beings and times and never-ending existences. The urge to perfection, the jewel of existence. How can we possibly put it into words? You have come so close. Thank you, CT. Thank you. A bright ornament worthy of cherishing and displaying without shame or ego. This was the hallmark of our tantric experience together that I mentioned - there was absolutely no shame, no ego, nothing but a momentary jewel of existence, a mutual journey that defies words. That's why I was wondering if there was a connection or a relatedness to what we've been talking about here. Although I don't follow the path, in a sense I do. And something strange happened which defied belief or description. I choose to grasp that memory for just a while longer...

Steve - I am studying with great interest your link to the Tapihrista poem. I am studying the writing, taking notes, really trying to take it all in. It will take a little time. I followed your teacher's instructions as to meditating on the figure to Tapihrista, and at the same time I would meditate on the Tibetan white 'A' while lying in bed, in addition to his instructions on the tigles in the chakras. It was at this point that the white dragonfly showed up in my dreams. Needless to say, I am currently seeing dragonflies everywhere - on the side of moving vans, in jewelry I obtained from my mother, even in a paperweight she gave me. My dreams have great clarity now, and interpretation of them seems to come very easily. I look forward to reading the entire article, word for word. I look forward to the actual poem (although short, it looks like the commentary on each line will be wonderful). I have a question for you, pertaining to the article. I note that the Bon practice, which I know is yours, pertains to the medical sciences, whereas the Nyingma school does not. Do you find that your approach to your patients has changed due to this Bon practice? Are you more intuitive in your diagnoses? Is there any way that you are even able to incorporate the two, or are the current Western restrictions just too, well, restricted? Just curious. And CT or Steve - is there a simple way to describe tantric practice in lieu of this? On the occasions that Joe and I had tantric sex, wherein we seemed to turn into bodies of light (this was spontaneous and unwished for - it just happened for about a week) - is there any comparison to any of this? Or is tantric sex and tantric practice two entirely different things? We could almost 'see' that we were two shining skeletons on a mutual journey, capable of seeing the same phenomena. Certainly there must be some sort of connection. Funnily, that was the end of our sex life together. After that, what was the point?? Truly a gift from somewhere....

I'm finding an interesting bit of growth in the area of peace with the onset of guru yoga, as spoken of in Steve's teacher's book on Dream Yoga. (Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche - 'The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep'). i had never had exposure to Guru Yoga until reading that book. But not too long ago, I did read the Flower Adornment Sutra, and found a boddhisatva by the name of Flower Glow, whom I greatly identified with for some reason. I just noted that I had some of his/her qualities on a good day, I felt the connection - which may explain why I spent so long struggling to get through that Sutra. Flower Glow didn't come along until close to the end. Comes now Flower Glow. But not until the end. But I have internalized that entity, and I am allowing him to live within me. When I am in Awareness during the day and not caught up in the maya of a situation, I feel his presence, I know what he looks like. He has a man-bun, he wears no shirt, he has drawstring pants and no shoes. He is so very clear to me. And he shows up in dreams as a white dragonfly, leading me through a garden or some place. I wasn't much of a dreamer at all until I cut back on the chemicals, and now they're coming fast and furious. I bring this up because I can see what a useful tool Guru Yoga can be. Very powerful. And during this process of chemical elimination from my body, it is making all the difference in the world. I highly recommend it, BES - a real shortcut, it seems - if there are days when the anxiety gets a little overbearing.

So incredibly beautiful, CT. So succinct. And we can only remove the baggage we're capable of removing at any given time. We can only remove that which we're ready for. That seems to be a lifetime process - or at least in my own case it is. I love your parallel with the 'apps' - not replacing one app with another. Yes, that is a product of ego, a desire to 'be holy', for lack of a better term. And in the desire to 'be holy' is the desire to 'appear holy', which is nothing more than wanting others to think we've arrived. Still a product of duality. To have to project or manifest appearance is an indication that there is something still lacking, or else there would be no need to project the impression that there isn't anything lacking. There are some masters that can be read over and over - (better to have the physical exposure, but I have had to resort to books and folks like you, Steve, and BES on this forum over the years). Each and every time we read a master again, our eyes are higher than the last time we read it. We see something different with every reading that our eyes glazed over before. I listen to a Deepak and Friends beautifully orchestrated CD of Rumi poems - over and over in my car. Every time i hear the same stanza, it seems that I pick out something different because I am in a different place. I understand something at a deeper level than the last time I heard it. What a ride. I am honored to be in the company of fellow travelers. I thank the Great Giant Head that I have all of you.

And is this not the reward for the discipline of years of meditation? To have control over our thoughts? To stop them when they tend to the negative, as negative thoughts will manifest negative phenomena in our lives. Or to choose to manifest love in our lives, following from loving and non judgmental thoughts. We are the Manifester through the quality of our thoughts, and it is ours to choose the thoughts that we wish to have. If we have mastered them.

It seems to be the complete acceptance of all phenomena, inner and outer. Acceptance without labeling, without judgment. Without grasping, without aversion. There are those of us who spent a lifetime feeling guilty about being happy, that we were undeserving. This phenomena seems to be the final frontier on this front, the final hurdle. But what allows this new type of 'happiness', the void happiness, is not a selfish happiness. it is love of life, appreciation of the time that we are allotted here. Seeing the non-separation of all phenomena and loving the great Mind that is manifesting, has manifested, will manifest. Acceptance and love. I have glimpses.

This makes eminent sense - 'manifested is in the unmanifested and unmanifested is in the manifested. This is the great unity'. Manifested is past and present. Unmanifested is future. All is one, superimposed over each other. Temporality must be removed to realize the secret of the manifested and the unmanifested.

It occurs to me that Beginner's Mind is an attainment.

As i was gardening on this beautiful spring day in Ohio, blossoms everywhere, gentle breeze, lime green new leaves - it occurred to me that the reason for all of this is 'to love'. that's all. When we understand the nature of our mind, the question of "Who?" is answered. When we realize the reason for our existence is to love, it answers the "Why". This is the question I've been looking to answer my whole life. Why. Why any of this?

I wasn't referring to the man. I was just making a comment after the one before it.

Jesus.