Songtsan

I am a big advocate of Tonglen, although I haven't been actively practicing as much as I should...

That is so true - if we already had perfect equanimity+bliss, we would probably never seek anything ever! I think that suffering itself is the key to seeking the end of suffering - it is what drives us to become Buddhas. So in a weird convoluted way, since suffering causes us to seek (and hopefully attain) bliss, suffering itself = bliss! lol...the cause and effect are one essentially...suffering is the cause of the seeking, the seeking is the path, the path leads to bliss, so the path = bliss. Suffering = path = bliss, so suffering = bliss! hahahahahaha!!!!

Some smart guys choose to get nailed by dolts, for the power of a martyr can change the course of history for millenia, and smart people know this.

But are we ever free of suffering? Maybe only the enlightened are...

I realized last night/this morning after gorging on sugar that I wasn't able to forgive myself as easily for doing so when the suffering I was experience for having done so was high. Forgiveness is always easier when the suffering which has been felt due to the 'injury' or 'offense' has dimmed. What a great personage a personage must be who can still feel the pain of insult and yet forgive totally and completely. This is really most likely just a symptom of the level of nonattachment and equanimity they have attained.

Yes, I am a fan of not chasing after specific emotions on a daily level. In the long run I of course wish for better emotions, such as bliss, etc. But to focus on this desire on a daily basis is the key to hell. Just watch what you have/are, keep cultivating, and eventually what you are watching/being will be more neat!

Then I say that your deity is in fact a donut...I am sorry Stosh, you are going to become a donut now. All bow to the great and mighty Stosh donut!

what happens to the hand that is raised that no one sees? Is it still a hand? What happens to your fist when you open your hand?

These are all great points... Sometimes I wonder if it is emptiness itself that is awareness, but that it must also be accompanied by energy in order to be fully Tao...without the energy of fullness, there is nothing for the awareness to be aware of. Yin Yang includes both emptiness/fullness and would not be complete without both. If it is the combo of energy+emptiness, where energy = fullness, then this would make sense... I still tend to think that consciousness has at least a general location on the individual level, although quantum physics indicates that all energy exists everywhere in the universe at once, so that would indicate that my consciousness exists everywhere as well. However, there is at least the illusion of locale - a sort of hot spot if you like. A place of 'most likely location' which in quantum physics I believe they call something specific that isn't coming to my brain yet. I think that the Tao does move, but that it merely moves within itself, sort of like a bubble which contains a swirling, everchanging mass/energy within. I dont believe the Tao could be the Tao without the addition of fullness/energy, so therefore the Tao does include movement/space/energy, where movement = time for the conceptual mind. I haven't had time to really sit down and grok the posts you guys made...I will get back to you, as I just woke up.

yeah but complex carbs are a lot better than simple...especially if they have a lower glycemic index....I personally think the best diet, for most people even, is a lower carb diet - around 40-45% carbs by caloric amount of total caloric intake. It is far less stress on the pancreas, insulin levels stay more regular, damage to cardiovascular system is reduced, plus % body fat improves... I just gorged on sugar last night and I feel horrible of course....

Emotions are chemically mediated. To say that we are the master would indicate that we can basically choose what chemicals exist where and at what time. Neuropeptides, hormones, serotonin, dopamine, etc. If you don't believe me, do a line of cocaine, eat a bunch of sugar, stop breathing, etc. etc. Any of these will radically change your emotional experience quite quickly. Not to be a devil's advocate, but if it were that easy, no one would have to meditate. You are right though that we do have some influence over our emotions. This influence can be strengthened and trained. It takes time. If one is a master of their emotions, then if a stranger unexpectedly comes up to them and spits in their face, maybe slaps them upside their head, they would be able to not get mad at all, and maintain themselves in perfect serenity. I have not personally met anyone who was at that level. If I had, I probably would have tried to become their student.

I believe, and I think that the Buddha did too, that eventually we will all end up as fully realized, whether we intend it or not. That is why I believe that all paths lead to the same point. The Buddha himself said 'do not seek to follow him,' but instead to 'seek what he himself sought' and that simply was the truth. People mis-conceptualize that by surrendering to a system, one is sure to gain enlightenment. This is both true and not true. There is always a more effective way than the way that one is practicing - this is a belief I hold dear to my heart. It basically means that there is always room for improvement. If you simply try to make yourself a carbon copy of some other idealized being/path, you will fall short of your full potential, although you may still become successful in the end. By constantly seeking after the truest truth, you will find that that itself is the path. As long as you don't get caught in delusional mind states, you will progress rapidly. This has been my experience.

Exactly! Words make us fools. Fools for the mind....lol

We should all stop defining anyways...it would be much better if we did.

Okay...my idea is this: Take a room, cover the walls with divine/holy art (have nothing BUT divine/holy art in this space), have some speakers built into the walls (behind the sheets of gypsum/drywall - It's easy to do if you know how to frame/paint, etc.)...play divine/holy music in the holy room, with no apparent source of sound. Spray divine/holy aromas into the air (using 100% pure essential oils - I personally go for Pink Grapefruit and Vetiver), sit on your divine/holy meditation cushion (which has been blessed and consecrated), perhaps facing a particular divine/holy image, or an altar if that is your thing..and basically make all incoming senses that of your recognized divinity. Maybe incense? Candles, etc. whatever creates your holy space..then shut the (sound-proofed) door and merge with THAT. Go there to become the BEST state.

You have misunderstood me. I liked your pic. I was basically saying yes, I agree.

The leaves of the forest will fly in whirlwinds as we execute spinning wheelbarrow kicks at each other in rapid succession. The ground will shake as we jump high, duel in midair, and land with the force of Titans. The crowd will exclaim in awe as these two furious foes lash out in a demonstration of skill sure to create lasting memories in all witnesses.

together - you guys form Voltron!

Taoists who are of Taomind, continue to be of Taomind...no particular plans and no planning. I basically just said the same thing as a few other people... From my ego-mind POV though I would say, as others said, eat less, drink more cool drinks, avoid super hot times if possible, don't get sun burned, go camping, etc. etc.

Until we reach some exalted stage of being beyond the six senses, I think all our spirituality is approached through the six sense gates. Sound, Light, and tactile sensations probably represent the major players, with mind as the canvass on which those perceptions are played, although taste/smell are important too. I am a big fan of having a room with nothing but spiritually conducive artwork on the walls to put one in 'the zone.'

I believe anyone could be a saint, although I guess it depends on how 'saint' is defined. Many say Gandhi was a saint, yet he also had his followers go down to a 2000 year old temple that was of Tantric design, which had many statues of naked people in sexual positions (sanctifying the act of sex), and they tore that temple down. Now I am sure that that temple was sacred to someone over there, yet he said my way is the best way - your ways I deem inferior...so was he a saint? Not in my book. Could a hoodlum become a saint? Yes, if they were of such internal noble virtue as to never judge, never demoralize, never create systems of higher/lower worth, and so on. A saint is as a saint does. If a hoodlum does saintly things inside and out, then they are saintly. If someone does saintly on the outside, but inside is a mean bastard, then they are no saint. If someone would do saintly things on the outside, being saintly on the inside, but can't because maybe they became a saint in jail and they are locked in a cell all day, they are still a saint. If someone becomes enlightened and leaves the world to go live far apart in a cave in the Himalayas, are they a saint? Not in my book, although they are still cool - to me a saint is one who, having realized the true God nature of all wo/man, goes out in the world and does good for people, no matter who they are...whereever there is need, they add an injection of goodness, without thoughts of gain or favoritism.

...but the way of internal martial arts is to know the masculine, but keep to the feminine...dont fight fight force with force, fight force with emptiness...When someone pushes, you pull them further in...When someone pulls you in, you move with their force and let them give that force to you as you speed towards them like a striking cobra....I think the important thing is to avoid physical armoring...physical armoring, held in the muscle memory - is what causes a bevy of ills in people. Mental armoring also causes these ills, stress being one of them. If one is ever aware and present, the right action will come as needed. Also, wisdom will play a role - no need to go strolling in the hood at all usually.

sure! It would either be an indication of an enlightened or nearly enlightened saint, or a person with no long term memory like in that movie 50 first dates

Put up a link to ghost cat music!

that last link reminds me of this little digital keyboard I had when I was 10 which had a preset sound called 'Crystals.' It sounded almost exactly like that - I would sit there and basically do what they did in that recording for hours and be mesmerized...