BaguaKicksAss

It's not your viewpoints or opinions, it is *how* you present them.

ROFL. See the pit for more details . I was a mod when he was on the forums, he especially liked me.... .

1. is it true? 2. is it kind? 3. is it necessary? (OK so perhaps not quite Buddhist, but still good )

What is your plan for a decent diploma, with actual testing of your level/abilities included?

I had some other ideas where this could be moved to... .

The nirvana diploma is a few pages back .

Some sitting folks are also tourist attractions... that vid of that guy sitting not eating, then sitting in the fire comes to mind. Though I have no idea if it comes completely with a certificate of authentication and/or diploma as well or not though.

You aren't looking for free handouts of diplomas for greater spiritual growth than you presently have, so no I'm not asking you, I'm asking sree Icedude.

Obviously if he had any power he wouldn't spend all day everyday trolling TTBs .

Why don't you have a job?

Sree.

http://www.ulc.net/index.php?cat=17&page=shop (they do test you, somewhat).

I'll get on printing that one up too...

So then make some posts to change it.

I was more meaning the threads which you are likely to change into non-threads .

Ever heard of our lovely Personal Practice forums?

Cause you might end up like this: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/14/bikram-yoga-sexual-assault-lawsuit

A few things... The most advanced and experienced practitioners I have ever met (and very likely will ever meet) in spirituality, magic, qigong and martial arts ALL were completely unknown, had no diplomas whatsoever, and most people have never heard of them! The whole difficult to hang out with people thing.... well since we are using me as an example lol, I am very extremely fortunate in that ALL the people I know are spiritual practitioners. This was partially purposeful and partially that folks not on similar paths as myself and I just don't mesh or connect. Also when I meet people and think perhaps they are not on a similar path, once we get to talking, we find out that each other is. Practitioners are just drawn to one another. For that sort of test, I guess you could ask any decent level practitioner (try for over 20 years in, 40 is better, to make sure their own personal biases don't get in the way), and ask them "soooo how do you think I'm doing on the whole enlightenment thing? Have I reached nirvana yet?" Though most would look at you like you have been smoking some low grade something or another for asking . Hmmmm, that whole wanting others to listen to you, and pass along some super amazing teachings to them thing is really overrated . I am a bit of a cynic I'll admit, but unfortunately what modern society looks for is physical appearance, fancy posters and websites, and well worded promo ads... well OK maybe diplomas too, but I've not heard of any for enlightenment or nirvana before. Though really, would you want acolytes who are naive enough to fall for the whole diploma thing? I'm curious now why you want this? Because you love teaching? So you can feel important? So you can increase your self worth? So you can make some extra money from it? So you actually have respect from your fellow human beings? Have you found that in general people don't listen to you? It is also a certain air about them that teachers and leaders have that makes people want to follow them. Though at the same time humbleness is what draws people to most teachers. Personally I feel that people who are impressed with me due to external fancy stuff like that are not worth my time (did I mention cynical? Did I also mention still working on stuff? lol) One thing I have found is that the people who have told me they are enlightened were the least enlightened of folks I have met lol, no idea if this is always the case, but amongst magicians it sure seems to be lol. I think even the Dalai Lama when asked if he is enlightened laughed . Also I think once we are enlightened we start to notice we can do some neat stuff....like... not think all the time, manifest stuff, not be 100% physical all the time, or whatever other odd and interesting things. Though I'm only talking about this from things I have seen and noticed and from an outside (tourist) perspective. (personally enlightenment is not on my to do list, but I do see it is a very good goal for other people as it seems to improve people). PS I'm not enlightened, and any possible times of nirvana were short lived, I'm just using myself as an example because people do try to ask me to teach them stuff, and I have taught lots of people, and I know and have spent time around a lot of spiritual people, some of which I personally feel have made it very far along the path. I am also in teaching retirement and quite like it this way .

http://wildhunt.org/2014/03/donald-michael-kraig-1951-2014.html

Dude was banned, he also can't reply and speak up for himself, the horse that is being flogged is dead 10 times over.... how about we drop this? There has been 15 pages of getting frustrations out, that is plenty.

It's not about diplomas, folks on spiritual paths look for something much different than pieces of paper. Instead we look for how the person leads their life, how they act, the sense of energy and peace around them, the feeling of a sort of power, as well as word of mouth from others who have trained with said person. With the Dalai Lama, I think folks are reincarnated into that position, and those who can actually see/know such things help figure that out. Also keep in mind that the whole striving for recognition from others only distracts us from our path. To be honest, the only thing certificates are good for is if you are performing healing on others, or you are trying to make money from the path. I also practice a non-Taoist path, and have been at it awhile. When people come to train with me it is due to word of mouth, reading some articles I have written, or just the feeling that I know something they also need to know. If someone asked if I had a certificate I would either tell them where to shove said question, or I would get out a scrap piece of paper and write one up real quick . Sometimes folks will have an official lineage certificate if they are a disciple of some path; in this case their teacher will prepare this for them. While these are quite good and helpful to show a lineage and perhaps that someone is valid, there are far more fake certificates or bought ones out there than there are real ones. I could get myself a few within a month if I had the right amount of money and knew which teachers felt money was more important than ethics. There are several martial arts teachers locally who have such "certificates".

Here you go .

Here you go Icedude .

No, no, no, only *lightly* trolling, nowhere near a full blown troll at all, more just having some fun . And uhm, the rest of the board might see things differently if you had a diploma, but me personally, I see no difference in a diploma or not in spiritual matters. The folks who actually give them out for such things as enlightenment and spiritual attainment are full of crap just trying to make money on watered down teachings. *cough* weekend workshops *cough*.

How about a lightly trolling forums diploma?