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I dare to put my own life on the line here that there is. I have seen other intelligent creatures out there. I was on a boat when I saw these highly intelligent creatures. Some guy was with me and he called them dolphin and whale. He was actually shocked that I've never seen it before. He claimed that these creatures were actually more intelligent then humans and had a more complex way of communicating. That they could dream while still awake and stuff like that. The reason why we never discovered these intelligent creatures is because they're in the water so often! Not only that, its hard to communicate with them. I was like "we come in peace!" and that dolphin did not even hear me! I can not shout harder them that. We've got to find a way to talk with these intelligent creatures. Perhaps they can share tales with us of aditional intelligent creatures that live even deeper perhaps. I got really excited when I found out we're not the only intelligent creature in the universe Try asking fishermen or captains of a ship, they will tell you the same thing I did.

that may have been the best version of house of the rising sun i ever heard. i do like the ones where they play the words of amazing grace to the tune of the house of the rising sun..... somehow i think ralis dont like country music too much i did see al dimeola in the 80's..... yes, jimmy rogers is music royalty, looks for the emoticon with the crown.... so how about alternative country? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7eHZxJA-WM (( 129 views!!! on youtube )) this one kinda sums up my mood this morning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAXnEI6-4ag and i found this comment below it op Comments * The 90s manifested the unfinished anger of the 60s in the most ineffectual fashion possible. It was an era of impotent rage at the powers that be. We all still dream of a better day, made by the people lifting each other up with our own hands instead of being crushed by the mighty. They expend all of their energy making sure that day never comes for us. Better days are coming my friends, and they are born from waste, excess and consumption taken so far we all hurt. anyways,,,

It has been said, written and typed that bodhidharma stared at a wall for nine years and achieved enlightenment. What do you think his method of wall gazing consists of? I think he may did tranquility meditation while gazing the wall. But there are pictures of him holding two hands in an upwards cupped position at the level of his qihai. This may imply that he focuses on the second chakra directly behind the qihai in the middle path and that he may have practiced some sort of inner alchemy during his meditations. I tried the wall gazing technique with void meditation before sleep, just gazing on the ceiling until my eyelids close due to tiredness, and then I strain to open them again, and continuing the gaze on the ceiling. This is a great way to go to sleep. You get to see random images propping up too. Years ago I tried this for a while and sometimes had the beginning of out of body experience, usually accompanied by strong electrical vibrations while having physical body paralysis. One time I was out of my body, I could see my body standing a few feet away. But it could be a dream

In my opinion, Steve... I agree with the first sentence. However, i doubt the manner in which the Bardo states have been investigated, expounded and validated by the various lineages in Tibet, including the Bons, can be labelled dogmatic in the least. After all, the Bardo states are not some occurrences restricted to after-death events, as in life, each moment transitioning to the next is as much a Bardo as the greater, more profound crossing-overs. Therefore, in Buddhism, or at least in Tibetan Buddhism, there is as much, if not more encouragement to investigate the Bardos of living as there are in the Bardos of dying and after death. Upon deeper introspection, isnt it true that we have to learn to die to each moment in order to fully live the next? Perhaps its when one is unable to fully understand or accept this simple truth that karmic baggage gets accumulated. One way to familiarize with this is thru gaining awareness during the Bardo of waking/dream transition. From Chogyal Namkhai Norbu: "When one falls asleep, one becomes disengaged from the karmic traces of the material body, the karmic traces of vision, and the karmic traces of mental functioning. These karmic traces, during the waking state, manifests as one's material body, the external appearances one perceives, and the functioning of one's mind respectively. Why do we speak of being disengaged? From one's falling asleep right up to the moment when dreams begin, there is no functioning of the mind and one finds oneself in the real condition of existence. In this, one will experience to a certain degree a merging with what is called the natural clear light (intrinsic illumination and liberation of 'self' attachment)." Such is what has been taught by the great scholars across all the different lineages - we, however, should not accept this on blind faith. We can find out, or not, if this is actually the case. Buddhist doctrinal teachings only become dogma for those who are too lazy, too blind or too headstrong to look deeper and inquire into their efficacy (or not). When the basis of the path is one where self-inquiry forms the crux of the Teaching, it becomes doubtful if one can actually voice disingenuity. After all, the Buddha did encourage his 'followers' to doubt until they have investigated fully his words. And this way of self-inquiry and promoting experiential insights have been the norm since. Which explains why threads of this nature, accusations of buddhist fanaticism, makes no sense. Looks like it was started as a deliberate attempt to cause some sort of schism. A grave error, indeed. Namaste.

What I mean to say is when ones awareness through practice, becomes free from all the faces it puts on due to the flow of phenomena. It's not a substratum of some sort, just a potential due to being sentient. I'm saying when your awareness has been deconditioned. This is why it was said after the comment you quoted and commented on above this second commentary. I think it answers what you are talking about, as it's free from reification of cause and effect while seeing it directly. As in, your awareness free from conditions of cause and effect as well as itself, sees through all of it while it's happening. You're like a duck in water. Nothing ever sticks, you have spontaneous presence! Right, I would say for a Buddha, this reactive energy is liberated, allowing one to transmute the condition of negative habit into compassionate action in every moment. Instant presence! So, as a Buddha continues living, having a body made of these past impressions put there prier to enlightenment, in every moment, the neurosis arises in the brain as a reaction, but self liberates into energetic inspiration for compassionate response due to immersion in Rigpa. So... the bound person would just go along with the habit pattern and "react" while one in Rigpa will be subtle enough in each moment to self liberate the energy upon contact with the conditions in the moment that bid the inner habit pattern to manifest. Thus, in a sense, one in Rigpa is basically transforming bondage to liberation in every successive moment on a continuous basis until death. Thus, they are not bound by their bodies anymore, they are not victims of it's make up of negative neurotic patterns in the brain or the physical cells, and thus don't make anyone else victims of it either... ideally that is. People can have the tendency to play the role of victim no matter what. Those that are to be reborn, like a Tulku, actually consciously take on the karmic baggage of the family and region they are born into, as this baggage is what makes it possible to have a body. Like the Dalai Lama, he has been liberated long, long, ago, but keeps projectioning compassionate action through karmic baggages over and over again to fulfill the purpose of positive influence as a Tulku. This is hard to put into words, this process has to be realized directly to make sense of a level faster than thought. But, this is how it is for such beings as people say all the time. "If they were enlightened, why'd they come back?" Well basically they didn't, they just appear to. The state of mind of these yogi's is so far beyond the appearance that they are manifesting through. This is not just a Buddhist thing either, Hinduism has this concept as well, with Avatars. The famous Nityananda of Ganeshpuri was one such being. Anyway... do you see? In a sense, the state of Rigpa does the work. My explanation is all over simplified of course. One could write volumes on the details of this. I think beings have as well? Great beings are aware of their physical environment when they're sleeping, as if they aren't sleeping, as they do not have a subconscious or unconscious anymore. I've had awareness that sees like it has eyes, even while the eyes are closed. Which would make a scientist just flip their wig and want to put me away! Also, when they dream, they don't dream through their impressions, they have visions or travel to help their disciples through the disciples subconscious, or they meet other great beings in another dimension and get transmissions. They don't sleep like regular people. But, I understand what you're saying and I agree. You mentioning what you did just inspired me to say something more on the subject of sleep when you asked about the differences between a Buddhas awareness and a Samsarin's awareness. Right. The Buddha awareness is just like a mirror and it can see all separate things all connected as things are in the reflection of a mirror. Yes, you are flipping your beginningless conditions for bondage into endless conditions for liberated and compassionate action. Samsara is beginnigless and Nirvana is endless. A Buddha has beginningless conditions as fuel to keep going, there is never non-existence. It's just that they stop being self serving and start being universally serving. So, those that translate Nirvana as going into non-existence don't understand it from a greater perspective. I mean, it's true, the you that was bound goes into non-existence in a sense but the stream of manifesting keeps on going, just now as free from self clinging even if there appears to be clinging to a self, it's just an appearance for a Buddha and not a concrete reality.

I see. I don't mean that everything is falsely apprehended in the relative sense. What I mean is that everything is really just like an illusion. For example a red rose to a human is a black flower to a dog is a 99.999 percent formless space to a quantum physicist - all that we see are merely a dependently originated appearance that appears solid but is really all just dream-like mental visions.

yes indeed how can scenery be aware of itself That is just a figure of speech. It is a description of anatta but not shunyata. Everything is mind, everything is like a dream - just like dream is only mind-vision, vividly shown yet nowhere solid or locatable. Scenery, sounds, thoughts are also mind, luminous yet empty, magical, dream-like, like a magician's trick. (I don't mean everything is one mind like substantial nonduality, you can exchange "mind" here for "experience")

I'm not so certain about what you mean by field of meanings. But the difference seems to be that the deluded mind sees meanings or perceptions that arise in his mind as rigid realities, while the wise mind simply sees it within the frame of fluidity. I'm not sure it is possible to always achieve one's aims. This idea depends heavily on how the fool and the wise see "aims." The wise can always achieve aims by not having that aim be so specific or unrealistic, but I doubt this means the wise man can dream up to become the dictator of the world and succeed. Understanding limits of one's control is another facet of wisdom. I think I somehow replied to the latter section of your post while replying to Vaj's post above. A lot of reflecting lately on perception, recognition, awareness, experience...

If you cling to notions of wisdom and ignorance then obviously you haven't realized shunyata, once shunyata is realized you'll see that even wisdom and ignorance is ungraspable and unlocatable like a dream. Heart sutra: ...no ignorance, no cessation of ignorance... no attainment, no wisdom...

1) metaphysical 1. pertaining to or of the nature of underlying theoretical principles 2. concerned with abstract thought or subjects or of first principles like being or time 3. highly abstract or abstruse 4. pertaining to the philosophical poetry of an early group of 17th-century English poets Shunyata and anatta is obviously not metaphysical unless people are studying it like a theory. It is plain, ordinary and obvious for me. 2) Attachment "To anything -- situations, people, mentalities, places. And views -- of self, no self, all self, both self and no self." The basic fundamental cause is ignorance, thereby clinging to self and things inherently. Even the view "self never exists or self stops existing" is a form of self-view, the view of annihilation (become non-existent) or nihilism (non-existence) Once you wake up from the dream, the view of self, or self is non-existent, or self becomes non-existent, no longer applies. As Buddha said, you can't even pin down a reality or truth of tathagata (self) in this life, how do the four extremes apply to him after death? When this realization occurs, you will always be beyond extremes. Otherwise it is still one of the views of the four extremes, or a view of "no view", which are still all views pertaining to a dream monster, dream self, and those views have no basis once you wake up and realize the basic fact about reality. Then there can never be speculation anymore. In seeing just the seen is a plain fact. When realized the delusion of a seer seeing seen just drops out of the equation forever. It is a direct and irrefutible realization. Words like "self" is an empty convention, label that does not point to a findable entity. For there is in hearing just the heard, in seeing just the seen, go read bahiya sutta and kalaka sutta if you haven't. Self, no self, etc becomes irrelevant. I guess you have not experienced how talking without delusion of self is like. I do. The universe is speaking as this body, then the universe is speaking as the other body, on the same level (not me talking to him) in a single selfless and otherless process of interconnectedness.

It's reflected in your beliefs of what you think is superstition reflecting lack of experience. I do sitting practice from time to time, though I experience the state of meditation very often and often in dream states. I did very intense practice for years, practice much like a monk in a cave would practice, for hours upon hours daily, all day, sleeping in a way that made it practice as well. Practicing like this, one compresses lifetimes worth of most peoples level of practice. As the energy doesn't dissipate like it does for instance if you meditate in the morning, but spend your day trading stocks and forgetting your state of mind, but come home and meditate again in the evening to get your state of mind back. This type of practice that most people do dissipates the energy that could have been utilized for going deeper. I know, not everyone can take a vacation from regular life and move into an Ashram or Monastery. I did at the age of 20 though. The experience arises a lot. I live with my wife and my mother in law, and showing compassion is normal as they are both in need. Do you think that compassion can't hit you over the head too though? Or slap you in the back with a stick like a Zen Master? Do you feel compassion has to manifest within the scope of your pre-conceptions? On a daily basis, sometimes, if the opportunity arises, many times per day. All the time, even when talking about Buddhism, there is something more happening, contemplation, awareness of my state of mind, mantra (which is very powerful for me as it carries the energy of deep meditative states of which I've made samadhi impressions in my brain through.) Even when I'm disagreeing with you and challenging your state and understanding of enlightenment. I doubt those that claim to have enlightenment without having followed a living lineage, more so than I do who follow a time tested, genuine lineage. The ego is so tenacious, so subtle. We as living human beings need living guides. Those that say they don't, I really feel are truly fooling themselves. I'm not just talking about seeing everyone you meet as your guru, in that sort of way. I mean a living example of Buddhahood that comes from a genuine lineage of time tested tradition that has actually liberated people to the degree that the scriptures talk about.

Just read this on some guy's blog.. it seems appropriate to share it here: From Jed McKenna - "The you that you think of as you (and that thinks of you as you, and so on) is not you, its just the character that the underlying truth of you is dreaming into brief existence. Enlightenment isn't in the character, it's in the underlying truth! Now, there's nothing wrong with being a dream character, of course, unless it's your goal to wake up, in which case the dream character must be ruthlessly annihilated. If your desire is to experience transcendental bliss or supreme love or altered states of consciousness or awakened kundalini, or to qualify for heaven, or to liberate all sentient beings, or simply to become the best dang person you can be, then rejoice! you're in the right place: the dream state, this dualistic universe. However, if your interest is to cut the crap and figure out what is true, then you're in the wrong place and you've got a very messy fight ahead and there's no point in pretending otherwise."

I'm not a Buddha. Why do you cling to the relative view of emptiness? You are still not understanding how ultimately, everything is always empty of inherent existence, there is no relativity, there is no dependent origination, (read Heart Sutra) thus this intuitive insight is permanent for those who have seen right through themselves to the experiential awareness of emptiness on every personal level. They've emptied their personal cycle of dependent origination, on the deepest intuitive level of their own psyche. Buddhahood is a permanent insight beyond the mind, of the mind that has this insight. You really should study more to at least have this understanding intellectually. I have glimpsed this enough to understand how Buddhahood is not at all a wavering state of insight, which is what makes it a worthy goal for anyone. I have also read enough teachings by Buddhas from history to know that this is so. Having a permanent state of insight does not necessitate a self abiding soul. Tell me, are you aware that you are you from morning to night, through dream and waking? One may have momentary insights that help transcend the self bondage, but none the less, you always know that it's you transcending yourself, or of you being angry, being loving, being sad, being lonely, whatever. This is a permanent awareness that you have, even when you die, you'll know that it's you that is dying. It's you that is reading this. You will also know when you are a Buddha, and you will always be a Buddha once you realize this. This is what the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra means when it talks about atman. It's the constant realization of the Dharmakaya (which basically just means shunyata).

When you try to explain nuclear fusion to an ant, things might end up badly. Communication with other species has never gone well. I might feel sad about the fact that people sometimes worry too much about aliens visiting us while first of all, we have not even been able to make solar energy our primary power source. Secondly, we have not even succeeded in communicating with dolphins, whales, elephants. We have not yet discussed politics and business with cows and chickens. We have never even been able to peacefully live amongst apes and gorilla's. How can we make room for aliens that have technology consisting of power that requires more responsibility then any of our wisest gods could ever dream of having. I say its time for us to pay a visit to the dolphins and whales. They are the real intelligent creatures and they live right here on earth.

Last night I had a very interesting dream that I want to share with you. I was in the underground with some people that I don't know very well. We prepared for a an energy transmission, we sat quietly and waited for Osho doing his transmission. He did it and he healed my kidney. It was really a nice feeling. I woke up and I was quite surprised. Actually I'm not an Osho-fan, I know who he was but I never did his meditations. I'm not into energy transmissions too but I do regulary qigong. Moreover I don't have any big problem at my kidneys (as far as I know...); anyway I'm sometimes stressed because of working or studying; I don't have a girlfriend and I'm not really emotionally balanced; I do kung fu, strength training and qigong in order to balance. I got this dream as a gift. Comments are welcome.

When insight of anatta arises, everything already comes full circle (doesn't mean final insight tho). Before that, whatever you do including trying to accept things, neti the views etc, all attempts and actions at pacifying suffering are still part of the loop. If you are still in the nightmare of dream monsters then all attempts to alleviate the suffering by acceptance, transformation, purification, whatever you want to do about it... Wouldn't work and is more unnecessary actions. Once the dream monster is seen to be baseless (seen, not thought) then nothing needs to be done. For example the insight of anatta means in thinking just thought, in seeing just seen. Means thoughts of monster, just a thought. Thoughts of self, just a thought. A manifestation. If there is in thinking just thought, then the sense of self is also just a thought, a manifestation then by definition it cannot be a real entity. In that case whatever arises is simply as it is and nothing needs to be done about them. There is no need to push away thoughts of self or anything at all in search of "freedom" when they are no longer taken to have a solid basis. Only when anatta is not realized, self is taken to have basis, that there is this whole attempt to "get rid of ego", "seek for freedom", etc. Usually these people have various degrees of transcendental experiences, but the realization of anatta has not arisen. After anatta, all these simply become meaningless. So what does freedom look like? Birds are singing, grass is green, thoughts about myself, thoughts about monsters and santa claus. Everything is amazing as it is. This is certainly a freedom that transcends notions and attachment of freedom, it certainly includes ignorance and enlightenment (three poisons itself is liberation). This certainly is ordinary mind. P.s. I think Master Seung Sahn 360 degrees is substantial nonduality, not anatta.

Saying that you will never become deluded or doubtful is a pipe dream. You are saying that your realization cannot be affected. You are saying that it is not subject to change. According to your own belief in dependent arising, logically, wisdom cannot be without ignorance. What if you did get deluded by self-views, though? What would you do? Regardless of how fast or slow it changes, your realization has the potential to change. Everything does. That means that it is possible for ignorance to creep in. It is possible for your realization to fall apart. And you will push that ignorance that creeps in out via your realizations. Correct? Just as I said, you are craving for permanence.

Going out of context again. Sure, I prefer to eat ice cream than eat shit. That is not what is in question here. Thuscomeone thinks I prefer the thought "there is no self" than "there is self". I say those thoughts are completely irrelevant. Once you wake up from a dream, you can never again believe in the dream monster, so whether thoughts of the monster arise again is completely irrelevant - I can keep thinking "self, self, self" or "monster, santa claus, rabbits with horns" without a problem - I simply can never ever believe that it is anything more than an empty label. More precisely, it is not that I "believe it is an empty label", there is no beliefs involved, rather it is a freedom from beliefs, fabrications, illusions. The thought "self" or "monster" is as ok or irrelevant (irrelevant as in having no real actual basis or relevance to reality) as the thought "no monster" or "no self". I live life without any regards to thoughts of "self", "no self", "baseless" etc. But this arises due to realization. Otherwise it is like what lucky said, merely creating another view of "no view", neti neti-ing away but still stuck in the loop. This is not true freedom. When realization arises, there is no need to reject views or neti them away, they simply become irrelevant. Thoughts of "self" is as self-liberating as thoughts of "no-self". This is true freedom that does not reject anything but sees it for what it is. The view and practice leads to the realization, which then renders the view irrelevant (the raft itself is dropped). But this is not done by neti-ing away the view, it simply happens when the raft serves its purpose - it dissolves everything including itself. Vimalakirti Sutra says wrong views are liberation not the eradication of views, three poisons are liberation not the eradication of poisons. What does that mean? Consider what I said above and you'll see.

You still don't get it. When you wake up from a dream of monsters, you just get on with life without ever believing in a real monster. You simply do not even give a second thought about monsters again! Why the hell would you want to keep thinking about whether there is monster or not? That's already seen through and dropped, you just move on. Ditto to notions of 'self'.

Let me try again: When you wake up from a dream of monsters, do you need to argue whether it exists? No. You see it is an illusion. Full stop. Only when you are sleep you try to argue. Of course I am being honest - no such illusion of self ever arose again. When you wake up from a dream of monsters, you do not want the thought "there is no monster" to be permanent. You just go on with your daily life, without the illusion and the suffering. That's all.

There is no self means there is no actual self, that self is mere fabrication. So no, I would not say that there is no self means there is a self. No self ("you can't pin down the Tathagata as a truth or reality even in the present life") points out the fabricated nature of self, just like 'no santa claus' points out the fabricated nature of santa claus, without implying there is a real santa claus that could exist or become non-existent. In other words: when the unfindability of something is realized, there is no more basis for the establishment of an entity in order for the four extremes to work. No, once you realize the construct of self is an illusion, you do not need to cling to any thoughts of self or no-self. You do not need any thought to be permanent. Just as I have said so many times: once you wake up from a nightmare of dream monsters, you will not ever again suffer from the delusion of dream monsters, nor do you need to constantly remind yourself that there is no dream monster, nor do you need to make any thoughts about it permanent. The need to remind yourself, do something about the dream monster, get rid of it, attempt to remember that there is no dream monster, or whatever, can only occur when you are asleep. When you wake up, all those actions are ridiculous and baseless and unnecessary. In other words: what matters is whether the realization has occur or not. It's either you wake up, or not. If you do not, then you'll do all kinds of things about the dream monster (attempt to get rid of it, try to wake up from it, try to remember it is a dream, whatever - all of which presumes some reality to the monster) - when you realize no dream monster can be found or pinned down as an actual truth, you're free from needing to do anything with regards to an unreal fabrication. I never needed to remember or make permanent the thought 'there is no self' (except to point out something to others) ever once since realization of anatta occured. There is just a thoughtless sensate delight of just intimate (no distance/separation) seeing, just hearing, without any self-referencing.

The non-existence and existence of self predicates an inherently, independently existing self-entity to be found, that could come into existence, cease, be, or not be, etc. In other words: if realization of anatta arises, that there is in seeing just the seen, in hearing just the heard, just the five skandhas in which no self can be pinned down or located within or apart from the five skandhas, then thoughts of the existence or non-existence (or both and neither) of a self is found to be baseless. In Buddha's words: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.086.than.html "What do you think: Do you regard the Tathagata as form-feeling-perception-fabrications-consciousness?" "No, lord." "Do you regard the Tathagata as that which is without form, without feeling, without perception, without fabrications, without consciousness?" "No, lord." "And so, Anuradha — when you can't pin down the Tathagata as a truth or reality even in the present life — is it proper for you to declare, 'Friends, the Tathagata — the supreme man, the superlative man, attainer of the superlative attainment — being described, is described otherwise than with these four positions: The Tathagata exists after death, does not exist after death, both does & does not exist after death, neither exists nor does not exist after death'?"" And no, I do not completely agree with Thanissaro Bhikkhu's article as his article failed to elucidate the realization of anatta. Seeing things as not-self does not imply the realization that you can't pin down a self as a truth or reality, that there is in seeing just the seen, in hearing just the heard. Like I said, I do not cling to any thoughts about anatta. 'I' woke up from a dream, a fabrication, that has no reality at all apart as a mental fabrication, a dream - to even say it exists or not exists would be ridiculous.

"The self is unfindable" - "In seeing there is just the seen, no seer" - is not a thought, but a direct realization that ends all reification of self. There is no self to cling, and no no-self to cling. There is in seeing just the seen, which is not a thought. A seer is a thought-construct, like a thought construct of santa claus. It has as much reality as rabbits with horns. It is imagined, fabricated. 'There is no santa claus' is also a thought, but once you see that santa claus is false, you do not cling to the thought 'there is no santa claus'. To cling to the thought 'there is no santa claus' implies you are still uncertain whether there is santa claus or not, and you want to cling to a familiar thought to remind yourself. No such problems exist when realization occurs. When you wake up from a nightmare, you do not need to remind yourself that there is no dream-monster to comfort yourself. You simply woke up (from delusion, from fabrication, from imagination), period. That is why right view is needed, with right contemplation and investigation, and when realization occurs, the view (that there is no santa claus, no rabbits with horns, no self/agent, for example) itself naturally dissolves. It should not be done prematurely. No, I do not attempt to bring up a thought of 'no self'.

You asked me what I am concerned with. I am not even concerned about suffering. Concerning is a form of suffering. See highlighted: When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness. Shariputra, all Dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure; and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or Dharmas; no field of the eyes up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, and no Way, and no understanding and no attaining. Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva through reliance on Prajna Paramita is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana! All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi through reliance on Prajna Paramita. Therefore know that Prajna Paramita is a Great Spiritual Mantra, a Great Bright Mantra, a Supreme Mantra, an Unequalled Mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the Mantra of Prajna Paramita was spoken. Recite it like this: Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté Bodhi Svaha! End of The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra Copyright © 1997 Buddhist Text Translation Society, For permission to reproduce in any format whatsoever, contact: The International Translation Institute 1777 Murchison Drive Burlingame, CA USA, 94010-4504 (415) 692-5912 phone (415) 692-5056 fax

No, the realization of emptiness is not a view. The view must be distinguished from the realization, and from the practice. I wish you guys could read the very long Chinese article (which I wrote to my local and Taiwanese dharma teacher - it is an article about my recent realization of emptiness) which explains all these in details... but I don't have the time to translate so I will write in short a few points. View, realization, practice. View: understand dependent origination, emptiness. An indispensible factor that leads to realization. Do not think 'viewless view is highest, therefore I should abandon all views' - view that leads to realization itself will be abandoned by the realization. In other words, before you ride the raft to the other shore, don't jump into the river or abandon ship. But when you reach the shore, it is natural that you would abandon the raft. But not prematurely. Realization: realizing everything as being like an illusion but not an illusion. More later. Practice: if everything is like an illusion but not an illusion, there is nothing to grasp, since nothing to grasp, there is nothing to abandon, nothing to cling and abandon... this is the 'practice'. About the realization of emptiness: emptiness is twofold. (glossary) "Two emptinesses (二空) include (1) emptiness of self, the ātman, the soul, in a person composed of the five aggregates, constantly changing with causes and conditions; and (2) emptiness of selves in all dharmas—each of the five aggregates, each of the twelve fields, and each of the eighteen spheres, as well as everything else with no independent existence. No-self in any dharma implies no-self in a person, but the latter is separated out in the first category. Realization of the emptiness of self in a person will lead to attainment of Arhatship or Pratyekabuddhahood. Bodhisattvas who have realized both emptinesses ascend to the First Ground on their Way to Buddhahood." How does emptiness of dharmas help, you ask? They are necessary for deepening liberation. You said: only emptiness of self is necessary for liberation. Yes this is true, BUT Emptiness of Dharma IS the Emptiness of Self, it is the same insight but taken a lot further - Bodhisattvas apply the wisdom of emptiness in all aspects of life and daily encounters so they remain liberated while fully engaged in samsara. They realize the emptiness not only of selves but of all dharmas and phenomena. Bodhisattvas do not seek a Nirvana over samsara, they remain and return to samsara and yet remain liberated engaging and liberating others. They abide in the Nirvana of non-abiding, neither steering towards the Arhat's cessation nor towards clinging of samsara. Master Shen Kai (my Mahayana master) writes: "Bodhisattvas enter the world to save beings as their appointment. They require the four (entering-world) patience: 1) The patience of birthless dharma, 2) The patience of cessation-less dharma, 3) The patience of obtaining causes and conditions, 4) The patience of non-abiding. All dharmas, it's nature is empty and quiescent, originally it is without birth; since it is without birth, there is no cessation; all dharmas, depend on the aggregation of causes and conditions for its arising, and depends on the meeting of causes and conditions for its cessation; Bodhisattvas live in the world of arising and subsiding dharmas, transforming beings according to conditions, saving them from sufferings and difficulties, saving the world and its beings, not abiding in any dharmas, therefore it is called non-abiding. Bodhisattvas are able to attain the four patience dharmas, therefore they are also able to transcend all breaking of precepts and transgressions, therefore this is called 'liberate beings dharma patience." Because the nature of samsara is birthless, deathless, empty and quiescent, samsara is nirvana when rightly seen. This is the nirvana of bodhisattvas, not the cessation of feelings and perceptions (nirodha samapatti) that arhats enter after death. Now, about the realization of emptiness, I set up a new section in my e-book dedicated to the realization of emptiness... recently. http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-e-booke-journal.html Realization is not view. Loppon Namdrol: At base, the main fetter of self-grasping is predicated upon naive reification of existence and non-existence. Dependent origination is what allows us to see into the non-arising nature of dependently originated phenomena, i.e. the self-nature of our aggregates. Thus, right view is the direct seeing, in meditative equipoise, of this this non-arising nature of all phenomena. As such, it is not a "view" in the sense that is something we hold as concept, it is rather a wisdom which "flows" into our post-equipoise and causes us to truly perceive the world in the following way in Nagarjuna's Bodhicittavivarana: "Form is similar to a foam, Feeling is like water bubbles, Ideation is equivalent with a mirage, Formations are similar with a banana tree, Consciousness is like an illusion." ... "In other words, right view is the beginning of the noble path. It is certainly the case that dependent origination is "correct view"; when one analyzes a bit deeper, one discovers that in the case "view" means being free from views. The teaching of dependent origination is what permits this freedom from views. The teaching of dependent origination is what permits this freedom from views." Thusness: The real purpose is the ‘freedom’ from ‘inherent’ view and then releases itself from any forming of ‘views’ so that the magic of functioning can be realized and directly experienced. However during the journey, there is always attachment here and there… therefore the ‘emptying of emptiness’. We go through step by step in dissolving the knot of ‘inherency’ till we see that ‘mind’ is the full embodiment of the immediate marvelous activity. Just eating, seeing, sensing, tasting, thinking...simply sound, thoughts, scenery and scents. Nothing within and without, only this spontaneous miraculous functioning, an interplay of dharma. When we entertain conceptual knowledge and seek unchanging Awareness or Self, the marvelous ‘interconnectedness’ of functioning is being misunderstood as ‘something’ being transformed into ‘something’ as if ‘winter’ has been transformed into ‘spring’. It is also important to take note not to ascribe the functioning to a ‘higher’ power. That is because of ‘a thought of personality’ that creates the confusion. If there is no attachment to a self, identity, personality, then the functioning itself is marvellous without reification, or any form of personification. Also, to truly get into this ‘magic’ of functioning, the doing away of the ‘how’ is also important. It arises when we penetrate and look deeply the where-about of anything. Just magical appearances. My description of the realization: http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com/2011/06/unborn-dharma.html I should say the realization of the unborn dharma (from shunyata) arose the day after you sent me this PM - the details of which can be found in the last ten to twenty pages of my ebook - new materials just added on sunday, in a new chapter called "shunyata". The realization arose spontaneously while simultaneously reading and contemplating an article from a highly experienced mahamudra practitioner/blogger, Chodpa, owner of the blog luminous emptiness. The realization of unborn from the perspective of emptiness is the realization that everything experienced - thoughts and sensate perceptions are utterly unlocatable, ungraspable, empty. In investigation where did thought arise from, where is thought currently located, and where will thought go to, it is discovered that thoughts are indeed like a magician's trick! No source can be located, no destination can be found, and the thought is located nowhere at all - it is unfindable, ungraspable... Yet "it" magically and vividly appears! Out of nowhere, in nowhere, to nowhere, dependently originated and empty... A magical apparition appears, vividly luminously yet empty. When this is seen, there is an amazement, wonder, and great bliss arising out of direct cognition of the magic of empty luminosity. So how is this linked to unborn? It is realized that everything is literally an appearance, a display, a function, and this display is nowhere inherent or located anywhere - so like a dream, like a tv show, characters of the show may vividly appear to suffer birth and death and yet we know it is simply a show - it's undeniably there (vividly appearing) yet it's not really there. It has no actual birth, death, place of origin, place of abidance, place of destination, ground, core, substance. ... Lankavatara Sutra: Mahamati: How did the Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas abandon the view of an absolute arising, dwelling, or dissolving? [buddha]: They abandoned it in this manner. They cognized that all phenomena are like an ephemeral illusion and dream, that they are detached from the duality of self and others, and that they are therefore unborn [emptiness.] They focused on the mind's manifestations and cognized external reality as unreal. By perceiving the unreality of phenomena, they brought about the cessation of the outflowing sensory consciousness. Because they cognized the unreality of their psychosomatic aggregates and the interacting conditions of the three planes of cosmic existence as originating from their deluded mind, they saw external and internal phenomena as devoid of any inherent nature and as transcending all concepts. Having abandoned the view of an absolute arising [of phenomena,] they realized the illusory nature and thereby attained insight into the unborn Dharma [expanse of emptiness.] The text further states that by abandoning the view of arising, dwelling or dissolving through the realization, you attain the first (or even to the eighth) bhumi's patience of the birthlessness of dharma. .... Emptiness... emptiness.... In normal, everyday life, when someone uses the word “emptiness”, it usually has a negative connotion. Like a 'lack of something'... like as if life is lacking something (e.g. "life feels so empty nowadays"). If anything, things lack ‘inherent, unchanging, independent existence’… yet they are wondrously, intensely vividly luminous and apparent! Unfortunately, the teaching of 'emptiness', along with other teachings of Buddha (including the most common misperception of Buddha's teaching as 'Life is Suffering' which is certainly NOT what he said!*) gives the misconception of Buddhism as having a life-denying, pessimistic view of the world. But this is NOT the Buddhist understanding of Emptiness! Form is emptiness, emptiness IS form! Emptiness IS Fullness! I can assure you when you realize emptiness, you will marvel, be amazed, at the whole universe as a magical apparition... it's like Whoa, the universe is magic, luminous and empty, clearly manifest yet no-thing 'there'! No place of origin, place of abidance, and destination - to thoughts, to sensate experiences... just a clear display of luminous apparitions. Shunyata is a wonder. This is a wonderful truth... This is nothing dreadful... and is nothing short of Great Bliss. The luminous and empty universe is spontaneously perfected, lacking nothing, amazing! *The Buddha taught that suffering is a part and parcel of life, or to put it more simply, 'there is suffering in life', and that there is a way to end suffering. He did NOT say "Life is Suffering" or "Life can only be suffering" even though sadly, this is what many teachers are promoting - their own distortion of Buddha's original words. For more info see this well-written article: Life Isn't Just Suffering by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (update) p.s. found something from a great article, http://www.ktgrinpoche.org/KTGR%20Buddhadharm%20Flashing%20Lances.pdf "When you put the two truths together in this way, you get Milarepa’s two lines: E ma, the phenomena of the three realms of samsara, While not existing, they appear – how incredibly amazing! The three realms of samsara are dreamlike – while not existing they appear, while appearing they are empty of inherent nature, and so they are miraculous."