1959

[sifusufi]

Question...

 

Why did Tibet allow China to forcefully conquer them when all these meditating monks with sidhis could have done a Max or a John Chang on their ass?

 

And...

 

Why did the U.S with all the military muscle available sit and allow the revolutionary Castro regime to usurp

billions(!) of U.S. assets?

 

Just thinkin'

[mewtwo]

to answer your first question and this is what i honestly belive is that siddhis dont exist they are like a hook for people to say hay if you practice enough look what you can do and then when they have practiced for years with no result then they are too far in to back away. And then they reach enlightenment and understand the truth.

 

I wil answer your second question with a question, Why did the us and such not help the rawanden people during there time of need?

[sifusufi]

to answer your first question and this is what i honestly belive is that siddhis dont exist they are like a hook for people to say hay if you practice enough look what you can do and then when they have practiced for years with no result then they are too far in to back away. And then they reach enlightenment and understand the truth.

 

I wil answer your second question with a question, Why did the us and such not help the rawanden people during there time of need?

 

Brilliant!

 

Wish I knew as well...

 

Thought provoking isn't it?

[mewtwo]

yeah it so is i guess.

[Cat Pillar]

Question...

 

Why did Tibet allow China to forcefully conquer them when all these meditating monks with sidhis could have done a Max or a John Chang on their ass?

 

And...

 

Why did the U.S with all the military muscle available sit and allow the revolutionary Castro regime to usurp

billions(!) of U.S. assets?

 

Just thinkin'

 

I like Mewtwo's answer to the siddhis thing (I'm not sure I agree, but it's a solid position IMO), although I would interject that a definition of "siddhi" as used in this context would probably be useful.

 

As for allowing Castro to usurp billions of U.S. assets...either a political miscalculation or general human incompetence. Maybe someone didn't dot their i's and cross their t's, or someone was asleep at the watch.

 

Sometimes what appears to be a bad move early in the game can turn out to be a very good move in the middle or endgame, to use a Go analogy. And sometimes it turns out to be just what it appeared in the first place. Could be someone took a risk on a bold move and got burned.

[sifusufi]

a definition of "siddhi" as used in this context would probably be useful.

 

 

 

Something like this...

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=SLdYEpKkByg

 

[Protector]

I'd say, starting a war of that kind would be very selfish of them

[Friend]

Edited November 16, 2011 by Friend

[Cat Pillar]

Thanks for the clarification, sifusufi!

 

As for the two first videos...I have to admit my initial reaction is pretty cynical. Looks like a bunch of assholes people jumping around and flailing their arms .

 

Even if we were to take them at face value though, my personal opinion is still that such abilities would not be very effective against armies. Especially a modern army. So much training is involved to develop these abilities that few would have them - and any monkey with two arms can use a rifle. Numbers alone could prove problematic.

 

Now, show me someone going super saiyan and we might have something there!

[Jetsun]

The Tibetans tried to use their powers, I read one account where they tried to send the Chinese "Tantra Bombs" as they invaded but none of it worked or did anything. Most of those sorts of powers only work when the recipient is open or at least has their guard down, when people are closed the only thing that is powerful enough to penetrate is Boddhicitta but against an army that isn't much use, in the short term anyway.

[Dainin]

There are examples of groups which attempted to use "special powers" in combat against armed opponents. It didn't work. One would be the Boxer Rebellion in China, which took place around 1900. There was also a group in Africa called the "Lord's Resistance Army" which used child soldiers, and convinced them that they would become bulletproof through various rituals. There are probably many other examples. I don't doubt that strongly held spiritual beliefs could help someone become a better fighter. However, superior firepower and tactics usually win the battle.

[Pub(EPiC)ic_bOb]

Brilliant!

 

Wish I knew as well...

 

Thought provoking isn't it?

How can you see when you are in a rush and focused upon something?

How can you take a deep breath and smell everything in the area when you are in a rush or focused upon something?

How do you pay atention to images in your mind when you rush? You cant. You are too focused on one point to see them.

 

there is but an underwear that keeps us from the pussy of delight and it is a sharp studded one.

1. Do not rush (the mind takes over)

2. Feel

3. Every picture, sound, smell and sensation in our mind when it is still is a perfect reflection of our reality when we are in a calm state with no baclground thoughts or feelings.

4. Women naturally have higher dopamine levels that allow them to feel or be aware of multiple things at the same time. To be aware enough to uuse powers you must first be aware. Schizophrenics also have high dopamine levels, yet they developed paranoia, delirium dementia because they couldnt cope.

5. the mind is not a mixer for energy stop trying to use it as one.

6. when one is emotionally compromised powers can become unstable, volitile, dangerous or worthless.

7. Never refer to religious texts for guidance regarding powers. The wunderbar was only given orally.

 

That should answer onkly alw of ur qwestions.

 

Edit: i learned that from someone else here on the forum. i know he was white and i recycle him where he belong. no... i kidding. i kidding really hard.

Edited September 25, 2011 by Pub(EPiC)ic_bOb

[sifusufi]

 

 

That should answer onkly alw of ur qwestions.

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

Ron?

[sifusufi]

The Tibetans tried to use their powers, I read one account where they tried to send the Chinese "Tantra Bombs" as they invaded but none of it worked or did anything. Most of those sorts of powers only work when the recipient is open or at least has their guard down, when people are closed the only thing that is powerful enough to penetrate is Boddhicitta but against an army that isn't much use, in the short term anyway.

 

 

There are examples of groups which attempted to use "special powers" in combat against armed opponents. It didn't work. One would be the Boxer Rebellion in China, which took place around 1900. There was also a group in Africa called the "Lord's Resistance Army" which used child soldiers, and convinced them that they would become bulletproof through various rituals. There are probably many other examples. I don't doubt that strongly held spiritual beliefs could help someone become a better fighter. However, superior firepower and tactics usually win the battle.

 

Thanks for the history lesson!

 

It seems as if a "collective mind" has a force greater than the sum of it's parts

[doc benway]

to answer your first question and this is what i honestly belive is that siddhis dont exist they are like a hook for people to say hay if you practice enough look what you can do and then when they have practiced for years with no result then they are too far in to back away. And then they reach enlightenment and understand the truth.

 

I wil answer your second question with a question, Why did the us and such not help the rawanden people during there time of need?

I'm partly in agreement with your first point. Cultivation can create some very useful and meaningful personal insights and "powers" but probably not the sort of thing that can have a direct and physical impact on others from a military or martial perspective. I don't really buy the idea that "siddhis" exist as "a hook" to get people to practice. I think that people do gain a lot from their practice and some of the skills gained can appear as "magical" to the uninitiated or gullible. I also think that much is romanticized and misinterpreted and there is a basic human desire that there is something more than what we experience in our daily life. We really want to believe in the existence or possibility of magic and that is easy to exploit.

 

As far as Rwanda goes, the mass murder was so widespread through all levels of society and occurred so rapidly, there was no chance for any military force to prevent the majority of it. We simply could not have gotten enough people and resources in place quickly enough to stop it by the time it got rolling. Should we have responded differently? Absolutely. Would it have made a dramatic difference? Not a chance. I read an extremely good (and depressing) book on the subject called "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families" by Phillip Gourevitch which addressed that very issue.

[gendao]

I wil answer your second question with a question, Why did the us and such not help the rawanden people during there time of need?

Well, Rwanda has no oil nor political capital to exploit. Duh!

 

So, the real question is not why not, but why?

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Question...

 

Why did Tibet allow China to forcefully conquer them when all these meditating monks with sidhis could have done a Max or a John Chang on their ass?

 

 

I think that for the monks to engage in warfare would have been too contradictory to their beliefs. So, if they COULD do these magical things to destroy the lives of 100's of thousands of soldiers who themselves were basically victims of delusion and samsara, they would have abstained from going back on their vows by even trying to do harm with their power. It's also like, when a crazy deluded crack head on the curb starts yelling stuff at you, do you get angry and kick them in the face? You know that it's just nonsense and don't get involved. It was probably the same thing, except that the monks also had vows.

 

I think the "Tantra Bombs" would only affect the soldiers karmically, speeding up reciprocation rather than acting directly, and the highest monks would not allow themselves even ill will towards the players in the game from my understanding. I think most high level monks would not trade their adherence to The Path for their own life, and fighting may have caused more civilian casualties as well..

 

I don't know much about the Buddhist view on violence aside from abstaining from it.. Shaolin monks say that they will only return the energy projected towards them so the aggressor is committing suicide by trying to kill one of them. In life there is an unfortunate balance, imo, where some things must be cleared out which, self-servingly, persistently obstruct the "greater good".

 

edit: of course, not to be misunderstood that conquering Tibet was for the greater good.. I don't see there was more motivation than power.

Edited September 25, 2011 by Harmonious Emptiness

[thelerner]

Well, Rwanda has no oil nor political capital to exploit. Duh!

 

So, the real question is not why not, but why?

On question 1, Why didn't the powerful Tibetan meditators use magical powers to defend Tibet against the Chinese. I think Mewtew nailed it. Siddhis are evidently not all that powerful. I've seen live videos of John Chang with the power of a match and even a double aa battery, amazing but martially less useful then a slingshot.

 

2. Rwanda happened after the Black Hawk down incident. After losing lives and having service men broadcast torn to pieces and dragged naked through streets it was simply unpopular to intervene in African affairs. Which is unfortunate we could have saved lives, ironically by killing and destroying many other lives. The U.S. is a great fighting force, but terrible peace keepers. Point us in a direction and we can wipe out whats there, but intricate peace negotiations, we generally suck at. We're not the most culturally sensitive people.

 

3. Cuba. The U.S. was already tangled up with China and Russia and felt it best to take back Cuba subversively. Failed miserably and decided the best course of action was containment.

 

We tend to overly romanticize things and over estimate power. Take the fabled Shaolin temple, I quote: "The monastery has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. In 1641 the troops of anti-Ming rebel Li Zicheng sacked the monastery due to the monks' support of the Ming and the possible threat they posed to the rebels. This effectively destroyed the temple's fighting force.[6]

Perhaps the best-known story of the Temple's destruction is that it was destroyed by the Qing government for supposed anti-Qing activities. Variously said to have taken place in 1647 under the Shunzhi Emperor, in 1674 under the Kangxi Emperor, or in 1732 under the Yongzheng Emperor."

 

Mao's cultural revolution wasn't kind to it or dozens (hundreds?) of monasteries and the monks and masters within either.

Edited September 26, 2011 by thelerner