Going home to Buddhism

[Encephalon]

The Water Method is IMHO very close to Goenka vipassana.

 

So when scanning the body the objective is to see the three characteristics, impermanence, no-self and suffering.

 

Personally after having done neigong for some time, vipassana seems easier, ie. it is easier to sit for a longer time with a higher degree of concentration.

 

I concur. This is also what I was told by a qigong master/aikidoka.

Edited December 12, 2011 by Encephalon

[Vmarco]

[Simple_Jack]

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Edited February 5, 2014 by Simple_Jack

[Encephalon]

VM,

I too am exceedingly talented at lifting a sentence fragment out of someone else's text for the purpose of demonstrating my exalted station.

 

Buddhism does not speak with a monolithic voice; it has changed and has been changed by the various cultures it comes into contact with. I'm really not interested in your hit pieces on Thich Nhat Hanh or any other teacher or school. Please reconsider the kind of presence you wish to construct in here.

Edited December 12, 2011 by Encephalon

[Simple_Jack]

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Edited February 5, 2014 by Simple_Jack

[Vmarco]

[Encephalon]

I'm not interested in pieces passing Thich Nhat Hanh off as a Buddhist of any sort,...who was not mentioned in my post above. But if that is what you wish to discuss....

 

I have no wish to discuss anything with you, much less investigating compassion with a contentious attitude. You're free to start your own posts, of course.

[Vmarco]

I have no wish to discuss anything with you, much less investigating compassion with a contentious attitude. You're free to start your own posts, of course.

 

Oh,...in other words, this thread is not open to anyone who disagrees with you.

 

"Man is to be known in three ways:

As inferior, mediocre and excellent.

 

He who by any means whatsoever

Provides for the pleasures of Saṃsāra

For himself alone,

Is called an inferior man.

 

He who turns his back to the pleasures of the world

And abstains from evil deeds,

But provides only for his own peace,

Is called a mediocre man.

 

He who seriously wants to dispel

All the misery of others,

Because in the stream of his own being he has understood the nature of misery,

Is an excellent man.

 

Standing in the boat of the human body,

You should cross the great flood of misery.

Since later this boat is difficult to get,

Do not sleep now, you fool."

 

Jewel Ornament of Liberation

[Aaron]

Oh,...in other words, this thread is not open to anyone who disagrees with you.

 

"Man is to be known in three ways:

As inferior, mediocre and excellent.

 

He who by any means whatsoever

Provides for the pleasures of Saṃsāra

For himself alone,

Is called an inferior man.

 

He who turns his back to the pleasures of the world

And abstains from evil deeds,

But provides only for his own peace,

Is called a mediocre man.

 

He who seriously wants to dispel

All the misery of others,

Because in the stream of his own being he has understood the nature of misery,

Is an excellent man.

 

Standing in the boat of the human body,

You should cross the great flood of misery.

Since later this boat is difficult to get,

Do not sleep now, you fool."

 

Jewel Ornament of Liberation

 

Beautiful. That's all I can say. It really says more than I could. Thanks for this.

 

Aaron

[Aaron]

I was thinking today about leaving my home. In a few days someone will come to pick me up and drive me away and I'm not sure when I'll be able to come back. You would think I would be filled with sadness and remorse, but I'm not. Lately what I've realized is that the people I know, the pets I have, everything will still be here when I am somewhere else, the only thing that will change is where I am at.

 

We all think of home as the place where we can find peace, strength, and love, but perhaps that's our first mistake, because so long as we see one place as home, then we will never really find our home. For me my home is not Buddhism, Taoism, scriptures, or texts, but the place within that realizes that this is all transient, that the perceptions that I have about this world, do not change the nature of the world, but only how I choose to perceive it.

 

When you struggle, feel down, lonely, and lost, you say, "how much more must I suffer?" But that isn't what you should say, but rather it should be, "it's good that I am suffering and not you." All the jobs I was passed over for were a blessing, not for me, but for someone else who got a job, so I can look at those occurrences and know that something good came from them.

 

When we see Buddhism as a home, what we are saying is that somehow it is our strength, peace, a place where we can find love, but really Buddhism is just words and thoughts passed on from one to another, it is as transient as the leaf falling to the earth. The place that we call truly call home is in a place very few look, so they never find it. It is a place not within, but all around. It is by meditating and contemplation that one come to this realization, and when they realize this they do not say, "it was all for naught", rather they say, "it was always here, I just didn't know it."

 

Open you eyes and you can see, uncover your ears and you can hear, open your mind and you will know, open your heart and you will feel, but give all this up and you will realize that none of these things matter so much. It is not what you see, hear, think, or feel that is important, but rather what you choose to do to better another's life.

 

Those who give without question, without doubt, without praise, without pretense, are the ones that practice Buddhism. It is the man who runs in the burning building to save the child, knowing that he will be burnt that practices Buddhism. It is the man who stops and buys a sandwich for the hungry man on the corner that practices Buddhism. It is the man who sees another in grief and eases that persons suffering that practices Buddhism. The Buddhist is not here for the dead, but for the living.

 

Aaron

Edited December 14, 2011 by Twinner

[Encephalon]

The Water Method is IMHO very close to Goenka vipassana.

 

So when scanning the body the objective is to see the three characteristics, impermanence, no-self and suffering.

 

Personally after having done neigong for some time, vipassana seems easier, ie. it is easier to sit for a longer time with a higher degree of concentration.

 

I just purchased a copy of "Letting Go: Meditation for Modern Living" by

Bruce Frantzis. If the reviews are any indication, this is the volume needed to get the info needed for more precise instuction in the inner dissolving method, specifics that are not available in "Energy Gates..." or the "Relaxing into Your Being..." series. Thanks for bringing up this parallel, by the way.

[lifeforce]

I just purchased a copy of "Letting Go: Meditation for Modern Living" by

Bruce Frantzis. If the reviews are any indication, this is the volume needed to get the info needed for more precise instuction in the inner dissolving method, specifics that are not available in "Energy Gates..." or the "Relaxing into Your Being..." series. Thanks for bringing up this parallel, by the way.

 

Excellent ! Thanks for the info.

[growant]

Encephalon-

 

Did you find Frantzis' material more helpful/effective than Chu's/Borelli's nei kung? If so, how so? thanks-