Bias against New Age

[Jetsun]

How would you most concisely define new age?

Its very difficult to define concisely, many would define it as a bunch of folks picking and choosing bits of spirituality from all over the world from both Eastern and Western traditions and combining it with things like crystal work, spirit chanelling, healing, working with angels. Then there are beliefs like the coming age of Aquarius and the return of the Goddess.

 

Chanelling spirits is a part of it, the book "A course in miracles" is meant to be channeled from Jesus. Then there are others like Sandrah Romaine who channels a spirit called Orin. I understand that many equate it with bullshit, but I was amazed myself that when I actually red such chanelled books I thought they were often very good.

 

The problem with people who dismiss it all is that a lot of the New Age thought derives from authentic knowledge and practice, so a lot of what they practice will be genuine and useful, the problem being its also mixed up with bullshit and con artists also. I have found through my own experience that some of the things which look like fiction can be the most powerful so I am more open minded these days to it all.

[teriyaki]

The problem with people who dismiss it all is that a lot of the New Age thought derives from authentic knowledge and practice, so a lot of what they practice will be genuine and useful, the problem being its also mixed up with bullshit and con artists also. I have found through my own experience that some of the things which look like fiction can be the most powerful so I am more open minded these days to it all.

 

Take bashar for example. You don't have to believe that an ET is talking through him to appreciate the stuff he says, I find some of it to be thought provoking and easily applied to daily life.

[RongzomFan]

Chanelling spirits is a part of it, the book "A course in miracles" is meant to be channeled from Jesus. Then there are others like Sandrah Romaine who channels a spirit called Orin. I understand that many equate it with bullshit, but I was amazed myself that when I actually red such chanelled books I thought they were often very good.

 

Yes, these hungry ghosts are pretty good at appealing to humans. They say stuff like you are an advanced soul, consciously incarnating to help humanity.

[RongzomFan]

Basically, I will trust a channeller if they have at least achieved shamatha, because that means they have a clear enough mind to actually do this sort of thing properly. How many New Age channellers have achieved shamatha?

 

Why would you trust any hungry ghost?

[idiot_stimpy]

How does one actually channel? Could a person going through extreme suffering in mental institution channel different spirits?

[RongzomFan]

How does one actually channel?

 

You get relaxed and invite spirits to enter you.

[idiot_stimpy]

No thanks

[RongzomFan]

What if the spirit says they are your "spirit guide"?

 

Would you channel it? Would you invite it to enter you?

 

Spirits don't lie right?

Edited August 5, 2013 by alwayson

[idiot_stimpy]

Do they communicate through your mode of thinking?

 

All thoughts should be watched from a distance.

 

There is something about spirit guides that repulse me.

 

In meditation anything that rises up is let fall back down.

[RongzomFan]

I personally believe that Yahweh and Allah are also hungry ghosts

[RongzomFan]

Some knowledgeable Buddhists say they are gyalpos.

[teknix]

Well if they really exist how about some evidence?

 

I mean if they are privy to more knowledge then it should be easy enough to affirm, I always thought bashar is a joke.

[nine tailed fox]

what if all the channeled beings are trying to invade earth and conquer it lol

 

teaching humans weird techniques so they become more vulnerable

 

now thats called a conspiracy

 

i would like to save earth if this happens

 

nine tailed fox saved earth

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

Greetings..

 

 

My experience is simple.. stop attaching to beliefs, still the mind.. let go of your "same language and conceptual framework", that is the obstacle to you and i discussing the same experience productively.. you are insisting that what you experience fit into a preconceived model (conceptual framework).. the 'still mind' allows insights to be experienced without the stain of beliefs and conceptual frameworks, the still mind reveals the relationship between insight and Life, rather than the active mind's belief that it can force insight into its belief models.. liberation is not dependent on 'insight', though insight can be useful.. liberation is dependent on letting go of all beliefs and knowings, and if insight reveals that actuality, cool..

 

Be well..

 

Omniversiality doesn't "have room for" exclusiveness.

that "stain of beliefs" cannot be eliminated, only placed in a conductive combination in relation to all things elsewise.

 

 

 

This is true of all things: Politics, drugs, pizzas, the sky. omniversiality is not jeet kune do: to eliminate the "useless" and hone the "useful"; that is exclusiveness, reactionary, and specialization.

 

To be omniversal, you keep your flaws and find their faces, get to know them, and learn their personhood, just as you already do for your edges and advantages.

[Tibetan_Ice]

You get relaxed and invite spirits to enter you.

 

Gee Alwaysoff, do you even know the distinction between channeling and mediumship?

 

And let me ask you this.. In the guru practice of visualizing the deity/guru in front of you, and then finally dissolving the deity/guru into your body space as practised by various Buddhists, what exactly do you call that? Aren't you opening the door for hungry ghosts or malevalent beings to enter your space?

[Apech]

Gee Alwaysoff, do you even know the distinction between channeling and mediumship?

 

And let me ask you this.. In the guru practice of visualizing the deity/guru in front of you, and then finally dissolving the deity/guru into your body space as practised by various Buddhists, what exactly do you call that? Aren't you opening the door for hungry ghosts or malevalent beings to enter your space?

No. Its different. For a number of reasons but mostly because the yiddam is an aspect of the dharmakaya or union of emptiness and luminosity. You dissolve the deity back into the void during the practice.

[Tibetan_Ice]

No. Its different. For a number of reasons but mostly because the yiddam is an aspect of the dharmakaya or union of emptiness and luminosity. You dissolve the deity back into the void during the practice.

 

Hi Apech,

I'm not talking about the meditations where you dissolve the deity/guru into space, I'm talking specifically about the ones that say to bring the entity/deity/guru you've visualized into your being.. like this one:

 

http://www.fpmt-osel.org/meditate/buddha.htm

 

Absorption

Imagine that the teachers and their thrones dissolve into light and are absorbed into the Buddha's body. Next, imagine that the texts and their thrones dissolve similarly and absorb into the Buddha. Imagine now that the throne is absorbed into the lotus, the lotus into the sun, the sun into the moon and the moon into the body of the Buddha. Buddha now comes to the crown of your head, facing the same direction as you, dissolves into brilliant, white light and dissolves into your body through the crown of your head, filling your body once again with this brilliant light.

 

or this one:

 

http://www.thubtenchodron.org/PrayersAndPractices/meditation_on_the_buddha.html

 

Absorption

At the conclusion of your meditation, the Buddha on your head melts into light and dissolves into you. Your body, speech, and mind become inseparable from those of the Buddha(5). (Meditate)

 

or this one:

 

http://books.google.ca/books?id=JoRiiHYcClsC&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=dissolve+buddha+into+your+body&source=bl&ots=7jlnIqCnVy&sig=u5AhxXLeHWdPRFColnpftxgoccg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_Pj_UeyfG_LSiAKW1IGgBw&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=dissolve%20buddha%20into%20your%20body&f=false

 

Please appear here and dissolve into me right now without any delay whatsoever..

 

Those are just some links I found on the net. I could go through all my books but I don't want to take the time.

I've read this technique all over the place, in many Buddhist meditation practices.. that is what I'm talking about..

 

TI

[Apech]

Hi Apech,

I'm not talking about the meditations where you dissolve the deity/guru into space, I'm talking specifically about the ones that say to bring the entity/deity/guru you've visualized into your being.. like this one:

 

http://www.fpmt-osel.org/meditate/buddha.htm

 

 

 

or this one:

 

http://www.thubtenchodron.org/PrayersAndPractices/meditation_on_the_buddha.html

 

 

 

or this one:

 

http://books.google.ca/books?id=JoRiiHYcClsC&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=dissolve+buddha+into+your+body&source=bl&ots=7jlnIqCnVy&sig=u5AhxXLeHWdPRFColnpftxgoccg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_Pj_UeyfG_LSiAKW1IGgBw&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=dissolve%20buddha%20into%20your%20body&f=false

 

 

 

Those are just some links I found on the net. I could go through all my books but I don't want to take the time.

I've read this technique all over the place, in many Buddhist meditation practices.. that is what I'm talking about..

 

TI

 

There are different stages in sadhana , development , completion and so on. That is all.

[RongzomFan]

Gee Alwaysoff, do you even know the distinction between channeling and mediumship?

 

And let me ask you this.. In the guru practice of visualizing the deity/guru in front of you, and then finally dissolving the deity/guru into your body space as practised by various Buddhists, what exactly do you call that? Aren't you opening the door for hungry ghosts or malevalent beings to enter your space?

 

 

You are not even a Buddhist, let alone a Vajrayana practitioner.

 

You are a self-admitted New Age Christian.

[C T]

Gee Alwaysoff, do you even know the distinction between channeling and mediumship?

 

And let me ask you this.. In the guru practice of visualizing the deity/guru in front of you, and then finally dissolving the deity/guru into your body space as practised by various Buddhists, what exactly do you call that? Aren't you opening the door for hungry ghosts or malevalent beings to enter your space?

In a word, no. (to the last question)

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

if you are questioning a practice or formula from a stance of disbelief or disacknowledgement, you will be prepared to reject the defenses, whereas if you were genuinely curious, rather than trying to disprove, you would form your questions with a pursuit of understanding, rather than ignoring.

[Creation]

In a word, no. (to the last question)

It would be nice if everything always worked the way it's supposed to, but sometimes it doesn't.

[Tibetan_Ice]

You are not even a Buddhist, let alone a Vajrayana practitioner.

 

You are a self-admitted New Age Christian.

 

Liar. Where exactly do I say that I am a 'self-admitted New Age Christian'? I am none of the sort, nor have I ever said I was.

 

I do not put labels on myself, I am simply a human being having experiences. I am not Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic..

 

Your self-centered elitist attitude really sucks Alwaysoff. You can't seem to see past your nose, and that is too bad because you always seem to be looking down your nose at other people and their belief systems.

[C T]

It would be nice if everything always worked the way it's supposed to, but sometimes it doesn't.

Guru Yoga is a devotional practice. Westerners seem to have a hard time with it, generally speaking. Do you agree?

 

Follow the practical guidelines with faith and care. Its the only way to experience the ocean of kindness from one's Guru. Hungry Ghosts and other spirits also desire the Guru's equanimous kindness.

[C T]

As said In The Tantra of All-containing Jewels,

 

No matter who practices for one hundred thousand aeons,

By meditating on one hundred thousand deities,

Just remembering the Lama is supreme.

The merit of this is limitless.

More than practicing and reciting a million mantras,

Praying once to the Lama is supreme.

 

 

 

And Saraha said, "For those who hold the Lama's speech in their heart, it will be like seeing a precious treasure in the palm of their hand."