skydog Posted August 29, 2013 Quotes by Buddha who lived 2500 years ago, wouldn't fall under "new" age teachings. It is necessary to be grounded during meditation to absorb yin chi, and there are only 10 real masters on earth you could learn under. I was going to delete my comment, but it amused me so much.. Quotes by buddha are there to destroy belief structures of people who believe certain extremely skewed thoughts/paradigms too much. In Zazen they just sit, there is no instruction, because words can be misleading. A helpful teaching for one, will be another persons poison. So maybe it is your helpful teaching, I will leave you to it I guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 The issue for me was not if it was helpful or unhelpful, so much as if it was attributed to Buddha. You can't say a teaching directly attributed to Buddha isn't Buddhist, or is quasi-Buddhist. That is just an absurd position to take. So maybe it is your helpful teaching, I will leave you to it I guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted August 29, 2013 Buddha also said many things that negate what he said about other things. It is like me saying. I hate it when it cold, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I love it when it is cold, because it snows. and then one billion people create a religion around me saying I hat it when it is cold. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jetsun Posted August 29, 2013 There is a general nihilistic slant in many westerners interpretation of Buddhism probably due to issues with translation of terms into English, for example the word emptiness doesn't fully convey the meaning of what is intended to be communicated when talking about that subject, but there isn't a word in the English language that exactly fits so you have to use the nearest approximation, which may scew the precise meaning. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 (edited) That doesn't make "I hate it when it cold, it makes me feel uncomfortable." a Quasi-Skydog quotation, because you actually said it. Buddha also said many things that negate what he said about other things. It is like me saying. I hate it when it cold, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I love it when it is cold, because it snows. and then one billion people create a religion around me saying I hat it when it is cold. Edited August 29, 2013 by More_Pie_Guy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted August 29, 2013 A dream could be said to be empty and non-existent, yet obviously as it is being experienced it can not be said to have non-existence either. A dream is empty but it is not non-existent. You probably had some last night and will again tonight. Dreams are excellent analogies to waking experience and are very often used as aids to understanding the Buddhist view of sunyata as they point to the role of mind in our waking experience. I think you are confusing empty with non-existent. That is a common error in the interpretation of Buddhist scripture because sunyata points to a non-conceptual state that is not directly accessible to the conceptual/rational mind. Furthermore, sunyata can be interpreted in a number of different ways depending on the context (spaciousness, openness, thusness, void, expansiveness, fullness, and so on). Some people can come to an understanding of sunyata through scripture. Most seem to have better luck through meditation. Some simply get it spontaneously. You are certainly entitled to your interpretation but it's an error to equate sunyata with non-existence and it is an error to interpret the Buddhist view as "nothing exists." That seems to be what is being challenged here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted August 29, 2013 You can't say a teaching directly attributed to Buddha isn't Buddhist, or is quasi-Buddhist. That is just an absurd position to take. You can if it is an incomplete fragment or a misinterpretation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 It wasn't a misinterpretation. You can if it is an incomplete fragment or a misinterpretation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 A character in a video game is non-existent, yet it can be experienced even though it has no reality to it other than energy and information in a computer. That's what I am getting it. The same for a dream, it can be experienced but has no reality to it outside the confines of one's own mind. A dream is empty but it is not non-existent. You probably had some last night and will again tonight. Dreams are excellent analogies to waking experience and are very often used as aids to understanding the Buddhist view of sunyata as they point to the role of mind in our waking experience. I think you are confusing empty with non-existent. That is a common error in the interpretation of Buddhist scripture because sunyata points to a non-conceptual state that is not directly accessible to the conceptual/rational mind. Furthermore, sunyata can be interpreted in a number of different ways depending on the context (spaciousness, openness, thusness, void, expansiveness, fullness, and so on). Some people can come to an understanding of sunyata through scripture. Most seem to have better luck through meditation. Some simply get it spontaneously. You are certainly entitled to your interpretation but it's an error to equate sunyata with non-existence and it is an error to interpret the Buddhist view as "nothing exists." That seems to be what is being challenged here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 (edited) As before when the analogy to a video game character it has reality and existence in the sense it can be experienced, yet however exists purely as energy and information inside a computer. A dream has existence in the sense that it can be experienced, yet exists purely as energy and information inside the mind of the dreamer. Had the Buddha been born in recent history I'd venture to guess he'd make use of such an analogy to explain the reality we live in. Everything we can experience, vision, smell, taste, hearing, touch, memory, intuition, visualization, verbalization, emotion, dreams, the entire gamut and sum of our experience, is purely energy and information being exchanged in our neural nets. So what you are seeing right now as a computer monitor isn't external to your mind, but rather you are viewing your own internal mental processes and believing such to be an external reality, which is about as silly as looking at a painting of a pipe and believing it is a pipe. You are certainly entitled to your interpretation but it's an error to equate sunyata with non-existence and it is an error to interpret the Buddhist view as "nothing exists." That seems to be what is being challenged here. Edited August 29, 2013 by More_Pie_Guy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted August 29, 2013 Quotes by Buddha who lived 2500 years ago, wouldn't fall under "new" age teachings. It is necessary to be grounded during meditation to absorb yin chi, and there are only 10 real masters on earth you could learn under. Buddha is considered completely new age compared to most shamanic practices such as the bushmen. A chinese Qi medicine man who was reported to be very powerful went to visit the bushmen shamans, the gave him a transmissions thinking he was really powerful, but he couldnt handle it, now Im not saying shamanism is better but maybe it is. Its natural, Ancient Taoists were shamans. Chinese shamans. Pretending you dont exist all day is not natural Shamans make fun and tease people who think about sitting still and forcing their mind to be empty all the time. Another example is on the contributed articles section some people make posts about emptiness, then go on and say they know everything about emptiness and are enlightened and they fight furiously, and other users engage in battles saying how "no one exists" who knows about emptiness etc etc. Or More Pie guy who wants me to never discuss or highlight stuff I disagree with in his posts (or stop interacting with him, in his own words) I reply, that I cant stop interacting with him, because I dont exist. This is the kind of childishness I am talking about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 Skydog, I want to make it clear to you again, I do not value your opinion on any matter. You would be better off arguing and trolling someone else who cares about your opinions. Buddha is considered completely new age compared to most shamanic practices such as the bushmen. A chinese Qi medicine man who was reported to be very powerful went to visit the bushmen shamans, the gave him a transmissions thinking he was really powerful, but he couldnt handle it, now Im not saying shamanism is better but maybe it is. Its natural, Ancient Taoists were shamans. Chinese shamans. Pretending you dont exist all day is not natural Shamans make fun and tease people who think about sitting still and forcing their mind to be empty all the time. Another example is on the contributed articles section some people make posts about emptiness, then go on and say they know everything about emptiness and are enlightened and they fight furiously, and other users engage in battles saying how "no one exists" who knows about emptiness etc etc. Or More Pie guy who wants me to never discuss or highlight stuff I disagree with in his posts (or stop interacting with him, in his own words) I reply, that I cant stop interacting with him, because I dont exist. This is the kind of childishness I am talking about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted August 29, 2013 Skydog, I want to make it clear to you again, I do not value your opinion on any matter. You would be better off arguing and trolling someone else who cares about your opinions. I want to make it clear to you, I do not value your opinion on the matter, this forum needs cleaning after your constant posts of ignorance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 Who's pretending, it can obviously be verified as true just by thinking clearly on the subject. You are an experience, not a thing. There is no one observing the experience occur, the experience itself is what we think of as the observer. An experience has no physical tangible reality to it, you can't pour a cup of experience any more than you can pour a cup of a dream. Pretending you dont exist all day is not natural Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 Alright. I want to make it clear to you, I do not value your opinion on the matter, this forum needs cleaning after your constant posts of ignorance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted August 29, 2013 Who's pretending, it can obviously be verified as true just by thinking clearly on the subject. You are an experience, not a thing. There is no one observing the experience occur, the experience itself is what we think of as the observer. An experience has no physical tangible reality to it, you can't pour a cup of experience any more than you can pour a cup of a dream. damn it man, I know all about what emptiness is, I have experienced much of it, It doesnt mean that nothing exists and nothing is real, that is a belief about emptiness that misleads people. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 You can do whatever you want, I couldn't care less about anything you have to say on any topic. I am not interested in interacting with you. You speak often of Virtue, so use some of that virtue to go annoy someone else who cares, alright? Or More Pie guy who wants me to never discuss or highlight stuff I disagree with in his posts (or stop interacting with him, in his own words) I reply, that I cant stop interacting with him, because I dont exist. This is the kind of childishness I am talking about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 Obviously you don't. , I know all about... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted August 29, 2013 "I couldnt care less about anything you have to say on any topic" FUck it im not in a good mood, so Ill just destroy your bullshit right here. That is the most ignorant thing I have ever heard, the biggest idiot, person you hate can offer you wisdom, to say that only certain people are capable of wisdom is extremely ignorant, and leads to cult like guru worship and inability to think critically and question things. I would never say that about anyone. Frankly Im annoyed, your posts are constant nonsense. I already mentioned how in a previous thread I made you told me it was not possible to make money and live a life I love, I am already doing that through art and an inheritance whereas you said you work 60-80 hour work weeks in a job you hate. You talk about people needing so much time to accomplish any abilities or everything else is a lie, frankly that is just untrue. You talk about so many Qi masters in the world. That is just untrue. All your talk about yin chi. Or stuff that is new age "shit" is just constant garbage. Your mind is ridiculously closed, and I dislike ignorant people like you who think anyone who thinks outside the box is a new age loon living in the clouds, its people like you with your closed mindedness who are stopping progress in the world, and are responsible for demotivating anyone who knows what they are talking about from posting stuff. I talk about virtue, for the last time, that has nothing to do with allowing you to post insults about practices/teachers even me and constant misinformation and ignorance. You can do whatever you want, I couldn't care less about anything you have to say on any topic. I am not interested in interacting with you. You speak often of Virtue, so use some of that virtue to go annoy someone else who cares, alright? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 Don't care, move on, annoy someone else, practice this virtue thing you speak so highly of. All you are doing is wasting my time. "I couldnt care less about anything you have to say on any topic" FUck it im not in a good mood, so Ill just destroy your bullshit right here. That is the most ignorant thing I have ever heard, the biggest idiot, person you hate can offer you wisdom, to say that only certain people are capable of wisdom is extremely ignorant, and leads to cult like guru worship and inability to think critically and question things. I would never say that about anyone. Frankly Im annoyed, your posts are constant nonsense. I already mentioned how in a previous thread I made you told me it was not possible to make money and live a life I love, I am already doing that through art and an inheritance whereas you said you work 60-80 hour work weeks in a job you hate. You talk about people needing so much time to accomplish any abilities or everything else is a lie, frankly that is just untrue. You talk about so many Qi masters in the world. That is just untrue. All your talk about yin chi. Or stuff that is new age "shit" is just constant garbage. Your mind is ridiculously closed, and I dislike ignorant people like you who think anyone who thinks outside the box is a new age loon living in the clouds, its people like you with your closed mindedness who are stopping progress in the world, and are responsible for demotivating anyone who knows what they are talking about from posting stuff. I talk about virtue, for the last time, that has nothing to do with allowing you to post insults about practices/teachers even me and constant misinformation and ignorance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted August 29, 2013 Obviously you don't. yeh thats right, cos I dont exist. What a load of childish bullshit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted August 29, 2013 (edited) Don't care, move on, annoy someone else, practice this virtue thing you speak so highly of. All you are doing is wasting my time. Your not that important, I dont care that much about you, its about everyone. Sorry Edited August 29, 2013 by skydog Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 Don't care, move on, annoy someone else, practice this virtue thing you speak so highly of. All you are doing is wasting my time. yeh thats right, cos I dont exist. What a load of childish bullshit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydog Posted August 29, 2013 Don't care, move on, annoy someone else, practice this virtue thing you speak so highly of. All you are doing is wasting my time. Yeh I know cos your ignorant and proud of it. Like a racist who is proud of being racist. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder_Gooch Posted August 29, 2013 Don't be sorry, just move on, and find someone else to bother. Sorry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites