Favorite sacred texts

[Maddie]

What are everyone's favorite sacred texts and why? Which ones have impacted your life and how?

[helpfuldemon]

Any  copy of Penthouse Forum

[Sketch]

Laozi and Zhuangzi remain close at hand.Fractal ideas.

Edited January 10, 2021 by Sketch

[old3bob]

The Upanishads because they point to truths and the Truth to me.  (plus many of the Hindu Saivite teachings)

The T.T.C. because it also points to truths and the Truth to me.

Several books in the Bible because they point to many useable truths (although I feel there are contradictions and  dichotomies in the Bible as a whole)   and because of the of NT "Sermon on the Mount" by the golden soul Jesus, (and many of his other teachings which are inspirational)

many misc.  teachings from American Indians, Hawaiians, "occultists",  Mr. O, Shamanism, Egyptian, various western mysticism teachings, astrology, some Zen and a little "new age" stuff thrown in. 

Edited January 12, 2021 by old3bob

[C T]

I know a few first hand from practice, but this is pretty much the essence 

https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/self-liberating-meditation

[stirling]

The full nature things in 2 pages, roughly. You don't really need anything else:

 

The Tsin Tsin Ming by Seng-t'san

 

The Great Way is not difficult,
for those who have no preferences.
Let go of longing and aversion,
and it reveals itself.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and you are as far from it as heaven is from earth.
If you want to realize the truth,
then hold no opinions for or against anything.
Like and dislike
is the disease of the mind.
When the deep meaning (of the Way) is not understood
the intrinsic peace of mind is disturbed.
As vast as infinite space,
it is perfect and lacks nothing.
Indeed, it is due to your grasping and repelling
That you do not see things as they are.
Do not get entangled in things;
Do not get lost in emptiness.
Be still in the oneness of things
and dualism vanishes by itself.
When you try to stop motion to achieve quietude,
the very effort fills you with activity.
As long as you hold on to opposites
you will never know the One Way.
Those who do not understand the Way
will assert or deny the reality of things.
Deny the reality of things, you miss its deeper reality;
Assert the reality of things, you miss the emptiness of all things.
The more you think about it,
the further you are from the truth.
Cease all thinking,
and there is nothing that will not be revealed to you.
To return to the root is to find the essence,
but to pursue appearances is to miss the Source.
The moment you are enlightened,
you go beyond appearances and emptiness.
Changes that seem to occur in the (empty) world,
appear real only because of ignorance.
Do not search for the truth;
only cease to cherish opinions.
Do not hold to dualistic views,
avoid such habits carefully.
If there is even a trace of right and wrong,
the mind is lost in confusion.
Although all dualities arise from the One,
do not cling even to this One.
When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,
everything is without fault.
When things can no longer be faulty, it is as if there are no things.
When the mind can no longer be disturbed, it is as if there is no mind.
When thought-objects vanish, the thinking-subject vanishes.
When the mind vanishes, objects vanish.
The arising of other gives rise to self;
giving rise to self generates other.
Know these seeming two facets
as one Emptiness.
In this Emptiness, the two are indistinguishable
and each contains in itself the whole.
When no discrimination is made between this and that,
how can you prefer one to another?
The Great Way is all-embracing, 
not easy, not difficult.
Those who rely on limited views are fearful and irresolute;
the faster they hurry, the slower they go.
Clinging, they go too far, 
even an attachment to enlightenment is to go astray.
Just let things be in their own way as they are,
and there is neither coming nor going.
Be in harmony with the Way
and you will be free of disturbances.
Tied by your thoughts, you lose the truth,
become heavy, dull, and unwell.
Not well, the mind is troubled.
Then why cling to or reject anything?
If you wish to move in the One Way,
do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.
Indeed, to accept them fully
is identical with true Enlightenment.
The wise attaches to no goals,
but the foolish fetter themselves.
There is but one Dharma, not many.
Distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant.
Using mind to stir up the mind
is the original mistake.
Peaceful and troubled derive from thinking;
Enlightenment has no likes or dislikes.
All dualities come from
ignorant inference.
They are like unto dreams or flowers in the air,
the foolish try to grasp them.
Gain and loss, right and wrong,
abandon all such thoughts at once.
If the eye never sleeps,
all dreams will naturally cease.
If the mind makes no discriminations,
all things are as they are, of One-essence.
To understand the mystery of this One-essence
is to be released from all entanglements.
When all things are seen without differentiation,
you return to the origin and remain what you are.
Consider the movement in stillness and the stationary in motion,
both movement and rest disappear.
When such dualities cease to exist
even Oneness itself cannot exist.
This ultimate state
is not bound by rules and descriptions.
For the Realized mind, at one with the Way,
all doing ceases.
Doubts and irresolutions vanish
and the Truth is confirmed in you.
With a single stroke you are freed from bondage;
nothing clings to you and you hold onto nothing.
All is void, clear, and self-illuminating,
with no need to exert the mind.
Here thinking, feeling, knowledge, and imagination
are of no value.
In this world of “as it really is”
there is neither self nor other.
To swiftly accord with that,
only express nonduality.
In this nonduality nothing is separate,
nothing is excluded.
The enlightened of all times and places
have personally realized this truth.
The Truth is beyond time and space,
one instant is eternity.
Not here, not there-
but everywhere always right before your eyes.
Infinitely large and infinitely small,
no difference, for definitions have vanished
and no boundaries can be discerned.
So too with “existence” and “non-existence.”
Don’t waste time in arguments and discussion, 
attempting to grasp the ungraspable.
One thing and everything
move among and intermingle without distinction.
To live in this Realization
is to not worry about perfection or non-perfection.
To put your trust in the Way is to live without separation,
and in this nonduality you are one with the Way
Words! Words!
The Way is beyond language,
Words never could, can not now, and never will describe the Way.

 

OR, the lovely:

 

Or... have it in one:

 

Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra (Heart Sutra) - Buddha

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when deeply practicing prajña paramita, clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty and thus relieved all suffering. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness, emptiness itself form. Sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra, all dharmas are marked by emptiness; they neither arise nor cease, are neither defiled nor pure, neither increase nor decrease. Therefore, given emptiness, there is no form, no sensation, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind; no realm of sight ... no realm of mind consciousness. There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance... neither old age and death, nor extinction of old age and death; no suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path; no knowledge and no attainment. With nothing to attain, a bodhisattva relies on prajña paramita, and thus the mind is without hindrance. Without hindrance, there is no fear. Far beyond all inverted views, one realizes nirvana. All buddhas of past, present, and future rely on prajña paramita and thereby attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Therefore, know the prajña paramita as the great miraculous mantra, the great bright mantra, the supreme mantra, the incomparable mantra, which removes all suffering and is true, not false. Therefore we proclaim the prajña paramita mantra, the mantra that says: "Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha."

 

Any questions?

[dwai]

The Mandukya Upanishad — it reveals the truth of our Self to us in a most direct and simple way. 

[skyblue]

The Mandukya Upanishad (points to the Self directly), TTC (points to many truths, esoteric secrets and nature of reality well) and Zhuang Zi (points to truths indirectly, allowing my own inference to develop in the line of Zhuang Zi's thought), and all of the Buddhist sutras (it's really fun to get immersed in the beauty of Lord Buddha's way of explaining things)

[Maddie]

I appreciate the responses so far.

 

I think as a follow up question I am curious about the various attitudes towards various sacred texts. I would like to hear thoughts on the texts themselves. Do you consider them merely useful information, or do you consider the texts and/or the reciting of the texts efficacious or having power in their own right? 

 

Basically.... do you:

 

1. Hold the Bible up to ward off the vampire?

 

2. Read what it contains at the vampire?

 

3. Read the instructions and then proceed to put the stake through the vampires heart yourself?

[Sketch]

[Maddie]

3 minutes ago, Sketch said:

 

Taping them to the vampires hat?

[Sketch]

More seriously,  my interpretation of wisdom...sacred or otherwise...is to be where the vampires aren't.  Left the bar before the fight broke out.. Never dated crazy Fred's crazy sister. Didn't eat the bad barnacles (although I did)

[Sketch]

5 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

 

Taping them to the vampires hat?

That's a modern Kung fu movie version of a Chinese folk "hopping zombie" ,the jiangshi. A Daoist would control them with fu, which are paper charms. 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Sketch

[Maddie]

2 minutes ago, Sketch said:

More seriously,  my interpretation of wisdom...sacred or otherwise...is to be where the vampires aren't.  Left the bar before the fight broke out.. Never dated crazy Fred's crazy sister. Didn't eat the bad barnacles (although I did)

 

Yes wise, but what I was wondering are what are the various attitudes towards the scriptures themselves?

[Sketch]

2 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

 

Yes wise, but what I was wondering are what are the various attitudes towards the scriptures themselves?

Towards Laozi, a growing befuddled engagement.  A state that Zhuangzi helps foster.

[Sketch]

My whole current program started with an interest in the language of those two books, decoding layers of meaning.  Phrases like "sitting in forgetting" need to be tried to be translated.  

Edited January 13, 2021 by Sketch

[Maddie]

19 minutes ago, Sketch said:

My whole current program started with an interest in the language of those two books, decoding layers of meaning.  Phrases like "sitting in forgetting" need to be tried to be translated.  

 

Yes. One interesting thing I've noticed from quality sacred texts is that you can read them over and over and still always get something fresh out of them.

[Sketch]

2 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

 

Yes. One interesting thing I've noticed from quality sacred texts is that you can read them over and over and still always get something fresh out of them.

Part of it was integrating my initial goal into the new frame. My desire to "translate a little Chinese " was part of a trend towards self improvement...towards (here it comes) cultivating myself.

 

Looking at that impulse through a Daoist lense is exhilarating. 

[Maddie]

2 minutes ago, Sketch said:

Part of it was integrating my initial goal into the new frame. My desire to "translate a little Chinese " was part of a trend towards self improvement...towards (here it comes) cultivating myself.

 

Looking at that impulse through a Daoist lense is exhilarating. 

 

Hmmm I find that very interesting for some reason.

[Sketch]

Just now, dmattwads said:

 

Hmmm I find that very interesting for some reason.

Me too.