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It has been estimated that Aboriginal people, in Australia , in good season and good country 'worked' 2 -4 hours a day . That includes hunting, gathering, taking care of shelter and necessities . The rest of the time was for leisure, social activities ( a LOT of singing and dancing ) learning and teaching, travel visiting and feasting, playing with the kids. ( Although I am not sure where tool making and repair fits in with that . Some see things like net making and repair as 'leisure', some as 'work' ) They LOVE dancing - do it all night if they can ... even 'old fellah' get up and have a go - Currently it is 35 hr / week but up to 45 for some and stats show up to 2 months unpaid overtime a year .
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Hold on everyone ! Stand back ! I know how to deal with this ... I did a first - aid course , in my youth . lets see now ....
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Oh yes, I'm definitely interested in this! I'm presuming that by "German mysticism," what is meant is the Rhineland Mystics, Eckhart, Tauler, et al? I will see if I can get ahold of this at my university....
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A lot of practitioners and seekers reach a paradox. When there is a direct realization of the basic Nature, there is the recognition that it is always, already present. It is the very core of our being and not other than the very core of all being. Nothing we do brings it about, we just 'wake up' to what was always, already there. There's no way to tell if all or any of our efforts were needed or not. On one level it is clear that they were not necessary. On the other hand, we did it and if we had not we would probably not be precisely where we are. Some need to make Herculean efforts, some stumble right into it, others are denied it in this lifetime. This is why it is often referred to as a blessing and why things like ngondro and guru yoga are emphasized in Dzogchen. Stabilizing and integrating this direct experience into our lives is very challenging, this is why K emphasized the need for such enormous energy and dedication, and why faith and devotion are such an important part of Dzogchen. This sort of undertaking, must be completely effortless and yet requires enormous commitment - it's a bit of a paradox. I'm currently reading teachings on an ancient Bön Dzogchen transmission. One of the chapters describes the Natural State in terms of nothing but paradoxes. This is to illustrate that the basic Nature is not limited or accessible to rational thought or perception. I think this sort of realization leads to the idea of the "guruless approach" as well as the "new agey" sounding sound bytes like "you are already enlightened" and leads to frustration that often arises when those who have had such an insight try to share it with those who haven't. We've seen some of that on this board over the years. That very insight is at the heart of K's message and at the heart of the Dzogchen view, a direct, personal experience of non-duality. I like the comment made about this by Peter Fenner - 'If I didn't do what I didn't need to do, I would not have known I didn't need to do it.' I don't deny any of the criticisms about K. I studied his writings for quite some time and eventually got away from them. I got a lot out of his ideas but find far more support for my practice in the Dzogchen model. Thanks for posting the videos of Trungpa and K, I've never watched those.
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Thank you Apech, pretty much what I'm trying to do now, reverse whatever dysfunction I have forced into existence, I remember to avoid forcing things after the occasion generally, it's time to begin remembering them beforehand.
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I remember seeing some old black-and-white photographs of sternly seated relatives who died before I was born. I would love to know more about them. What were they interested in? How did they spend their days? Mostly what I´d want to figure out is if there´s anything of them in me. Sometimes it´s hard to see the connections even between my younger self and the person I´ve become. I was so fascinated by electronics as a kid; I´d stare endlessly at all the wires and transitor thingamabobs visible through ventilation holes in the composite board backing of our living room TV. My parents thought I´d become an electrical engineer. Didn´t happen. Not even close. I look back and wonder where that kid went -- he bears so little resemblance to me. I think it´s worthwhile taking some time to reconstruct a narrative of life, good to have a larger sense of who we are through time. Ideally this narrative would stretch back before birth to include ancestral stories. If not, even just a personal narrative that gives a sense of this-is-who-I-am is bettern than nothing.
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The wish that we had an ancestral book of memories. Writing down our deeds, good and bad, seeing into the lives of ancestors. Game of Thrones had one, a book celebrating the deeds of the noble house. In one of the Ender books, they had Speaker of Truth person who at a persons death spoke of them, all there good, bad, trials.. My family grave yard is full. No room left. But on the graves of my great grandfather & great grandmother are lockets with there pictures, so with my grandparents and there siblings resting there. Pictures of people I never met or only have fuzzy memories of. Even physical books are lost. In this age of electronics and cheap storage it'd be nice to create Book of Memories. Filling it out, beyond genealogy, into interconnections. Even going so far as diaries yet keeping a front page that's tighter and highlighted. I guess a Wikipedia for memories. Do people here have any thing similar. Books, diaries, bibles w/ long genealogies?
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You can experience truth. You just feel it first. As you focus on something that feels like the thing you want to experience. You will be more capable of realising the experience for yourself. First as thought realisations, that feel good. Then as you feel good, things in your reality, you will be inspired to explore and act upon things, that lead you to the ever greater realisations of it. Whatever you wanna experience. As the true truth of your soul, as the soul and the physical you co blended together the whole of all that you truely are wants to experience those things, because it is all of your being and becoming evermore.
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This note is specifically directed specifically to those who want to participate in the teaching cycle of the Zhangzhung Nyengyüd he gives at Serenity Ridge. It is a 5 year cycle offered in the winter each year. The cycle just finished on the first of this year. This coming winter retreat will be a silent week of Dzogchen practice with very little teaching, open to anyone. The cycle will probably start again in December 2020. The traditional path is an amazing experience but, like you say, not for everyone. There is no mandatory tantric Bönpo training even for those who study the full ZZNG cycle. Rinpoche offers little in the way of traditional tantric teachings. The traditional approach is not the only way he presents Dzogchen teachings. I appreciate your perspective and I agree with you that the very purity of the practice and view allows it to be adapted and adopted with minimal socio-cultural context. That is precisely what Rinpoche is doing with his teaching approach. When Dzogchen is referred to in Bön as "THE primordial wisdom tradition" it is in the context of comparing it to the other 8 vehicles in Bön. It is considered the highest simply because the Dzogchen view is the least dependent on any conceptual constructs and thus closest to "truth" as compared to the views of the other paths. Yes, most of his teachings are independent of the traditional path. I would suggest you watch a few of his free online talks or get your feet wet using the Starting a Meditation Practice workshops on Ligmincha Learning. Many of his talks are collected at oceanofwisdom.org. It's not yet well catalogued but a great resource. A good place to start is with any of his teachings on the 3 Doors - this is the core of his Dzogchen practice approach.
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I wish there was an easy how-to manual for preserving the ancestral memory of who we are and rectifying things that have inevitably gone wrong, a sort of Rewilding For Dummies. Then again, it´s possible that this process does not fit neatly within the For Dummies teaching format.
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There's this work by Randall Studstill: The Unity of Mystical Traditions: The Transformation of Consciousness in Tibetan and German Mysticism that I think will interest you (assuming you haven't yet come across it). Overview: "The book supports an ecumenical theory of mysticism through a comparative analysis of Tibetan Dzogchen and German mysticism. Using a systems model of consciousness as an interpretive framework, it shows how the distinct doctrines and practices of these two traditions function in parallel, equally transformative ways."
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Mskied, That is very interesting! When you say, "I was initiated on a spiritual level into Thelema," do you mean that you were initiated into the OTO? For what it's worth, I think "Crowleyanity" should be separated from the Law of Thelema, which is simply, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the Law, love under will." In my opinion this is simply a latter-day formulation of the esoteric core of every religion, and so I never found it necessary to "convert to Thelema" and adopt AC as the last--or even secondaryor tertiary--word on anything. Still, I do find some real value in AC's writings, taken with a grain of salt. I find much of his stuff quite an enjoyable way to spend a spare hour here and there--the "Autohagiography," for instance. Of course, I didn't actually read Crowley until I was 40, and I think that, coming to his work after having lived a little, rather than as a naive young man (as many do), I have been able to read with a critical eye and discern the good from the useless.
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....right - exactly. Krishnamurti was a person who discovered a way to make money off of all this stuff by capitalizing on the counter-culture of his time, while incorporating an aspect of rebellion to even people who started the counter-culture... ...there are other factors involved as well, namely that no where else in the world besides the US, would a person like Krishnamurti be able to make as much money as he did in the US - obviously because his whole thing is based in using only himself as the reference point for any type of understanding, which has been the eastern view of all things fundamentally forever. He made a killing off of showing this attitude and practice to the West, in a time that was ripe for it to be received. ...if Krishnamurti actually believed 100% in what he talked about and had any life skills outside of being a philosopher ( which he didn't because all the way up until 29 years old - he was groomed by the theosophists and grew as a philosopher and meditator ), than he would have probably not been who he was in history... but alas this is only to illustrate the point that even the most profound thinkers can be hypocritical.
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Edit: nah, changed my mind
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@Steve: Ah yes! I have heard and read many great things about Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche! I was actually looking at his Facebook page the other day, as well as his website. I was indeed thinking that this might be a way to go. However, I'm really confused, because on the website you linked to, it says: "NOTE: It is essential to study and practice the chapters of the Experiential Transmission in sequence. Therefore, the ngöndro is a prerequisite for continuing the teachings of the Experiential Transmission." https://ligmincha.org/practice/ I noticed this about a week ago when I first saw his site, and hence I gave it up because it looked like I would have to get into the whole traditional track with ngondro and five years of tantric Bonpo training, etc. I've been following my own path for several years now and, although I don't have a very high estimation of my abilities, I'm not new to meditation. If I could find something homologous to the Great Perfection in the West I would seek it there, since I am a Westerner and in terms of temperament more inclined towards Hermeticism and Neo-Platonism. Alas these traditions are not longer "living", hence while one can certainly benefit for the vast written corpus, the pure contemplative teachings are no longer passed down in a living tradition. This is the dilemma of so may of us in the West! But Dzogchen, according to its own understanding of itself, is THE primordial wisdom tradition. I don't necessarily understand this literally, insomuch as it has a form of its own, but I would say that it IS a direct and pure reflection of the "primordial tradition." Hence, at least theoretically it should be able to exist completely independently or within any socio-cultural context, as a "secret" doctrine that illuminates everything else. Anyway, you seem to be saying that TWR makes exceptions. If this is so, that is good news indeed!
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The Tao Bums Interview with Bruce Frantzis - March 2011
Alchemistgeorge replied to sean's topic in Interviews
You can find the PDF on scribd, I think it is free, at least at first. https://www.scribd.com/document/132904043/The-Tao-Bums-Interview-With-B-K -
Hi Daren, If you search this forum you'll find plenty of discussion on this and related topics. Until you know exactly what you are doing I would strongly suggest you avoid this type of exercise - and when you do know what you are doing you will probably still not want to do it. If you can find a good teacher that is helpful - otherwise focus on healthy living and gentle meditation or qi gong.
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@CT: Many thanks for the thoughtful and sincere response. I do understand your perspective. I just can't see myself fitting into the whole traditional track like that. I think, however, that in general the traditional way works for many people and hence I certainly respect your position.
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Proper rest, proper work, proper exercise, proper eating, proper drinking, proper sex, proper human relations and proper emotions. Then, "genetics" (the constitutional quality of your Jing reserves, as well of your available amount of it). All of those are factors to longevity. In the Yellow Emperor's Classic, humans should get decrepit only at 70-80 years old (with males becoming infertile only at 70), when "your teeth fall out, your muscles are feeble" and so on. That's for a REGULAR human, like, a farmer. In the "old times" the Classic talks about you should be able to reach 100 years old while still being in prim and proper shape, with plenty of energy to use and even fertile - even if you're a woman. Improper Eating will tackle into your Jing reserves way harder than excessive drinking, for instance - unless by "excessive" you mean getting wasted every single day of your life. A single week of fasting can be as harmful of a month of drinking every weekend. That depends on each person. However, fasting can be good as well - as long as the loss of Jing from fasting isn't as great as the loss of Jing from something else (for instance, sedentarism and obesity), then it will actually be a good choice! That's what we ponder when thinking about if it will be a good therapeutic approach to open someone's Extraordinary Meridians. As Post-Heaven Jing is stored in them, opening them mean the reserves of Post-Heaven Jing you have will be used once they're opened, which will make some go like : "The fuck bro, you're making me more vulnerable to using my Pre-Heaven Jing!". Yes, we are. But a full Yin Qiao Mai will be useless if you already has a disease eating away at your reserves. It uses LESS of your lifespan if we open it and heal your disease. It's basically loss control, e-e. Those who are "tonned" with halterofilism are actually sick. As well as those who depend on hormone terapy to look younger (same effects of using TCM to look younger). As for top-tier athetes, there's a reason why they usually retire when they are 30 years old or so Now, being lazy (improper exercise) or not working well (improper work) are indeed sources of Jing loss! Everything that's an excess will tap into your reserves and generate premature aging. So, the instruction is to live moderately. That WILL look like an "excessive" life in some aspects for the regular Westerner (like exercising 2-3 hours a day), but it's still moderate in the eyes of TCM. Then, you also have the proper exercises (2-3 hours of weight lifting will be a huge problem, while 2-3 hours of cardio won't be good as well - you need balance). The ideal routine from a TCM view is as it follows (following the 12-part Qi Cycle in the body): You'll wake at around 3 A.M. (when the rooster crows, lung meridian time). Then, you'll sit on meditation and do soft, body-nourishing breathing exercises until 5 A.M. Then, at 5 A.M., you'll start feeling the desire to defecate (large bowel meridian time). You'll take your time from 5 A.M. to 7 A.M. to do light exercise or tend to your farm animals (remember, daoism is all about the idilic farm life) and then going to the bathroom to do your business. At 7 A.M. you'll start feeling hunger (stomach meridian time). You'll prepare your breakfeast and eat around 8 A.M. After eating, you'll take your time preparing the food you'll eat later and resting, so the stomach can properly digest your breakfeast and separate the best parts of the food and its essence. No hardcore exercises at this time, and absolutely no fasting! This is your most important and nutritional meal of the day - it must contain all of the season's proper foods prepared in the proper way and so on. At 9 A.M (spleen meridian time). you'll start feeling a lot of energy in your body. It is a good time to exercise your muscles by doing farmwork. So, you'll head to the fields and start shoveling that dirt. At 10 A.M. you'll be hungry again, so you'll eat the lunch you prepared earlier. Then, you'll rest for around 1 hour so all of that food can be properly digested and your muscles feed and nourished by the fresh Ying Qi your meridians, blood and "meats" are receiving. Hurray, time to get good muscles - lean and strong, no fibrosys (halterofilists have wet dreams with fibrosys-full and swollen muscles...) and plenty of muscle fibers (strenght-creating) ! Of course, since every day you'll get a little stronger, every day you'll be able to work a little bit more than the previous. So you'll end up becoming a super-farmer which will be able to feed yourself and your family with just a little bit of work every day. At 11 A.M. your Heart Meridian will be receiving the greater amount of Qi possible. You'll do very little exercise and focus on nourishing your Yin and Blood - be by idilic observing the scenery, meditating, making art or any other form of internal cultivation - away from the Sun, of course, since it will harm you to receive too much heat at this time. Even if it is winter. At 1 P.M your Small Intestines will be receiving the most nourishment from Qi and Blood. It is a very good time to let all of the day's worries and excess emotions be drained from your body, so you should take this time to both pump up your circulation and talk to your friends - living like a farmer means you'll have plenty of manual labor to be done, so you can chat up while doing stuff like peeling rice or harvesting vegetables. Nibbling on some food is only part of the course, better if you have just a little bit of wine (usually rice wine) to make it smooth. At 3 P.M. you'll have your whole body nourished with Qi and Blood, as the Urinary Bladder is one of the outer meridians of the body. This Meridian will make it so you'll have to do a little bit of everything - at the same time cultivate, meditate, eat, talk and do internal cultivation. It is the time of closure for the body, in which you'll have to take everything you've done in the whole day and do it all at the same time - the culmination of cultivation. For instance, you can go on to the communal fields (remember, we are old farmers in Imperial China - there are personal and communal fields, the first being your own and the later the community and the lord's fields - the Lord here being the Perfect King, usually a religious figure) and work on them while chatting, nibbling on food, doing breathing exercises, ritmic work and meditating. So, if you have worked hard and sweaty from 9 A.M. to 10 A.M., with the idea of providing for yourself and your family, now is the time to work with precision and focusing on the moment. One form of doing so is by singing and working with your cultivating farmer pals in sincrony and harmony. Quite creepy for a westerner, but do imagine a row of farmers singing, plowing, breathing, talking and so on in harmony and ritmically. It will also generate a strong sense of community and put you in contact with the People Dao, which will be very interesting for reaching new heights in your own cultivation. Do notice the first part of the day (End Yin to the peak of the Yang) is based on "isolated" self-cultivation, while the second part of the day (Peak of the Yang to the Beginning of the Yin) is more community-based. At 5 P.M. your Kidneys start to be nourished. You'll stop work and head home, where you'll bathe, take time with the family and have a nice meal with a very small amount of wine with special herbs. Tea might be even more appropriate, depending on the region you're living in. At 7 P.M. your Pericardium meridian will start to kick in. You must be on your bed already. You and the Wife will take a long time of foreplay and have a form of sacred-but-simple sex in which you'll be able to nourish your emotions, sensations and spirit - while also protecting your body from any harm and creating an "energetic layer" around yourself, which will prevent all kinds of diseases. Pillow talk is advised, but the kind you do after-sex and makes you happy to be alive. If the Wife is pregnant, even better. At 9 P.M. You'll start to sleep soundly and quietly. Your Triple Burner meridian will spread, combine and purify all the energy you have generated through the day, and then store it neatly into your Extraordinary Meridians. Around 11 P.M. your Gallblater starts to release all of the indecisions and tensions you had during the day, making it so your sleep becomes so peaceful you'll be sleeping like a baby. It is the time where the body starts to reach perfect harmony and all of your daily decision-making is solidified, approaching you to the Dao. At 12 P.M. your Liver will finish the day by making it so your body reaches the pinnacle of harmony. The midnight-crow of the rooster will come as a signal for your Hun soul to leave the body and learn on the spiritual plane of existence, while your physical body finds most confort and perfect balance, becoming as nourished and harmonic as possible. Your Souls will be in peace, and your body will be completely relaxed. This moment will be when the Dao is stronger on your body, and also when you'll have to find it (for your Souls) with your out-of-the-body experiences, since your Souls and your Flesh are separated. Once you reach the same level of attainment of the Dao - as a Soul - as nature gives your body by following this routine, then you'll be able to leave it behind and start new forms of cultivation - Soul-Driven cultivation, instead of Body-Driven cultivation. This new kind of cultivation will bring a new kind of lifestyle and living, in which your body will attain higher levels of being than it would attain by simply living. It will also be the kind that's impossible to compress in a Routine, as you'll be starting to become one with the Dao and the Moment will be more important than the Day. Your Souls will show you the path, not your body. In fact, your body will start to become spiritual. Some die at this stage, since their further cultivation practices must be done in the world of the dead, not the living. Some reach amazing longevity... and some appear to have gone insane, but are actually much more aware and spiritual than most. It is the time in cultivation where you'll become out-of-the-norm. After that level has been cleared as well, you'll then be able to do cultivation in the level of Qi Gong and Nei Gong. Do tell me if you find anyone capable of doing this. I'm unable to wake before 10 a.m. and usually sleep at 1 P.M., so I just know the path, not having the capability of walking it... yet. Memory Loss is very litteral in terms of TCM. "DNA memory" is something called "Constitutional Quality of Jing", not being related to "memory". Your Constitution is derived from your Jing, but your memory as well. Both are pretty especific, and you'll have completely different diagnosys and treatment methods for each of them.
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Hi Radix, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is a Bön Dzogchen teacher whose approach is similar to that of Choegyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. He was close friends with Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, who was the first person to invite him to teach in the West. While he offers a traditional path for those who want it, he mostly teaches in a more progressive format. He requires no conversion, obligation, ngondro, or vows. He travels the world constantly teaching retreats but also has a vibrant online presence you can follow for free. He will soon be launching a "cyber-sangha" webpage to support the online community. I would suggest you check out his Facebook page where he offers free Dzogchen teachings on a regular basis. While his teachings often touch on other topics, like mantras (esp 3 Heart Mantras of Bön), tantric practices (dream and sleep yoga, tummo, tsa lung, etc...); his core teaching and practice always comes back to Dzogchen. Also check his organization's website (https://ligmincha.org/) and a learning resource that offers both free and paid online workshops (https://www.ligminchalearning.com/). The free workshops entitled Starting a Meditation Practice Parts 1&2 are a great introduction to his core teachings. I've been following Rinpoche's teachings for about 8 years both in person and online. I've gotten to know him well and I can say that he walks the walk. Not only does he teach the Dharma, he lives it. He is no longer a monastic. He has a wife and child and his secular life experience and time spent in the West gives him deep insight into the needs of secular Western students. My own experience has been extremely positive with Rinpoche himself as well as the Bön community. Best of luck to you. Steve Here is a sample teaching derived from the 21 Nails, a Dzogchen teaching describing the Natural State from 21 varied perspectives:
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You have a brave & noble vision. Hope its enough to guide you towards that which you are hoping to achieve. I've been trying to be a steady Dzogchen student since 96. Over the years, I have met numerous teachers, yogis, and adepts who are neither teacher nor yogi, and they have ALL shared the same emphasis on the vital importance of some sort of support practice (Ngondro - preliminaries) to really pound the foundation in order to dissolve old habitual physical and mental gaits that, if allowed to remain, will hinder one's speed towards ultimate fruition, which, quintessentially means the gradual onset of permanent equipoise. Establishing the taste of what exactly the View is in Dzogchen is pretty simple and straightforward, while losing that View to old habitual patterns is just as easy and effortless. Without wanting to sound preachy, I'll end by saying that there is essentially no dividing line between Dzogchen and Ngondro. The practitioner who can attain fruition without cultivating the 2 types of bodhicitta (thru Ngondro) is rare indeed. I strongly believe even Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche could not have attained his Dzogchen mastery without having had grounding as a Ngondro novice. My intention is not to debate whether Ngondro can or cannot be dispensed with. For those who feel that the support of Ngondro can be put aside and still maintain the View with prolonged ease, then more power to them. As for me, Ngondro and the View is inseparably entwined and integral to lengthier periods of resting in that space of equipoise. Wishing you the very best on your journey.
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O Fortuna! How cruel is the way thy lyrics are misread!
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Terminological ambiguity is the source of many misunderstandings. Memory in the broader sense is not what you remember in your head. Memory loss is not what you don't remember in your head. Jing is the memory embedded in your DNA. It is pretty obvious on the stage of fetal development -- the body, in the process of becoming "itself," actually expresses this memory by morphing into everything it remembers, from its unicellular state to a multicellular "blob" to the formation of a fish-like, reptile-like, mammal-like, finally human-like entity that "remembers" how to arrange itself into a member of its species and then an individual of this species. Part of what it remembers is how not to express what you are not, even though the memory of what you are not, of all the ways a live organism on earth could potentially go that your individual self hasn't chosen, is there. Your jing stores memory of how to grow scales and feathers and horns -- and the memory how not to do it (encoded in a special "don't go there" stop-signs on the developmental sequence. I Ching's "Standstill" or molecular biology's SIR2P recombination inhibiting gene or what have you.) Artificial genetic manipulations can remove a stop-sign of this nature and get the body to "forget" -- they can now grow chickens who have teeth, e.g., by causing a loss of memory of a whole sequence that made a pterodactyl into a chicken and replaced the teeth with a beak. And many, many influences of a lifestyle of which we don't have systemic memory but which we now lead can interfere with this kind of memory, the fundamental memory of who and what you are and where you come from. We systemically remember pterodactyls, we don't systemically remember how to handle electromagnetic frequencies never before encountered on earth in which we presently swim, or designer molecules produced by chemical and medical industries that neither our kind nor any kind before ours has ever had a chance to encounter, learn to process and include into its systemic memory database, aka jing. That's what "memory loss" is. That's what "jing loss" is. Not just Alzheimer's (although it's one possible side effect). Jing is pretty fundamental and not even limited to the events in one organism or one species -- it's the memory of everything that brought you to the point of individuation here and now. Jing comes from the stars. Yes, we have a limited amount, but that's not the problem -- we have enough of this limited amount for all purposes unless it has been tampered with from the get-go, from our earliest developmental history (which it was) and continues to be tampered with by many features of our lifestyle that "waste" whatever remains after we're done getting formed under wasteful or distorted conditions. That's why it is so very hard to conserve, let alone replenish -- no one method even scratches the surface. Try conserving the star dust being blown away by a cosmic wind. Not entirely impossible, according to some taoist immortals. But very involved.
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Hi friends, a question, with some preface: I started to develop an interest in Dzogchen a little more than a year ago. I'd been doing silent, objectless meditation for some time, and being without any teacher I was starting to worry if I was falling into what Chan masters sometimes refer to as a "cavern with ghosts," i.e. oblivion without illumination. I realized that Dzogchen offered more of a structure than I was able to find in books of Zen, Taoist medication (Golden Flower) or even apophatic prayer (Plotinus, Dionysus, Eckart, etc). Now I don't want to get into a long debate about whether/ to what degree Dzogchen leads to the same thing as the other traditions (I've seen enough of that on DW). Suffice it to say that I'm reasonably confident that it leads to where I want to go, being, according to its own view, not only the essence of Buddhadharma but also the essence of all religion/spiritual traditions. I had and have no interest in going through ngondro or otherwise getting involved in the structures and hierarchies of Tibetan Buddhism. I really just want a "nondual" contemplative practice that is detailed enough to provide decent guidelines for practice, but free from religious dogma. This is why I was happy to find out about ChNNR, who gave webcasts of the Direct Introduction, but didn't require formal "conversion" to Buddhism or samathas other than to maintain the View. And he was reportedly accessible without expecting or desiring "worshippers." Unfortunately, I was not aware of him until after his very last webcasts and before he passed away (sometime in July or August 2018). I'm not aware that the Dzogchen Community has appointed anyone to take on his role, and in any case my feelings towards that organization are somewhat ambivalent. With ChNNR gone, I'm uninclined to get involved with it. So the question is, are there any other Dzogchen (or Mahamudra) teachers who follow a similar perspective to ChNNR in offering DI via webcast and enabling practitioners to just follow the teachings without formal conversion/memberships/vows? Does anyone have recommendations? At this point I'm almost inclined to just get started and throw myself on the mercy of Heaven (as it were) as I feel this is rather holding me back. I would also be interested in hearing about alternative pathways via other traditions that I may have missed (in Taoism, for interest), i.e. accessible nondual meditative traditions or teachers that are not dependent upon taking a confessional perspective, cumbrous rules or arbitrary obedience, but which aim to lead the student to the essence of all traditions. Many thanks I'm advance!
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- nondual traditions
- mahamudra
- (and 2 more)
-
