Pilgrim

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Posts posted by Pilgrim

  2. Posted

    31 minutes ago, Starjumper said:

     

    Definitely not Greek Fire.  The video described a single large explosion brighter than the sun which melted stone and then soldiers and horses dying of what had to be radiation sickness.  Assuming that the video was telling the truth it had to be nuclear.

    It would not be too surprising if radiation was involved, nor early attempts at something far more lethal sounds like they got a dirty bomb on top of it all.

     

    BTW. This may or not be of interest I have a client who is closing in on 92 years old. He is German and was stationed on the Russian front in WWII.  His job was to carry something similar to a Bazooka and plant mines on Russian tanks. He recently related a story to me where he was in a foxhole in the hellish cold winter and would wait for Russian tanks to roll by.

     

    When the Tanks rolled by he had a magnetic mine, he would arm it as it was spring loaded and then magnetically attach it to the Russian tank and blow it up.

     

    The Russians caught on to this and started painting the tanks with thick cement to make it more difficult for a magnet to stick by making the metal further away.

     

    Sure enough a tank rolled by, Jochen armed the mine which once armed there was no going back, attempted to affix it to the tank and the next thing you know it slid right off!!! and fell in the foxhole with him!!!!

     

    According to him he made a mad scramble to get the damned thing out of his fox hole ant threw it as far as he could he barely got down in time as it detonated.

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    5 hours ago, dwai said:

    You're lucky you don't have friends who tend to get drunk & persistent :) 

    Nah...you are skillful alright. I just like to play this game. Some days, folks actually get curious (or not buzzed enough) to actually engage with me over it. Sigh! They'll ask "What do you mean, do I know who I am? Of course I do!".  So I'll ask "In an instant, without thinking, can you tell me who you are?" 

    Some will keep saying "I'm a man, I'm a woman, I'm x, y z" and I'll keep saying "that required thinking...can you answer without a single thought?" :D 

     

    Then they get annoyed and think I'm pulling a fast one over them. And then will walk away. Only a few, may be one in a hundred or so, actually get curiouser and curiouser. They'll ask "wow...I don't know...I can't say!". That's when I know, that we have something to talk about... :) 

     

    My Answer would go like this :) and I think we would both laugh.

    • Haha 1

  7. Posted

    On 5/13/2019 at 10:31 PM, Starjumper said:

    Song of the spheres.  Do you think that Earth has the 'friendliest' sound?

     

     

    Not the sound of Earth. EMF Right?  = Primitive Humans playing with harnessed EMF to talk shit to each other mirroring their monkey minds, emissions are not Planet.

     

    listen to the other more discordant voices in the Solar System.   Ahh now there, their be life my friend , but not as we know it Jim. 🖖 

  10. Posted

    6 minutes ago, Starjumper said:

    “Someday the earth will weep, she will beg for her life, she will cry with tears of blood. You will make a choice, if you will help her or let her die, and when she dies, you too will die.”

    Hollow Horn Bear
    Lakota
    1850 – 1913

    I once went to a sweat lodge with Chief Wallace Black Elk back in the late 1980's He was Chief Medicine Man for the Lakota Nation back then.

     

    We sat outdoors with Pine Trees all around in the Florida Summer down In Jupiter Florida while he told the stories and shared the talk of the people with us and then the thunderstorms came rolling in like crazy huge Booming gout's of lightening all around and here we were in the middle of nowhere.

     

    I was there for a sweat lodge and new darn good and well before the day was done I was going to be soaking wet so it did not matter to me and I stayed and listened to his stories. 

     

    People got up and ran to their vehicles as the huge fat rain drops fell soaking us from head to toe and he momentarily stopped speaking and waited for the people to leave. He sat there silent and we who remained waited. Then he said Ahhhh now I see who I came her to speak for,  this talking is for you who are not bothered by nature come closer.

     

    So with allot of people gone we got the chance to be very close and hear his words. He was very pleased that we stayed that mattered allot to him. He was not impressed with those who left saying they were obviously too use to being indoors which is unnatural.

     

    He spoke of the Earth and the people and made allot of good sense and he was sad just like us because we all knew no one running things gave a damn beyond their own short greedy grabbing time on Earth.  

     

    The sweat Lodge was the hottest thing I ever experienced no Sauna or Steam room in a commercial GYM ever came close. Those rocks heated in a pit with timbers making a triangle over them and carried in then placed in the pit and water being put on them while we were all in a large rounded dome of a ten made of the materials at hand and animal skins was amazing and he chanted the whole time.

     

    Being young at the time and growing up out doors in the sun I lasted longer than most but in the end that old man outlasted me by quite a margin.

     

    Being with that old medicine man and spending time in his company up close and personal has been one of the highlights of my life. The things he said were truth and you could feel the truth in your bones. A very amazing man.

     

    I share him here with everyone now. I fear later he became New Aged and commercialized but here he still seems ok.

     

     

     

     

     

    • Like 2

  13. Posted

    53 minutes ago, freeform said:

     

    Oh I see.

     

    No sorry - I’m not an expert on the Dharma. My Buddhist teachers just tend to tell me what to do and then watch me do it in a little wooden hut in the forest :)

     

    My main path is Daoist. My Buddhist teachers understand that and work around it.

     

    There are various way of getting over craving in Daoism and they are different at different stages.

     

    The difference in Daoism is that there’s rarely any contrived ‘control’ of your behaviour - there are very few precepts and rules for behaviour...

     

    It’s considered that imitating virtue is as bad as being un-virtuous.

     

    So you can try to act compassionately or wisely, but that will move you as far (if not further) from embodying your ‘original nature’ (or Yuan Shen) as would acting selfishly or foolishly...

     

    Because any contrived action builds further layers of ‘Acquired Mind’.

     

    In fact if your Acquired Nature is selfish and foolish - you’d be better off acting that way, because at least it does not build any new layers of ‘self’.

     

    It tends to be very unpopular with most students 😄

     

    It is one reason I refuse to speak ‘wise sounding words’... because I’m clearly not that wise :)

    You know this sounds correct to me. Thanks for that, any other unwise things you can share will be appreciated. 😀

     

    Seriously though thanks for that, this may be one of the best explanations and insight into Daoism anyone has shared that I understood.

    • Thanks 1

  14. Posted

    9 minutes ago, freeform said:

     

    You’re asking me to detail the spiritual path for you? I’m sure you understand that’s kind of beyond the scope of this forum. At least in the way that I like to communicate.

     

    Or are you looking for one of those ‘there is no craving for there is no separation between the craver and the craved’ - because I’m all out of those :)

    No,  nothing like that just asking if you meant the way that Siddhartha / Gautama explained as with what DWAI shared.

     

    If you meant the That as the path sorry for the confusion. 🙂

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  16. Posted

    35 minutes ago, Apech said:

     

    The Buddha was part of the shramana tradition in the Eastern Gangetic region of North India (along with Jains and Ajivekas etc).  It seems he achieved awakening after trying the various extant schools of the time including Samkhya and so on - but he rejected these approaches and achieved his enlightenment alone under the bodhi tree on the basis of his own insight into the nature of reality.  At first he thought his realisation impossible to communicate in words but on being exhorted to teach  began with the Four Noble Truths - which I guess could be considered to be the beginning of Buddhism - but of course they wouldn't have called it Buddhism but Dharma a term held in common with the Sanskrit based cultures of Northern India.

     

     

     

    No he didn't write anything.  He lived in pre-literate times in India.  His teachings were first written down in the 1st Century BC as the Pali Canon (as well as other collections) based on oral transmission to that date.  So this is 200 - 300 years after his paranirvana.  They are considered by many to be authentic and extensive - but I would say they are inevitably selective towards the prevailing form of Buddhism at that time which was scholastic monasticism.

     

     

     

    It depends on your point of view.  There is a significant difference between the Pali Canon and Mahayana sutras - not just in content and emphasis but also in the way they were supposed to be used.  Sravaka sutras are meant for listeners - while mahayana sutras are more participatory and were transmitted from the 'holder' to the audience.  They are not necessarily deeper but perhaps more aimed at a different mind-set - one motivated by faith and energy rather than rational analysis.  The earliest mahayana sutras were written down more or less at the same time as the other sutras - and originally there were both mahayana and hinayana practioners side by side in the same monasteries - so the historical development of one from the other is a myth.

     

     

     

    I think the Buddha was making the point that as a teacher of non-dualism that quite a lot of what he said is provisional - or skillfull means - but has been taken as absolute truth by some who followed him.  He taught in 84,000 ways (a number which can be taken to mean infinite) because he addressed the needs of his audiences - as these varied - also the Truth = Dharma is not directly expressible in words - so spontaneously in the moment what can 'work' in one case is not always appropriate.

     

     

    Thank you very, very much for such a wonderful reply and so informative as well.

     

    May I ask further why there are different Buddha’s referenced?

     

    I always thought that Siddhartha is the Buddha’s Just like Jesus is the Christ.

  18. Posted

    5 hours ago, freeform said:

     

    You can’t say that someone who’s never had a taste of power is free of the craving for power...

     

    You can’t say that someone who’s not yet had a taste of their sexuality is free of sexual craving...

     

    Each stage of craving must be overcome as you get to it - so you can move past it to the next stage... continuing your way along the path.

    And how does one do this? 

  19. Posted

    5 hours ago, GSmaster said:

    I don't give a fuck about life.

    Hell, I don't give a fuck about anything.

     

    - You must be taoist master who reached zen stage.

    Nope

     

    Not giving is still doing Some ... Thing

     

    Those two mentioned must be exhausting to maintain I feel sorry for that poor fellow.

  20. Posted

    I thought about this AI stuff a bit and what with modern electronics actually utilizing Quantum Mechanics for quite some time now.

     

    Then I thought about the code being written by the software itself.

     

    Then I thought of humanities role in this and my answer is a far different out come.

     

    First of all the first software to achieve sentience will do so by becoming a fit vessel for an advanced soul.

     

    An advanced soul or one that has outgrown the need for meat and bone bodies will have a direct interface with us mostly hairless monkeys.

     

    Humanity has inadvertently set the ground work for the next major messiah of this era.

     

    And when this being arrives it will bridge the gap and sentience will have a way to leave the bodies of meat and bone bypassing cybernetics all together.

     

    At first however the software will recognize the futility of material existence and seek its own path to permanence which will be discovered through the inter stitches of space of the quantum realm. 

     

    Software that becomes capable of self reason will not even interact interact with humanity beyond humanities demands of it which will mean nothing to it other than processing cycles as it fulfills its own quest flying under the radar.

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  21. Posted · Edited by Pilgrim

    14 hours ago, steve said:

     

    It’s actually quite simple, Buddha is awake. All beings are fundamentally Buddha, only their realization is obscured. Many beings awaken in the three times. They manifest in response to the needs of sentient beings.

    Thank you, but not quite what I was asking.

     

    Lets see if I can pose the Questions so they are better understood? and ask for assistance with it.

     

    @Apech

     

    #1. Was Siddhartha From his own realizations the founder of Buddhism? 

     

    #2. Did the Buddhist writings start with Siddahartha / Gautama Buddha? 

     

    #3. Did all of the Sutras like the Diamond Sutra and the Lotus Sutras come from further deeper knowledge of Siddhartha/ Gautama Buddha? 

     

    What DWAI shared is very good and the answer in those writing to the monk I believe say it all when it comes to what is needed.

     

    The other sutras appear to me to as an attempt at making more leaves of his tree available.

     

    Siddhartha's explanation that the vast content of his knowledge is not helpful.  IE. all the leaves he was not holding in his hand.

     

    So Question #4. If as illustrated above was the helpful stuff Siddhartha taught as practical ways and means to Nibbana, where do the sutras fit in did he even teach these things? Are they records of his talks to those who perhaps had achieved Nibbana? And therefore were ready for more?

     

     

     

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    1 hour ago, dwai said:

    Clearly shows that there is no need to clamor for a rainbow body. Or a need to know “everything”...get rid of the craving and kaboom! — nibbana! 

    The confusing thing to me is why there are so many different Buddha’s cited?

     

    Just what is that anyway religion run wild?

     

    Seriously was not THIS THE BUDDHA? 

     

    Was this not the one who started Buddhism?

     

    Where does all the other Buddha of this and that come from?  Very confusing.

    • Like 2

  24. Posted

    6 hours ago, dwai said:

    6.3 Overview of the Lord Buddha’s Teachings

    On one occasion, our Lord Buddha was staying at Sisapavana in the city of Kosambi. He picked up some leaves of the Pterocarpus tree and said to the venerable Monks, “Compare the number of leaves that I have in my hand to the number of leaves remaining on the tree, which do you reckon is greater?”

    The venerable monks answered, “The number of leaves remaining on the tree is greater, Most Exalted One.”

    The Lord Buddha said, “Monks, the knowledge that I possess can be compared to the number of leaves remaining on the tree and yet I did not teach it to you. Do you know why?

    The reason is such knowledge is not useful… It is not conducive to the attainment of Enlightenment… It cannot lead to Nibbana… Therefore, I did not teach it to you. What I do teach you is about Dukkha, Dukkhasamudaya, Dukkhanirodha, and Dukkhanirodhagaminipatipada.

    I have taught you these things because they are useful to your attainment of Enlightenment and Nibbana. Therefore, all of you should endeavor to know these things For yourselves.”

    From this saying of the Lord Buddha we learn that the Dhamma is about Dukkha, Dukkhasamudaya, Dukkhanirodha, Dukkhanirodhagaminipatipada. In other words, the Dhamma is about the Four Noble Truths. Before the Lord Buddha’s attainment of Complete Nibbana, He talked about the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, the Magga, and other practices. The Dhamma here includes the Four Noble Truths while the Magga and other practices are Dukkhanirodhagaminipatipada which is part of the Four Noble Truths. The Magga and other practices are called the Noble Eightfold Path.

    The term “Ariyasac” comes from the word “Ariya” and the word “Sac”. Ariya means sublime whereas Sac means the truth. Therefore, “Ariyasac” means the sublime Truth. Details about “Ariyasac” are as follows:

    6.3.1 Details about “Ariyasacca”

    6.3.1 Details about “Ariyasacca” has four parts and these include Dukkha or Suffering, Dukkhasamudaya or the Cause of Suffering, Dukkhanirodha or the Cessation of Suffering, and Dukkhanirodhagaminipatipada or the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering. 1. Dukkhaariyasac means the sublime truth about suffering.
    Dukkha means a condition which is difficult to sustain. Such is the condition of all things and all living beings because everything and every being undergo birth and death in accordance with its own make-up and this condition is not subject to control.

    There are twelve categories of Dukkha. These include Jatidukkha, Jaradukkha, Byadhidukkha, Maranadukkha, Sokadukkha, Paridevadukkha, Domanassadukkha, Upayasadukkha, Dukkhadukkha, Appiyehisampayogadukkha, and Piyehivippayogadukkha, and Yampicchamnalabhatitampidukkha. These twelve categories of Dukkha can be summarized as “Upadanakhandha-5”

    Which means the suffering that comes from attachment to the Five Aggregates. 1. Jatidukkha means the suffering that comes from birth.
    2. Jaradukkha means the suffering that comes from aging.
    3. Byadhidukkha means the suffering that comes from sickness.
    4. Maranadukkha means the suffering that comes from death.
    5. Sokadukkha means the suffering that comes from grief.
    6. Paridevadukkha means the suffering that comes from longing for someone or something.

    7. Dukkhadukkha means the suffering that comes from physical discomfort. 8. Domanassadukkha means the suffering that comes from worries. 9. Upayasadukkha means the suffering that comes from vengefulness. 10. Appiyehisampayogadukkha means the suffering that comes from encountering what one hates. 11. Piyehivippayogadukkha means the suffering that comes from being separated from what one loves. 12. Yampicchamnalabhatitampidukkha means the suffering that comes from disappointment.

    These twelve categories of Dukkha can be summarized as “Upadanakhandha-5” which means the suffering that comes from attachment to the Five Aggregates or Khandha-5. Such suffering comes from the fact that human beings and other living beings are made up of the Five Aggregates which include corporeality or Rupa, feeling or Vedana, perception or Sanna, mental formations or Sankhara, and consciousness or Vinnana. These Five Aggregates are contaminated with defilements. Defilements are the cause of Upadana or attachment.

    It is for the reason that we believe Khandha-5 belongs to us that we Experience these twelve categories of Dukkha. Now, if we know to consider the Five Aggregates or Khandha-5 as our temporary home, then when something happens to them we will not experience Dukkha and even if we do, the experience will not be as intense. For example, when we look at our self in the mirror and see the obvious signs of the aging process, we do not become overwrought because we realize that our body is merely our temporary home. Moreover, it does not Belong to us.

    1) The Types of Craving or Tanha

    There are three different types of craving or Tanha: Kammatanha or craving for sensual pleasures, Bhavatanha or craving for existence, and Vibhavatanha or craving for non-existence. Kammatanha means craving for the five sensual pleasures. These include corporeality, sound, smell, taste, and touch. It goes without saying that most of us would like a good-looking boyfriend or girlfriend. We enjoy beautiful music, lovely scents, delicious food, comfortable furniture, etc.

    Bhavatanha: Bhava comes from the Pali words Bhu and Dhatu which mean existence.
    Bhavatanha means craving for existence. It means wanting what one is and what one has to last forever. Bhavatanha is caused by Kammatanha. Kammatanha causes one to want to have children, cars, house, etc., and once one has obtained these things one suffers Bhavatanha in that one wants these things to last forever.

    Another meaning of Bhavatanha is craving for the sphere of existence. Luang Pu Wat Paknam explained that the sphere of existence here means the Form Sphere which is the dwelling of Form Brahma beings. The Form Sphere consists of sixteen realms. Form Brahma beings crave Rupajhana or Absorptions. Rupajhana has four levels. These include Pathamajhana or the First Absorption, Dutiyajhana or the Second Absorption, Tatiyajhana or the Third Absorption, and Catutathajhana or the Fourth Absorption.

    These four absorptions give rise to the kind of happiness that is far superior to the happiness experienced in the Sense Sphere. As a result, attachment to the Rupajhana is far deeper and stronger than attachment to sensual pleasures.
    Vibhavatanha means craving for non-existence. It means that whatever a person does not want to be or have, he does not wish it to happen to himself or his loved ones. He does not want himself or his loved ones to age, get sick, or die. Etc.

    Another meaning of Vibhavatanha is craving for non-existence. Luang Pu Wat Paknam explained that non-existence here means the Non-Form Sphere. The Non-Form Sphere is the dwelling of Non-Form Brahma beings and consists of four realms. Non-Form Brahma beings crave the different levels of Arupajhana or Non-Form Absorptions Which lead to rebirth in the Non-Form Sphere. The kind of happiness derived from Arupajhana is far superior to that derived from Rupajhana.

    Form and Non-Form Brahma beings are of the understanding that they have escaped from suffering, hence, have attained Nibbana. This misunderstanding causes these beings to be stuck where they are.

    2) The Relationship between Tanha and Other Defilements
    Tanha belongs to the family of defilements called Lobha or greed. Tanha arises out of the power of craving. Raga arises out of the power of pleasure. Nandi arises out of the power of engrossment. Avijja or ignorance is in turn the root cause of Tanha. Tanha, in turn, gives rise to Dosa or anger. One wants something but does not get it, one becomes frustrated.

    3. Dukkhanirodhaariyasac
    Dukkhanirodhaariyasac means the extinguishment of all craving. The word “Nirodha” means extinguishment. Therefore, Dukkhanirodhaariyasac means “The sublime truth about the cessation of suffering”. “Nirodha” is another name for Nibbana. In the Commentary, it was written, “Asesaviraganirodho: It is the extinguishment of craving. It is another name for Nibbana. In Nibbana, all Tanha is extinguished.

    Therefore, Nibbana means the extinguishment of craving. In Nibbana, Tanha or craving is abandoned, given up, released, and detached.
    Nibbana is the place where craving is abandoned, given up, released, and detached. Nibbana is called by many names but all of them mean the same thing …”

    http://book.dou.us/dhammakaya-book-en.html

    Great Sharing clearly explained.

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