Miroku

Well speaking from experience, to avoid pollution during anal sex being clean is of utmost importance. Concerning energies, I dunno. Not a big believer in most of things that is said about them. It often leads to people acting like brahmins and being too concerned with purity and ritual purity and other silly things. If the practice lineage wants it, then sure. If you want to be promiscuous then be, but be careful and try to be a good partner. If you want to be spiritually pure, then be ready to give up stuff, especially afflictive emotions.

One of my friends actually pulled out the "naked man" on one of his dates. She laughed and then they did it all night long. Sometimes ... it works. Didn't work for me tho.

Oh yes, definitely, there are some shenanigans and such. However, as a phenomenon the mere existence of such a huge amount of ghost hunters is really interesting. Many of them really amateurs and probably not in it to make a quick buck ... although ... who knows. Hh, yes I would never apply the few americans I have met as a significant group to apply on the entire society. For example none of them were black, which does not mean there are no black americans. However, the "shamanistic christianity" they apply in those videos is quite fascinating to me. Not only is it probably a direct descendent of the "spiritism" of early 20th and late 19th century, but it has all kinds of stuff in it. Quite exciting from the pov of religious studies if you ask me.

It was about the situation here in Europe and USA. That is quite interesting this point of view. Is it like that also in Malaysia with propitiating ancestors? Here in Europe we don't really do that, but it is very easy to see how it is a sort of a natural response of humans. After the passing of my father, mum talked to his ashes quite regularly. She also swears he haunted our cottage and flat for a while. Which I think was more due to her feeling alone and under pressure at the time.

Yeah that is interesting. I guess that it is a way the local deities and beings were degraded into ghosts and demons through the influence of the church. Surprisingly enough one all mighty god cannot stand the existence of a minor deity living in a tree.

Thanks @C T! I did not know about that. Do you have a story you feel comfortable sharing? I have met few people who think they can do magic. My mum says she was once cursed by her ex-husband. She didn't believe it until she fell down the stairs and broke one or two ribs. However, she has managed to elevate the curse by beating the crap out of him. Those fearless slavic women, last person you want to curse.

Thanks @Vajra Fist! That is quite interesting. The thing is that despite coming from a part of country that has been effed over quite a few times in just the last 100 years there does not seem to be much. That is except this one strange small valley where I am pretty sure either lives a ghost or there is a local presence as there are no birds and it is just creepy there (and a guy died down there and nobody knows how he got there or why he went there). Yeah the simple amount of the shows could play a part. There is also something that I like to call american evangelical shamanism, which is what I have noticed many of these "ghost hunters" are evangelical christians but their faith looks and feels more like shamanism as it is full of crystals, witchcraft and other things. So maybe just mere presence of people who work like that could be a trigger (or they just notice it more).

My take on these things is following. While I do not have any proper ghost experience (just some dreams and weird vibes) I have some theories. I think one of the reasons why people become ghosts is through very strong attachment which basically keeps them locked to the place where they lived after their death (not an extraordinary theory). And the reason why the USA has such a huge amount of ghosts is probably because of its wealth. People are simply more attached. And while there is the general pretense of US being a christian nation, local people are very interested in witchcraft (srsly basically 70% of all americans I have met are into witchcraft), which could lead to either invoking a strong spirit or in a way becoming one yourself.

Quite a few highly realized masters identified Mother Mary as one of many emanations of Tara. They should be basically the same principle. This is mostly a fun fact really. I wont start praying to Mary. Speaking of the continuous chanting technique it actually reminds me of some pure land teachings and I think it is actually mentioned as one of the forms of chanting. Also I think it can be linked to breath and etc. It is a very versatile practice. Have you read some of the practice manuals?

@Vajra Fist Hey, I would not look at those mantras as fighting each other or anything like that. Both Mani and Medicine Buddha mantras are here for us to get enlightened. Just like Amitabha practice. Especially Mani is good "side dish" to chanting Amitabha's name as Avalokiteshvara is Amitabha's direct student and he also helps beings get into Dewachen.

It is so great to hear about your nyung ne experiences! I always kinda wanted to try, but unfortunately my center stopped doing nyungnes like month before I joined them. I have heard that doing nyung ne is quite powerful way to purify karma and after 12 or how many nyungnes one does not have to fear falling down into lower realms.

Great explanation! Thank you.

Yes, definitely. However at the same time the deities are "outside" manifestation as well. Many masters have shared stories of being protected. Chetsang Rinpoche met a woman he considers Achi because she appeared out of nowhere and saved his life by showing him the way to escape China. Garchen Rinpoche felt a hand stroking his head while falling asleep and considers it Tara showing him she is protecting him. So while the deities are definitely manifestations of our potential, they also appear as "outer" forms to help and protect sentient beings.

It is definitely sufficient to recite the 'Namo Amitabha Buddha' and have faith. Otherwise Buddha would lie and that is nonsense. The difference is a difference between realizing the nature of Amitabha through sadhana practice and meeting Amitabha face to face through his name and faith.

Yeah, kinda similar stuff happened to me. I tried it for few days and was into it as it really seemed to have almost immediate effect. But then read more of the stuff and that was too mind boggling and in the end I have decided not to do practices propagated by somebody most probably crazy. Not to mention my boyfriend would be so angry if it cured my homosexuality. And that sucks because he bakes so well...

I would say it this way. When you follow someone you cannot help but adopt some aspects of that person, be it believes, physical movements or others. Also the way you see them matters. In Buddhism it is said that if you see your teacher as a buddha you will become a buddha, if you see him as a dog you will become a dog. So... following a guy believing in UFO and aliens causing world problems...? On the other hand many people have nothing but positive experiences with Falun Gong... one of my favourite youtubers is a FG practitioner and he claims it totally changed his father into a peaceful guy from a very angry type. I would be (and actually am despite finding the system interesting) cautious.

I am no thinker, but you might find this useful. AFAIK karma is a wild wild thing. Since we have been reborn again and again from the beginingless time there is no telling what got into the mix. All I know really is that I even if I die in sickness and poverty I can count myself among the lucky ones.

Falun Gong is as buddhist as I am Jewish, just being cut in the right places does not make it a kosher dharma. If falun gong is influence by buddhism then it was buddhism light and it was microdosed.

Nah, my apologies for being too pedantic. It really does not matter that much in the end...

Just a correction, the top video in OP is of a Drikung Kagyu practitioner and the video is taken from the documentary Yogis of Tibet. But I guess many of the movements are fairly similar. Anyway thank you for the Bön view as it is quite different in this aspect.

Preach! You are right. Not to mention that without refuge and bodhicitta all of Buddhism turns into fancy mindfulness meditation and shamanism. One is better off not practicing without the basic stuff. There is a reason why the situation of a Vajrayana practitioner is compared to the one of a snake in a bamboo, either goes up or down. Without bodhicitta and refuge vajrayana and it's methods are a fancy vehicle to lower realms.

It is in america, it is basically everywhere nowadays. But you are missing the point that those lineages are very restricted and mostly not taught openly. Most of them require years of practice and many are given only in 3 year retreats. But you do you. The problem is not with "westerners getting the lineage" it is with westerners rarely having the time, resources and strenght to do years of strict retreat. There are several western practitioners who are quite successful. My main point is. If you just want those yogas, you are wasting your time. Those are done for enlightenment and as a help on that path, not to get healthy and bendy.

The methods there are from Drikung Kagyu, especially the first video. As for "getting those methods" it does not work that way. Those are given only to qualified students, who go through ngöndro (4x100 000 repititions of preparatory practices) and then other meditations. Not to mention that most of them are secret one way or another. If you just want some tibetan yoga, try nejang, that is a healing yoga, or Yantra Yoga, but even in Yantra Yoga you cannot do everything as some methods are for practitioners only. Tibetan Buddhist methods are not like taichi, for most of them you ought to adopt the entire system, not just cherry pick what you like. Ofc there are some systems which are open, mostly in bön, but even there it is usually for people interested in the teachings as a whole.

Nothing to add except for: damn this is a good thread. Please keep going I am learning so much from you.