rene

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Posts posted by rene

  1. Posted

    23 hours ago, manitou said:

     

    Thank you Rene.  Your observation means a lot to me.

     

    The strange thing is how many others of the same understanding I'm running into.  Suddenly.  I met a man sitting on a park bench wearing only a pair of shorts and a wife beater Tshirt.  He looked like he was freezing.  I walked up to him and told him I lived only a block away, can I go get you a flannel shirt?  He said no, he was waiting for someone.  But he strolled with me to the other side of the park.  I'm not kidding you, I'm pretty sure I was talking to an incarnation of the Buddha.  Things like that are happening often now.  Did you run into the same?

    Always, still do. LOL

    Maybe rather than Budda reincarnation - he has what Buddha had. And yes, easy to spot; recognition abounds. (-:

    • Like 2

  2. Posted

    On 1/3/2019 at 12:16 PM, manitou said:

     

    This is going to be a difficult thread to write, because something of the most profound nature happened to me last night.  I can offer no proofs other than a re-telling of my experience.  As DB's, we can inadvertently get a little competitive, as evidenced by the occasional spats on the threads - but I ask you to set ego aside as I relate this.  I offer this as a glimpse into what we all want here - enlightenment.

     

    About 7 months ago I moved to the Palm Springs, CA area after my husband died.  The grief I experienced for over a year seems to have honed me in some way; like going through a fire and having  the extraneous burned off.  In the complex that I live in, there is a place I go daily to walk the dogs.  I met the people who live right there because they have a dog that looks exactly like mine.  We struck up a friendship.

     

    Unknown to me, the man in the duo is a Bujinkan master.  He goes to Japan regularly to hone his incredible skills under Masaaki Hatsumi.  He is a well known teacher of this incredible ninja martial art in the U.S.. and other parts of the world.  I asked if he had videos online, and he indicated that there were several on youtube.  I starting watching his videos and those of Masaaki Hatsumi.  What I saw in them amazed me.  It is the Dao brought into the physical.  I recognized it immediately and confirmed it with him.  Captivated for some reason, I watched them over and over - couldn't get enough.  He gave me a study manual (much spiritual and psychological as well) and I've been reading it carefully.  For some reason, this tying together of the Dao as a philosophy and the Dao in form (Bujinkan) was what I needed to see.

     

    I've talked about self-realization on this forum for a long time.  Apparently I didn't know what it really was.  I've walked the path of AA for 38 years and in working the steps, one removes layer after layer of shadow within - both through acknowledgment of the flaw and making amends for things done in the past.  I knew I was on the path to self-realization (I used to go to Manley Hall lectures in Hollywood and the seed was planted early in me, in the 1970's).  My association with TDB's has been just about the most instrumental vehicle for furtherance of this path because we come from so many points of view, and yet there are truths that lie at the bottom of these points of views, or paths, that are universal. After a while, rough edges and firm opinions within us are eliminated here.  In addition to the study of multiple religions to the point of transcendence of any particular path.

     

    So, last night.  I was walking the dogs before going to bed and I stopped and looked at the stars for a few moments.  I was hit by a jolt of energy, seemingly coming from the stars, that I've never experienced in my life.  I immediately thought about Saul on the road to Damascus, how he was hit by a jolt, from my old Christian days.  I felt a little snap in my heart or brain, like someone snapping a small twig.  Something unblocked.

     

    Immediately after being hit by this jolt which felt like an inner gulp of realization - not anything of the brain - I heard a voice in my head that said 'I AM an enlightened being'.  I immediately felt energy rushing out of me, going in all directions.  I started to tremble.

     

    I have been a proponent of the I AM consciousness for 20 years, ever since studying The Impersonal Life by Anonymous.  Within this consciousness we realize who we really Are.  But I know today that I had never taken the actual inner gulp of self-realization that I took last night, where I actually experienced it.  At once,  my whole essence had no fear, no discomfort, radiating warmth, and an overall feeling of love for everything.

     

    The realizations continued when I got home.  I jotted them down so I could tell you about them today.

     

    First realization:  There is a responsibility with enlightenment.  It is our purpose as enlightened beings to act like an enlightened being, in speech and deeds.  It doesn't matter what we do with it, on how big or little a scale.  We are the torch bearers, the frequency holders.


    -  We are all enlightened beings.  Every single one of us.  But it's not until we get that gulp of realization that we really are that we truly feel the truth of the matter.  No doubt remains.  No questions, no measurement of yourself vs. some master or fellow poster on the Bums.  You know in your entire persona.

     

    Today I woke up with the thought 'I am an enlightened being' on my mind, first thing on waking up.  The glow remains with me.  I offer this experience to hear from others who may have gone through this, or as a little roadmap for what is no doubt coming for you too.

     

     

     

     

    Sweet !!

    This bell does not unring (-:

    Warm greetings!

    • Like 3

  8. Posted

    25 minutes ago, wandelaar said:

     

    Trumpism?

    Really?? Gonna reincarnate that into every thread now?

     

    Hey maybe that's it! Maybe what follows into the next lifetime is whatever one is 'fixated' on in this life... and by letting go, liberating one's self of the 'fixations', the turning wheel is escaped from because there's nothing left that's still clung to - to carry into another incarnation! ^_^

     

     

     

    • Like 2

  9. Posted

    32 minutes ago, wandelaar said:

    @ rene

     

    It's more like:

     

    1. X looks like a fact of life

    2. I don't want to be limited by facts of life

    3. Belief system Y pretends to deliver an escape from X

    4. Thus I will belief in Y.

     

    Greatly simplified we then have:

     

    In the West:

    X = death is the end, because when the brain stops functioning all psychical experiences disappear

    Y = the doctrine of reincarnation

     

    In India:

    X = reincarnation

    Y = the supposed way to escape from reincarnation.

     

    And this explains the paradox.

     

    Could be, sure. I yield the details of the minutiae to you and others. :) 

     

    Mine is the way of WuDao.

     

    Warmest regards

  10. Posted · Edited by rene

    1 hour ago, wandelaar said:

    That's the silly thing about reincarnation. Those who think reincarnation is a fact are doing their very best to escape from future reincarnations, and those who are not sure about it hope to reincarnate! :blink:

     

     

    Perhaps.

     

    Other than the mechanics and details, aren't all organized belief systems structured the same way? I.e.. X is a fact. If you do Y, you will attain X.

     

    X=Heaven, enlightenment, immortality, etc...

    Y=Accept Christ, study, practice, cultivate, etc...

     

    They all start with X being a fact.

     

    X has to be a fact, to support the details of the tradition.

     

    Sometimes the Ys seem contradictory to their Xs - but the more complicated/detailed a system is, the easier those contradictions are explained away...or dismissed (God's Will, for example).

     

    JMO

    • Like 2

  11. Posted

    1 hour ago, steve said:

     

    It's not a matter of wanting to be reincarnated.

    More a matter of accepting reincarnation as a normal part of the cyclical experience of life and death.

    What they do strive for, one could certainly say want, is a favorable birth in the next life to permit continued study and practice of Dharma.

    On the Dzogchen path of Buddhism, the objective is complete liberation in this lifetime, in order to more effectively benefit others.

    Just my limited understanding.

     

    Ah ok, got it, thank you!

    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    2 minutes ago, Lost in Translation said:

     

    I have always felt the "goal" of Taoism is enlightenment. Only the enlightened know what that means. The rest of us are chasing a dream "on faith" (to borrow a Christian concept) and have no idea what we're actually searching for.

    Aw...now you've done it.. :lol:

    Can-of-Worms-600x330.jpg

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  14. Posted

    22 minutes ago, OldDog said:

     

    Yeah, I was hoping to avoid that question because I think it leads us to a Buddhist discussion of self, something I don't feel like I should speak to.

     

    But since this is an opinion thread, I will venture this much ...

     

    From what I have understood, Daoist practice is not directed at the extinction of self.  It seems to me a goal under Daoism is realization that there is no distiinction between self and other. 

     

    Maybe someone can help us fill in this thought ... or correct it, as needs be.

    Ah, ok, thanks OldDog. I breathe Laozi - but I'm not Daoist; just curious how Buddhists reconciled wanting to be reincarnated while wanting to be rid of that which would be. S'cuze my add-on. :)

  16. Posted

    2 hours ago, OldDog said:

    Literally, it would mean for some thing to be embodied again. That would seem to mean spirit, if one considers energy to be a physical quality.

     

    Continuation of one's self would imply that some recognizable aspect of being is carried forward into another embodiment.

     

    Questions about the existence of a self aside, does it suggest a continuation or re-embodiment of knowledge?

    If I may add my small question to yours...

    If a goal is to rid oneself of Self - how would reincarnation be a good thing?

    • Like 1
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  19. Posted

    1 hour ago, kyoji said:

    you don't spend enough time around babies, maybe :P or maybe i delude myself with wishful thinking..

    Not wishful thinking at all!

    Laozi seemed to share that as well. A long time ago he whispered in my ear, when I asked him for more words. Here was his reply:

     

     

    What could I show you
    that you have not already seen?

     

    What could I tell you
    that you have not already heard?

     

    What could you learn
    that you do not already understand?

     

    There is no need to be kind, just be yourself.
    Kindness comes naturally.

     

    There is no need to be just.
    As a whole human, you are already just.

     

    Being who you are in your heart,
    brings everything.

     

    You already know these things.
    They are naturally known, because they are natural.

     

    What more could I say that would be of any use?

     

    ~~~~~

    Warmest regards (-:

    • Like 6

  20. Posted · Edited by rene

    5 hours ago, Lost in Translation said:

    Let's imagine I wrote this:

    Quote

    .....

    A person who wants to change the oil in their vehicle may find this information useful. Of course it's also possible that this is a coded message teaching teenagers how to get laid. I guess it's all a matter of your point of view...

    LiT - That's the best post on this thread; though few will understand it an even fewer will agree.

    Well done. (-:

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  24. Posted

    1 hour ago, 3bob said:

    but if we slow down the speed of light what would be the repercussions?  (for instance would said grass still grow properly?)

    Oh honey if we could slow down the speed of light there would be no grass left to be affected, it having been already harvested dried smoked  mowed.

    :)

  25. Posted · Edited by rene

    My idea is that all kinds of information, life experiences, etc, - whatever a particle was part of or ever went through - is still present at the particle level; and that information is accessible to current configurations.

     

    If that is so - it would explain the source of many ideas, reincarnation being one of them.

     

    Whether passed on through genetic linking, or envionmental situations, like attracts like, familiar ground.

     

    Some people recall past lives and times so clearly.. it's easy to see how the idea of reincarnation came to be. That said, the idea of it used to reward/punish current behavior is, imo, just a lame control tool.

     

    There are other ways this passing of information occurs, but that's another topic.

     

    Best wishes to you & your wife!

     

    • Like 1
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