Apech

That’s not quite what I am saying but I don’t want to derail this topic so I’ll leave it there.

By realised Buddhist I meant one who has achieved realization of the nature of mind/reality. For instance a zen or Tibetan master. Although textual references are important they are not as important as direct insight or prajna.

If you stick to the srvakayana then you are correct of course but then who are we to question the conclusions of actual realized Buddhists?

Because the yogacara schools and some vajrayana do teach a form of non- dualism.

I'm going to grow bangs to celebrate.

delete

yes but what if sex is the entertainment?

"I have friends in high places." "Hey master come down from the ceiling and stick some pins in me!"

I think there's only one way and that is close observation over a long period of time (12 years is quoted in texts). Do they speak the truth? Are their actions consistent with their words? How do they conduct themselves? How do people around them, their close followers behave towards them and each other? This kind of thing. I have never known a good teacher who made any claims about their own enlightenment - usually they downplay their own abilities compared to their own teachers.

@Fatuous, Hi - there are some texts which describe sexual practices between a male practitioner and female (usually young) subject - but I don't have the references (you might find them if you search the board). They are definitely non-standard and dubious in nature. Indeed this very board had an issue with an ex-member doing this kind of thing. I won't go into details. But generally speaking it is not ok without consent. In the old days the status of women was so reduced that some felt themselves entitled to use female subjects for this kind of thing - and to the present day there have been many 'scandals' especially in vajrayana Buddhism where an advanced man 'uses' a female subject in this way. Even with consent it can still cause harm unless the intent of the other person is properly understood. There is also a risk that this was just a dream and you could waste a lot of time and energy on what is essentially a fantasy. Quite a few people learn lucid dreaming in order to have pseudo-sexual encounters and the like. This again is very dubious - genuine dream yogas have a different purpose entirely. For what its worth my advice is to stay away from this kind of thing and concentrate on forming real relationships but of course it is up to you.

what’s a tire? Do you mean a tyre?

serious question - have they always been called bangs in America or is it a new thing?

Why do they call a fringe 'bangs'? I wish I knew.

Welcome, I hope you'll be able to find real wood in the forest

"I have not seen advanced students out there." Does she mean us?

Seems like ages since we had a moderation dust up. Must be one coming round soon.

Dylithium crystals

sorry about my age it’s a curse I know

Your wisdom astonishes me - who but a true master could explain the Way by linking to Wikipedia and other people's websites?

Hi tech wizard mod team! many of my pics won’t upload because they are too big in terms of memory whatever - is there any way to update this? So we can post pics bigger than 113.2 MB?

Stick

I bow before thee sovereign lord , but ask what apart from labeling the chakras yin and Yang what is Daoist about this?

emailing yourself is the first sign of internet madness

"I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves"

Perhaps then the Egyptian shade and the Jungian shadow are not the same thing. I don't think that my tendancies are inexplicable - it's just the people are different and have different emphases.