Apech

The Dao Bums
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    16,969

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    213

Posts posted by Apech

  2. Posted

    3 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

    Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine: Grinspoon, Lester, Bakalar, James B.: 9780300070866: Amazon.com: Books

     

    I read this book, by two Yale researchers if I remember correctly, when it first came out in 1997.  I remember one of its main conclusions: there's nothing that works better to lower intraocular pressure than marijuana.  And for severe glaucoma, it's been presented as sometimes the only salvation. 

     

    The most prescribed glaucoma drops, pilocarpine, constitute an alkaloid obtained from a jungle medicine herb, pilocarpa, native to South America.  I don't know how the natives used the plant itself and how they fared, but the pharmaceutical version is highly toxic and many people find it hard to tolerate.  MJ, on the other hand, is well tolerated by many, but I don't know what its legal status and/or availability are in your parts.  If that's not a problem, try to make sure you steer clear of the GM strains.  

     

    Despite Portugal's reputation its not legal here.  

     

    what do people think of Gingko?

  5. Posted

    4 minutes ago, Kojiro said:

    I don't know if it is the same, but my right eye is very red as of lately, specially on days when i wake up early. It is quite red to say the truth. Any idea of how to improve this?


    I don’t think that is the same as high pressure doesn’t usually have symptoms in the early stages.  I suggest you go for a check up and see if there’s any problem with your eye.

  6. Posted

    Hi Healthy Bums,

     

    my latest eye test showed I have borderline high eye pressure which could lead to glaucoma.  I was wondering if anyone knows any good qi gong or herbal remedies that might help me reduce the pressure before my next test.

     

    thanks!

  8. Posted

    11 hours ago, stirling said:

     

    Nice of you to think of me so kindly, but I have seen and met a number of entities of various kinds without fear or harm. Which ones are you are concerned about? Most of what I see/meet doesn't introduce itself. 

     

    There are more things in heaven and on earth ... etc.

     

    I think genuine malevolence exists and should be avoided - whether in a person or entity.  

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    11 hours ago, stirling said:

     

    The ones in my town are all either friends or acquaintances. The ones I have met previously, were my teachers or their peers. 

     

     

    I won't way that they are Buddhas necessarily, but arhats certainly. I think any exact criteria is somewhat muddled beyond that point. Awakening is much more common. 

     

    What would your criteria for enlightened be?

     

     

    Well of course it depends on the definition.  Our vary it seems.  I have practiced only in the Mahayana so an arhat is considered a narrow definition of the goal (or that is the impression I get as I have given it little thought).  In Mahayana we have the bhumis of the bodhisattva path - so I guess at least first Bhumi although I'm not sure even that is 'enlightened'.

     

     

  11. Posted

    6 minutes ago, stirling said:

     

    This is absolutely my experience, except the part about "harmful entities". In my opinion, though they might appear fearsome, they aren't harmful... quite the opposite, IMO. They are kind, showing us our fear, attachment, and aversion.

     

    Follow on question related to your previous post: If the very fabric of everything is itself enlightened, what makes you think that entities that represent that understanding in human form are so rare?

     

    My sweet summer child ... be careful out there won't you.

     

     

  12. Posted

    10 minutes ago, stirling said:

     

    I live in a Pure Land, of course! :) It is a small town in the Pacific Northwest that just happens to have a lot of retired former Shuryu Suzuki and Rinzai Zen teachers, as well as a well-know Zen translator and author or two. 

     

    Let's do definitions: By enlightened, I mean an Arhat. Specifically, complete realization of no-self in the Buddhist parlance.

     

    Most of the Buddhist meditation centers I have been affiliated with had at least one, some had more. Locations include San Francisco Zen Center, Hokoji Zen Center, Jikoji Zen Center, Land of Medicine Buddha, Pema Osel Ling, and Tashi Choling. 

     

    I find YOUR assertions unbelievable... how about that! ;)

     

     

    I don't mind if you find what I say unbelievable that's ok.  I think you should check out some of these arhats to see how arhat they really are though.

     

    ... and is that really enlightenment? as in awakened as a Buddha? Presumably not.

     

  13. Posted

    18 hours ago, idiot_stimpy said:

    I was reading recently whereby someone stated it was impossible to gain enlightenment without transmission from a lineage. 

     

    Is it possible to awaken without transmission? Can you wake up by reading the cheat codes in a book as opposed to learning them from a living teacher?

     

    There is also the possibility of unseen help from forces that are not of this realm. I'm in two minds about the answer to this question, some perspective would be appreciated.

     

     

     

     

    Certain systems lay great importance on transmission and empowerment.  For instance you can't really practice vajrayana without empowerment - and to study texts you need the 'lung' reading.  This is how they work.  But then you have to ask what is meant by 'work' and why the emphasis is there in the first place.  

     

    This does not mean however that it is impossible without a transmission or teacher - just that you would have to do a different system and practice self empowerment or self-initiation (which is taught by some).  Having a teacher and so on makes things easier - but to what end?  Perhaps the result is not as impressive as with the self taught?  

     

    If you accept that we exist in an infinite field of consciousness or energy then you have to accept that countless types of beings exist - some beyond the realms of our understanding (since the human perspective is necessarily narrow).  Entities exist which can and have helped practitioners in different systems - but also there are myriad harmful entities and so on - so its not an area to be entered into lightly. 

     

     

     

  14. Posted

    6 hours ago, stirling said:

     

     

    As for finding a teacher, enlightened beings are available almost everywhere. I am aware of 3 in my little town of 10k people. Any decent sized meditation center will probably have at least one, with some exceptions. Get out and meet some teachers and TELL them what you want to do. The more open and genuine you are when meeting them, the better. Most teachers will MAKE space for a student who is truly motivated. 

     

    What kind of shangri-la do you live in?  I have met two people in my life who I thought might be 'enlightened' and I am not sure about one and the other is only a kind of work in progress yet impressive kind.  I have never met anyone in a meditation centre who is anywhere near basic realisation never mind enlightened.

     

    Perhaps we have divergent ideas about what this means - but your idea that is common 'almost everywhere' is bizarre.

     

    Sorry but this is my experience and I find your assertions unbelievable.

     

     

  21. Posted

    1 hour ago, dwai said:

    There was an interesting development in the past two days with an old friend (also a former TDB - which I guess is a misnomer because "once a Dao bum, always a dao bum") wrote to me about his realization and the falling away of the sense of self which he described as "a dissolving into everything,  which can be interpreted as losing oneself).

    I asked him, "Are YOU disappearing or is the personality who answers to the name 'Former TDB' disappearing?"

     

    Because the original YOU has never not been there (or is always present, ever-shining). Only that it was clouded by the layers of personality that identify as this and that. Once there is a sufficient stillness developed, that One becomes apparent for what it has always/already been - Existence, Consciousness, Joy/Bliss (Sat, Chit, Ananda). 

     

    I shared with him this snippet from James Swartz --

     

      Reveal hidden contents
    Question: Will there be suffering, as long as I have an ego?
     
    You have an ego until the day the body dies. Vedanta, however, says the problem isn't ego but the "sense of doership" that the ego, which is a conscious entity, entertains. The feeling that I am doing something disappears when you see clearly that action requires many factors working together, the senses, mind, intellect, autonomic nervous system, etc. not to mention macrocosmic factors. At that point the anxiety the ego feels as it works out its karma disappears and it becomes a very relaxed ego. It doesn't suffer. Suffering is just the mental emotional load that comes with taking responsibility for what is happening in the field of karma. Anyway, when it realizes that stress is gratuitous, it does action happily, not for happiness, without the feeling that it is doing anything.
    ❤️

     


    How is Jeff these days?

    • Haha 1

  23. Posted · Edited by Apech

    On 3/18/2024 at 3:48 PM, thelerner said:

    This is probably a naive question.  

    Do people end up eating the fruit and food they put out on a shrine?  

     

     

     

    In Ancient Egypt there was something called the 'Reversion of Offerings' - which meant that the food offerings made to the god in the daily temple ritual were then first offered to the priests, then to the hemu-ka (the officiants in the funerary rights), and then to the people at the temple entrance.  Thus all the offerings were eaten by someone in a hierarchical order of god - priest - officiants - common folk.

     

    In fact much of the local economy of a locale would also operate much in this way - local temples acting as kind of resource centres.

     

     

    • Like 2