steve

I think it's worth looking at the survey/scale itself and think about whether this seems to be a valid way of measuring the happiness of populations. Also worth considering the population surveyed to see who is actually being evaluated. This survery looks specifically Muslims living in Germany. I wonder how this would compare for example to women living in Somalia or Pakistan... Difficult to extrapolate the results to populations outside of Germany or Europe as living conditions elsewhere are quite a bit different. Here is more info on the Satisfaction With Life Scale that was used to generate the data. https://novopsych.com.au/assessments/well-being/satisfaction-with-life-scale-swls/

@Elysium @Keith108 You are both set up. Enjoy

@silent thunder Yes, an intentional change. PPDs have been set up a bit inconsistently over the years by different mods. The general rule here is that nothing is deleted so that has been adjusted to PPD permissions.

I learn more about myself and the other members than I do about anything else here. That and my friendship with a few really lovely folks are what keep me coming back. There are a few folks here with a lot of knowledge and experience of Buddhism but you do need to be a discriminating consumer.

While Buddhists may not use the word grace, they often speak of blessings which I think are closely related to grace.

I’m relatively certain that the Bönpos and Nyingmapas both teach the prasangika madhyamaka view, although I will try to confirm that when I have some time.

In my experience, the realization of absolute emptiness is indistinguishable from the realization of absolute completeness. They are one and the same. I’m not eloquent or scholarly enough to put it into philosophical terms and I don’t ask anyone to take my word for it. Just thought it worth sharing my experience. I think this relates to my earlier comments regarding what is emphasized in Bön and Buddhist teachings regarding emptiness, clarity, and union.

Welcome to the DaoBums!

As far as I am aware, the Bön and Buddhist teachings and practices in sutra, tantra, and dzogchen are very similar. Buddha Shakyamuni is respected as a Buddha in Bön but not the first, last, or only. The skandhas are considered empty in Bön - the teachings on emptiness are essentially equivalent to madhyamaka teachings. One thing that I have noticed, in my limited experience which is mostly with dzogchen teachings; is that Buddhist practitioners and teachers tend to heavily emphasize teachings on emptiness. In the Bön teachings I've received there is generally a balance of considering emptiness, clarity, and union. This may be a dzogchen thing. I suspect that nihilism can be a consequence of over-emphasizing emptiness. This is something I often see in discussions among Buddhist practitioners, especially at the beginning and intermediate levels. Emphasizing emptiness would also naturally not encourage or value creativity. Once the realization of emptiness is actualized, clarity and union are already present and nihilism has no foothold. Unfortunately, this realization is elusive for many of us. It seems to be the intellectual process of trying to conceptually understand or striving to experience emptiness that lead to problems, IMO.

My experience has been the opposite, although I’m coming from the Bön tradition so it may be a bit different. In my training, creativity is a sign or manifestation of the quality and depth our connection to the nature of mind. It’s something that is emphasized often and incorporated into our practices in a variety of ways. This could be something unique to my teacher but I think it is more a characteristic of the dzogchen teachings. I also know the monastics are encouraged to develop talent and creativity in their lives and some I’ve met are marvelous painters, singers, musicians, storytellers… and joyfully share their talents, even modest ones, with little concern for what others think.

I don't think this is a complete question. Each of us defines our unique path in life based on our qualities, characteristics, and choices we make along the way. So if we ask whether something is a complete system for enlightenment, it is essential to ask 'for whom?' Clearly there have been individuals in history who have followed a Buddhist system (of which there are many) to fruition and others for whom Buddhism was not effective. We would also need to ask, which aspects of Buddhism did that individual employ throughout their life and which did they discard? Were any other views and practices employed in any fashion at any point, other influences? To separate ourselves from the system may allow us to indulge our curiosity but the answer we come up with, IMO, is an artificial construct that does not exist in reality.

It is done.

@Unota You want it? You got it!

Sitting in open presence a gut-wrenching sense of pain, hopelessness, and helplessness comes out of nowhere. With it comes a sense of being victim and perpetrator of every human and animal holocaust in our sordid and illustrious history. It crushed me into a literal sobbing, wailing rage. Not sure this has anything to do with my stange but it was sure something. And equally profound and transformative experiences of pervasive spaciousness, immortality and bliss - far more hazardous to a practitioner, IME. Lots of good and bad experiences have come up in meditation over time. I've received similar advice from my Daoist and Bön masters on the subject. Namely, these are transient, natural, and spontaneous experiences of meditation, energetic expressions of the base. They are more an indication of an obstacle to realization being released than something being achieved. They can be a milestone of progress as well as a teaser or lighthouse to inform and guide our practice. If we get too attached or resistant to the experiences they can be a powerful obstacle. Best to let them, and our reactivity, come and go without too much engagement or sense of significance.

I've always thought of Apech as a stange glass of water, even before I knew what the word meant...

I love it! 新年快乐 to the DaoBums! Great work @Trunk!

“The human mind is not a statistical machine like ChatGPT and its ilk, greedy for hundreds of terabytes of data in order to arrive at the most plausible answer to a conversation or the most likely answer to a scientific question. " On the contrary... "The human mind is a surprisingly efficient and elegant system that works with a finite amount of information. It does not try to corrupt correlations from the data, but rather tries to create explanations. ... ] Let's then stop calling it "Artificial Intelligence" and call it what it is, making "plagiarism software" because "It doesn't create anything, but copies existing works from existing artists and modifies them in such a way that they can escape copyright . This is the largest theft of intellectual property ever recorded since European colonists arrived in Indian communities. " Noam Chomsky, New York Times - March 8, 2023

with jute rope - but tight are sheaves of bulgar best bound to strains of chalga

While it is nothing more than an opinion that I am unable to verify, I suspect dualistic thought is an inherent characteristic of language. I also imagine this coincides, more or less, with a distancing between humans and their environment. Current thinking in biological sciences acknowledges the inherent non-duality of biological systems, eg. organism-environment systems. As our species became less concordant with, and more controlling of, its environment; it seems a sense of separation and individuation would naturally arise.

@Master Solo Your thread was locked as a result of not only the content but the direction the thread was taking and the effect it was having on other members. I felt the topic you intended to discuss - warning male cultivators against masturbation - would be best served in the male cultivation area, particularly in light of the trajectory it was on. This topic is different. It is an appeal to the membership for help regarding a problem encountered with questionable practices with which some here have experience. Members are offering useful suggestions and warm support, a beautiful thing to see. In my opinion, on this particular crisp and clear Saturday morning, this topic is best served in the general forum as anyone may have helpful input and benefit from reading the posts. While some topics clearly belong in one area vs another, many are shades of gray. In those cases the moderators need to use their best judgment and we hope you, the members, recognize that we are flawed creatures volunteering our free time to try and create a collegial and balanced environment for discussion as best we can. Your cooperation and support are very much appreciated.

I like this image and looking forward to seeing our new look!

@blue eyed snake Thanks for tagging me. I agree that discussion of this nature generally degrades into misogyny, as it has here, and is not appropriate for the general forum. I am closing this thread. @Solo Cultivator If you'd like to discuss male sexuality, please request access to the Men's Gender Garden here. You can then start a new thread there. Thanks for your cooperation.

@DynamicEquilibrium It is ready for you.

stripe

The transition from education and theory to vocation and earning a living is always potentially difficult. Adapting our theoretical knowledge to real life skills and sustainable employment is filled with surprises, unexpected and expected challenges, insecurity, and uncertainty; as well as triumphs, excitement, and limitless opportunity. I love blue eyed snake's post. I would imagine an economics education should give one the opportunity for a wide variety of employment possibilities that aren't limited to accounting and number crunching. It's certainly possible that one must "pay their dues" in the beginning, I don't know much about the field. FWIW I'll add that over time, one of the things I find most supportive and gratifying is that my work gives me the opportunity to help people. Whether or not you resonate with the Buddhist idea of "right livelihood," the things that seem important early on in one's career change over time. Eventually the work itself can become boring and repetitive as we do the same things ad nauseum. On the other hand, getting the satisfaction of feeling that we are helping others, either directly or indirectly, can carry us through some tough times and ultimately be more rewarding than anything else associated with our work, even the compensation. Good luck to you! PS - I'm relocating the post to the Rabbit Hole which seems a better fit for the topic