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“The nature of mind has to be recognized by the nature of mind. It is not 'you' recognizing your nature of mind; it is your spontaneous, effortless nature of mind that recognizes itself, timelessly. It is so easy therefore it is so difficult. It is there all the time, and is without beginning or end. Our mind recognizes our nature of mind all the time. We are never separate. But somehow, as it is said in the Mahamudra prayer, “self awareness, under the power of ignorance, is confused into a 'self'”. So, because of ignorance, the nature of mind that we recognize every moment, every moment we tend to mistake it as 'I'”. ~ Tai Situ Rinpoche ~

Thank you, Steve. I took a lot out of the above talk, and simply wanted to pass it on that others may benefit too. I have only recently found this teacher, and felt quite an immediate connection.

An insightful talk on Chod Practice by Lopon Chandra Easton

Not only is money a vivid form of energy, it usually takes on a prevalently wrathful appearance. Hard to subjugate, thats why so much challenges stubbornly exist around it.

the coiled serpent is also small at the bottom. the uncoiling challenges all manner of conventional self-views, just as ascending Mt. Meru does. Thats why the path requires sure-footedness as opposed to foolhardiness. Getting the foundation right has to be a priority, but hardly anyone takes this encouragement seriously. There is so much hang-up over the term 'foundation' due to misunderstanding what it actually means. That very foundation is the safe passage that ensures one does not meet the 'shakti' unprepared. Its a blueprint of precise steps and calculated formulas that guarantee results, without the kickbacks.

As noted above, its really quite intricate and complex. Taking on these practices is a serious commitment, not something to be done on a trial and error basis - but many still do. Its quite baffling. Then they come to TDB looking for help, and get even more screwed (usually) Like some newbie will google 'Pliowa' and get taken to a Polish website for a dumpling to be found in some obscure part of Poland, for example

Vajrayana practitioners who listen to the advise of their teachers and duly apply the recommended practices of ngondro for a good length of time, then attend at least one long retreat (1 year or 3 years) will benefit from having all the stored trauma neutralised, so that when they move on to candali, tummo etc ('secret' practices) they wont experience the kind of negative kick-backs so often heard about from those who either dont have a proper system to follow, or who have one, but decide to do it their own way for whatever reason (lack of patience comes to mind). Its silly to try and manage/instill K awakening without proper foundation.

Those are really useful points to ponder over. In Tibetan culture, it is believed that some of our thought forms, especially those that are driven by habit tendencies, can condense into entities (tulpas) that at the embryonic stages feeds off the energy of that/those habit(s) that gave birth to it, thru a kind of psychic umbilical cord, and over time, as it matures, it can break free, depending on how concentrated the energetic substance was and how embedded the particular habits were. In its independence, it can travel astrally and sometimes get up to mischief, but will always return and hover close to its 'life giver'. For example, a person thinks ill of his relative living a distance away, and if the thoughts reaches neurotic levels, it is not uncommon for the relative to actually sense some kind of negative vibe, but might not be entirely sure of the source. Some believe this is the work of tulpas. This also explains how some masters can see people's energetic imprints - the power of their third eye enables them to see these tulpas quite clearly. Following the same principle, generally speaking, those who practice the Dharma diligently, with some sustained level of kindness, compassion, joy, equanimity, generosity and insight, will also give birth to similar tulpas, but of a benevolent nature. Some yogis, those who possess well-developed psychic abilities, can exert mastery over these tulpas and have the power to subdue the mischievous ones and also power to strengthen the benevolent ones. It is also believed that groups, large or small, can also collectively create tulpas that share similar attributes to the ones mentioned above. Their actions would largely be dependent on the collective general states of mind of either a particular group, culture or even a nation. The Ghostbusters (part 1) theme was largely developed from this premise. Its an interesting idea.

"Is Buddhist nirvana equivalent to the Garden of Eden described in the Bible?"

I think in some of the cases the tendency for avoidance - the formational period where this habit took shape in a person's psyche - would have been there even before the embarkation on a spiritual journey. If there is a refusal to acknowledge the issue, then persisting with the journey could well throw up more obstacles than if the issue was addressed either prior to or at the beginning of the transitional phase.

If an individual uses a spiritual path to bypass real-life human issues, is that path the cause of the bypassing? A person who has a fractured leg needs a crutch to aid the recovery process. The responsibility for using the crutch in an integrated fashion, and the abidance by certain basic rules of usage lies not with the crutch certainly. This is not to say 'spiritual bypassing' is not an issue - it is, and it happens across the board, not just Buddhism. John Welwood must have his reasons for implying an association between Buddhism and this psychological malady, but I think the association is not entirely accurate.

Buddhist mind training exercise is somewhat like a life-long dedication to keeping a katana (samurai sword) honed at all times. As a dull-edged katana would induce unnecessary resistance when a cut is made, so too an untrained mind when attempting to cut thru delusions and dualistic habit patterns. A sharpened, polished awareness instantly cuts through with ease, and leaves nothing out of place. In this way, the mind swiftly returns to its centre, and the katana to its scabbard once the function is complete - one resting in mindfulness, the other, in readiness. Wielding and resting of both becomes one immaculate, seamless action, and to an observer not familiar with subtle seeing, its as if nothing moved.

"Gradually I began to recognize how feeble and transitory the thoughts and emotions that had troubled me for years actually were, and how fixating on small problems had turned them into big ones. Just by sitting quietly and observing how rapidly, and in many ways illogically, my thoughts and emotions came and went, I began to recognize in a direct way that they weren't nearly as solid or real as they appeared to be. And once I began to let go of my belief in the story they seemed to tell, I began to see the 'author' behind them - the infinitely vast, infinitely open awareness that is the nature of mind. Any attempt to capture the direct experience of the nature of mind in words is impossible. The best that can be said is that the experience is immeasurably peaceful, and, once stabilized through repeated experience, virtually unshakeable. It's an experience of absolute well-being that radiates through all physical, emotional, and mental states - even those that might be ordinarily labelled as unpleasant. This sense of well-being, regardless of the fluctuation of outer and inner experiences, is one of the clearest ways to understand what Buddhists mean by 'happiness'." ~ Mingyur Rinpoche ~

The Sikhs and the Gurkhas share similar martial DNA. This means they have a certain advantage when it comes to toughness and resiliency, and that's why some of the world's elite and specialised military units consisted of Sikhs and Gurkhas.

maybe dancing 'in'?