C T

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Posts posted by C T

  1. Posted

    24 minutes ago, Cobie said:

     

     

    (my highlighting)

     

    Why does he put “Dr” before his name?

    What does Dr mean here? 

     

    What’s he a “Dr” in?

     

     

     

    What does being a Dr have to do with being a “scholar practitioner of Vajrayana”?

     

    Can “Chatral Rinpoche” awarded his students with a Dr ?

     

    Is it relevant to state being a Dr in this context?

     

     

     

     

     

    DR. IAN BAKER is a Tibetan scholar, yogi, explorer and author with more than 40 years experience studying and teaching Tibetan Buddhism. He is an international fellow of the Explorers Club and was honored by National Geographic Society as one of six ‘Explorers for the Millennium’ for his ethnographic and geographical field research in Tibet’s Tsangpo gorge and his team’s discovery of a waterfall that had been the source of myth and geographic speculation for more than a century.

    Ian is the author of seven critically acclaimed books on Himalayan and Tibetan cultural history, environment, art, and medicine including The Heart of the World: A Journey to the Last Secret Place, The Tibetan of Art of Healing, and The Dalai Lama’s Secret Temple, a collaborative work with His Holiness The Dalai Lama that illuminates Tantric Buddhist meditation practices. Ian’s latest book, Tibetan Yoga: Secrets from the Source. Ian has also written for National Geographic Magazine and has contributed to academic journals in the fields of Tibetan yoga in Vajrayāna Buddhism. Ian also leads pilgrimages to sacred sites in India, Tibet, and Bhutan.

  6. Posted

    2 hours ago, blue eyed snake said:

    thanks for posting these CT, it's very helpful 

    lately the experience of err...things... is shifting again

     

    't feels as if... ( finding words is so hard), there's no need to make words and concepts of it but the ever busy monkeymind does that nonetheless.

     

    like: in my thinking mind  the large awareness, the Self was formerly exclusively energetic in nature. This has shifted to 'awareness is everything and everywhere'. Some manifestations are physical ( coarse) and others are (very) fine in nature. But all expressions of the same  awareness/consciousness.

    hmm, see .... making words of it does not convey what is meant.

     

     

    but this part of your post seems to convey what is now felt as lived experience. Not that I am anywhere as close to that very refined energy, hardly, still the reactive monkey mind. But the awareness that when you go that deep in the end both the physical and the very fine are expressions of the same awareness/consciousness is taking root here, as a soft, almost continuous murmur in the background.

     

    ( and still have not conveyed how it feels/ how its experienced. The concept is so clear to me now, but words fail me)

     

     

     

     

    Thank you, BES. Such a heartening insight into your present state, this lived experience. Can it even be labelled a state, I wonder. Perhaps more akin to a stateless state? As in, non-localised, pervasive awareness. That murmur you mentioned, which is also pervasive and without a locatable source, it may be the primordial sound that is subtly audible in complete inner silence, or total absorption into the true mind. For the experienced, this can occur even in the midst of ambient sounds or noise. 

  7. Posted

    ~ Ngak'chang Rinpoche ~ 

     

     

    Q Could you talk a little more about Bardo?

     

    Rinpoche: "Bardo can be misunderstood as just being the interval between successive rebirths, but Bar-do really means ‘gap’ or ‘space’. Bar means some kind of ‘flow’, ‘river’, or ‘movement’; and do means ‘island’. So it’s like a space or particular point. There are many Bardos... there is the Bardo of Death and the Bardo of Life. There is the Bardo of Visions that arise in the Death state and the Bardo of Becoming, of Dream, of Meditation. So Bardo is a very interesting concept. There is the Bardo of every day, of a particular job, a particular relationship, a particular sequence of events; everything is Bardo in that sense, in the sense of a contained experience. Like the Bardo of this interview – here in this tent. This will be followed by the Bardo of the walk to the shrine room and so on. Its like a space or field of a particular quality of experience, which is followed by space, which is followed by space. Each following space has its own unique flavour. Each space is somehow separate and discrete according to the experience of Bardo. When one really enters into Bardo then this is all there really is – it’s really just one Space – here, in this point instant, but stretching out into eternity. Bardo is essentially now. If you’re distracted... say you’ve got something on your mind... then this is not the realized experience of Bardo."

     

    Q What is it then, Rinpoche?

     

    Rinpoche: "It’s the Bardo of duality. The Bardo of duality wants to homogenize the individual quality of these endless appearing and disappearing Bardos into some sort of solid ground where nothing ever changes. The authentic experience of Bardo is a kind of bubble experience – it’s there, and then its gone... and there’s another one, then another one, and another one. That devolves into smaller, smaller, smaller, and smaller fields of experience until there is only Now. So... there are bubbles within those bubbles. These bubbles of experience, these Bardos, are linked by Emptiness – when you know that... it’s called Enlightenment (laughter). When it’s concept that links Bardos... this is known as Unenlightenment! So... when it’s concept that links these experiential spaces, you want to blur the Bardo experiences out so that there are no different Bardos. You want to have continuous experience rather than have discontinuous experience. This is the desire to experience continuity – but there is no continuity apart from Emptiness! That is the continuity... which is why the translation of Tantra (Gyüd in Tibetan) is ‘thread’ but, it’s Empty Thread."

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  8. Posted · Edited by C T

    .. More from John Dunne .. 

    ~ The Technology of Tantra

    (from the book, Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics) 

     

     

    THE TECHNOLOGY OF TANTRA

     

    Most of our authors’ discussion of gross and subtle minds focuses on a Vajrayāna tantric model that is formulated from the perspective of what the Tibetan traditions call highest yoga tantra (Tib., bla na med pa’i rnal ’byor gyi rgyud). For this account, the main purpose of tantric practice is one that we have discussed before: the complete eradication of the fundamental ignorance that, by virtue of distorting our awareness of reality, causes suffering and prevents us from achieving the full awakening (Skt., samyaksaṃbodhi) of a buddha.

     

    Recall also that removing that fundamental cognitive distortion involves cultivating the wisdom that uproots ignorance precisely because it directly cognizes the nature of reality without any such distortion. While the various Tibetan traditions differ somewhat on the details, the Vajrayāna tantric insight is that our gross level of experience contains so many distortions that systematically undoing them can take an extraordinarily long time, on the order of “three incalculable eons,” according to a traditional estimate. Yet if we can somehow experience wisdom at a subtler level of experience that acts as a foundation for the gross level of experience, that subtle level of wisdom can uproot all the gross confusions subserved by that level of consciousness. According to Vajrayāna theory, that kind of experience, which requires diving down to the subtlest levels of consciousness, enables us to achieve full awakening in “a single body, a single lifetime” (Tib., lus gcig tshe gcig).

     

    That subtlest level of consciousness occurs reliably at the moment of death, so tantric technology involves reproducing the experience of death, without actually dying. From the Vajrayāna perspective, the various winds in the body must be manipulated to achieve this feat, but to achieve that level of control, practitioners must first move beyond their “ordinary perceptions and conceptions” (Tib., tha mal kyi snang zhen). This is necessary because the processes of perceiving and thinking are constituted by the fluctuations of these winds in various channels, and those fluctuations follow the deeply habituated patterns that manifest as our ordinary identities. Hence, before attempting to manipulate the winds, practitioners must first disrupt those deeply ingrained patterns, and to do so, they engage in the generation stage (Skt., utpattikrama), the first phase of practice in the Vajrayāna style discussed by our authors. By transforming their sense of identity through elaborate visualizations, recitations, and rituals, tantric practitioners transform their identities in ways that make the energy winds available for manipulation. When they reach that point, practitioners are ready for the next phase of practice, the completion stage (sampannakrama).

     

    When tantric practitioners engage in the completion stage, they employ techniques to actually manipulate the winds, with the eventual goal of inducing a “dissolution” sequence said to closely resemble the process of dying. In actual death, the physical processes associated with the gross elements “dissolve” or cease to operate, and although the physical body is still present, its coarse functions such as digestion have ceased. As this process continues, only the energy winds remain functional, and as these also dissipate, conceptual and affective processes also shut down. The final stages of death involve just three progressively subtler forms of wind that are inseparable from three progressively subtler levels of consciousness. If awareness can be sustained through this process, various phenomenological appearances are said to occur, and in the final step, all that remains is an extremely subtle form of wind-mind called the clear light (Tib., ’od gsal, Skt., prabhāsvara).

     

    In actual death, it is said that all of the winds dissipate, and the clear-light wind-mind that marks the end of this process must also decay; by that point, the process is long-since irreversible, and death is inevitable. In Vajrayāna practice, practitioners use techniques that induce a simulation of this process, without actually allowing it to end in death. In so doing, these practitioners learn to access what is said to be the subtlest level of conscious awareness. Ordinary persons, if they somehow could sustain awareness into the clear light, would still experience that state with the distortions that come from ignorance, but tantric practitioners are said to have the training to see that clear-light wind-mind in its true nature, thus counteracting ignorance at the very subtlest level of consciousness. In a sense, the clear-light wind-mind is the foundation for all other levels of consciousness, so counteracting ignorance at that level has a tremendous impact, potentially leading directly to buddhahood itself.

     

    The clear-light state induced through tantric practice is said to be both extremely subtle and also extremely intense or even “blissful,” and these account for its tremendous potential for transformation. Nevertheless, the practice-induced clear-light state is said to be “metaphorical” (Tib., dpe’i ’od gsal) in relation to the actual clear-light wind-mind that occurs in true death.

     

    For Vajrayāna practitioners, harnessing the extreme subtlety and power of the metaphorical clear-light mind to the task of uprooting ignorance is certainly part of the goal while they are alive, but inducing that state has another purpose: it prepares practitioners for death and the opportunity to bring their contemplative practice into the actual clear-light mind itself.

     

     

     

    (courtesy of wisdomexperience.org) 

     

     

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  9. Posted · Edited by C T

    "The most typical Tibetan account of the Vajrayāna model that presents wind as playing a key role in the functioning of the embodied mind. This Vajrayāna model involves an elaborate model of a “subtle body” featuring 72,000 channels—branching from three main channels—in which ten types of wind energy flow and where drops (Skt., bindu) or vital essences occur at key locations. The detailed account of this complex, subtle physiology need not be reiterated here, except for one important point: in its subtlest state, known as the extremely subtle mind (Tib., shin tu phra ba’i sems), consciousness is indistinguishable from its basis, the extremely subtle wind (Tib., shin tu phra ba’i rlung). In other words, to adopt a typical metaphor, the subtlest level of consciousness is nothing other than the extremely subtle energy on which it is “mounted,” and that extremely subtle energy is nothing other than the extremely subtle consciousness that is its “rider.” Thus, while the mind-body distinction can be maintained at a coarse level, that distinction falls away at the subtlest level from the perspective of Vajrayāna theory. In their own discussion of this issue in the previous volume, our authors thus say that “at the subtlest level, given that wind and consciousness exist as a single entity, no differentiation can be made between the two in terms of their reality”. Clearly, we have arrived at a nondual account of the relation between mind and body, albeit one that presumes that the only “body” left is an extremely subtle form of energy. As it turns out, that particular mind-body configuration occurs reliably only at death, and that is precisely the main target of what we might call the technology of tantra." ~ John Dunne (excerpted from wisdomexperience.org) 

     

    *John Dunne holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He received his PhD in Sanskrit and Tibetan studies from Harvard University.

     

     

     

     

    May be an image of 1 person and outdoors

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  10. Posted · Edited by C T

    11 hours ago, steve said:

     

    it enlightened her!

    and was immediately denounced as a 

    patriarchal threat...

     

    patriarchal threat... 

    grandpa chased me with a broom 

    the hyenas laughed 

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  13. Posted

    ~ The Quest for the Hidden Lands & other revelations ~ Norma Levine 

     

    Quote

     

    The Homecoming 

     

    The very first time I felt part of a family was at Sherabling in the early 80’s. I was amongst a growing number of spiritually attuned Westerners whose interest was sparked by rumours of a remote temple under construction in the jungle of Himachal Pradesh, and its extraordinarily young, welcoming Rinpoche. After a few months of coming and going, we evolved from a colourful patchwork of individualistic travellers into a small group of devotees who built retreat huts and practised meditation. I lived there for five years.

     

    I still remember the joy of meeting Tai Situpa, one hand held open in a gesture of welcoming, and his genuine loving smile. The casual encounters in the courtyard made us feel like cousins come home at last after years of separation across the seas. We were never strangers in a strange land. We were extended family.

     

     

    A MEETING OF MINDS

     

    ''I remained at Sherabling for a month and sat with Tai Situ – now my Guru – almost every day. I was part of a growing community of Westerners who were magnetized by his expansiveness, his curiosity about Western culture, his loving-kindness. He wrote lyrics, songs with titles like Cosmic Mandala, Street Buddha and Little Boy from Tibet.

     

    We thought of him as our precious spiritual brother. He gave us the best rooms in the centre of the courtyard complex, within the inner sanctum of the monastery. In the late afternoon, he came into the courtyard and threw a frisbee with the young monks. At Diwali, the festival of lights marking the Hindu New Year, he lit fireworks, each explosion bursting flowers into the black autumn sky. In the early morning we saw him walk the path that led to the cement toilet and shower cubicles in a white towelling robe, his face luminous as a full moon."

     

    We even talked about creating a band and touring the hotspots in Goa. We thought that our Aquarian age guru was more into music than meditation!

     

    The party period of laughter, music, and picnics was an interval that lasted perhaps a year. Suddenly the 16th Karmapa was diagnosed with terminal cancer in Delhi and called his heart sons to him. It is said he instructed the Tai Situpa to become a Vajrayana guru and not a brother or familiar friend - or there would be trouble. And so commenced our training: 108,000 of each of the 4 foundation practices; followed by 108 sets of Nyung Nyes with alternate days of fasting and prostrating to purify the causes of rebirth in the lower realms. We were now on board the Vajrayana Express.

     

    The unconditional love, the impartial acceptance of every flaw and nurturing of every strength radiating from a pure bodhisattva, plugged the bottomless black hole inside me, and allowed me to mature.

     

    That first uninterrupted period of love and laughter in the Hidden Land of Sherabling was never to return. Grace is a one off moment in time.

     


     

     

    *Norma's books are available on Amazon 

  15. Posted

    ~ retreat ~ 

     

    In November 2009, Bill and Susan Morgan, a couple from Boston, began what would become a four-year silent meditation retreat at the Forest Refuge, the Insight Meditation Society's centre for experienced meditators seeking longer-term retreat practice. In this series of seven videos, Bill and Susan look back on their experiences at the Forest Refuge, sharing how they came to the idea to commit to such a prolonged period of practice, the challenges they faced along the way, and several profound insights they gleaned both about themselves as individuals, and as a couple, practicing side-by-side every day, without speaking, for four years.

     

     

     

    Parts 2 to 7

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1JdlIJ48nE 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQFDROVga9A

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzITg-3-d5o

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHytBzQx40Y

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRV6iOLvFPk

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJW1o2zO8Ug

     

  17. Posted

    It can only be acknowledged as an experience in hindsight, and even that, its conceptualised within a very tiny spectrum of associated memories that seemingly resembles joy, equanimity, abiding peace, etc - these recollections are merely a facsimile. During the actual unfolding moments, the experiencer dissolves within the bliss itself, and what that entails is beyond description. Attempts at describing the flowering and overflowing of such ecstatic moments can never fully do justice. But this is only one aspect of Ananda - an outer manifestation, also a level that entraps many. Me included. 

     

    There are deeper layers to it, but is it even worth mentioning since there are so many differing views on the subject. 

  19. Posted · Edited by C T

    10 hours ago, Mark Foote said:

     

    I'm all for relaxing.

     

     

    That article was checked for accuracy, by a pediatrician.

     

    Not doubting the accuracy of said article, merely the veracity of Mr Feldenkrais's assertion wrt the idiotic nature of instructions aimed at breath work. He seems to have overlooked the value somewhat, perhaps not realising the majority could well enjoy better health simply by creating awareness around breath regulation, enough just to adopt simple techniques and make these habitual. For example, noticing how stress is exacerbated into a loop by habitual shallow breathing (with the lungs) as opposed to the more natural, stress-busting, karma-releasing way of abdominal breathing. As with basic mindfulness too, actually.

     

    Given his reputation I thought maybe he was misquoted saying that breath work destroys breathing. Sounds quite extreme, imo. Which then prompted the consideration of all the various fields of mundane endeavour that require extraordinary approaches towards manipulating the breath as a primary tool for developing higher levels of endurance, focus, pace, and for overall performance development. But correct mastery cannot be emphasized enough, more so viewed in light of using pranayama as a primary step in the development of a subtle energetic field of being.

     

    Despite it all, the risk of harm is ever present, and a stark reminder jolted me yesterday when I got news that a friend, a veteran triathlete who's fully dedicated to the sports, who trains daily, passed away on Sunday in the midst of a competition. He started to falter during the swim leg - developed increasing breathing difficulty leading to loss of stamina, then went downhill quickly from there. Even timely intervention from medics at the scene, and later at the hospital, did nothing to keep him alive. 

  20. Posted

    52 minutes ago, Mark Foote said:

     

    one who thinks they steer

    others, think they antelope

    me, I got me none

     

    me, I got me none

    time-travelled out to 'me' land

    feels like home to meee 

     

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  23. Posted

    7 minutes ago, Nintendao said:

    Beavis and Butt-Head

    won't take it personally

    when called a dumb-ass

     

    if Lao Tzu calls you,

    don't lament lack of value

    in being straw dogs.

     

     

    in being straw dogs

    be happy you got the bone

    too much meat is bad

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