C T

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Posts posted by C T

  2. Posted · Edited by C T
    Typo

    Some years ago I'd attended a talk given by a teacher with a H.E. title, and this subject was broached. Basically he said all actions have residual consequences, including adopting a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. Less or more karma (accrued), he added, has more to do with intent rather than the choices acted upon. That's about the gist of his reply. 

     

    I suppose, based on my takeaway from his words, that one who fish sustainably to feed his family should accrue less karma than say one who takes delight in trophy or sport fishing where catches are kept as specimen proofs, and this will probably accrue less karma than say one who catches a dozen fish, takes home 2 and waywardly leaves 10 to die, in which case there arise a valid question... what about the secondary karma of letting the strewn carcasses feed the insects and birds? Is this, in some sense, also a form of dana? 

     

    Imo, ultimately, intention rather than action determines one's karmic equity.

     

    Lastly, the cultivation of vegetables also takes the lives of countless living beings. 

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  5. Posted

    3 hours ago, steve said:

    They’re slowly creeping up on it…

    Beautiful to watch it unfold, both hlundrub and kadag and the brilliant minds trying to define them.

    Both equally vibrant and genuine.

     

    The modern physicists are only now unravelling Gautama's Indra's Net analogy. 

     

    Quote

     

    “Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net which has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out indefinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel at the net’s every node, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars of the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that the process of reflection is infinite. The Hua’yen school [of Buddhism] has been fond of this image, mentioned many times in its literature, because it symbolizes a cosmos in which there is an infinitely repeated interrelationship among all the members of the cosmos. This relationship is said to be one of simultaneous mutual identity and mututal intercausality.”

     

    ~ Francis H. Cook, Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel Net of Indra

     

     

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  6. Posted

    QUANTUM VACUUM
    The Unified Field


    Scientists have discovered that when all classical sources of matter and energy are removed, creating what is referred to as a vacuum, there is still energy present, even at absolute zero.

     

    This discovery has redefined empty space with the definition of a quantum vacuum – a substantive quantized medium filled with harmonic zero-point energy oscillations. This sea of continuous energetic oscillations has now been identified by some physicists as the elemental source of all mass, form, and structure. To give rise to mass, form, and structure, the quantum vacuum must have coherent modes of oscillations.

     

    The geometry of these oscillation modes are now being discovered by scientists to have very fundamental functions at the base of reality, and that this constant flux of quantum energy is intrinsically and integrally entangled.

     

    ~ Nassim Haramein 

     

     

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  8. Posted

    1 hour ago, Maddie said:

    On the topic of morality one thing I find interesting is when I tell people I'm Buddhist they always bring up meditation for the most part and yes that's definitely part of Buddhism but on the other hand there are some suitas like the one I read yesterday the Sallekha Sutta suggest that the main progress is to be found in morality as opposed to meditation. To me that's really interesting because it's so different than how Buddhism is perceived in the West.

    My understanding is that Morality, Meditation and Wisdom forms the crux of the whole Noble Eightfold Path. Each strand is equally vital to the holistic development of a sound Buddhist  practitioner. 

     

    Sila, or Virtue, derives from Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood. 

     

    Samadhi, meditative equipoise, derives from Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. 

     

    Prajna/panna, wisdom, arises from Right View and Right Intention. 

     

    Quote

     

    "It's important that one practices sila (virtue), samadhi (concentration) and pañña (wisdom). If one practices only pañña, it's like holding a candle in a breeze; if one practices only samadhi, it's like being in a dark room without a candle to see; and if one practices only sila, it's like wearing a suit of armor without having any idea what it's for. Practicing all three, though, is itself the path to liberation."

     

    After all, virtue leads to concentration, which provides the stability of mind that allows wisdom to arise. This wisdom leads to the deepening of virtue, which of course deepens concentration which, in turn, deepens understanding. And so on.

    (Ajahn Khamjan) 

     

     

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  12. Posted

    2 hours ago, Taoist Texts said:

    Exactly. Of course there is. As is with Buddhism and with any other congregation. And their single crucial fault  is the delusion  of shifting the goalposts. Like i said we are very much on the topic. The very first goalpost in any teaching is to be a reasonable sane decent person. The moment we  delude ourselves and say a teacher can be crazy, an addict, a seminar-peddler - yet have attainments  then  we deny the very first goalpost. Naturally the  rest of the goalposts go out of the window. 

    This I'm in complete agreement. 

    So please, as a reasonable, sane, decent practitioner, stop bashing whole traditions by scrutinizing individuals' shortcomings. 

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  13. Posted

    15 minutes ago, Taoist Texts said:

    oh i will,  lets name them and shame them

    yes but see whats interesting. the tradition did not disown him. in fact the tradition still venerates him right? does not that taint the tradition? And of course i am an outsider and will stand corrected if the facts are different and the conclusion is illogical.

     

    I doubt you will accept correction because its quite apparent how concretized your biased view about Tibetan Buddhism has gotten. Sadly, its not even a view garnered from any objectivity whatsoever. Your open admission of willingness to change your mind, I think, is said just to feel good, nothing more. 

     

    Where I live there was a reputable Taoist priest with a huge following and people can't wait to be accepted as patrons at his temple. His popularity earned him massive amounts of donation, and some of the money was channelled into building a boys hostel to house kids from rural towns coming for better education opportunities in the city. Nobody could imagine this repository was to later become his den of lust and sodomy. 

     

    Per your (faulty) logic, there must be something very wrong with Taoism... but I think mature thinkers won't make the mistake of dissing the tradition/path/religion in the same way you've chosen to apply to faulting Tibetan Buddhism based on the faults of a few. 

     

    Just to be clear, there are lots of bad apples in Tibetan Buddhism. But it's a mistake to denigrate the whole tradition just based off the failings of the bad ones and ignore the works of the reputable ones. I think people (like you) do it because it's convenient, and it feeds into your confirmation biases neatly. That's okay too. 

  14. Posted

    24 minutes ago, Taoist Texts said:

    well i drink only on weekends and i am a master of my domain. ;) I think we are still  very much on topic. So please could you dwell a little bit on   how an alcoholic sex fiend can be a buddhist or a taoist, let alone some kind of a head honcho in the teaching? Thanks;)

     

    He was a good teacher until he wasn't. Dont such examples exist in all traditions? For every Trungpa, there are scores of upright, untainted Tibetan teachers, but of course, being you, you would conveniently bash the whole tradition based on your own set of biases and critique formed from what little you know gleaned from 3rd party sources. Yet you will not exact the same discrimination to  the many sullied masters and teachers in your own little perfect perception of Taoism. 

     

    Swell, ain't it?

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  15. Posted

    59 minutes ago, Taoist Texts said:

     So in tibetan buddhism black is white and a rapist is a buddhist and an attainment is being messed up.     This proves that the Tibetan "Buddhism" is completely messed up.  I knew it was messed up, i just did not know by how much.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublespeak

     

    Such naivete 

     

    If this is how you judge a tradition, it beggars belief that you're actually practicing Taoism. 

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  17. Posted

    On 21/01/2023 at 8:21 AM, Mark Foote said:


    rest in clear presence

    the mind moving, breath takes place

    no one the wiser


     

     

    no one the wiser 

    don't trust that tree of knowledge 

    grow your own apples

     

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  18. Posted · Edited by C T
    Cleaning work

    Forgot to mention I didn't pick any of the available options as my experience so far has shown esoterica to be a highly fluid and organic pathway, and therefore, I feel it unwise (for me, not anyone else) to box things up neatly because I have an old, reliable inbuilt habit mechanism that intelligently guides to maintain certain familiar structures that suit my fixations, and often even add layers to my neuroticism. We thrive on familiarity, most of us, don't we? It's comfortable. 

     

    To do well as a cultivator or meditator is quite a feat. It demands a lot of courage and fortitude to dare enter into places where we know its par for the course to constantly have the rug pulled from under our feet. (Ideally, a trusted spiritual friend or mentor will be there to do the pulling). When we believe an attainment to be literal, that good mentor will throw a curve ball to shake certain deeply held comforters seen to take root. He or she will do the same when we hold to the other extreme view.

     

    Without a certain level of maturity, we may well think the issue centres around attainments per se when in fact, the crux of this awakening exercise is aimed at dissolving fixations, often manifesting as a belief in one thing vs a disbelief in another. Talk about dualistic tendencies.... 

     

    I think a truly established, devoted practitioner knows, or at least have a feel that  the nature of reality to be ephemeral and dream-like. How else could it be because fundamental reality is inseparable from potentiality. Isn't this potentiality the only worthwhile reason needed to make us hold fast, and come hell or high water, ride the spiritual windhorse bravely into the unknown? It wouldn't be as much fun if there actually was a real goalpost or destination. Or would it? 

     

     

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  19. Posted

    Imho (Buddhist) meditation practice, to be authentic, requires a balanced alternation of samatha and vipassana. Its a basic requisite, and personally, I don't give much credence to schools or individuals, regardless of reputation and claims, that ignore one or the other in their jingles. 

     

    Excessive focus on vipassana can often cause burn out. Its also believed to exarcerbate narcissistic tendencies. Sometimes the burn out is quietly subtle, enough that its imperceptible to the practitioner or to those in his or her orbit. I've known a couple of hard-core vipassana dudes who were deeply committed but also very highly strung all the time, but were clever at disguising their condition due to their level of mental dexterity and self control. 

     

    Excessive absorption in samatha often leads to unreasonable and unrealistic views, many of which are prevalent in today's new age movements. 

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  20. Posted

    Advice to a spiritual friend:

     

    Thoughts come and go, the ephemeral play of conscious mind, which in its essence remains always pure and lucid in its own undisturbed clear-light awareness.

     

    Expectations always carry us away from the simplicity of perfection that constitutes the ungraspable present moment. So long as we are carried away, we will suffer all the hopes, fears, expectations and desires of an unsettled mind.

     

    No matter what arises, there is always the peace of the knowing that cessation is the natural fruit of arising...'all that arises ceases and is not-self!'

     

    May you re-find your own inner peace this day, far removed from the disturbances of the discursive mind and the variegated play of outer and inner sense impressions.

     

    ~ Paramito 

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