林愛偉

In terms of purity and impurity of mind, for the sake of speaking in relative terms, I would agree too that the Buddha may have pointed to this manner of this comparison. But not to be discriminative in terms of inferiority and superiority.

Good change of the words. yes it may have been a translation error. The Buddha wouldn't say living beings are inferior...but it may be a comparison to the manner of state that a living being resides in given their karmic conditions. Yet, inferior wouldn't be the best choice of wordings... lol Thanks for the clear-up

Your questions are awesome! The intense, annoying and frustrating cultivation is referring to having to monotonously do the same practices till a result manifests...lol regardless if there is a perceivable outcome or not. Sticking with a practice geared to assist you in "revealing" your true nature requires constant and constant practice; like digging for water constantly until there is a little breakthrough, and then continuing till there is enough to pass around...then you go further to where there is total immersion. At first, the depths of one's desires seem endless. In truth, they are. So instead of actually finding the deapths, or origins, we can safely say that they are originless, endless, and therefore without beginning. At that point in cultivation, the insight realized is since they are endless, without an end thus without a beginning, why am I entertaining them when they keep bringing me around and around (reminds me of the song "you spin me right round baby right round, like a record baby , round round round round..." hahaha The vibrational state, habitual tendencies are not the nature, but the expression within the nature. nature is set by the causes. over a long period of time of acting on those causes, such things reap a strong momentum of outcomes, which can spin round for a very long time, and thus be seen as a "nature" of something/ someone. Indeed the "nature of conditions" is just the state in which they manifest. The "true nature of conditions" is that the conditions really never had a nature because they are without an origin. (I know, it makes the mind go... AHHHH... ) haha Human nature and Earth nature, when in terms of conditional nature (based on "karma") yes, they are fixed and relative to their own causes and conditions. Earth is a living organism too, with its own "spirit and nature". Sometimes its pissed off, sometimes its happy and fuzzy. just like people. The "true nature" of humans and Earth is without those conditional expressions of their causes and conditions (hehe) BUT, those myriad things all are said to "reside" in the original nature. (This is where a lot of contemplative meditation comes into play. The words spoken are really so the mind can go "HUH?" and "Ah!" and then sitting with the feeling of investigating the mind is fueled with the desire to break through the riddle of our own mind. Then something happens, and we just "get it") I love these kinds of questions.. if the "answers" given make some type of sense...wonderful, if not its good too, and it means it just isn't the kind of "sense" that makes sense to you... lol You know what I mean.

:-) Good points here. I lived in a temple for some time, 1hour sleep(by choice and due to practicing, which gave me loads of energy and sustenance) Needed water less and less, and lived on 1 meal at noon (by choice and by feeling less to eat food). Once I left and resumed teaching full time in the city, though maintaining practice, I did resume eating. Funny, I didn't want to waste the food I made the night before, and while eating it, found it to have gone sour. An hour later had food poisoning.. hahaha but it passed in an hour. The hour felt like it was much longer. It was dead summer, and anything left out for more than 30 minutes went bad fast. But refining is needed, and practice leading up to the stages where the body will need less physical sustenance. Done gradually rather than suddenly is safer.

What is "needed" to come is anything one thinks (wishes for. and not meaning the "I wish for a new bike" cute wishes.) lol Everything is already inseparable, yet our mind is so full of "things" that those things get in the way, and redirect, or totally cut off any type of "real" experience. Everything has its own nature, Earth as well. Humans have their own nature; some have an exciting nature, while others a calm, etc. Being in accord comes after realizing what the nature of Earth is, and how it interrelates to you. Then, when we learn what the nature of Earth is, and learn our own nature, we can properly choose to "go with the flow" of how the Earth changes, and living in accord with that. When we talk about the big flow (destiny), now its a whole other subject, but involves taking one's own nature, changing it through cultivation, intense, annoying, frustrating cultivation....lol And finally seeing the bigger picture. I met people who believe the world is exactly what they think, and there is no room for anything else but their own assumption(they say fact) of what they think. When something happens that is not in their equation, they become angry, greedy and do stupid things to make themselves look good. They believe the world is just like them, and when its not, they freak out. They think they are in tune with the nature of things and call their ways, just the ways of human nature. its merely conditioning, not nature. Once we see our own nature, then we can break through the veil our mind has made that created the movie we thought was our real nature. THen the big flow, well we can stay on it, and follow destiny, even is we don't have a clue what it is, or we change it. SOme things can't change, and those things are totally set, most likely something you had wanted a long long time ago. The flow of the heavens is another thing. In accord with the heavens, we must be sure which one of the heavens we accord with; then we can work on staying in that flow, or vibration in order to enter that heaven. Once in the heaven of your according with, you m ay either get lazy and just enjoy it, or further cultivation. because, really that's what we are here for. A perfect opportunity to try and wake up and get things moving, or continue to get things moving.. lol This isn't our last stop, and there is a lot more to do after this. (sorry, hehe its morning for me and I'm writing a lot...) Mind is fresh in the morning .lol

Good question by the way.. really good question. Not a line that separates, but more of a view in one's mind. Our world system, or just to say our Earth, is friggin' amazing. Our mind and everything in this planet vibe with each other. So the ebbs and flows of Nature's "expressions" are influenced by our own mind and vice verse. BUT indeed there is the manner in which Nature will just do, because it is its own being. Being in "accordance/going with the flow" with the nature of our being, and the nature of this world, (universe is too big/small to bring up right now ...haha) really is based in selflessness, interdependence. Once I can stop thinking "me, me, me" everything, literally, that is needed will come . Unfortunately, things manifest on their own time.. hahaha so the wait can be a pain in the butt...that's when patience comes in. You said it quite right, "the supposed external world". My experience is many, but briefly put, when I finally saw through a lot of the views, and subtle masks that were playing out in my life, all that was left was this state of knowing that even the slightest particle, molecule, ion flows in me when I inhale, flows out on exhalation. If that isn't in accord with the nature of things, I wouldn't know what else to do at this point. lol Each "body" has its own nature according to their mind/heart. Over all the Big Nature of this planet has a great force and influence on everything. How are mind is, depends on our interrelation to the Big Nature. Because its not separate from us at all. Lots of talk. Don't believe me though. Its better to really realize it. I don't want to bastardize the experience for anyone... lol *** also, I'm not an authority on anything. Any experience is really one's "own" to have. It will be different for everyone, but the underlying similarity, is that there is an "interdependence" and that there is a "0" a 1 and a 0...but its there only because we have factors in the mind that can view it. Once there is not that screen up over our eyes, usually the "what can not be spoken about" is "experienced".

I really love this conversation: Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra: ....Then the venerable Sariputra said to the Brahma Sikhin, "As for me, O Brahma, I see this great earth, with its highs and lows, its thorns, its precipices, its peaks, and its abysses, as if it were entirely filled with ordure." Brahma Sikhin replied, "The fact that you see such a buddha-field as this as if it were so impure, reverend Sariputra, is a sure sign that there are highs and lows in your mind and that your positive thought in regard to the buddha-gnosis is not pure either. Reverend Sariputra, those whose minds are impartial toward all living beings and whose positive thoughts toward the buddha-gnosis are pure see this buddha-field as perfectly pure." Thereupon the Lord touched the ground of this billion-world-galactic universe with his big toe, and suddenly it was transformed into a huge mass of precious jewels, a magnificent array of many hundreds of thousands of clusters of precious gems, until it resembled the universe of the Tathagata Ratnavyuha, called Anantagunaratnavyuha. Everyone in the entire assembly was filled with wonder, each perceiving himself seated on a throne of jeweled lotuses. Then, the Buddha said to the venerable Sariputra, "Sariputra, do you see this splendor of the virtues of the buddha-field?" Sariputra replied, "I see it, Lord! Here before me is a display of splendor such as I never before heard of or beheld!" The Buddha said, "Sariputra, this buddha-field is always thus pure, but the Tathagata makes it appear to be spoiled by many faults, in order to bring about the maturity of the inferior living beings. For example, Sariputra, the gods of the Trayastrimsa heaven all take their food from a single precious vessel, yet the nectar which nourishes each one differs according to the differences of the merits each has accumulated. Just so, Sariputra, living beings born in the same buddha-field see the splendor of the virtues of the buddha-fields of the Buddhas according to their own degrees of purity." VIMALAKIRTI NIRDESA SUTRA.doc

HEHE Cultivation, generally, should lead one to leave all form of relativity. To be freed from the grasp of the relative world. Therefore, even the changing of the seasons, and the rising and setting of the sun is relative. Daoists, in one manner of cultivation, will follow and keep in line with the changing of seasons, as well as the weather and rising/setting of the sun. This cultivation is likened to a provisional-lifestyle cultivation; bringing health benefits galore. Also, another manner in Daoist cultivation is to wake up 5:30am and meditate with the rising sun. 11:30-12:30 meditate with the high Yang period of Sun rise. 5:30-6:30pm with the setting sun's energy and also 11:30pm-12:30am for the high Yin period after the sun's setting is completed. I met Daoists who only wear a robe, one pair of socks and their hat in the dead, brick cold winter, as well as Daoists wearing heavy, dark robes, socks and their hat in the heat of mid-summer. It doesn't matter which path you follow in this matter; it only matters what your cultivation has helped you to realize. Regardless of the "natural changes" of Nature, though a part of nature, we are not held in control by nature. Only because Nature's ...nature, is simply a relative response to the causes of its own "becoming". Meaning it is the way it is due to the momentum of the causes and conditions of its existence. Our mind makes something cold, or hot, burning, or soothing, etc. Budddhists do care about the nature of ...Nature. Yet, Buddhist's focus is to not be controlled by these relative cycles. Daoists do this as well. Just only after they have "achieved" that kind of level of cultivation.

Very good to hear! Wish you the best in cultivation. As for Wing Chun, very cool! You know I left my Wing Chun teacher, resigned from his line, under him, due to lots of double-talk and behind the back problems he brought. So I do not claim his lineage, and though the manner of what is taught is similar, I did change much of the practice formats for the form and "re-disigned" the forms for more internal cultivation, as well as application. You can check my updates on the website: www.wix.com/jingxintang/jingxinyuan?ref=nf#!

thanks for being patient with our conversation. Such a pleasure.

Things changed with the school, and to save it, I closed it, and got rid of some ... old baggage hehe long story. Glad to be in contact with you..and you were never a pest.

From my practices, I realized karma isn't something to believe in. Its just the process of our mind, a principle of cause and effect in the relative world. I realized also that the universe doesn't balance things out for anyone. The universe is just as responsive to us as we are to everything else due to interdependence. This means, everything we experience, everything we think, all of it comes from the mind itself. Our balancing out our own karma is exactly correct. Only we ourselves can makes things balanced, cleared out. Nothing can do it for us. If some great being were able to take away our negative results, they would have already. I don't hate. I don't want anyone to undergo any problems what so ever. Nor do I wish my self to experience them; for example: when I investigated my own mind to find out the causes of some of the craziness manifest in my world for several yrs up till last December, I understand that the complexities of cause and effect are way beyond my own minor understanding, if any understanding at all. What I come to realize is that things out there are much bigger than myself and all the craziness and good that I experienced before. It was a good eye opener, a good teaching, but not pleasant. It may not be a truth that rings with you. That's all up to you to feel comfortable with. The Buddha did say, if any of what he says makes sense to your own logic and reason, then work with it, if not then leave it alone.

Unfortunately there are outcomes for past deeds. Those who are evil and amass a fortune is just their good deeds from the past manifesting. There is no reasoning in Karma. When things are ripe, they manifest, when not, they don't. Unfortunately, many people misunderstand karma. Just because someone is undergoing suffering, doesn't mean others can not do anything about it. Some people are too afraid to offer their compassion. It is their misunderstanding of karma which leaves them to do nothing. Poor man. He experienced the heaviness of his own problems, and was led to a situation where he was in a position where no one would do anything. Here and now, isn't here and now. There is no such thing; though we take what we see and experience in the moment as a definitive "present" time. Things are just passing, like clouds in the sky. Compassion and wisdom would lead people to take action in helping others alleviate their sufferings..a little. not many are in touch, or awake enough to let compassion and wisdom lead them. There are kind people with a great fortune. Yet, those kind people who are poor and suffering...what about them? Either way, evil or kind, rich or poor, at ease, or suffering...this isn't the only world out there. We have all been in several other places before this one. Sometimes, here, Earth, is only a passing grounds for some to get to different places in order to awaken.

Some go through it worst than others. Unfortunately, these evils exist in our world. Its sad, and depressing. We can change it for our own life, but many must go through it because of their past deeds. I wish it wasn't this way, and no one would need to experience such pain. Even I went through facing near death, ill health and bad company with poison in what they choose to give me...changing views helped. Not hiding from the "danger" but taking it, and moving past it. Fortunately I never faced a gun shot, or daily torture.

hehe the Buddhists would say, " The world isn't what we see, yet because of our afflictions, we have manifested suffering; old age, sickness and death. Such an illusion is hard to put down." Once the afflictions are put down, the "true reality" will appear, simply because it was always here. Its like wiping the eye crispies from the eyes in the morning...lol Then we can see a bit more clearly, and less irritated.

He would say: "I told you so!"

My Brother! Such a long long time. I believe the last time we spoke was about 2yrs ago, and I was still getting the demons out of my school. Took me 3 yrs. sorry I wasn't much help to you in the past. Please forgive me.

hahaha its more like a safe-guard for the seeker.

I wish I remember the name, but there was a World Honored One who after attained enlightenment, every one's realization after him had to be certified.

Earthquakes would still occur, yet how "deadly" would they be? I am not a Buddha, so I will only speculate based on my baby understanding of cause and effect When there are earthquakes that do not harm living beings, it is because some living being in some world system, or ours, has realized Buddha-hood. When there are earthquakes that bring death, it may simply be the ignorance of those people living in an earthquake prone area... and or earthquakes happening that bring death can also be powerful evil-crazy people, maybe not human :-P, flexing their arms to show what they got. hehe The Earth will have its changes, some less painful to endure than others. how we deal with it depends on our wisdom. Maybe?

hehe me too. But the term is only used as a riddle. Taken literally will only cause more views of separation. The process of breaking the riddle will deem the riddle to be a mere tool, and then useless once its put down. There is a body, but it is temporary, along with the views we hold. Our constructs of reality are dependent upon our senses, and the attachments we hold to what they present. There isn't a body, only because it is impermanent. The "is and isn't" ...is only a provisional teaching to recognize one's own view and habitual thinking. Once it's realized, the provision is left alone, and there is another provision to present.

:-) Survival of the fittest for the animals, only because that's in their own nature to be that way. Yet, many have a lot of wisdom completed, and show it humbly. :-) The Earth is a paradise! We just don't see the beauty because if we did, we would become lazier.. no offense, but I include myself in there. hehe The Vimalikirti Sutra speaks about this. Shakyamuni Buddha did something really interesting to those who commented to him saying the likes of , "Hey man, what's going on here? You became enlightened so...where's your Buddha Land? Is it called Shakyamuni's Buddha Land?" The Buddha said, "No. Its right here, Earth is my Pure Land." They said, "Are you kidding me? Earth? This place is full of crazies, full of suffering, and unfairness. The 5 turbidities run free here. There is nothing special about this place" Buddha put down his foot (something to that effect) and the world, for a split second changed to a beautiful place. Every one was just amazed. Buddha said," I know, isn't it great? Just enough suffering to keep people on their toes. If we showed them the real deal, who would cultivate?" hehe

This statement I feel is very important. I have heard many refer to this kind of view point, and though it may make sense, we will have to consider that we are not body...solely. Because we are not body, or any form, we cant be annihilated. Because we hold to the view of us being a body, or any type of form, we experience suffering, or the less dramatic and most accepted...daily happenings that we feel are just not...savory. lol Our annihilation isn't the "end of the world" ideas of annihilation. It is the further "lowering" of our energy, which in turn just makes for a world of ignorance. Kind of like that movie "Idiocracy" lol but not so retarded, more like..becoming more and more of the mental slave. Then just more outer manifestations of such a state of mind. I'm not prophesying, lol... no prophecies from me. Maybe the Celestine Prophecy, as a good foundation builder.

:-) It has been a few years. I hope all is well with you...? Amituofo!