Seeing, Recognising & Maintaining One's Enlightening Potential

[manitou]

I love what Eckhart Tolle says - to Leave Life Alone.  This infers to me the same as the above post.  It's all good.

 

Expectation, judgement - Joe and I were talking about Trust yesterday.  What a strange concept, trust.  Trust what?  Trust someone to be what we think they ought to be?  Trust someone to meet our expectations always?  Or to just trust that that person is going to be exactly what she is?.  The whole concept of trust just doesn't make sense to me, other than in the above concept in CT's quote.  Trust that Life is a friendly thing, whether seemingly good or seemingly bad.  Trust that we are a zillion cars with the same driver, and there is nothing to do but love each other.  Trust that life will always take care of us if we are in acceptance of the Oneness of all life, that Awareness seems to be the operative necessity always.  That's all we can Trust.

 

And judgement of others, when we find ourselves doing it, is a good indication of what we ourselves are, and what we need to work on within ourselves.  We are nothing but mirrors of each other.

 

I love this thread.  Best ever.

[Brian]

I love what Eckhart Tolle says - to Leave Life Alone. This infers to me the same as the above post. It's all good.

 

Expectation, judgement - Joe and I were talking about Trust yesterday. What a strange concept, trust. Trust what? Trust someone to be what we think they ought to be? Trust someone to meet our expectations always? Or to just trust that that person is going to be exactly what she is?. The whole concept of trust just doesn't make sense to me, other than in the above concept in CT's quote. Trust that Life is a friendly thing, whether seemingly good or seemingly bad. Trust that we are a zillion cars with the same driver, and there is nothing to do but love each other. Trust that life will always take care of us if we are in acceptance of the Oneness of all life, that Awareness seems to be the operative necessity always. That's all we can Trust.

 

And judgement of others, when we find ourselves doing it, is a good indication of what we ourselves are, and what we need to work on within ourselves. We are nothing but mirrors of each other.

 

I love this thread. Best ever.

I also look forward to new entries in this thread. Many are like fireworks.

[Geof Nanto]

Anything can be a path, even a demon.

 

Anything can be a demon, even a path.

[manitou]

 

Anything can be a path, even a demon.

 

Anything can be a demon, even a path.

 

Aaaah...an open minded one -

[C T]

Kamma and Rebirth 

 

The channel for the transmission of kammic influence from life to life across the sequence of rebirths is the individual stream of consciousness. Consciousness embraces both phases of our being — that in which we generate fresh kamma and that in which we reap the fruits of old kamma — and thus in the process of rebirth, consciousness bridges the old and new existences. Consciousness is not a single transmigrating entity, a self or soul, but a stream of evanescent acts of consciousness, each of which arises, briefly subsists, and then passes away. This entire stream, however, though made up of evanescent units, is fused into a unified whole by the causal relations obtaining between all the occasions of consciousness in any individual continuum. At a deep level, each occasion of consciousness inherits from its predecessor the entire kammic legacy of that particular stream; in perishing, it in turn passes that content on to its successor, augmented by its own novel contribution. Thus our volitional deeds do not exhaust their full potential in their immediately visible effects. Every volitional deed that we perform, when it passes, leaves behind a subtle imprint stamped upon the onward-flowing stream of consciousness. The deed deposits in the stream of consciousness a seed capable of bearing fruit, of producing a result that matches the ethical quality of the deed.

 

When we encounter suitable external conditions, the kammic seeds deposited in our mental continuum rise up from their dormant condition and produce their fruits. The most important function performed by kamma is to generate rebirth into an appropriate realm, a realm that provides a field for it to unfold its stored potentials. The bridge between the old existence and the new is, as we said above, the evolving stream of consciousness. It is within this stream of consciousness that the kamma has been created through the exercise of volition; it is this same stream of consciousness, flowing on, that carries the kammic energies into the new existence; and it is again this same stream of consciousness that experiences the fruit. Conceivably, at the deepest level all the individual streams of consciousness are integrated into a single all-embracing matrix, so that, beneath the surface of events, the separate kammic accumulations of all living beings crisscross, overlap, and merge. This hypothesis — though speculative — would help account for the strange coincidences we sometimes meet that prick holes in our assumptions of rational order.

 

The generative function of kamma in the production of new existence is described by the Buddha in a short but pithy sutta preserved in the Anguttara Nikaya (AN III.76). Venerable Ananda approaches the Master and says, "'Existence, existence' is spoken of, venerable sir. In what way is there existence?" The Buddha replies: "If there were no kamma ripening in the sensory realm, no sense-sphere existence would be discerned. If there where no kamma ripening in the form realm, no form-sphere existence would be discerned. If there were no kamma ripening in the formless realm, no formless-sphere existence would be discerned. Therefore, Ananda, kamma is the field, consciousness the seed, and craving the moisture for beings obstructed by ignorance and fettered by craving to be established in a new realm of existence, either low (sense-sphere), middling (form-sphere), or high (formless-sphere)."

 

As long as ignorance and craving, the twin roots of the round of rebirths, remain intact in our mental continuum, at the time of death one especially powerful kamma will become ascendant and propel the stream of consciousness to the realm of existence that corresponds to its own "vibrational frequency." When consciousness, as the seed, becomes planted or "established" in that realm it sprouts forth into the rest of the psycho-physical organism, summed up in the expression "name and form" (nama-rupa). As the organism matures, it provides the site for other past kammas to gain the opportunity to produce their results. Then, within this new existence, in response to our various kammically induced experiences, we engage in actions that engender fresh kamma with the capacity to generate still another rebirth. Thereby the round of existence keeps turning from one life to the next, as the stream of consciousness, swept along by craving and steered by kamma, assumes successive modes of embodiment.

 

The ultimate implication of the Buddha's teaching on kamma and rebirth is that human beings are the final masters of their own destiny. Through our unwholesome deeds, rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion, we create unwholesome kamma, the generative cause of bad rebirths, of future misery and bondage. Through our wholesome deeds, rooted in generosity, kindness, and wisdom, we beautify our minds and thereby create kamma productive of a happy rebirth. By using wisdom to dig more deeply below the superficial face of things, we can uncover the subtle truths hidden by our preoccupation with appearances. Thereby we can uproot the binding defilements and win the peace of deliverance, the freedom beyond the cycle of kamma and its fruit. 

 

~ Bhikkhu Bodhi

[manitou]

But why?

 

Did we not have the freedom beyond the cycle before it started?

 

Why?, asks the detective.

[Brian]

Why seems a uniquely human question, the cycle of which ends in "I don't know" if one is both honest and self-reflective but ends in "just because" if one is a parent.

[C T]

For the purpose of clarification on what Dzogchen is from a recognised teacher, scholar, translator and great realiser of Dzogchen and Ati Yoga. 

 

[manitou]

For the purpose of clarification on what Dzogchen is from a recognised teacher, scholar, translator and great realiser of Dzogchen and Ati Yoga. 

 

 

Thank you, CT, for that wonderful foundational explanation of Dzogchen.  Although this is not a path that I am familiar with in my own experience, it makes me see the similarities between how one arrives at a true perception of reality through one's own suffering, as he explains in the first wheel of Dharma.  As many know here, I was an alcoholic for many years, many years spent in personal degradation and humiliation.  If that isn't the reality of suffering, I don't know what is.

 

The cessation of suffering, in this particular case, it takes the inner work of realizing that every perception and conclusion one has come to up to that point is probably exactly backwards.  That all my conclusions to that point had been wrong.  And that there was nobody to blame but myself for my own actions and karma.  And then there's the tendency to place the blame for our original conditioning on our parents, until one realizes that they were conditioned exactly the same way; we are all victims of victims.

 

His categorization of the First Turning in the wheel of Dharma - seeing the impermanent as permanent - seems to be my practice today, however from my own perspective.  This moment will never return.  The lamp that is lighting the keyboard of my computer is degrading as I speak.  My body is aging as I type, it is not the same this moment as it was a minute ago.  His explanation to Wake Up! is beautiful.

 

I just came back from Florida the other day.  On the plane, I was gazing out the window at the sky, and in gazing I saw what appeared to be tiny little shooting stars, going every which way.  It make me realize, one more time, that everything is living.  The stapler on my desk is alive with atomic energy.

 

We are all Life, the One Life.  We are contained in separate bodies, like the same wine being poured into different vessels, but the same we are, only differently conditioned.  And we are all actors in this grand play, and each must play his part (thank you, Shakespeare and Elvis!)

 

I am getting forgetful, I am getting repetitive.  I will be 69 in a couple months.  He reminds me that the secret to not losing one's memory is to be absolutely attentive to each moment, to be in the here and now, to truly See that which is in front of me. But more importantly, the interplay and inter-causality of all people, places, things, animals, sky, rocks, ideas, senses, perceptions, thoughts; ad infinitum.  The Big One.

 

I don't think the darker paths should be discounted.  The path of Dzochen must truly be the highest path one can encounter within all the paths.  But as Yueya said earlier, 'Every path can be a demon, Every demon can be a path'.  My path was a demon, and it led me to you, CT.  You are truly my teacher, and have been for years although perhaps you didn't know it.  My practice, I'm ashamed to say, does not involve a great deal of meditation.  Some, yes.  But not more than perhaps once a week.  But what my path is, is to check my motives at all times.  To try and keep my thoughts high, that is a true discipline.  To try not to judge.  To love my brother as myself.  To realize that when I'm judging, I'm merely seeing a reflection of that which is in me, and which needs to be removed.

 

I am the Detective.  I have been all my life, whether involved in the career or not.  I want nothing more than the Truth out of life. And the dark path, lo and behold, has brought me to the highest place I've ever been.  Higher than any substance I have put into my body, alcohol or drug.  I am in mindfulness most of the time now, and when I find myself getting angry, impatient, aggravated - I instantly know that I am not here and now, watching the interplay of all aspects of This Moment.

 

I love you.  And I love Alan Wallace.  Thank you.

[Bud Jetsun]

 My path was a demon, and it led me to you, CT.  You are truly my teacher, and have been for years although perhaps you didn't know it.  My practice, I'm ashamed to say, does not involve a great deal of meditation.  Some, yes.  But not more than perhaps once a week.  But what my path is, is to check my motives at all times.  To try and keep my thoughts high, that is a true discipline.  To try not to judge.  To love my brother as myself.  To realize that when I'm judging, I'm merely seeing a reflection of that which is in me, and which needs to be removed.

 

CT has shared content that contributed to spontaneous tears of joy in my own life more than any other human.  Thank you so kindly CT for taking the time to filter material for the priceless gems and sharing them freely. 

 

Manitou-  I love you and CT and every other living being whole heartedly and exactly as you are! 

 

I see meditation as a beautiful and unlimited powerful tool for spoiling oneself.  If humans were meant only to meditate, it wouldn't be needed to be born with these amazing hands for creating and and legs for walking and exploring and a voicebox for talking.  All of life can become a form of living meditation if it's done mindfully. 

 

Unlimited Love,

-Bud

[manitou]

CT has shared content that contributed to spontaneous tears of joy in my own life more than any other human.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of life can become a form of living meditation if it's done mindfully. 

 

Unlimited Love,

-Bud

 

(Can't figure out how to separate the two sentences for separate comment.  My computer skills on the site are legendary.)

 

 

 

CT has always been a teacher on this site, as far as I'm concerned.  As high as he was when I first encountered him, I see even more and more elevation over the years, although I wouldn't have thought it possible.  But elevation there has been.  Or perhaps my eyes just get higher and higher to be able to see it.  I'm sure that's part of it.   I treasure this thread.

 

Bud - I feel a oneness and love with you as well.  And your comment about life being a living meditation is so very well put.  I feel grateful to have others to communicate with who are like minded.  Few and far between.  And yet, there are probably many of us out there who quietly continue to keep our thoughts elevated, to love, to try to be free of labels and judgments, despite our negative and judgmental conditioning.  We just don't make the News.  The one thing that keeps me going is that I know there is an equivalent amount of yin for the yang that is more apparent.  When I look at the politicians running for president in this country, particularly on the Right, it is absolutely frightening to think that this could be our future.  And yet, I know that there is a counter balance to them, even if a silent one.  The Logos, the Dao, will do what it is to do, and if our destiny is to be led down the path of hatred by the gun-lovers and the top 1%, that too may be what is needed for total realization of Oneness.  Perhaps the blocks will fall into place as part of The Plan with a right wing president, who knows?  Perhaps this country must lead the way into bellicose world war for things to get back into balance.  All I know is that we are all tentacles of the same giant squid, and that the presidential candidates too are all actors just playing their part.

 

Sorry for the distraction here - but I know everyone here understands.  Now I look forward to more of CT's glorious 'finds'.

[Brian]

CT has shared content that contributed to spontaneous tears of joy in my own life more than any other human.  Thank you so kindly CT for taking the time to filter material for the priceless gems and sharing them freely. 

 

Manitou-  I love you and CT and every other living being whole heartedly and exactly as you are! 

 

I see meditation as a beautiful and unlimited powerful tool for spoiling oneself.  If humans were meant only to meditate, it wouldn't be needed to be born with these amazing hands for creating and and legs for walking and exploring and a voicebox for talking.  All of life can become a form of living meditation if it's done mindfully. 

 

Unlimited Love,

-Bud

 

 

(Can't figure out how to separate the two sentences for separate comment.  My computer skills on the site are legendary.)

 

 

 

CT has always been a teacher on this site, as far as I'm concerned.  As high as he was when I first encountered him, I see even more and more elevation over the years, although I wouldn't have thought it possible.  But elevation there has been.  Or perhaps my eyes just get higher and higher to be able to see it.  I'm sure that's part of it.   I treasure this thread.

 

Bud - I feel a oneness and love with you as well.  And your comment about life being a living meditation is so very well put.  I feel grateful to have others to communicate with who are like minded.  Few and far between.  And yet, there are probably many of us out there who quietly continue to keep our thoughts elevated, to love, to try to be free of labels and judgments, despite our negative and judgmental conditioning.  We just don't make the News.  The one thing that keeps me going is that I know there is an equivalent amount of yin for the yang that is more apparent.  When I look at the politicians running for president in this country, particularly on the Right, it is absolutely frightening to think that this could be our future.  And yet, I know that there is a counter balance to them, even if a silent one.  The Logos, the Dao, will do what it is to do, and if our destiny is to be led down the path of hatred by the gun-lovers and the top 1%, that too may be what is needed for total realization of Oneness.  Perhaps the blocks will fall into place as part of The Plan with a right wing president, who knows?  Perhaps this country must lead the way into bellicose world war for things to get back into balance.  All I know is that we are all tentacles of the same giant squid, and that the presidential candidates too are all actors just playing their part.

 

Sorry for the distraction here - but I know everyone here understands.  Now I look forward to more of CT's glorious 'finds'.

I would just like to add my own personal "me too" here!

[C T]

 

Be compassionate to yourself, even as you look at your mistakes and mishaps. Then, if others are less than perfect too, use your developing compassion to kill your anger and frustration. Practise this every minute. Life is the practice. As the Buddha said, "Now, everything is totally in your hands".

 

~ Gyalwang Drukpa

 

 

 

i am overjoyed that these encouragements and words of advice from the great Buddhist masters are well received, and i am deeply humbled to be allowed an opportunity to share them with you all. You are in my prayers. _/\_

[manitou]

Life is the practice.  Amen.

[manitou]

Aligned with where we are at this particular moment, may I add this?

 

 

The brute instincts are still with us, constantly forcing themselves into our field of thought.  Occultists learn to curb and control these lower instincts, subordinating them to the higher mental ideals which unfold into the fire of consciousness.  Do not be discouraged if you still find that you have much of the animal within your nature - we all have - the only difference is that some of us have learned to control the brute, and to keep him in leash and subordinate and obedient to the higher parts of our nature, while others allow the beast to rule them, and they shiver and turn pale when he shows his teeth, not seeming to realize that a firm demeanor and a calm mind will cause the beast to retreat to his corner and allow himself to be kept behind bars.  If you find constant manifestations of the beast within you, struggling to be free and to assert his old power, do not be disturbed.  This is no sign of weakness, but is really an indication that your spiritual growth has begun.

 

For whereas you now recognize the brute, and feel ashamed, you formerly did not realize his presence - were not aware of his existence, for you were the brute himself.  It is only because you are trying to divorce yourself from him, that you feel ashamed of his presence.  You cannot see him until you begin to be "different" from him.  Learn to be a tamer of wild beast, for you have a whole menagerie within you.  The lion; the tiger; the hyena; the ape; the pig; the peacock, and all the rest are there, constantly showing forth some of their characteristics.  Do not fear them - smile at them when they show themselves - for you are stronger than they, and can bring them to subjection - and their appearance is useful to you in the way of instructing you as to their existence.  They are an amusing lot, when you have reached the stage where you are able to practically stand aside and see them perform their tricks, and go through their antics.  You then feel strongly that they are not YOU, but something apart from you - something from which you are becoming rapidly divorced.  Do not worry about the beast - for you are the master."

 

 

(Commentary by Yogi Ramacharaka in "Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism" - commentary on "Some Light on the Path")

[C T]

Consider the fact that no matter how many planets and stars are reflected in a lake, these reflections are encompassed within the water itself; that no matter how many universes there are, they are encompassed within a single space; and that no matter how vast and how numerous the sensory appearances of samsara and nirvana may be, they are encompassed within the single nature of mind.

 

~ Dudjom Lingpa

 

[Apech]

Nice quote, thanks.

[manitou]

CT - do you think there is a parallel here to the Buddha-lands referred to in the Lotus and Avatamsaka sutras? It just all comes back to Mind, doesn't it?

 

It also somehow reminds me that Einstein figured out that time and space are relative and are curved.  And that eternity runs not only forwards but backwards as well, including the Now.

Edited January 17, 2016 by manitou

[manitou]

I'm taking it that your 'like' was a yes?     You are one enigmatic dude, lol.  A blessing, but an enigmatic one.

[Seeker of Wisdom]

[...] Occultists learn to curb and control these lower instincts, subordinating them to the higher mental ideals which unfold into the fire of consciousness.  [...]

 

Following on from this.

 

MN 19:

'Why don't I keep dividing my thinking into two sorts?' So I made thinking imbued with sensuality, thinking imbued with ill will, & thinking imbued with harmfulness one sort, and thinking imbued with renunciation, thinking imbued with non-ill will, & thinking imbued with harmlessness another sort.'

 

MN 20:

"[...] Just as a skilled carpenter or his apprentice would use a small peg to knock out, drive out, and pull out a large one; in the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — arise in a monk while he is referring to and attending to a particular theme, he should attend to another theme, apart from that one, connected with what is skillful. When he is attending to this other theme, apart from that one, connected with what is skillful, then those evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it.

 

"[...] Just as a young woman — or man — fond of adornment, would be horrified, humiliated, and disgusted if the carcass of a snake or a dog or a human being were hung from her neck; in the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion, or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is attending to this other theme, connected with what is skillful, he should scrutinize the drawbacks of those thoughts: 'Truly, these thoughts of mine are unskillful, these thoughts of mine are blameworthy, these thoughts of mine result in stress.' [...]

 

"[...] Just as a man with good eyes, not wanting to see forms that had come into range, would close his eyes or look away; in the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is scrutinizing the drawbacks of those thoughts, he should pay no mind and pay no attention to those thoughts. [...]

 

"[...] Just as the thought would occur to a man walking quickly, 'Why am I walking quickly? Why don't I walk slowly?' [...] Why don't I stand?' [...] Why don't I sit down?' [...] Why don't I lie down?' So he lies down. In this way, giving up the grosser posture, he takes up the more refined one. In the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is paying no mind and paying no attention to those thoughts, he should attend to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts. [...]

 

"[...] Just as a strong man, seizing a weaker man by the head or the throat or the shoulders, would beat him down, constrain, and crush him; in the same way, if evil, unskillful thoughts — imbued with desire, aversion or delusion — still arise in the monk while he is attending to the relaxing of thought-fabrication with regard to those thoughts, then — with his teeth clenched and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth — he should beat down, constrain, and crush his mind with his awareness. As — with his teeth clenched and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth — he is beating down, constraining, and crushing his mind with his awareness, those evil, unskillful thoughts are abandoned and subside. With their abandoning, he steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it, and concentrates it.

 

"Now when a monk [...] steadies his mind right within, settles it, unifies it and concentrates it: He is then called a monk with mastery over the ways of thought sequences. He thinks whatever thought he wants to, and doesn't think whatever thought he doesn't. He has severed craving, thrown off the fetters, and — through the right penetration of conceit — has made an end of suffering and stress."

 

That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed One's words.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Seeker of Wisdom

[manitou]

I like the idea of unskilled thoughts - not evil or bad, just unskilled.  Steadying one's mind is definitely a skill, it seems to me.  There is something, for example, that I would love to tell my partner of many years about, something that one of our friends said that was terribly 'unskilled' toward another. It would be a delicious repetition to my partner for me to make, but it would certainly appeal to my baser instincts, and it would cause my partner to think lesser of the person who said it.  There is just something that would feel so good about repeating this event.

 

But Life is the practice.  And the best practice for me is to just keep it to myself, although the temptation is horribly strong.  But what is it in me that makes me want to repeat it so?  Baser human instinct, I suppose.

 

 

Part 2 of this response:  I just went to bed and continued reading The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.  I happen to be at the place where it speaks of the kunzhi namshe, the repository within the individual where karmic traces are stored.  The book speaks of compassion, of seeing things non-dually, as a cure for generating karmic traces due to clinging or aversion, which will continue to play out in one's present and future existences, until such time as they are finally dissipated.  It appears that compassion is the great dissipator here.  In reading these paragraphs, I see my own error in my above characterization of my friend's statement being 'unskilled'.  This is a value judgment on my part, a categorization of aversion.  Here, by trying to stifle my desire to tell my partner of another's behavior, I am merely giving it strength.  Better I should look at the person who made the statement with compassion, knowing that he said this entirely within the realm of his own conditioning, through the lens of his own experience.  To look at it through these eyes takes the power out of it altogether.

 

Lesson learned.

Edited January 19, 2016 by manitou

[RigdzinTrinley]

The location of the truth of the Great Perfection is the unfabricated mind of the present moment, this naked radiant awareness itself, not a hair of which has been forced into relaxation. Maintaining this at all times, just through not forgetting it even in the states of eating, sleeping, walking, and sitting, is called meditation. However, until you are free from the obscurations of cognition, it is impossible for this not to be mixed with the experiences of bliss, clarity, and non-conceptualisation. Nevertheless, just by not forgetting the nature of one’s own awareness — the kind that is not a tangled mindfulness that gets more tangled in order to be mindful — at some point the unelaborated ultimate truth, transcending terms and examples, will appear.

 

 

~ Jigme Lingpa

_/|\_ three bows to the lotus feet of Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa

 

That made my day thanks for posting

[RigdzinTrinley]

Homage to Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa

 

Though enlightened from the very beginning, you never cease to take on forms, to tame each in their very own way.

Though displaying magical appearances of every kind, you are free from aggregates, elements, sense-fields, form and grasping

Though appearing in human form, in reality you are a buddha, shining out thousands of light rays of knowledge and of love.

Not just in this life alone, but always, I rely on you as my refuge: Khyentse Özer, fill me with your blessings!

 

From the nyingthik ngondro

Edited January 22, 2016 by RigdzinTrinley

[manitou]

 

 

Though enlightened from the very beginning, you never cease to take on forms, to tame each in their very own way.

 

 

 

 

Yes - we are enlightened from the very beginning, and then the process of un-enlightenment begins.  From the moment a baby learns to smile the conditioning begins, from well-intended parents, teachers, and friends who teach us the form, the names, the attitudes, what to love, what to shun, what to hate, what philosophy they pass down to us.  What to read, what to eat, how to be entertained, the list goes on forever.

 

The essence of your post shines through and the hint of the Great Mystery radiates.  Blessings on you, RigdzinTrinley.

[manitou]

CT - do you think there is a parallel here to the Buddha-lands referred to in the Lotus and Avatamsaka sutras? It just all comes back to Mind, doesn't it?

 

It also somehow reminds me that Einstein figured out that time and space are relative and are curved.  And that eternity runs not only forwards but backwards as well, including the Now.

 

 

Or sometimes I think the buddha-lands are what the Schroedinger's cat in quantum physics talks about - when there is no perceiver, there is no conclusion to be made about the phenomena that occurred.   Maybe the buddha lands refer to all the possible scenarios that could have played out without a perceiver - or scenarios that would have played out if somebody had made just one decision slightly differently.

 

An infinitude of scenarios and subsequent evolutions.  Since reading the Sutras, this concept of zillions of buddha lands has stuck with me and been an enigma to me, it takes up so much room in the Sutras.  When something comes close to defining it or answering the question for my mind, the question seems to automatically superimpose itself over the scenario to see if it fits.

Edited January 28, 2016 by manitou