Nungali Posted 17 hours ago 3 minutes ago, Lairg said: Of what is the spiritual master, a master? Spirituality . 3 minutes ago, Lairg said: Surely there is more to master than the persona (mask) of a human. There is more to all of us than just that . 3 minutes ago, Lairg said: How to test for mastery of transpersonal energies? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigSkyDiamond Posted 17 hours ago (edited) 23 minutes ago, Nungali said: But obviously these are extremes and rather a clear case . In other issues , like the ones Stirling gave us .... are they really comparable to this ? Seems a bit 'over reactive ' ? Those are absolutely comparable examples. They are in fact the behaviors of the religious leader who wrote the book that was mentioned in the post by stirling. Which is how it entered the thread. And also the behaviors of the son of that leader who was named successor. Edited 17 hours ago by BigSkyDiamond 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted 17 hours ago Just now, BigSkyDiamond said: Those are absolutely comparable examples. They are in fact the behaviors of the religious leader who wrote the book that was mentioned in the post by stirling. And also the behaviors of the son of the leader who was named successor. I meant the the minor things that Sterling seemed to be pointing out the ' small infractions of calm' . I must not have read / been following close enough to get the associations you claim with the mention of that teacher . Hmmmm ... I hope one of those Sai Baba situations doesn't arise here ...... time to depart and go out scouting for firewood ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lairg Posted 17 hours ago If we do not know how to test for spiritual mastery are we reduced to guesswork? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigSkyDiamond Posted 17 hours ago (edited) 52 minutes ago, Lairg said: If we do not know how to test for spiritual mastery are we reduced to guesswork? No it is not guesswork. We can recognize what it is NOT. Edited 16 hours ago by BigSkyDiamond Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dainin Posted 16 hours ago (edited) Spoiler Edited 2 hours ago by stirling The hidden image is shocking and depicts a man being burnt alive. Be sure you want to see it before revealing it. - Admin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lairg Posted 16 hours ago (edited) I had a girl friend who remembered being burned as a witch. She said it was a very cold experience - as may be detected in the above photo She also said (from experience) that drowning is the easiest death - one panic breath of water then all is peaceful. She was annoyed at being rescued from the bottom of the pool Edited 16 hours ago by Lairg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lairg Posted 13 hours ago 3 hours ago, BigSkyDiamond said: 3 hours ago, Lairg said: If we do not know how to test for spiritual mastery are we reduced to guesswork? No it is not guesswork. We can recognize what it is NOT. Binary worlds are wonderful Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paradoxal Posted 7 hours ago (edited) 18 hours ago, stirling said: Any teacher that acts in a questionable manner would call it out immediately and correct themselves, or submit to correction at whatever level necessary. Again - it doesn't mean that they aren't enlightened necessarily. It takes many years after "awakening" to drop the most pernicious aspects of "self". Some things never go away. Some will never be teachers, and it isn't important that they ever are. I would disagree with you here; if texts are to be believed (which is in itself debatable), an 'enlightened master' should be one above the limitations of the flesh, no? Now, it is truly the road to mastery to have the strength to call yourself out, to submit yourself to correction, and to be willing to change, but I would argue that they must still be at the journeyman phase if they fall prey to such things. It doesn't mean they can't teach people, but 'mastery' should be taken quite seriously in my opinion... Again, perhaps I am still just too young, dumb, and inexperienced! 😉 11 hours ago, Nungali said: I'm sorry ... my eyes could be faulty ..... did you just say you are willing to torture certain people ? I said I wouldn't be morally troubled by it, but yes, I do think that there are points in which the morally 'right' thing to do is to cause suffering. After all, if someone has killed or tortured thousands, how can *only* killing them resolve that karma? Should the war hawks in their 70s and 80s die a peaceful death? This probably isn't the right thread for a thorough conversation on moral qualms and philosophy though, so... 😅 Edited 6 hours ago by Paradoxal Removing potentially political joke Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
old3bob Posted 4 hours ago (edited) " "I said I wouldn't be morally troubled by it, but yes, I do think that there are points in which the morally 'right' thing to do is to cause suffering..." Paradoxal The "Right" thing to do is not to swallow such dark crap!! Edited 4 hours ago by old3bob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stirling Posted 2 hours ago 4 hours ago, Paradoxal said: I would disagree with you here; if texts are to be believed (which is in itself debatable), an 'enlightened master' should be one above the limitations of the flesh, no? Now, it is truly the road to mastery to have the strength to call yourself out, to submit yourself to correction, and to be willing to change, but I would argue that they must still be at the journeyman phase if they fall prey to such things. It doesn't mean they can't teach people, but 'mastery' should be taken quite seriously in my opinion... Again, perhaps I am still just too young, dumb, and inexperienced! 😉 In Buddhism at least there are two classes of enlightenment: That which you might encounter in a living being, and that of those that have extinguished the karma of birth and death (those that are "dead"). Quote There are two stages in nirvana, one in life, and one final nirvana upon death; the former is imprecise and general, the latter is precise and specific. The nirvana-in-life marks the life of a monk who has attained complete release from desire and suffering but still has a body, name and life. The nirvana-after-death, also called nirvana-without-substrate, is the complete cessation of everything, including consciousness and rebirth. This main distinction is between the extinguishing of the fires during life, and the final "blowing out" at the moment of death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(Buddhism)#Nirvana_with_and_without_remainder_of_fuel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Master Logray Posted 1 hour ago 15 hours ago, Lairg said: If we do not know how to test for spiritual mastery are we reduced to guesswork? Not guesswork, but belief. Belief doesn't need evidence. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
