mat black Posted July 17, 2008 Hi mat black, Thank you for sending the link. I am not sure where the information originated from, but it seems to me that it has wrong view in there. "Then the Buddha told Lord Sakra, "The above Mantra is known as the ' Purifying All Evil Paths' Usnisa Vijaya Dharani'. It can eliminate all evil karmic hindrances and eradicate the suffering of all evil paths." " I am not very well versed with all the suttas and canons but the first "feel" I get from it is "wrong view". Is it a Mahayana text? Would like to know more into this pali translation of the mantra. Do you have any insight into it? Regards, Mouse The textual reference in terms of the sutras' origins that i found is here http://www.geocities.com/usnisa_vijaya/web/eng/english.htm I'm not sure what you mean by 'wrong view' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Posted July 17, 2008 They helped you produce and maintain your physical body, that's all.... I think the point made previously was that "that" is way more than one often thinks. Even if your parents did it all for dodgy reasons, as it seems to you, still, consider... all that food, all that shelter, all that concern, all that security, all that money! Imagine if you'd had to grow up homeless and forage for yourself, educate yourself. I do accept that it's tricky, to say the least, the process of establishing that you are going to be otherwise than expected. But if you can feel gratitude then it can be easier to be determined without being resentful. Easier. Not necessarily easy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mouse Posted July 17, 2008 The textual reference in terms of the sutras' origins that i found is here http://www.geocities.com/usnisa_vijaya/web/eng/english.htm I'm not sure what you mean by 'wrong view' Hi mat black, thank you again for sending me a link for the textual references. But the website is down. With wrong view, I mean many points in the Sutra do not seem correct. Like the following paragraph: "Lord of Heaven, if someone hears this Dharani even for just a moment,he will not undergo karmic retribution from the evil karma and severehindrances accumulated from thousands of kalpas ago, that would otherwisecause him to revolve in the cycles of birth and death - in all kinds of lifeforms in the evil paths - hell, hungry ghost, animal, realm of King Yama,Asuras, Yaksa, Raksasa, ghosts and spirits, Putana, Kataputana, Apasmara,mosquitoes, gnats, tortoises, dogs, pythons, birds, ferocious animals,crawling creatures and even ants and other life forms. Owing to the meritsaccrued from hearing for a moment this Dharani, once this very life is over,he will be reborn in the Buddha lands, together with all the Buddhas andEkajati-pratibaddha Bodhisattvas, or in a distinguished Brahmin or Ksatriyafamily, or in some other wealthy and reputable family. Lord of Heaven, thisman can be reborn in one of the above-mentioned prosperous and reputablefamilies simply because he has heard this Dharani, and hence be reborn in apure place.""Lord of Heaven, even acquiring the most victorious Bodhimanda is aresult of praising the meritorious virtues of this Dharani. I have not come across a sutra or teaching like that in the theravada tradition which is why I ask if this is a mahayana text. If this was true, wouldn't there be no sentient beings in hell or lower realms of rebirth? I mean no disrespect but I wanted to get some clarification from you as you reccomended it. Is this a practice you engage in and can you give us more insight based on the teachings/instruction you received regarding this sutra? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seadog Posted July 17, 2008 To endeavour to illicit good karma is as foolish as as actively participating in bad karma.When we consider our actions to be good or bad we have automatically removed ourselves from the Tao.When our will is aligned to the will of heaven our actions become correct and we are where we are meant to be.We do what we are meant to do. I'am sure all of us have had that sense of flow which stems from being grounded still and at peace.Our actions acquire power because they are born of integrity.People respond to this alignment to heaven. We become conduits flowing with the qualities of true life.Creative,peaceful,nourishing. By returning to emptiness and stillness heaven and earth can have their congress within us.And we take our rightful place.Our true natures allowed then to fullfill destiny. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patrick Brown Posted July 17, 2008 mouse, I figure it offers hope where there may thought to be none. If it takes an enlightened being many life times to achieve clarity one would not expect to be able to instruct a being confused and in error in the ways of Tao as they simply wouldn't understand. Therefore instilling the hope that virtue will lead to insight and redemption is what's really going on. If a confused and violent man sees no hope he will continue in his ways and therefore remain in a state of perpetual suffering. This is what Buddhism, Christianity and religion in general are all about and the message is simple. Mahayana teaching relating to karma is generally esoteric but I can tell you it involves 'straightening by fire' and not everybody can go this route as it's pretty dangerous. The bottom line is you can't escape your karma but you can burn it off but the process is painful. Candidates for such teachings/processes have to accept that there is a good chance they will die and there will be much suffering. This is the main reason Mahayana Buddhism keeps it's practices secret because they can be very dangerous to the uninitiated. I'm sure some people will scoff and think what bollocks and that's fine but I speak from experience. To endeavour to illicit good karma is as foolish as as actively participating in bad karma.When we consider our actions to be good or bad we have automatically removed ourselves from the Tao.When our will is aligned to the will of heaven our actions become correct and we are where we are meant to be.We do what we are meant to do. I'am sure all of us have had that sense of flow which stems from being grounded still and at peace.Our actions acquire power because they are born of integrity.People respond to this alignment to heaven. We become conduits flowing with the qualities of true life.Creative,peaceful,nourishing. By returning to emptiness and stillness heaven and earth can have their congress within us.And we take our rightful place.Our true natures allowed then to fullfill destiny. Spot on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Posted July 18, 2008 The bottom line is you can't escape your karma but you can burn it off but the process is painful. Candidates for such teachings/processes have to accept that there is a good chance they will die and there will be much suffering. This is the main reason Mahayana Buddhism keeps it's practices secret because they can be very dangerous to the uninitiated. I'm sure some people will scoff and think what bollocks and that's fine but I speak from experience. You can burn it off. It is painful, and boring, and plain annoying, and delicious in places, but not especially dangerous, the way I've been taught to do it. Do tell us about your experience. Pretty please. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patrick Brown Posted July 18, 2008 Do tell us about your experience. Pretty please. Apparently we're dealing with the astral-body / emotion-body / dream-body in this current round. I'm not sure of the technical occult processes that are at work although I suspect given time and thought I could figure them out. I think it probably has something to do with transmuting astral energy (emotional energy) into mental energy hence the heightened brain activity that is experienced. My personal experiences involved a massive outpouring of emotion together with the physical feeling of being on fire especially at the crown chakra. There's visions, sleeplessness, bizarre sounds and a general lessening of the ego which can induce extreme fear and panic. Yes basically it's an experience of psychosis which if people don't over come can cause their egos to withdrawn into a deeper state of denial of any greater reality. I survived because I was able to focus, completely selflessly, one pointedly on love and compassion for the whole world. At one point it seemed as if I was the whole world/planet but that's psychosis for you, isn't it? Anyway I had taken the vows of a Bodhisattva so I wasn't ready to become a planetary logos or what ever it's called. This process of 'straightening by fire' has happened to me a few times and seems to coincide with an expansion of conciousness although it takes me a while to descramble my mind and gain the new improved clarity. I don't consciously cause or force these events to happen it just seems to be a process that just is. My last experience was much less emotional and more abstract and conceptual. I don't particularly buy into all the new age stuff and I don't think I'm special in anyway but I do think I'm growing in a spiritual sense. Anyways my brain has been on overdrive the last couple of days so I'm going to give it a rest! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben D Posted July 19, 2008 How to make good karma? A chinese saying I once read,... Superior virtue does not know virtue, Inferior virtue practices virtue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janus Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) Edited August 13, 2008 by Janus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janus Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) Edited August 13, 2008 by Janus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pero Posted July 20, 2008 I mean people can hate you for being "good" to them. Irrelevant. Basically what you're saying is that if you do a good deed and the other person is not thankful it's not good karma. You're also saying that your intentions are not correct, "I helped that one, but the bastard isn't thankful to ME". If you really want to help someone, should it be about you or the other person? Li Hongzhi of Falun Gong said this in his lectures, that you can walk around all day without finding a single "good" deed you can do... An example was if you broke up a fight, then the people might have settled it themselves but because you interupted the conflict is now prolonged... You also can't know that perhaps because you broke up a fight, that later their heads cooled off and they became buddies. So if you are able to break up a fight, it could very well be the right thing to do. And I would be wary from listening to Li Hongzhi. Just today I was stroking some cat I found hanging out in my back garden then it bit my hand.... This is the illusion of kindness..... but the illusion bubble bursts... And when the bubble bursts I guess I'm kinda greatful for that. Yes, it is the illusion of your kindness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janus Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) Edited August 13, 2008 by Janus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pero Posted July 20, 2008 Well I get what your saying and there is truth to it. It seems we both have debating styles....I expected to get criticisms because nothing I say is perfect.... That's a little strange, that you expect criticism... Well, first its important to KNOW what is a good deed. And what guides us on this? Intuition.... I thought it was common sense mostly. People can get misled on what a good deed is...... And "good karma" is but a superstition to them.... How can they get misled? Look, I know people who have done volentary work and all that but are cruel and merciless to their enemies.... Lets not get too caught up on appearences.... Hm, what? I don't understand. This talk of good karma can confuse "lay people".... Like, "oh I'll work at a charity and then nothing bad will happen tome..." It doesn't confuse if they educate themselves a bit. This is just normal people stuff..... How can you ever just have the "good" without it being tied to the "bad"?.. Personally I want to be free of karma, so perhaps we want different things and this is where we don't see eye to eye.... Most of us want to be free of karma, but wanting something doesn't make it so. Till you are really free of karma you will still abide by it whether you like it or not. COULD be.... COULD not be.... When the intuition can tell you with certainty then perhaps it is right to take action.... You don't need any intuition to see if what you do harms someone or not. Would you mind telling me why you are wary of him? Well, creating a cult, saying things like "I'm a brother of Buddha and son of Jesus" (or was that the other way around?), supposedly Wang Li Ping not being happy with him because of the things he is doing... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janus Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) Edited August 13, 2008 by Janus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pero Posted July 21, 2008 Either you are being picky or there may be a barrier in language... Or you are used to different terms... Well, though my English is good enough, it's not my first language. Our minds may be on different things... I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not taking any drugs. I need to be AWARE of the karma to be free of it..... So YES psychic, kundalini are helpful tools.... Awareness is not enough. Kundalini, maybe, I have no idea. We get nowhere like this.... Perhaps instead of being negative and picking apart my posts Thank goodness I didn't post how I first thought to, if you think I'm being negative now. And please don't call me Mr. Pero, it's kind of funny. Hmm, but then again, it's also kind of cool... you could be positive by telling us all about "good karma"? What could I tell you? Do you not understand the difference between good and bad? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voidisyinyang Posted July 21, 2008 Yogananda sat in full-lotus because he was told it would BURN BAD KARMA. That's my take on it as well -- it EXORCISES lower emotions (fear, sadness, anger, worry, lust) and creates love-light. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben D Posted July 21, 2008 Yogananda sat in full-lotus because he was told it would BURN BAD KARMA. "Burn",...Ouch,... sounds like this in itself is the fruit of the bad karma. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
林愛偉 Posted July 21, 2008 well i always have meaningless posts;\ If you do good things, you get good results, bad things get bad results. Change your habits, views and plant the seeds for good things to manifest in your future. Become a student of the cultivation school of Buddhism, and loads of afflictions transform instantly. Cultivate diligently, and more and more "bad karma" which is heavy and turbid begins to lessen, lighten, though still there, the big become small, adn the small can become transformed. Peace and Blessings, Lin Hi mat black, thank you again for sending me a link for the textual references. But the website is down. With wrong view, I mean many points in the Sutra do not seem correct. Like the following paragraph: "Lord of Heaven, if someone hears this Dharani even for just a moment,he will not undergo karmic retribution from the evil karma and severehindrances accumulated from thousands of kalpas ago, that would otherwisecause him to revolve in the cycles of birth and death - in all kinds of lifeforms in the evil paths - hell, hungry ghost, animal, realm of King Yama,Asuras, Yaksa, Raksasa, ghosts and spirits, Putana, Kataputana, Apasmara,mosquitoes, gnats, tortoises, dogs, pythons, birds, ferocious animals,crawling creatures and even ants and other life forms. Owing to the meritsaccrued from hearing for a moment this Dharani, once this very life is over,he will be reborn in the Buddha lands, together with all the Buddhas andEkajati-pratibaddha Bodhisattvas, or in a distinguished Brahmin or Ksatriyafamily, or in some other wealthy and reputable family. Lord of Heaven, thisman can be reborn in one of the above-mentioned prosperous and reputablefamilies simply because he has heard this Dharani, and hence be reborn in apure place.""Lord of Heaven, even acquiring the most victorious Bodhimanda is aresult of praising the meritorious virtues of this Dharani. I have not come across a sutra or teaching like that in the theravada tradition which is why I ask if this is a mahayana text. If this was true, wouldn't there be no sentient beings in hell or lower realms of rebirth? I mean no disrespect but I wanted to get some clarification from you as you reccomended it. Is this a practice you engage in and can you give us more insight based on the teachings/instruction you received regarding this sutra? Not wrong views from this Mahayana Sutra excerpt. Just a different teaching for the conditions of the mindds at the time. WHen concentration is applied, without a second thought, then afflictions fall away...only said to fall, they transform. Like the flip of the hand: One is the palm, one is the knucle side. Enlightenment and Affliction is the same way...all it is , is a flip of the hand. THe Mantras function in so many ways. Recitation of certain mantras, wholeheartedly, sincerely, with concentration and no false thinking: daydreaming, chasing emotions, etc, then karma will be lessened..negative karma. It plants the seeds tfor proper conditions to further cultivate unhindered. Theravadan teachings were taught to those of the conditions for the Theravadan teachings..Mahayana teachings were taught for those with the conditions for the Mahayana...it is thus the living beings who label, and categorize the Education of Buddhism...No higher, no lower, just expedients! Peace and Blessings, Lin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
