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Sialia posted:How do you tell someone has achieved enlightenment? Is it like 'Oh, hey, by the way guys, I achieved enlightenment the other day' It would be good to have more information. I am not familiar with the tenets of the type of Buddhism you are practicing, but the Buddhist attitude towards death and dying are very different from most western norms, and it can be possible to achieve enlightenment through the process of death. I say this because your sentence seemed to link dying and enlightenment. I will let more knowledgeable folks speak to other forms of enlightenment.
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Mar 7, 2016 16:44
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Sialia posted:How do you tell someone has achieved enlightenment? Is it like 'Oh, hey, by the way guys, I achieved enlightenment the other day' Why does it matter? If your inner eye is open, you can see the light of an enlightened being.
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Mar 7, 2016 18:01
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I am not settled on a type or even really practising. I have very recently begun visiting a local temple once a week (Thai Therevada) however I don't think I can really practice a lot of what they teach, they are very inflexible with the rather orthodox-seeming practice. Whilst I enjoy going there because they are patient in their teaching and I learn a lot more than I can from reading online, I am otherwise unable to visit another temple on a regular basis at the moment. It is really the only option due to its proximity. However I am really only starting to learn about Buddhism. I hope that helps you answer my question a little better. Thank you for taking the time to reply, both of you.
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Mar 8, 2016 07:10
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And then there were Rinpoches in an atheist state. http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-reincarnation-law-20160307-story.html
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Mar 8, 2016 15:55
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Mr. Mambold posted:And then there were Rinpoches in an atheist state. http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-reincarnation-law-20160307-story.html Separation of church and state remains the desirable outcome. I didn't really know how bad it was there. That's just disgusting.
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Mar 8, 2016 22:10
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How (hypothetically obviously) do I become a zen devil?
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Mar 12, 2016 09:44
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You can get away with just wearing horns and stealing. Easy stuff. Find something you like and cling to it. Encourage others to cling with you.
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Mar 12, 2016 11:46
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I got so angry during meditation today that when I started punching my couch my shoulder popped out of its joint for a split second. I've never had that happen before. It really hurt a lot and now I'm too scared to punch my couch anymore so I'll just have to find some other way to deal with my anger.Prickly Pete posted:You can get away with just wearing horns and stealing. Easy stuff. Find something you like and cling to it. Encourage others to cling with you. This is great advice, thanks!
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Mar 13, 2016 06:08
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Hey folks! Beginner here trying to get into meditation. For the last couple weeks I have been attempting to meditate by counting my breaths. I am counting my breaths from 1-4 on each exhale. I repeat this counting process for 5 minutes. However, I am running into a problem. I am able to start counting with ease but after a minute or two I begin singing the song "1234" in my head, ruining my 5 minute meditation session. I am wondering if anyone has run into a similar issue and if so is there any way to overcome it?
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Mar 14, 2016 05:58
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Feist posted:Hey folks! Beginner here trying to get into meditation. For the last couple weeks I have been attempting to meditate by counting my breaths. I am counting my breaths from 1-4 on each exhale. I repeat this counting process for 5 minutes. However, I am running into a problem. I am able to start counting with ease but after a minute or two I begin singing the song "1234" in my head, ruining my 5 minute meditation session. In the words of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche: "Blind to the mind's true nature, we hold fast to our thoughts which are nothing but expressions of that true nature, open spacious nature. This freezes awareness into solid concepts, such as I and other desirable and detestable, and plenty of others. This is how we create samsara. If you train in how to let your thoughts dissolve, as soon as they arise, they will cross your mind like a bird crosses the sky, without leaving any trace."
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Mar 14, 2016 12:46
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Feist posted:Hey folks! Beginner here trying to get into meditation. For the last couple weeks I have been attempting to meditate by counting my breaths. I am counting my breaths from 1-4 on each exhale. I repeat this counting process for 5 minutes. However, I am running into a problem. I am able to start counting with ease but after a minute or two I begin singing the song "1234" in my head, ruining my 5 minute meditation session.
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Mar 14, 2016 13:13
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Feist posted:Hey folks! Beginner here trying to get into meditation. For the last couple weeks I have been attempting to meditate by counting my breaths. I am counting my breaths from 1-4 on each exhale. I repeat this counting process for 5 minutes. However, I am running into a problem. I am able to start counting with ease but after a minute or two I begin singing the song "1234" in my head, ruining my 5 minute meditation session. That very jingle has defeated untold millions of would-be meditators, oh brahmin. Admit defeat, this incarnation is lost.
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Mar 14, 2016 16:48
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Feist posted:Hey folks! Beginner here trying to get into meditation. For the last couple weeks I have been attempting to meditate by counting my breaths. I am counting my breaths from 1-4 on each exhale. I repeat this counting process for 5 minutes. However, I am running into a problem. I am able to start counting with ease but after a minute or two I begin singing the song "1234" in my head, ruining my 5 minute meditation session. Meditation is just one facet, and within that facet, there are many, many types of meditation. With a bit of exploration, you may be able to find something that suits you better.
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Mar 15, 2016 01:36
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I am just now returning to meditation after two years of letting my solo practice lie fallow after moving to Chicago. I went to the Jewel Heart Tibetan Buddhist center this morning. I was surprised to find that their teacher, Gelek Rimpoche, does not visit the center, but only webcasts in. As far as I can tell, it seems that there is no teacher on-site. Is this standard for buddhist temples in the west? Should I be alarmed?
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Mar 15, 2016 18:46
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Impermanent posted:I am just now returning to meditation after two years of letting my solo practice lie fallow after moving to Chicago. I went to the Jewel Heart Tibetan Buddhist center this morning. I was surprised to find that their teacher, Gelek Rimpoche, does not visit the center, but only webcasts in. As far as I can tell, it seems that there is no teacher on-site. Is this standard for buddhist temples in the west? Should I be alarmed? It's not something I'd consider common but it's also not particularly alarming. There should be, in my opinion, some ritual master or at least ritual student on site, even if it's a layperson, simply because this would be necessarily for most practices, and to maintain the shrine, and so on. But having the main teacher telecast is becoming more and more common. I wouldn't consider it standard however. Usually, when high lamas found centers, they leave a senior student to run that center in order to develop that student's own practice and so on. Generally this would be when that student should be teaching and so forth. Jewel Heart centers are, I believe, part of the Gelug tradition, who tend to be very scholarly and less about ritual, but I am a little surprised to hear he never visits. I assume you're in Ann Arbor or Detroit? Googling quickly, he regularly teaches at his center in New York I think? Anyhow, it's certainly not standard, but it's maybe not unheard of. Especially small centers in remote areas will typically have the teacher only show up now and then, and he will give instructions for practices and so on and then leave the practitioners to carry them out.
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Mar 15, 2016 19:18
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I just bought Bhikku Bodhi's book, The Noble Eightfold Path, on Amazon. I'm hoping that it contains some of the meat and potatoes of meditation practice, I find it hard to maintain Right Concentration for more than an hour at a time.
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Mar 15, 2016 22:26
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Bitter fly posted:I just bought Bhikku Bodhi's book, The Noble Eightfold Path, on Amazon. I'm hoping that it contains some of the meat and potatoes of meditation practice, I find it hard to maintain Right Concentration for more than an hour at a time. I'll say that this is the one book that turned me buddhist, so you can't go wrong reading it, however it doesn't delve to heavily into practical mechanics like "Mindfullness in Plain English" which is linked in the OP. The Noble Eightfold Path does however help in developing a firm understanding of the "what, and why" of meditation and following the path even if it lacks slightly on the "how" I think you will really enjoy the book though, I have yet to find a clearer and more inspiring read on Theravada Buddhism.
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Mar 15, 2016 22:44
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Paramemetic posted:It's not something I'd consider common but it's also not particularly alarming. There should be, in my opinion, some ritual master or at least ritual student on site, even if it's a layperson, simply because this would be necessarily for most practices, and to maintain the shrine, and so on. But having the main teacher telecast is becoming more and more common. I wouldn't consider it standard however. Last year when I was trying to find somewhere to practice, one of the issues I had was for two of the places the teacher was not there, and things were a bit disorganized because of it. Thinking back I was ready to jump in, and when the most a large center had was a youtube video from the previous year that they showed before meditation, it was hard to make a connection. What do you think, is tendrel, 'auspicious coincidence' possible remotely? My teacher will do webinars, but that is more to maintain existing relationships. And to be sure, the places I tried are very good, with good lineages, etc, but the timing was wrong with teachers traveling and so forth, and so I ended up where I am now, which is where I am supposed to be.
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Mar 15, 2016 22:54
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SubjectVerbObject posted:Last year when I was trying to find somewhere to practice, one of the issues I had was for two of the places the teacher was not there, and things were a bit disorganized because of it. Thinking back I was ready to jump in, and when the most a large center had was a youtube video from the previous year that they showed before meditation, it was hard to make a connection. What do you think, is tendrel, 'auspicious coincidence' possible remotely? My teacher will do webinars, but that is more to maintain existing relationships.  What a great, meaty opinion question this is. It relates to one of the most heated subjects I've encountered around the Buddhist web, which is whether or not it's possible to receive or transmit empowerments over webcasts.I do think that connections can be made remotely, as I have a lot of devotion to His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa despite never having met him or even attended a Drukpa function (I will hopefully be seeing him at the Hemis Festival in July). The thing about that connection is it is often based on your karmic connections, your "lama of many lifetimes" as it were. So I do think connections can be made via webcasts and such. I don't think it's common and I think it takes extraordinary devotion to cultivate devotion without the Lama responding back to you, without interaction. I think it's possible, but unlikely, and exceedingly rare. Then, that might be because my lineage has a huge emphasis on guru yoga, and the guru-disciple relationship is central to Vajrayana practice. So I think it's possible to, for example, study via Skype, or even via a conference call, but I think it's difficult, for example, to cultivate that relationship via YouTube or other "one way" broadcasts, where the only way the Lama can know you're there is via his wisdom eye. But then, if your devotion is high enough, and you know they can see you with their wisdom eye, it doesn't matter, much!
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Mar 16, 2016 00:32
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Bitter fly posted:I just bought Bhikku Bodhi's book, The Noble Eightfold Path, on Amazon. I'm hoping that it contains some of the meat and potatoes of meditation practice, I find it hard to maintain Right Concentration for more than an hour at a time. If you want a technical manual on the actual mechanics of practicing meditation I can't recommend the mind illuminated highly enough
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Mar 16, 2016 00:42
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I'm a bad Buddhist who rarely meditates but reads lots of books
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Mar 16, 2016 01:04
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PrinceRandom posted:I'm a bad Buddhist who rarely meditates but reads lots of books Same, gonna go into a corner and read.
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Mar 16, 2016 03:36
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Ayn Randi posted:If you want a technical manual on the actual mechanics of practicing meditation I can't recommend the mind illuminated highly enough Any idea where I would get this for the Australians who can't purchase off Amazon? Do regular bookstores often stock this sort of book generally?
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Mar 17, 2016 02:10
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Sialia posted:Any idea where I would get this for the Australians who can't purchase off Amazon? Do regular bookstores often stock this sort of book generally? Dymocks have the print edition on their website but I got the kindle edition off the canadian website much cheaper (no idea why it's not listed on the au kindle site..). You can freely change your amazon account address to somewhere in the us/canada (think it just checks for a valid postcode), purchase it and then set it back, works fine
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Mar 17, 2016 02:29
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Ayn Randi posted:Dymocks have the print edition on their website but I got the kindle edition off the canadian website much cheaper (no idea why it's not listed on the au kindle site..). You can freely change your amazon account address to somewhere in the us/canada (think it just checks for a valid postcode), purchase it and then set it back, works fine Thanks for this 
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Mar 20, 2016 00:33
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So someone is taking buddhism and is applying it to Ayn Rand objectivism...it and it hurts.
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May 7, 2016 18:49
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Just dropping in to say that I've really been enjoying Don't Be A Jerk, Brad Warner's latest take on the Shobogenzo. I've read all sorts of dry, abstruse, culturally alien and frankly preposterous religious literature without too much difficulty, but I have to admit I've had trouble getting though the Shobogenzo. So it was great to find a heavily paraphrased translation, especially in Warner's unique and irreverent idiom. I'm completely unqualified to judge whether his rendering conveys Dogen fully, but Warner has been studying Dogen for a hell of a long time, so hopefully, in addition to being a fun read, there are at least a few nuggets of wisdom to be had. If anyone is interested in Dogen, but hasn't found his work approachable, this might be worth a look.
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May 7, 2016 20:05
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Senior Scarybagels posted:So someone is taking buddhism and is applying it to Ayn Rand objectivism...it and it hurts. On this auspicious first day of Saga Dawa, the Tibetan Fourth Lunar Month and considered the holiest month of the Tibetan calendar, I rejoice that someone has finally managed to reintroduce caste systems to Buddhism, and replaced the degenerate Mahayana with the superior view of "gently caress you, liberated mine."
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May 7, 2016 21:34
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Paramemetic posted:On this auspicious first day of Saga Dawa, the Tibetan Fourth Lunar Month and considered the holiest month of the Tibetan calendar, I rejoice that someone has finally managed to reintroduce caste systems to Buddhism, and replaced the degenerate Mahayana with the superior view of "gently caress you, liberated mine." Oh how I missed you Paramemetic.
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May 7, 2016 23:26
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I will, for one, highly recommend Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's writings and recordings. I hitchhiked into Boulder, Co many years ago, and almost immediately ended up entirely absorbed into the community of Naropa University. I ended up working at the school, living in the dorms, and studying under the radar of the upper echelon of faculty. What a wonderful experience. Chögyam was very...unorthodox, shall we say? He had a knack for bridging the gaps between Tibetan philosophy and the Western approach. There's an excellent film on his life called 'Crazy Wisdom: The Life & Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche'. Many of his talks are housed here: http://www.chronicleproject.com/index.html I would recommend starting with the introductory Naropa text, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior. From there, you can branch out depending on interest. He's had many lectures transcribed, as well as written numerous books. I am currently rereading some of his works. His blend of humor, wit, and clarity is quite unique.
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May 8, 2016 23:53
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As someone who used to be very involved in Shambhala, yes those books are very good and yes he was unusual for many, many reasons.
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May 9, 2016 21:42
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If anyone is more into the intellectual, 'heady' expressions, I'd recommend checking out Ken Wilber. http://www.shambhala.com/expert-picks/picks-integral.html Reginald "Reggie" Ray is another avenue. He was a student of Chögyam Trungpa, and studied Tibetan shamanism (Bön). He was a faculty member at Naropa until a few years ago. He is a concise writer, and his material is, although highly academic, very accessible. http://www.dharmaocean.org/meditation/teachers/reginald-a-ray/
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May 10, 2016 23:53
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Reggie Ray was the teacher of Shadowstar, who wrote the OP of the old thread. I don't think he's posted in this one in some time (if ever), but I assume he'd be (if willing) an excellent source of information on Reggie Ray for anyone who might be interested. e: old thread link https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3339355&pagenumber=1&perpage=40#post381011088
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May 11, 2016 02:59
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In general Tibetan Buddhist news: His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche will be giving the Monkey Year Teachings for the first time in the United States in Chicago this weekend. The Drikung Monkey Year Teachings are given on the Monkey Year, and usually include the Great Drikung Phowa, the Drikung Bodhisattva Vows, and maybe one or two other things I am forgetting. This will be an abbreviated version, as usually the Bodhisattva Vows are given over maybe 3 or 4 days themselves. The Drukpa celebration of the donning of the Naropa Bone Ornaments by His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa has been postponed until September. This is disappointing to me and many others, as flights to Leh are generally non-refundable. There are many reasons for this postponement but perhaps it's best not to get into them. As I already had tickets to Ladakh for this event, I will be talking to my precious teacher about instead doing some retreat there for the 2 weeks before the Drikung Monkey Year Teachings in Ladakh. His Holiness Sakya Dagchen Rinpoche passed into Parinirvana last week, after entering the state of meditative equipoise called Thukdam. His passing was accompanied by many great signs including the appearance of the aurora borealis above Seattle with an unusual intensity, and auras around the sun.  Many years ago, when asked what signs would accompany his passing into parinirvana, he answered that "there will be fireworks." HH Dagchen Rinpoche was the Lama for this thread's former regular Wafflehound, who I think passed into postinirvana some time ago (p sure he got banned for the billionth time and didn't rereg). Still, condolences go out to him and to all of Holiness' followers. Khenchen Rinpoche, one of the high Drikung lamas, is on tour through the United States presently. He will be returning to my center at the end of this month, where he was a founding teacher, so if anyone is in the Maryland area and would like to see a great teacher teaching, let me know and I can pass along details. Garchen Rinpoche, another high Drikung lama, just had his 80th birthday jubilee in Virginia, with many long life offerings and pujas and ceremonies. He will be teaching again this coming weekend, if you cannot attend the Chicago thing you might consider attending his teachings in Virginia. I believe one will be a Vajrakilaya empowerment, I do not know what the other is. On my personal update, as many of you have some interest: I am continuing to practice and learn Tibetan translation and interpretation. My teacher has been kind to finally start slowly speaking some Tibetan with me. After I return from Ladakh we are planning to bring another monk back with us, and if all goes according to plan I will be helping him with English and serving as his interpreter for a while, both improving my Tibetan and his English together. I have also been studying Tibetan Elemental Astrology, and am one or two lessons from being cut loose to start studying on my own. At this point, I know some 48 divinations but haven't learned how to interpret the results. That is, I can get the result, but don't know what the results mean. This is because the interpretations of the results are later in the book, and my astrology teacher has instructed me to first learn all the calculations in the private lessons, and then after we have finished them I can study on my own and simply clarify over email as needed. I hope that this all finds you well and you swiftly achieve the state of 1000 armed Ayn Rand, who holds 500 hands in the mudra of supreme wealth accumulation, and 500 hands in the single-digit mudra of "gently caress you, got mine," demonstrating individual liberation as most important. After all, Buddhism is an individual effort, and trying to benefit other sentient beings will simply make them more comfortable and lazy so that they never achieve liberation. 
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May 11, 2016 16:53
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Paramemetic posted:I hope that this all finds you well and you swiftly achieve the state of 1000 armed Ayn Rand, who holds 500 hands in the mudra of supreme wealth accumulation, and 500 hands in the single-digit mudra of "gently caress you, got mine," demonstrating individual liberation as most important. After all, Buddhism is an individual effort, and trying to benefit other sentient beings will simply make them more comfortable and lazy so that they never achieve liberation. I greatly desire this as a Thangka painting and will experience untold suffering if it is not available.
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May 11, 2016 17:34
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Sheikh Djibouti posted:I greatly desire this as a Thangka painting and will experience untold suffering if it is not available. To whatever great artist takes this up, 1000 arm Ayn Rand carries the hand implements of: a bank note, a train engine, a pair of bootstraps, a lump of coal, and a wish fulfilling gem with DRM.
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May 11, 2016 17:41
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Paramemetic posted:To whatever great artist takes this up, 1000 arm Ayn Rand carries the hand implements of: a bank note, a train engine, a pair of bootstraps, a lump of coal, and a wish fulfilling gem with DRM. You're going to hell for rhis
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May 11, 2016 18:04
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Mr. Mambold posted:You're going to hell for rhis Nah they're just gonna have to life with a devout Ayn Rand follower, and listen to them talk about Objectivism and how greed is okay for hours on end, so it'll be worse. 
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May 11, 2016 19:34
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Mr. Mambold posted:You're going to hell for rhis I don't know how one purifies their karma in Buddhist-Objectivism, but I assume it costs a lot =[
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May 11, 2016 19:34
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Sad to see Sakya Dagchen Rinpoche go. Not sure how that's going to affect the Sakya monastery here, he was a huge deal. Last I saw him was when I took refuge last month and he looked incredibly weak. I believe it was his grandson who actually performed the ceremony, but I'm glad he was able to at least be there. Wish I would have gotten the chance to know him better, but since it's a blood lineage at least his family will be carrying on his work. Just received Guru Rinpoche empowerment from Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche. I've been learning a bit about Dzogchen, which seems to speak to me and was worried about the availability of a teacher as it's more of a Nyingma thing but this guy specialises in it and seems to be staying indefinitely at the Sakya monastery here. Learned about the empowerment and hour before it was going on and barely made it. Anyone here have experience with Dzogchen? From what little I know it kind of sounds like Zen with a Tibetan flavor. Mac Con fucked around with this message at 22:07 on May 11, 2016 |
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May 11, 2016 22:01
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