Best Of
Re: Lama Tsultrim Allione on how to feed ones demons
Once there lived a demon who had a peculiar diet: he fed on the anger of others. And as his feeding ground was the human world, there was no lack of food for him.
He found it quite easy to provoke a family quarrel, or national and racial hatred. Even to stir up a war was not very difficult for him. And whenever he succeeded in causing a war, he could properly gorge himself without much further effort; because once a war starts, hate multiplies by its own momentum and affects even normally friendly people.
So the demon’s food supply became so rich that he sometimes had to restrain himself from overeating, being content with nibbling just a small piece of resentment easily found nearby.
But as often happens with successful people, he became rather overbearing and one day when feeling bored he thought:
“Shouldn’t I try it with the gods?”
On reflection he chose the Heaven of the Thirty-three Deities, ruled by Sakka, Lord of Gods. He knew that only a few of these gods had entirely eliminated the fetters of ill-will and aversion, though they were far above the kind of petty and selfish quarrels that we worldlings get into.
So by magic power he transferred himself to that heavenly realm and was lucky enough to come at a time when Sakka, the Divine King, was absent.
There was no one in the large audience hall and without much ado the demon seated himself on Sakka’s empty throne, waiting quietly for things to happen, which he hoped would bring him a good feed.
Soon, some of the gods came to the hall and first they could hardly believe their own divine eyes when they saw that ugly demon sitting on the throne, squat and grinning.
Having recovered from their shock, they started to shout and lament:
“Oh you ugly demon, how can you dare to sit on the throne of our Lord? What utter cheekiness! What a crime! You should be thrown headlong into the hell and straight into a boiling cauldron! You should be quartered alive! Begone! Begone!”
But while the gods were growing more and more angry, the demon was quite pleased because from moment to moment he grew in size, in strength, and in power.
The anger he absorbed into his system started to ooze from his body as a smoky red-glowing mist. This evil aura kept the gods at a distance and their radiance was dimmed.
Suddenly a bright glow appeared at the other end of the hall and it grew into a dazzling light from which Sakka emerged, the King of Gods.
He who had firmly entered the undeflectible Stream that leads Nibbana-wards, was unshaken by what he saw. The smoke-screen created by the gods’ anger parted when he slowly and politely approached the usurper of his throne.
‘Welcome, friend! Please remain seated. I can take another chair. May I offer you the drink of hospitality? Our Amrita is not bad this year. Or do you prefer a stronger brew, perhaps the vedic Soma?’
While Sakka spoke these friendly words, the demon rapidly shrank to a diminutive size and finally disappeared, trailing behind a whiff of malodorous smoke, which likewise soon dissolved. (Based on the Samyutta Nikaya, Sakka Samyutta, No.22)
https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/the-anger-eating-demon/
person
Re: New year ~~precepts~~ resolutions
Be careful what you wish for...
Indeed, we have a term for 'politicians', scammers like Nigella Farage. Rant-a-gob.
Nigel Fabarge the backbench MP for Trumpland in the British Miss government is an example. No use to anyone except tool makers...
Anyway that is enough about Polly ticks and other vermin. 
Time for some excellent resolutions for today:
- To have a humour so dark even Maya, Lucy Fairy, and the Hell dwellers have a chuckle
- To do good to everyone, whether they like or not. [usual exclusions apply, terms and conditions may altar, all resolves are protected by Bodhisattvas R US. Statuary rights are not guaranteed to last. Full exclusions available on request, supposedly]
- To treat things as if they are people and people as if they need treatment.
OM YA HA HUM
lobster
Re: What movies are you watching?
Exactly — it is. But at the same time it is training the brain with fake stuff. We like stories because we think it is a shortcut to wisdom and experience, but in reality most of the stories told to us are not of that type anymore.
Fake news, in whatever form it takes, is definitely something to be wary of.
Online games, particularly those centred around 'killing' and 'elimination,' can condition the mind, normalising violence and aggression. We're seeing real-world examples of this, where individuals who have grown up immersed in such games commit acts of violence as though their victims are simply make-believe characters.
Mind training—such as meditation—is crucial. It's about training the mind to cut through all the noise and distractions (AKA bullshit), leaving only the essence. When it comes to movies, for example, that essence is entertainment.
For some, however, it's not so easy to separate fiction from reality. After all, there's a reason movies are called movies.
Which reminds me of this Red Tara dedication:
"May I clearly perceive all experiences to be as insubstantial as the dream fabric of the night and instantly awaken to perceive the pure wisdom displayed in the arising of every phenomena"
Shoshin1
Re: Blessings
Water flows over these hands.
May I use them skilfully to preserve our precious planet.
– Thich Nhat Hahn
If we are peaceful,
If we are happy,
We can smile and blossom,
Like a flower
And everyone
In our family,
Our entire society,
Will benefit from our peace.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Jeroen
Re: HOLIDAYS?
We usually spend this specific time in a quiet retreat but tonight we are going to a house party filled with Argentinian visitors who are interested in seeing what a Canadian New years party looks like.
I suspect it might be a smidge more energetic that what we're used to.
how
Some thoughts on the movie Astral City
I yesterday watched the movie Astral City: Nosso Lar (twice), and I wanted to talk a little about it. The Buddhist beliefs don’t talk very much about what the Tibetans call the Bardo, the state between lives, and that is the focus of this movie’s story. It follows a Brazilian doctor named André Luiz, who dies and ends up in the Umbral, the dark and dense region of the astral where suicides end up. It turns out he didn’t really commit suicide, but by not paying attention to his anger, his hardness, his emotions he ended up poisoning his astral body and this was the cause of his physical death, his mind didn’t sustain his body anymore.
Andre is rescued after a sincere prayer in the Umbral, and taken to the astral city Nosso Lar (Brazilian for ‘our home’) where his astral body is healed and he slowly comes to terms with being dead. He wants to send a message to his family, and hears that in the city, such things are earned through merit, work. He ends up working in the chambers of recuperation, first just reassuring new arrivals and sweeping the floors, and later as he gets in touch with heart-felt kindness as a healer. He eventually earns the privilege of returning to Earth to see his family, and while there heals his ex-wife’s new husband of a terminal illness.
The ideology of Astral City is centred around an awakening, that most negative emotions poison the energy body, and that the ground of being of people is love and kindness, and that work has a beneficial effect. This is the realisation that André has, which allows him to accept the mission to return to his family, and face his possessiveness and my-making. The idea is that the Earth’s lower astral space is polluted by negative emotion.
People in the Astral Cities (there is more than one) are privileged, they can work towards resolving their emotions and their family ties, and eventually can come to dwell in the higher spheres when there is no need to reincarnate anymore. I find this process, of first finding an awakening to love and trust and kindness, and then working on ones harmony with the people you have ties to, very beautiful. It speaks to me of deep truths.
I hope you will watch the movie, and be as affected by it as I was.
Jeroen
Re: HOLIDAYS?
New Years Eve: Quiet, ended and opened the the years with prayer.
New Year Day - Spent with family - combined New Year and birthday
Everyone have a great year.
Lionduck
Re: New year ~~precepts~~ resolutions
I resolve to…
- Not get dragged along by every thought I meet;
- Not get confused into thinking things are mine;
- Not distance myself from my emotions;
- Take good care of my mum.
I miss @lobster’s rants!
Jeroen