Best Of
Re: No Buddhist Quotes
Releasing any tension and
bringing calm to your body is the
first step in restoring wellness. You
can't heal your body if you don't
pay attention to it.
Bringing your mind home to your body, you
become established in the here and
the now, You have a chance to be
aware, without judgment, of any
pain, tension, or suffering in your
body. This is the beginning of
healing.
Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Relax.
federica
Re: Noble Eightfold Path versus 6 Paramitas
Theravada or Mahayana, whatever tradition, school, or sect one finds oneself within, the essence remains the same. Practical approaches may vary, but the results remain the same.
The Four Noble Truths are the roots from which all things Buddhist grow. With genuine understanding, the Eightfold Path becomes not an obligation, but a natural response.
Shoshin1
Re: Can the mind be conditioned into enlightenment?
Short answer:
Enlightenment is not a process of conditioning.
It is a process of awakening.
Any conditioning is in and to the process or practice one utilizes.
Lionduck
Re: Buddhist Sadhana — what is it?
@Jeroen said:
@person said:
I remember this in some of the TB tantric initiations I attended. The red meat and alcohol was just a small piece of jerky and a bit of some sort of alcohol poured into the palm of your hand that you sipped. It kind of reminded me of Christian communion with the bread and wine. They're symbolic of something greater, but honestly it felt rather ceremonial and ritualistic.I agree it is ritualistic, but I don’t think I agree with the modern scientific interpretation that ritual is somehow hollow and purely physical. There is this belief in science that things that can’t be measured don’t exist, and that the effects of ritual are nonexistent. But as a counter example there are cases of people suddenly being cured of diseases like cancer.
We do a lot of things because of reasons we believe in, not what the science tells us. Like the Hindu’s choosing to die at their holy city of Varanasi, or bathing in the Ganges to become purified of sins. You could call these things ritual, but for the true believer they have an effect on the body or on the spiritual state.
I think there is very little understanding of man’s spiritual nature. Scientific man is largely cut off from his spiritual nature, which leads to a kind of madness in the spiritual world, and a mental health crisis in the physical world. My experience is that the spiritual world is very real, and that in order to maintain good health, wholeness and harmony of both our physical and our psychic aspects we need to be more aware of our spiritual lives.
Sadhana is a key aspect of that. What is meaningful to one person may not resonate with another. It’s something we all need to explore.
There's a good Tibetan story: "a young man is asked by his dying mother to obtain a sacred relic to help her. He fails to do this and instead deceivingly brings her a tooth from the skeleton of a dog. He tells her it is the Buddha's tooth.
This version humorously recreates the wily son's schemes. It movingly conveys how the mother's strong faith has the power to fulfill her dreams in spite of the son's deceit."
The placebo effect is very real. People who believe they are taking pain medicine feel pain relief. The body produces endorphins due to their belief.
...in order to maintain good health, wholeness and harmony of both our physical and our psychic aspects we need to be more aware of our spiritual lives.
I'm in agreement, I retain a skeptical attitude towards the cause of that benefit though.
Edit:
Its not that I'm arguing for a strictly materialist view of the world. I experience things in my life that can't really be explained scientifically. And I understand the value of belief for people. Its more that I'm concerned about what else lies on the other side of the door of belief without proof.
I know someone who regularly experiences sleep paralysis, he'll get the demonic visions and see spirits slipping off the edge of the bed. Science has some solid things to say about what is occurring physically that makes this happen and that's the attitude he has about what he experiences. Across most of the world there are more spiritual beliefs about what is happening and in those cultures dying in your sleep is more common.
Or imagine if the Tibetan lady with the dog's tooth believed that ingesting mercury was a divine blessing. Maybe her belief would bring her great benefit, but the mercury would still poison her. Unverified belief isn't harmless.
Also there is the case where beliefs become widespread and tribal such that it becomes taboo to not think God intervened to make the bullet miss Trump.
I guess the question is, how do we discern beneficial beliefs from Jesus toast or mercury tonics without some empiricism?
person
Re: About Thangka
@RobinH said:
Well a lots of parts are still confusing to me about Buddhism. One's not supposed to think of these depicted as deities, some independent, outside being who will bring fortune or misfortune, right? Yet I can't shake the feeling that's how one would naturally think about them depicted like this.
Yes, you are right. And you are also right that naturally we ALL hope some higher/outside power can fix our life for us so that we can be "happy". This IS human nature. But not our true nature. Something good happens and we get a little "perk", and we assume that if "a little is good", then "MORE will be better!". And so we create our "addictions". But since nothing lasts, whatever we get doesn't last either. And our brain will adjust to any newness and the "high" this newness generates will die out.
The local Tibetan Lama/Geshe who teaches us tells us that the deities are self-created visual metaphors representing qualities we are trying to develop within ourselves. Not actual "beings".
He also says that trying to avoid misfortune, or gain fortune, is the primary cause OF our suffering.
That it is our ability to learn to NOT be swayed by our emotional reactions, but to relax and accept and shrug our shoulders, that allows us freedom from suffering. The omre we focus on the qualities of this moment, the more we relax. Asking a 'deity" for anything is in the realm of a religion .,.. not Buddhism.
“If you walk with true awareness of every step, without having a goal to get anywhere, happiness will arise naturally. You don’t need to look for happiness”. Thich Nhat Hanh
“Everything is always changing. If you relax into this truth, that is Enlightenment. If you resist, this is samsara (suffering).” Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, “What Makes You (Not) a Buddhist”
Re: Buddhist Sadhana — what is it?
If one is a Buddha or Bodhisattva (that is enlightened) everything good, bad or incomprehensible is a teaching. There are no restrictions. If still tied/tethered/restrained by a teacher (a good thing in most cases) then advisement, methods and directives can be very useful.
An example in Theravada (and Tantra) is monks setting fire to themselves in protest. This is an extreme form of violence against oneself and is condemned.
Obviously in some religions violence including burning heretics or shooting, violating people is one of the 'perks' of the perverse...
Think I will just try and be goodly 
lobster
Re: Buddhist Sadhana — what is it?
@person said:
I remember this in some of the TB tantric initiations I attended. The red meat and alcohol was just a small piece of jerky and a bit of some sort of alcohol poured into the palm of your hand that you sipped. It kind of reminded me of Christian communion with the bread and wine. They're symbolic of something greater, but honestly it felt rather ceremonial and ritualistic.
I agree it is ritualistic, but I don’t think I agree with the modern scientific interpretation that ritual is somehow hollow and purely physical. There is this belief in science that things that can’t be measured don’t exist, and that the effects of ritual are nonexistent. But as a counter example there are cases of people suddenly being cured of diseases like cancer.
We do a lot of things because of reasons we believe in, not what the science tells us. Like the Hindu’s choosing to die at their holy city of Varanasi, or bathing in the Ganges to become purified of sins. You could call these things ritual, but for the true believer they have an effect on the body or on the spiritual state.
I think there is very little understanding of man’s spiritual nature. Scientific man is largely cut off from his spiritual nature, which leads to a kind of madness in the spiritual world, and a mental health crisis in the physical world. My experience is that the spiritual world is very real, and that in order to maintain good health, wholeness and harmony of both our physical and our psychic aspects we need to be more aware of our spiritual lives.
Sadhana is a key aspect of that. What is meaningful to one person may not resonate with another. It’s something we all need to explore.
Jeroen
Re: Buddhist Sadhana — what is it?
I remember this in some of the TB tantric initiations I attended. The red meat and alcohol was just a small piece of jerky and a bit of some sort of alcohol poured into the palm of your hand that you sipped. It kind of reminded me of Christian communion with the bread and wine. They're symbolic of something greater, but honestly it felt rather ceremonial and ritualistic.
person
Re: Noble Eightfold Path versus 6 Paramitas
Given what has been written in the prior entries, we can say that The Eight Fold Path and The Six Paramitas are two explanations (views if you choose) of the same bundle of concepts viewed from slightly different perspectives.
Lionduck
Re: About Thangka
Thanks @FoibleFull that is pretty much as I understood it but had kind of forgotten.
The images at the centre of the thangka stand for a Buddha, arhat, deity or lama from history or story, and his or her attributes which are visually represented. If you know how to read it, it is a visual guide. The areas around the edges are evocative of place or retinu.
Jeroen