Best Of
Re: Great Western Vehicle
@Bunks said:
In a similar vain, I once had a Buddhist teacher tell me that one sign that you were nearing enlightenment was a ringing in your ears.
I have had Buddhist teachers tell me that the Awakened can see the Buddha's halo permeating all of the world.
They say that the Buddhas utter one sound in order to speak with all sounds. This is substantiated in the Great Wisdom Treatise (Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa), the Prajñāpāramitā itself, as well as within the great Flower Garland.
The Far-Reaching Prajñāpāramitā in a Single Syllable is one such sound, namely "Ā," the seed-syllable of Mahāvairocana Dharmakāya. The non-dual "Bodhi sound" is likely IMO what they were referring to, versus just any old mundane ringing.
Re: Great Western Vehicle
(Jeffrey S. Brooks) is a self-ordained 
Western Buddhist monk in the Great Western Vehicle
Re: RIP Kobutsu Malone
From the previous link shared by Jeroen:
"The overriding theme in this spiritual supermarket was that there was something missing which could be provided by the products being sold. Nowhere was the notion evident that perhaps the real problem was that we had too much to begin with, and what we really needed was to let go."
Nailed it!
Edit: There is a comic about zazen in prison ! --> http://www.engaged-zen.org/Zen Karmics/
Kotishka
Re: RIP Kobutsu Malone
I found this interesting…
http://www.engaged-zen.org/articles/Kobutsu-New_Age_Legacy.html
Jeroen
Re: Funny Stuff
Due to Covid and Brexit, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have such a backlog of Tax forms to send out, they've simplified the form to expedite matters. Instead of a 6-page, 12-sided detailed and thorough questionnaire, which normally takes 3 days to fill in, and 2 months to process, the form now consists of 4 items:
1 - How much did you earn in the previous Tax year?
2 - What were your expenses?
3 - How much do you have left?
4 - Send it in.
federica
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
From the Telegraph Newspaper, online:
"Britons who take in Ukrainian refugees will only get the £350-a-month payments for the first year despite their stay in the country lasting for up to three years.
The scheme, drawn up by Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, launches on Monday with aspects of the approach still under development.... "
As my husband cynically pointed out.
"Of course, remember these refugees are white..."
I'm not going to fill in the gaps...
federica
Re: Mahayana vs Theravada Buddhism
I mean, we don’t really know what the universe looks like to an enlightened one. We don’t know if such a thing as the bodhisattva vow actually makes sense to such a being.
I have heard it said that to an enlightened being because everything is one when they become enlightened it is as if the whole universe becomes enlightened too. If that’s the case they might hold the bodhisattva vow as immediately fulfilled.
Jeroen