Best Of

There is no off.
We are always on.

You knew that!

we can use love as an example of the starting point.
benevolent love arises from action without identity.

The complete cycle consists of Attitude, Intention, Action and Equanimity.

And at each step there is then Joy, Compassion, Love and finally Wisdom.

This is clearly not on an ordinary level, but is a cycle of Karma.

When you advance in the practices you eliminate Confusion, Greed and Hostility and only your Sensitivity, your natural Discrimination and your Intelligence remain.

It is a beginning, I hope you understand

@ShanJieshi2 said:
exactly..it is no different and not the same..but two people who have accepted the experience can recognise it and also recognise when they have not.

there is undoubtedly a lot of misunderstanding and deserves further development.

(haha I have to be very careful when translating my words because we use different terminology and it can get complicated if we don't get it right in the smallest detail.)

Yeah it is difficult to attempt to put a specific feeling into words. Even more difficult when going through translation. So many steps from someone's feeling to another person's feeling. It is easy to lose the meaning along the way. Similar to touching the stored experience and destroying it with impediments of the interpretation of the receiver.

Maybe similar to being in love? There is a moment when one who is falling in love has fallen to the deepest level of that feeling they are capable of feeling in that circumstance. All attempts to remember that feeling after that moment are met with impediments by the one remembering. If you remember a beautiful feeling from yesterday while you are in a bad mood today, the depth of the feeling will be harder to access and now has been smudged with the attempt.

The famous saying of Ch'ing-yüan Wei-hsin (Seigen Ishin):

Before I had studied Zen for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains,
and waters as waters. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came
to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and waters are
not waters. But now that I have got its very substance I am at rest. For it's
just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and waters once again as
waters.

Some time ago we used this letter as a first communication.

As an introduction and opening of this group on Buddhism, it is convenient that some points are made clear.

The first is that Buddhism is not a religion, nor is it a philosophy.
Some would consider it to be a way of life, but, fortunately, this is not true either.
Buddhism is a way to find the true human being, his own nature; a nature that is hidden under the masks and games of this life.
Buddhism is a way of putting aside your own confusion, your greed, your hostility. This path that is Buddhism has a consequence, and this consequence is the elimination of suffering. Note that I say that it is a consequence, not a goal, nor an objective to be sought.
Usually, those who approach Buddhism thinking of themselves and their own suffering tend to arrive with a great weight on their shoulders, which is not easy to get rid of. But, on the other hand, if you come to Buddhism with the idea of ​​finding in it a help for human beings and a correct and natural path, you will arrive at Buddhism with a good approach.

The second point is that there are not different forms of Buddhism. There is only one Buddhism. There is a Theravada path, an Avatamsaka path, a Yogacara path, multiple Tibetan paths, a Chan path, a Zen path, a Pure Land path, and many more… but all these paths lead to the same point: discovery through direct experience.
The direct experience of the truth of suffering, of compassion, of joy, of loving kindness, of equanimity, of the non-existence of the ego, and the truth of non-duality, of the unity of consciousness and, naturally, of the impermanence and death. This is a great direct experience, but there is much more, because once you have accepted these experiences, it is necessary to build a bridge between them and this life of the senses in which error reigns.

The third point is that the essence of Buddhism is this direct experience, and this experience has nothing to do with knowing things intellectually or academically. Right now I am writing academically, and you are reading academically. Obviously this is not enough, but it is the best way to start. If you talk to Buddhist teachers, especially if they are Mahayana, they will tell you not to read anything without the teacher having approved or accepted it. The reason for this is that you will not understand the essential truth that is beyond words, for it is necessary to cut first with the way you live and understand words and concepts to enter the first of the ten vows of Dharma. It is very easy to believe that you understand something when your intellect considers that it has understood it, but the human mind is tainted, and it works with its attachment to misconceptions and incorrect ideas, removing from it what is not in accordance with its ego.
Does not exist no substitute for direct experience, always remember this.

The fourth point is that certain paths and practices can be very attractive to you, and you can easily fall from attachment to your path and criticism of everything else. But any teacher who has really received the experience and the benefit of the path, and has accepted that important emptiness, really magnificent, but without any courage, can explain to everyone that the vajrayana path, which is mystical and secret; the mantras and mandalas of chenyen; the evolution of the pure land; the severe path of zen and the flexible path of chan are all the same. It is just different forms, designed to suit different human beings, with different personalities, customs, behaviors and temperaments, but all Buddhist paths must be respected equally: none is better or worse than other.

Finally, what prevails is that there are two great pillars of Buddhism: wisdom and compassion. Wisdom without compassion is worthless, and neither is compassion without wisdom. There are four characteristics that distinguish the human being from the rest of the the creatures: wisdom, compassion, creativity and a sense of humor. Let us use this list with wisdom that includes humor, with compassion that includes creativity, for the benefit of all human beings. Compassion and love for all the participants of this list, and welcome.

@Vimalajāti said:

@JohnCobb said:

@ShanJieshi2 said:
We take to ourselves the First Major Precept of the Bodhisattva Canon:
A Bodhisattva shall not kill, encourage others to kill, kill by expedient means, praise killing, or rejoice at witnessing killing. He or she must not create the causes, conditions, methods, or karma of killing"

May I ask where this list is from? I didn't want to requote the whole text lol.

I don't want to step on ShanJieshi2's digital toes, but this AFAIK is a standard elaboration of the bodhisattvaśīla precepts. You can find a version of them in the Brahmajāla vaipulya and also in the Ākāśagarbhasūtra.

I would recommend you check out "The Nectar of Mañjuśrī's Speech." It is a relatively simple not-too-verbose translation of a commentary on Venerable Śāntideva's exegesis of the bodhisattva precepts. The language is also simple enough for someone to read and absorb who isn't already some sort of Dharma-specialist. It's a non-technical guide.

Exactly..but as I never really know with whom I am interacting I can only give small hints on this subject.
eventually we meet people who accept to study and practice with patience, perseverance, diligence and continuity and everything is within reach. Nothing hidden or mysterious. I always keep in mind that the first of the Dharma Gates is that of words. Once through, everything becomes a little easier.