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Insight for the day

2

Comments

  • paulysopaulyso usa Veteran

    @Kundo said:

    @paulyso said:

    Do you mean teacher? There is a Tibetan Buddhist site I've attended near my parents' place and they have a monk in residence and teachers. But no guru. They are well established and well respected. And their classes are great.

    _ /\ _

    yes teacher. im guessing tantric buddism can be intense .so a teacher is needed.

  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited April 2019

    My teacher says that guru just means 'teacher' or even 'spiritual friend'. I do suppose that there are some cultural differences between Tibetan culture and western culture that you can find Buddhism has spread to. There are even cultural differences between different western places. And even cultural differences going to Waffle House or a health foods store within a given city or region.

    And in sangha it's not entirely clear what lama means. To some it means someone who did a 3 year retreat who doesn't necessarily teach. To some it means that person plays a role in a group. They give dharma talks and advice and make decisions and things.

    I think it would be valuable to have some books/resources where some of this stuff (eastern cultural stuff or different doctrines) is clarified, thought about, and summarized.

    paulysoperson
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Lest we forget ...

  • adamcrossleyadamcrossley Veteran UK Veteran
    edited April 2019

    In the bodhisattva path, we don’t assume anything is fixed and solid. And we don’t assume that our picture of the world is the way the world has to look. This is where imagination enters in. Imagination is a warm breeze that loosens up what seems rigid and cold. Bodhisattvas have imagination.

    They assume that anything can be fluid and warm, subject to challenge and revision. They see that everything is provisional and open. Inspired by their imaginations, bodhisattvas believe that there are always possibilities.

    Norman Fischer

    lobsterpaulyso
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Many thanks @adamcrossley

    How do you feel imagination is being used in this sense? I would suggest it is a creative process, in which empathy/compassion/heart wisdom is allowed to manifest in the warm fluid soup of potential ...

    I likes onion soup. It has layers. :)

  • adamcrossleyadamcrossley Veteran UK Veteran
    edited April 2019

    @lobster said:
    Many thanks @adamcrossley

    How do you feel imagination is being used in this sense? I would suggest it is a creative process, in which empathy/compassion/heart wisdom is allowed to manifest in the warm fluid soup of potential ...

    I likes onion soup. It has layers. :)

    I’m glad you asked my opinion. Yes, I do love soup. I’m more of a carrot-and-coriander person, but onion soup would be my go-to in a Parisian bistro. This time of year, of course, I feel that lighter soups are coming in. A friend makes an excellent broth of coconut milk, chilli, and lime, with chopped sweet potato and spinach.

    Sorry, I seem to have lost sight of your actual question... Soup tends to have this effect on me.

    I think Norman Fischer is getting at two related abilities of an imaginative person, which are both useful for an engaged Buddhist: (1) they don’t assume the world is how it appears to be; and (2) they don’t assume things will always be the way they are. This gives them a heightened ability to perceive suffering and the causes of suffering, and the creativity and even optimism to affect positive change.

    So yes, I like your explanation: it’s a creative process which manifests in the huge potential we all live in. It’s the nourishing vegetable stock in our seasonal soup.

    Jeffreylobster
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    My mother's chicken dumpling soup.... To die for! And I have a delightfully light recipe for a cold summer soup based on yoghurt....

    Anyway!
    Am learning lots of different things here....! See what you have started, @Kerome ...?

  • paulysopaulyso usa Veteran

    @adamcrossley said:

    In the bodhisattva path, we don’t assume anything is fixed and solid. And we don’t assume that our picture of the world is the way the world has to look. This is where imagination enters in. Imagination is a warm breeze that loosens up what seems rigid and cold. Bodhisattvas have imagination.

    They assume that anything can be fluid and warm, subject to challenge and revision. They see that everything is provisional and open. Inspired by their imaginations, bodhisattvas believe that there are always possibilities.

    Norman Fischer

    in line with buddha,with our thoughts we create our space;better yet nature,opens our space.as we create space for ourselves, nature offers grace.

    when we create space of peace,love,gratitude and wonder,nature opens its gifts.
    it is true how nature expands our space.full of love , beauty and life. ive seen it with my own eyes. new bugs, flowers, heart shape rocks inviting us to nature's best.

    seak and you will find,as christ would say,young and old,is our middle way. the circle we create ,is the circle we fill,full and empty.no, this is not nonzence. this is sense.an open heart, is a warm heart.

    be positive as buddha suggest.life can be hard,a noble truth. slow down,if life drags you down.so we sit and be with natures best and create our space.it is a place of rest.and know ,when we are at our best ,nirvana is there growing our space.

    JeroenJeffreylobster
  • paulysopaulyso usa Veteran

    ....positive thinking,or bright side thinking,is bodhisattva, creativ reasoning to meet life challenges.we are cool for school,called life.

  • paulysopaulyso usa Veteran

    .....positive reenforcement,seek the good,less the stress(dukkha).reward yourself.spa,massage.be well,to do well,is my mantra.

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    This gives them a heightened ability to perceive suffering and the causes of suffering, and the creativity and even optimism to affect positive change.

    Exactly.
    @federica has to provide her recipes, @paulyso provides unintelligible but completely understandable positivity, @kundo threatens violence against the imperfects etc ;)

    We are moving, each of us in a direction. Buddha or Bust?

  • KundoKundo Sydney, Australia Veteran
    edited April 2019

    @lobster said:
    @kundo threatens violence against the imperfects etc ;)

    lobsterRowan1980
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Let’s not be too consistent. Being consistent is being consistent with what — the past. In effect you are closing off future paths based on decisions you made in the past, it builds up a barrier to learning from one’s mistakes.

    adamcrossley
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    I learn from every mistake. Especially other peoples. o:)

    Why should every adamant, righteous, certain, opinionated view be given credence by repetition?

    Of course I could be wrong right, just like everyone with passing karma and a tendency to moult ... B)

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    I came across this on a blog on spirituality and psychology...

    A truly spiritual person – the ideal of humanity – knows his deepest emotional truths and has full connection with his whole range of feelings, including his joy and vivacity for living as well as his pain, fear, sorrow, and even anger. He embraces it all, light and shadow, and thus his spirituality has weight and depth. His positivity is no hologram or floating cloud.

    It’s a beautiful vision, in that it sees spirituality as someone who has encountered all their emotions. But I think a lot of people go through that journey, of connection to the emotions, naturally as they age. And I don’t think that you can call all old people spiritual.

    I think there is more to it, not just an encounter with the emotions but learning to successfully handle them and come to terms with them. That includes a kind of transformation of the darker emotions. Further I think there is a call to transcendence, to the beyond, which most spiritual people will be familiar with.

    lobsterKundoperson
  • Rowan1980Rowan1980 Keeper of the Zoo Asheville, NC Veteran
    edited April 2019

    I embrace my dark side solely because I was a Goth kid in high school. Also explains why I’m cool with hungry ghosts.

  • I like that @Kerome. I think that I dealt with some dark sides of things when I had persecutory voices.

    His positivity is no hologram or floating cloud.

    This part I didn't quite understand. Does it mean that person described positivity is in light of (or in this case in darkness of) having dealt with the dark stuff. Whereas not dealing with those the positivity could be sort of a forced 'pretty cloud'?

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    I take it to mean his positivity is tangible and 'solid'. It is real, substantial and manifestly evident...

    lobster
  • herbieherbie Veteran

    @Kerome said:
    I came across this on a blog on spirituality and psychology...

    A truly spiritual person – the ideal of humanity – knows his deepest emotional truths and has full connection with his whole range of feelings, including his joy and vivacity for living as well as his pain, fear, sorrow, and even anger. He embraces it all, light and shadow, and thus his spirituality has weight and depth. His positivity is no hologram or floating cloud.

    It’s a beautiful vision, in that it sees spirituality as someone who has encountered all their emotions. But I think a lot of people go through that journey, of connection to the emotions, naturally as they age. And I don’t think that you can call all old people spiritual.

    I think there is more to it, not just an encounter with the emotions but learning to successfully handle them and come to terms with them. That includes a kind of transformation of the darker emotions. Further I think there is a call to transcendence, to the beyond, which most spiritual people will be familiar with.

    If 'person' is seen as what it is spirituality and compassion are the same. It is just that conventionally 'spirituality' is self-directed and compassion is other-directed. <3

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited April 2019

    “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

    — usually attributed to Albert Einstein

    lobsterperson
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Whoever said it, was pretty spot-on.
    I think the quotation

    "we are a species that should love people and use things, but we have become a society that loves things and uses people."

    Comes from Bob Marley, more or less....

    Your statement reminded me a bit of that, @Kerome.

    Either way, keeping both in Mind, would be no bad thing....

    lobster
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    Insight for the day

    "Feel the fear and do it anyway" ( oldie but goodie ) :)

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    @herbie said:

    If 'person' is seen as what it is spirituality and compassion are the same. It is just that conventionally 'spirituality' is self-directed and compassion is other-directed. <3

    Too true. Too late. Conventionally and actually. As a herbie you have been cut and bouquet garnied ... by our beloved moderators ... :p

    Why? It is because directed only to the self important opinion at the expense of others peace and well being, your trolling has been cut short. This is called karma. You knew but ...

    I know better than being allowed to keep you as a bodhi pet troll. I am denied that privilege. :)

    This is a recurrent behavour pattern. Using pushed Buddhist dharma dogma as proof one is an other directed compassionate person. Tsk, tsk. Who is the fool, who has skilful means and who needs to change?

    Ah well off to the next encounter for @herbie ...
    May all Beings benefit. Perhaps everyone in particular ... B)
    http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/comment/487883/#Comment_487883

  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    Insight for the day

    "Annica"

    Safe journey & Be well @herbie ....

    lobster
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Q (me): What do you think is the meaning of a spiritual path?
    A (my mum): The inevitable crash in the end, when you discover the meaning is still there, but you are not.

    Good one, mum!

    Jeffrey
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    “The path towards quieting the body, the breath and the mind is very gradual”

    — Chinmaya

    Shoshin
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Logic is limited in scope. It knows that A leads to B, and makes chains that way, but it eventually ends. If you present logic with an infinity, or a paradox such as a Zen Koan, or even with poetry, you will find limits to logic. Thus basing ones entire approach to life on logic leads to a limited inner world. In fact in order to really apprehend the mysterious, one needs to move beyond logic, and learn to love more.

    federica
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Q: What is the sound of one hand clapping?
    A: (cartoon showing the master’s hand smacking the back of the disciples head)

    Kundo
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    If there is but one God, then all religions are one. If you are excluding people, creating your own little group, then you treat those with different custom as infidels. If you are including people, then you treat those others as brothers, worshipping the same god in a different way. The Romans knew this.

  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran
    edited April 2019

    Insight for the day...

    Carpe diem (seize the day)

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Carpe diem (seize the day)

    It does not mean Carp is Cod? or God? :p

    Well, well we live and learn lean leen lear bless the fishes ... <3

    ShoshinJeroen
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Thought is the mind in turmoil, meditation is the mind in silence.

    lobster
  • KundoKundo Sydney, Australia Veteran

    Carpe diem (seize the day)

    Carpe vitae ab scrotis
    :awesome:

    lobsterShoshin
  • GuiGui Veteran

    don't ever end describing an observation with "or is it just me?". =)

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    When people give you directions, ending with "You can't miss it..." yes, you bloody well can.

    Kundolobster
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    The mind’s creation of destinations in the future makes us into automatons, doing only its bidding and walking with purpose but little awareness from place to place. Instead we should realise we cannot step in the same river twice, or even see the same sunset twice. Each moment everything is new.

    federica
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Kundolobster
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited May 2019

    Jokes are a great way to encounter the unexpected...

    Lanahan was visiting his barber and said, the hair growth mixture you recommended hasn’t worked. The barber said, I don’t understand, it is the very best on the market, won’t you try it again? Well, said Lanahan, I will drink another bottle but it had better work!

    A commisar in Soviet Russia was asking a peasant how the potatoe production plan was coming under the direction of their Glorious Leader. The peasant said, ah, if you were to stack all the potatoes you would get a pile reaching to the very feet of God. But, said the commisar, you are aware there is no God? Yes, but there aren’t any potatoes either, replied the peasant.

    Mulla Nasruddin went to his psychiatrist once and asked, would you split my personality for me? The psychiatrist replied, why would you want to do that? Because, said the Mulla, I’m so very lonely.

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Mulla Nasruddin went to his psychiatrist once and asked, would you split my personality for me? The psychiatrist replied, why would you want to do that? Because, said the Mulla, I’m so very lonely.

    There is no deep meaning in this. Sounds like some faker, probably a rajneesh hijack ... :p

    Osho went to his doctor with a mental health issue. 'I like to make everything a joke, but am seriously unwell,' he informed the surprised disciple-dr.
    'Good One!' said the doctor laughing.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    @Kerome said: ...A commissar in Soviet Russia was asking a peasant how the potato production plan was coming under the direction of their Glorious Leader. The peasant said, ah, if you were to stack all the potatoes you would get a pile reaching to the very feet of God. But, said the commissar, you are aware there is no God? Yes, but there aren’t any potatoes either, replied the peasant.

    I have to say this one made me snort my coffee... and it made my H laugh too... That will be doing the rounds, today....

    lobsterJeroen
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Exactly @federica

    • funny
    • social commentary
    • expression of the ineffable

    The Mullah often made himself the illustration of peoples condition ...

    • deep humility and depth psychology
    • did I mention funny?

    PS. Even though coffee is a legal high, don't snort (lobster top tip) Here to help o:)

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited May 2019

    Whenever you go chasing happiness or bliss, you are likely to miss the point. Happiness is just something that is, you allow it to happen. If you look deep into existence — trees, plants, animals, rocks — everything is fulfilling its pattern for existence. In that lies great happiness, in a way nothing else is real.

    lobster
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Don’t expect love to just happen to you. Love often begins with lust, so if you avoid lust you may also miss out on love. Falling in love means you’ve passed a test of what it means to be human, it is best not to repress what you feel. Experience, accept, and live your feelings.

  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    Insight for the day

    Jeroen
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    One more...

    A doctor on a cruise liner was called, and found that a man had died in his state room. As was the custom he informed the steward so that the man could be buried at sea. Some time later he was passing by the room and he found that the corpse was still in its bunk. On calling the steward he asked about the corpse in state room number 45, and the steward replied, 45? I thought you said 49. On going there I found a man in the bunk and asked him, are you dead? He said, pretty much, and so I buried him.

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited May 2019

    What you expect to see shapes your inner world. It is like the parable of the rope and the snake... one day a man was walking past a temple, it was early in the evening and he spotted a very deadly poisonous snake. He backed away in a panic, went inside the temple and fetched the local guru. The wise man said, come and look, there is no snake. What was there was a coil of rope.

    This means that whatever you learn, whatever you put into your mind shapes your expectations, and what you expect to find you will very likely see. But it’s not just what you see. Often we deal with the world from our expectations, before we even know facts... this is your inner world, which often shapes how you react.

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Being consistent means that your thinking today is obedient to your thinking of yesterday, it is the death of growth and learning. We all constantly change in our thinking, our yesterday was a thesis, our today is a proof, our tomorrow is a conclusion. It is a dialectical process. All dogma’s and thinking systems when accepted as truth become the end of invention, of originality.

  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    Everything evolves...will come to mean nothing is true

    ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche~

    Empty statement ? Or statement on emptiness ?

  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    People with opinions just go around bothering each other.

    http://wisdomquotes.com/buddha-quotes/

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited June 2019

    We’ve all got the Dreaded Gom-Boo, the state of prior or previous alienation from the condition of equanimity or resonance with reality — the disease of the mind that makes people seriously pursue religion. According to an old book by Da Free John that a friend recommended I read, anyway.

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