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Buddhism saved me where Christianity and Catholicism failed.
I live in the heart of the Southern Bible belt in Arkansas. I was raised a Christian just as everyone else from here, is as well. But I became interested in Buddhism because the Buddhist philosophy is perfectly attuned to my philosophical views as well. But let me share an even more interesting story with you concerning how Buddhism saved me from the evil spirits that had come to me from the lowest astral realm. Both Christianity and Catholicism failed where Buddhism prevailed.
Some time ago I became interested in astral projections and out-of-body experiences. With enough practice, I was able to achieve these encounters with the sole purpose of hoping to communicate with my deceased mother. Little did I know that I had opened a portal just outside my bedroom window (because I mostly traveled out my window during my encounters). Unfortunately, this portal was an opening to the lowest astral realm that contains not just lost souls but evil entities as well.
Gradually, these entities started making communication with me and gave the impression that they were good spirits but lost and in need of help. I found out later that one entity in particular was very evil and wanted to possess my soul. I saw his appearance on occasion and he was a sinister being dressed in a black robe from head to toe. There were four entities all together, but the sinister one (whom I nicknamed "Blackie") was feared by all other spirits because of his strength and power.
But because of my naturally compassionate soul and kind heart, I tried reaching out to Blackie and tried to help him to become a good soul rather than an evil spirit. Blackie confessed to me that no one had ever showed him any kindness and compassion (not to mention he was also impressed by my fearless nature). As a result, Blackie became obsessively in love with me. But Blackie was fearful of not being able to change his ways. He so desperately wanted me in death so he could have me with him in spirit that he began trying to kill me by injecting me with powerful chemicals that made me very ill. Blackie was hell-bent on having me regardless of how he had to achieve his desired goal.
My deceased mother (who is definitely a beautiful soul and one of God's angels) became extremely worried for my safety and finally decided to reach out to God for help. Now, mind you, I had already reached out to Christian churches who offered no solution. They actually treated me as if I was just being delusional. I even went to our local Catholic church and met with a kind priest who took my story very seriously. He gave me holy water and a rosary to wear. Believe it or not, Blackie ripped the rosary from around my neck while I was sleeping and to this day it is still missing.
Getting back to my mother, she was raised a Christian, died a Christian, and held onto her Christian beliefs even in death. She became concerned that I was not a Christian because from watching over me, she knew I had my faith in Buddhism. She even knew about the bumper sticker I had on my car that read "I Think. Therefore I Am A Buddhist." My mother was hugely surprise when she went to "God" to ask for his intervention in order to stop Blackie from harming and possibly killing me and discovered that it was not the Christian God that she had imagine. Guess who she encountered? The spiritual Dalai Lama!!!
My mother couldn't believe that I had been right in my faith and belief towards Buddhism. And guess what? Dalai Lama and Buddha came to my aid and, well, let's just say that Blackie can no longer harm me and that the portal outside my window has now been completely shut off. My mother, a staunch believer in Christianity (especially considering she was raised in the small-town Bible belt) has now become a complete believer in the Buddhist faith. My mother and I can even communicate with each other psychically. She still watches over all her children and grandchildren. And she has complete love and devotion in her heart for Buddha and the Dalai Lama.
Lastly, I just want to add that I can also communicate psychically with the spiritual Dalai Lama and with Buddha. We joke around, laugh, and just have a wonderful time. But we also share ideas and philosophical views about serious issues.
Before ending this post, I want to stress that I am not out to convert anyone to Buddhism or that I'm trying to convince anyone that my experiences are factual. That is not my intention at all. I just wanted to share this experience with others. And to those who do believe me, well, a big thank you as well as a spiritual hug and kiss on the cheek. And to those who don't, I do not care because I know what I experienced and no one can take that away from me. Thanks to all of you who took the time to read this.
P.S. It's very possible that I am the only Buddhist in my predominantly Christian town and I have no fellow Buddhists to talk to. If any fellow Buddhists want to call and chat, I'd be more than happy to hear from you.
Some time ago I became interested in astral projections and out-of-body experiences. With enough practice, I was able to achieve these encounters with the sole purpose of hoping to communicate with my deceased mother. Little did I know that I had opened a portal just outside my bedroom window (because I mostly traveled out my window during my encounters). Unfortunately, this portal was an opening to the lowest astral realm that contains not just lost souls but evil entities as well.
Gradually, these entities started making communication with me and gave the impression that they were good spirits but lost and in need of help. I found out later that one entity in particular was very evil and wanted to possess my soul. I saw his appearance on occasion and he was a sinister being dressed in a black robe from head to toe. There were four entities all together, but the sinister one (whom I nicknamed "Blackie") was feared by all other spirits because of his strength and power.
But because of my naturally compassionate soul and kind heart, I tried reaching out to Blackie and tried to help him to become a good soul rather than an evil spirit. Blackie confessed to me that no one had ever showed him any kindness and compassion (not to mention he was also impressed by my fearless nature). As a result, Blackie became obsessively in love with me. But Blackie was fearful of not being able to change his ways. He so desperately wanted me in death so he could have me with him in spirit that he began trying to kill me by injecting me with powerful chemicals that made me very ill. Blackie was hell-bent on having me regardless of how he had to achieve his desired goal.
My deceased mother (who is definitely a beautiful soul and one of God's angels) became extremely worried for my safety and finally decided to reach out to God for help. Now, mind you, I had already reached out to Christian churches who offered no solution. They actually treated me as if I was just being delusional. I even went to our local Catholic church and met with a kind priest who took my story very seriously. He gave me holy water and a rosary to wear. Believe it or not, Blackie ripped the rosary from around my neck while I was sleeping and to this day it is still missing.
Getting back to my mother, she was raised a Christian, died a Christian, and held onto her Christian beliefs even in death. She became concerned that I was not a Christian because from watching over me, she knew I had my faith in Buddhism. She even knew about the bumper sticker I had on my car that read "I Think. Therefore I Am A Buddhist." My mother was hugely surprise when she went to "God" to ask for his intervention in order to stop Blackie from harming and possibly killing me and discovered that it was not the Christian God that she had imagine. Guess who she encountered? The spiritual Dalai Lama!!!
My mother couldn't believe that I had been right in my faith and belief towards Buddhism. And guess what? Dalai Lama and Buddha came to my aid and, well, let's just say that Blackie can no longer harm me and that the portal outside my window has now been completely shut off. My mother, a staunch believer in Christianity (especially considering she was raised in the small-town Bible belt) has now become a complete believer in the Buddhist faith. My mother and I can even communicate with each other psychically. She still watches over all her children and grandchildren. And she has complete love and devotion in her heart for Buddha and the Dalai Lama.
Lastly, I just want to add that I can also communicate psychically with the spiritual Dalai Lama and with Buddha. We joke around, laugh, and just have a wonderful time. But we also share ideas and philosophical views about serious issues.
Before ending this post, I want to stress that I am not out to convert anyone to Buddhism or that I'm trying to convince anyone that my experiences are factual. That is not my intention at all. I just wanted to share this experience with others. And to those who do believe me, well, a big thank you as well as a spiritual hug and kiss on the cheek. And to those who don't, I do not care because I know what I experienced and no one can take that away from me. Thanks to all of you who took the time to read this.
P.S. It's very possible that I am the only Buddhist in my predominantly Christian town and I have no fellow Buddhists to talk to. If any fellow Buddhists want to call and chat, I'd be more than happy to hear from you.
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Comments
With respect to Buddhism, nobody here can you offer more than you already think you have, or teach you more than you can teach yourself.
Palzang
Pssst. Nechung? (:eek:)
Palzang
UmmaGumma> good for you friend. Be well and at peace.
Nechung is indeed a spirit EDIT: 'oracle as spirit':
http://www.nechungfoundation.org/history.html
''In the Tibetan tradition, the word oracle is used for a spirit which enters those men and women who act as mediums between the natural and the spiritual realms. The mediums are, therefore, known as kuten, which literally means, "the physical basis." In early times it is believed that there were hundreds of oracles throughout Tibet. Today, only a few survive, including those consulted by the Tibetan government. Of these, the principal one is the Nechung oracle. Through him manifests Dorje Drak-den (Nechung), the principal protector divinity of the Tibetan government and the Dalai Lama (see History of Nechung Monastery). It is because of this that Nechung Kuten is given the rank of a deputy minister in the exiled Tibetan government hierarchy.''
Quote Palzang:
'' Usually communicating with invisible spirits and such is considered mental illness, not Buddhism.''
You can't have it both ways. Fancy a monk of a Tibetan tradition saying the Dalai Lama may be mentally ill! LOL
I think you'll find yourself mistaken palzang the nechung oracle, The supposed deity communicating through the oracle pehar is a spirit bound by padmasambhava.
And now I have no doubt we'll hear all about how Dharmapalas are superstition and all that crap. Do me a favor and save it. If you don't understand something (and you don't if you think it's all superstitious nonsense), then you're better off just not saying anything.
Palzang
The Nechung oracle describes Pehar as a spirit, which was the original assertion, and defines the oracle as the spirit also. Your post claimed that in contacting spirits the Dalai Lama may therefore be mentally ill.
''Pehar Gyalpo was bound to oath by Padmasambhava to head the entire hierarchy of protective spirits and Dorje Drakden, Nechung, was Pehar's principal emissary to Tibet.''
''In the Tibetan tradition, the word oracle is used for a spirit which enters those men and women who act as mediums between the natural and the spiritual realms. The mediums are, therefore, known as kuten, which literally means, "the physical basis." ''
A simple 'Oops I didn't mean it in that way' would have done, but instead we get a rant.
Re-read. Nobody claimed it was superstitious nonsense. It was your comment which was the subject of the challenge, not the practice itself. Your rant was uncalled for.
Both Caz and I are Vajrayana disciples, in my case for a few decades under several Geshes, so if you label HHDL as mad, so are we. Mind you, we're not tulkus like Steven Seagal, so we may be unworthy as disciples - LOL
You are being silly. You fell over your own words in saying what you did about contacting spirits. Sense of humour loss?
Your anger and your reaction are very revealing.
I think you need to step back from your self-cherishing and acquire a sense of humour. Being angry at others when you stuff up is not much of an advert for the path.
As for the "superstitious nonsense" bit, that was because every time protectors or deities found in Tibetan Buddhism are brought up in this forum I get some clown ranting about how it's all just silly superstition and so on and so forth without having any idea what the practices are all about. So my rant was in the (vain) hope that another rant would not be forthcoming.
If you think I am engaging in self-cherishing and lack humor, then I would suggest you haven't been reading my posts here. Again, not surprising. You're very predictable. So go ahead and continue your rant. Excuse me for interrupting.
Palzang
This is what you said. HHDL consults a spirit through the Nechung oracle, a spirit bound by Padmasambhava. Whether thre spirit is classed as a 'demon' is irrelevant - it is still an invisible spirit. Some refer to them as mountain spirits who were harmful.
Therefore you placed foot in mouth with respect to HHDL and seem to have no idea that this is funny. Shame.
QUOTE PALZANG: ' I don't know where you dug up the quote, but it's not something a Nyingmapa would ever say. '
You generalise, which is maybe why you trip yourself up, if you don't mind me saying so. The link I gave you is the Nechung Foundation, led by the medium of Nechung Oracle himself, Ven. Kuten Thupten Ngodup - a very senior Nyingma. It uses the term 'spirit'.
http://www.nechungfoundation.org/about-foundation.html
Wiki agrees, and makes sense for once:
''Gyalpo spirits are one of the eight classes of haughty gods and spirits (lha srin sde brgyad) in Tibetan mythology and religion. Gyalpo (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་པོ; Wylie: rgyal po), a word which simply means "king" or "raja" in the Tibetan language, in Tibetan mythology is used to refer to the Four Guardian Kings (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་ཆེན་བཞི) and especially to a class of spirits, both Buddhist and Bön, who may be either malevolent spirits or oath-bound as protector deities (Tib. chos skyong; Skt. dharmapālas).''
You should not throw stones at the NKT either, my friend. Those who live in greenhouses? Neither should you assume that I am a devotee of the NKT. I have also received teachings from several Gelugpa Geshes over many years, some of whom support HHDL's position over the Shugden spirit - yes, even HHDL calls this Gyalpo a spirit, even though he was not even bound by Padmasambhava. LOL
Oh, my Dharmapalas are Mahakala, Shugden and Kinkara (for HYT) as is the established Gelugpa tradition. I have no problem with oracles either.
Sorry to poke fun at you Palzang, it was not meant with any malice. I'm sure you are a sincere practitioner and have a sense of humour.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"
We are all mad some in larger doses then others i might add.
A demon even worse :eek:
Congratulations you've just offically jumped on the bandwagon of assumption palzang.
But then I think thats partly fear of confusion and illness. Keep in mind that some people do have experiences whether mental illness or paranormal phenominon that are quite scary.
Isn't it wonderful that the 'da lai lama' comforted him? And restored confidence.
Reflect that you don't know what realms you will enter when you die. I hope you are comforted from fearful experiences. Perhaps faith in a teacher or simply the nature of awareness can be helpful. Whether the experience is a delusion before death or if it is a realm after death.
Ok bearing that in mind......
What has Buddhism got to do with evil spirits and so forth? I thought
it had absolutely nothing to do with that kind of crap, and quite frankly if it infact does then it's not atall what I thought it was.
Perhaps doing some research and reading instead of judging would be more beneficial. What "crap" exactly are you so insistent on avoiding?
- Dhammachick
The 'crap' I am 'insistent on avoiding' as you so put it, is anything to do with supernatural spirits and demons. Through all my time looking into Buddhism, I always thought it somewhat distanced from such notions.
I thought Buddhism was solely about self-realisations, compassion, meditation etc. These things are what brought me to Buddhism as they clearly have great benifits and are founded in truth.
Superstitious talk of supernatural beings and so forth, I cannot get on with atall for the obvious reason, in my personal opinion, that such things don't actually exist, or rather can't be proven to exist.
And there is absolutely no reason to be on the defensive as you are, I'm only voicing my opinion as everyone else here is. I expressed my personal alarm, in the previous post, that on just joining a Buddhist forum the second thread I happen to come across is a discussion of spirits and demons within a philosophy I thought didn't deal with such matters.
Rather than trying to have a go at me, perhaps a better course of action would have been to try to explain to me your point of view on the subject instead of suggesting I stop 'judging' and to 'go and do some research' myself.
what is it?
Try keeping a civil tongue in your head. Then you'll find people may be far more receptive to your 'admission of ignorance' when your tone is less insulting and confrontational.
Tibetan Buddhism is an extremely deep, varied, ancient, convoluted and complex practice.
you start insulting people's practice of Buddhism, and you won't
endear yourself all that well to people you might otherwise call 'Teachers'.
Would you like to try again?
how have I insulted anyones practice of Buddhism? Everything I have posted in this thread has been posted with a 'civil tongue'. I'm not here to argue, I'm here to learn like everyone else. How has my tone been insulting or confrontational? The only thing I could imagine that you mean, is when I said 'What has Buddhism got to do with evil spirits and so forth? I thought it had absolutely nothing to do with that kind of crap.'
Please allow my use of the word crap in this sentence, as its only meant as a substitute for words like - stuff/ideas. The only reason I used the word crap, is because to me personally, the idea of evil spirits and so forth is crap. So let me adjust the question with that part left out. What has Buddhism got to do with evil spirits and so forth?
Thank you.
I always think it's best to start as you mean to go on.
Hate to say it, but we do try to discourage any kind of exchange where disrespect, rudeness and incivility can be taken badly by other posters.
Best thing is to always remember civility and respect.
bear in mind some posters are Monks.
I would hate to think that you would talk to a Tibetan Monk in that manner face to face.
Hopefully not.
Therefore, it's as well you don't do it via this medium either.
With anyone, actually, no matter who they might be.
hey, no worries mate. I agree with everything you said. Care to shed any light on my question?:)
Especially Tibetan monks!
Primitius, to what "evil spirits" are you referring? If you mean the Nechung oracle, that is a protector, a subject which is really much too complex to talk about in a public forum, to tell you the truth. No one I have ever met in Tibetan Buddhism has anything to do with "evil spirits". What are they anyway?
Palzang
You appear to be quite defensive and a tad hostile. I do not know why and I will not assume to understand why. If you have had bad experiences with previous places for that I am saddened. But people here are open to all and in my time here I have never seen anyone told that X way is the only way and Y and Z are stupid/crap/wrong etc.
I hope you will give this place a chance with an open mind.
Respectfully,
Raven
:)thanks. I guess I do have a somewhat hostile way especially when dealing with internet forums. The good-will and compassion of Buddhists is something that makes me grateful you folk exist:)
Look forward to chatting more with you.
- Raven
So what kind of things do you guys talk / joke around about? Sounds neat-o!:smilec:
People come and go.
Some, slightly more quickly than others........!:D
I read most of this thread...
Okay....the first post lost me at the "portal" under her "window".
And I skimmed the rest.
I could make many comments about portals and windows...
but nothing close to what is here.
So never mind.
VL