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Everything part of the mind?
I was just wondering, I've read that in Tibetan Buddhism, and other Buddhist traditions, everything is seen as being, ultimately, unreal and that all the Wrathful deities and other beings that are described are actually a part of your own mind, but, I was just wondering if this was true?, like, would everything be, ultimately, a part of your own mind, including beings we might think of as objective (like deities, if they are real, etc).
Anyway, I hope that made some sense, and thanks for any help.
David
Anyway, I hope that made some sense, and thanks for any help.
David
0
Comments
As far as the deities go they are like archetypes of the enlightened mind. In the practice you visualize yourself as being one of them.
It goes like this: for some people coffee sucks, for others its an addiction.The problem is not with the coffee, it just is what it is. Your mind adds an extra characteristic to it and you behave accordingly.
The same way, we view ourselves as possing a list of characteristics that we identify with, we call it 'I'. If you view yourself as a tantra deity, an enlightened being, you start behaving like one.
The color, the number of arms, the weapons...all that has a significance as well. For example, some of them have a spear with three heads on it, a skull for ignorance, a shrunken head for aversion I think, and another for craving.
The extra characteristics we add to thinks get us stuck in samsara, and you can imagine just how much energy we invest in them. The point of tantra is to use our tendency to do that in order to push us forward.
Well that is too broad of a question. If you are new at Buddhism I suggest you to not worry about that. If you are really interested look into concepts like anatta and shunyata or the Yogacara school of Buddhism.
Everything ultimately is composed of what your mind makes it to be.....
Practising imitatio Christi is merely a moral practise.
Sounds like dharma for children who read comic books. Have you studied the Jataka Tales?
So you are not "new" to Buddhism, have realised anatta and shunyata and moving onto something higher?
:crazy:
Love the new avatar DD . Hilarious ! :uphand:
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76. The Stone Mind
Hogen, a Chinese Zen teacher, lived alone in a small temple in the country. One day four traveling monks appeared and asked if they might make a fire in his yard to warm themselves.
While they were building the fire, Hogen heard them arguing about subjectivity and objectivity. He joined them and said: "There is a big stone. Do you consider it to be inside or outside your mind?"
One of the monks replied: "From the Buddhist viewpoint everything is an objectification of mind, so I would say that the stone is inside my mind."
"Your head must feel very heavy," observed Hogen, "if you are carrying around a stone like that in your mind."
I'm not familiar with that, have you got a sutta reference? Or are you talking about the first verse of the Dhammapada?
P
Perhaps the Buddha means that there is no ultimate crossover between the subjective and the objective. He see's that barrier that has tormented us for eons and realises that "our side" of it is illusion.
Something can be illusion with or without there being any objective world. This is perhaps an important distinction for us?