Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Regarding individuality
Albert
New
Hello:
In the 1980s and 1990's I was into nondual teachings including Chan Buddhism.
At a later point of my life I found that the state of being we are headed for is one where we are one and many at the same time. Self anihilation isn't necessary, rather, we need to let go of our self centered viewpoints. This is a good thing, because rather than there being one being all by itself, many beings get to share a state of love and oneness with each other. If it wasn't for the fact that such beings exist in a substantial way, they couldn't share love and oneness in a substantial way.
Here are a couple of articles I wrote that relate to the above.
http://www.nondualityisdualistic.com/
http://www.nondualityisdualistic.com/book/nihchap3.html
In the 1980s and 1990's I was into nondual teachings including Chan Buddhism.
At a later point of my life I found that the state of being we are headed for is one where we are one and many at the same time. Self anihilation isn't necessary, rather, we need to let go of our self centered viewpoints. This is a good thing, because rather than there being one being all by itself, many beings get to share a state of love and oneness with each other. If it wasn't for the fact that such beings exist in a substantial way, they couldn't share love and oneness in a substantial way.
Here are a couple of articles I wrote that relate to the above.
http://www.nondualityisdualistic.com/
http://www.nondualityisdualistic.com/book/nihchap3.html
0
Comments
Are you familiar with the shentong view of emptiness? That might be more compatible with believing in a soul than the rangtong. Depending on what you meant by a soul. I believe rangtong versus shentong is more commonly distinguished in Tibetan buddhism and is not discussed in some branches.
I'm not familiar with the terms you provided. As you probably know, there isn't just one definition of what Buddhism is about. Therefore, there could be branches of Buddhism that speak of souls in the way you indicated.
I don't have a physical teacher (I used to), I have made contact with my spirit guidance. Such guidance doesn't tend to tell me what it's all about, because it understands that it is important for us here in the world to figure many things out for ourself, without somebody who is supposed to be an authority figure providing parameters that could end up limiting us in some way. I've seen this happen so much in many ways.
My spirit guidance is like a friend, he (not really a he) helps me see when I'm missing something, just as a wise and loving friend would do. He provides perspectives. For example, one night I lay in bed and wondered what it is like to be a being who is aware of multiple perspectives. Suddenly I experienced myself as a vast spirit being who was aware of 12 incarnations at the same time. It wasn't hard to be aware in such away, because my being was significantly larger than the 12 incarnations, yet I was still me, minus body based identifications. This state of being was really cool.
Through this and other experiences I've found that we get to exist eternally. We don't need to negate ourselves because existence is too difficult to deal with. Rather, we simply need to evolve to the point where we can live according to love and other positive qualities completely. Along the way we get caught up in our lesson plan and misidentify ourself, but that's okay, once we free ourself from such entanglements. Of course, it is important to not throw out the baby with the bath water (e.g.; our positive qualities).
In my eyes its always been a problem in my practice to distinguish wisdom from mere mental activity.
I've heard of other people who have seen books glow. There have been books that stood out to me in some way and they proved to be valuable. There was even a series of books that ended up being fictional (despite what they claimed), yet at the time they were helpful.
The first time I had an out of body experience was while I was in the Army years ago. I had never heard of such a thing so I was puzzled. The next day I went to the library and without knowing why I randomly grabbed a book off of a book shelf. It was a book on astral projection (out of body experiences) and described some of the things I experienced such as paralysis and a vibrational state.
I'm not certain what you mean, but being in contact with spirit guidance certainly isn't a thing of imagination. Most of the information I receive comes in the form of a symbolic visual message (which will on some occasions have me take part in a scene), and occasionally I'll have an out of body experience where a guide is present. It is very common for an out of body traveler to be accompanied by a guide, even when they aren't aware of it. For example, well known out of body explorer Robert Monroe had out of body experiences for years until he found out that he was accompanied by a guide all along.
When I receive messages I can feel the presence of the being who sends it.
I used to have lower back, upper back and neck pain. I found out that this pain was caused by energetic blocks that were the result of psychological issues I hadn't dealt with. When I would meditate and my kundalini/energy would rise, I would find that it would get blocked right by where my pain is. I'd ask my guide what caused the issue, I would be shown a symbolic visual message that let me know, I'd get clear on the issue, and the pain would go away.
Are these phenomena discussed somewhere in mainstream Buddhism? If so, how do they relate to mainstream Buddhism?
The part you referred to doesn't relate to mainstream Buddhism. I didn't start this thread with such talk, it just ended up going in that direction.
I'm new to this site so I haven't had a chance to become aware if the discussions need to stick to mainstream Buddhism. I apologize if I went against such a possible policy.