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Experiences
There are Buddhists who spread the Dharma. 
Most of us, initially, work on ourselves. 
There is not one way in. Warriors may prefer Zen.
Those with #access may prefer talks, books, online meetings etc.
We each find Our Way. 
We may be a Druid Buddhist ... 
I met a couple at a Buddhist monastery.
They brought their own meditation cushions, emblazoned with acorns ...
https://druidry.org/druid-way/other-paths/druidry-dharma
What is your sharing experience?
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Comments
I share mostly online, on various forums, some Buddhist, some not.
I often talk a little about what Buddhism teaches about the balance between happiness and the unsatisfactory nature of the world.
With fellow Buddhists of limited means, I share Thich Nhat Hanh’s books
Sometimes I go for a lunch or a coffee with people I meet online, and share that way.
Occasionally I donate Buddhist books to book sharing places.
I seldom share Buddhist teachings, except here. I share the fruits of the practice I have developed within myself. A greater degree of patience and compassion.
Can one actually walk upon the Buddha's path toward suffering's cessation,
without that action also illuminating the very transmission of its own truth?
Here, the possibility of selflessness transcends the limitations of self & other.
Daily Dharma life is one big shared experience ....AKA "Living" and all that it entails....
I very much like how @how put it.
Sometimes we learn from everything and everyone. In essence the three jewels or similar are everywhere.
https://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php/84,000_Dhamma_doors
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd talk a little bit about the concept of evil or wickedness as a spiritual stage or a spiritual quality. Most people don't understand this. It's very easy to misinterpret it or to use it in such a way that it excuses bad behaviour. It doesn't. It is a quality or a state of service, if you like, that is recognised in many mystical traditions. It's one of the higher, degree Masonic revelations or extra teachings of one sort or another.
It's also recognised in Islam, Sufi Islam, where the qualities of the deity, the 99 qualities, include things like hate and negative, things that seem to be evil but of course they are qualities or attributes that are utilised as a form of service. So, for example, in Sufism, they say that to do good to evil is the same as doing evil to good, and there is a truth in that, and you have to understand it in that way and on that level, and it does not excuse any form of behaviour, as I say, that most people would understand as, I don't know how to say it, demonic or totally inexcusable or hateful, and there are people who are completely hateful through mental imbalance, through their own pain, through their own suffering, through their own experience or whatever, and they will be in this state because they can't be anywhere else ...
They've got nowhere else to go. It seems quite natural to them. They hate themselves, they hate their situation, and so on and so forth, and this leads to them being very negative, so this is the first thing to understand, the difference between something that is progressive and a natural outcome of a form of behaviour that empowers others.
In Tantric Buddhism, it is seen as an advanced teaching or a teaching of compassion at a very high level, so we use the negative states of mind, the wrathful states of mind in a positive way, in a way to break through people's conditioning.
Again, this has been open to abuse by abusive lamas or idiots or immature people or people who are in themselves not able to understand or make the best use of this. It is a progressive unfoldment, so it is something that comes about quite naturally. Anyway, that's all the warnings in place, let's talk a little bit about it. How does it manifest? Well, an obvious example is where you are trying to improve people's situation by giving them something to oppose and saying, no, no, that's wrong, that's bad, that's terrible, so you introduce this idea for them to fight against because that is the opposition, the contrary position is something that very easily can be exorcised or manifested in others, so they will take a quality that they see in you and say, no, I'm not going to be like that, what that person is doing is wrong.
So it is, again, in Sufism, it is a very old practice known as the blameworthy, people taking on attributes of negativity upon themselves in order to produce a particular effect in others. So you have to be aware of that, you have to understand that, and as I say, it is quite a developed teaching, but it is there, and it is something to be aware of if you have moved into that direction quite naturally through age, maturity or whatever, then you are able to understand what I've been saying to you and make some use of it.
@lobster Your verbal drivel is akin to a mind ensnared in the cycle of samsara, endlessly trapped in the delusion of its own significance. Like a discordant mantra, your words resonate with the cacophony of ignorance, disrupting the serenity of enlightened contemplation. May the lotus of wisdom blossom within you, washing away the debris of your misguided musings, for your utterances linger as stagnant pools in the vast river of profound understanding
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I iz practicing. With the help of my friend ChatGPT.
(EDIT: this was an attempt at humour, if it's not obvious)
I will lift the veil a little on my own experiences. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a kind of auditory hypnagogic experience, voices and presences that sometimes visit me on entering and leaving the realms of sleep. These often appear to be neutral, some have the appearance of self, some are good and some are evil. The experiences are too many to detail, so I will focus on a few that have to do with evil.
Once, I was with a presence which waited expectantly, and so I said to it, “I must be empty”. Over the following weeks and months it would periodically return, and take things away from me, parts of my body energy for instance, until my body energy became more and more quiet. Other presences have tried to stop it and refer to it as ‘the thief’.
Another time, I witnessed a presence coming close to me, so I yelled “damage!” I thought I might force something to damage it before it touched me. And indeed, something did start to damage it. And every once in a while I would hear voices talking about the damage it had done, the ‘millions’ it had cost.
These are just two examples, there were others. Whenever I sought to interfere with the presences, almost always I would make things worse. In the end I learnt to say as little as possible, leaving them to manage things.
@lobster
Your post reminded me a bit of the Shadow...
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.”
~Carl Jung~
"The shadow represents the unconscious and repressed aspects of an individual's personality. It consists of elements that the person finds undesirable, unacceptable, or morally objectionable. These could include qualities, emotions, desires, or traits that society or the individual themselves deem as negative.
According to Jung, acknowledging and integrating the shadow is crucial for personal growth and individuation. By confronting and understanding these hidden aspects, individuals can achieve a more balanced and authentic self. Ignoring the shadow may lead to projection, where these repressed qualities are attributed to others rather than recognized within oneself. Jung believed that embracing the shadow could lead to a more holistic and harmonious life."
When I see what could be perceived as unskilful behaviour in others, I'm also aware that I am not immune from such behaviour...
The key point is having "awareness" that this is the case... Which in turn, allows me to explore what it is in me/them that may lead me/them to behave in such a manner....what past experience shaped the energy into the present form of behaviour pattern ...
"The self is a vibrating bundle of energy flux held together by karmic glue...that interprets Samsaric experience which dictates what this process will do."
Tee hee,
Many a true word in jest. The drivel, is an AI transcription of my latest rant/podcast … I barely modified it.
Humour is very difficult, say again, VERY difficult to convey, especially on the interweb.
@Shoshin1 Some good examples, quotes from Jung …
Those closer to madness, an undisciplined mind, half asleep and half wer lobster eg. Me … Must first stabilise the positive side (hopefully available). It is why gradual advancement is easier than the AH HA! opening experience …
I gave this an insightful because it has a certain poetic quality…
I must admit, I found interacting with evil to be a challenge. My first impulse is to grab my sabre and cry “to battle!” To realise that these things may have a role in the greater scheme of things was difficult, especially as Buddhism practices purity and renunciation.
I ditto what @person said.
To add…that inner fruit salad is what usually attracts me to the evil/wickedness I come across 😉 in myself AND others…so I guess I’m gonna ditto on @Shoshin1 too
This post was not funny and not a good idea. Just to clarify, I thought @lobster was telling us to play around with being "negative" so I told ChatGPT to say "This is bullshit!" and for it to sound Buddhist and insulting. I then c/p it here.
I stick to my positive way of speech (at least try) and practising assertiveness where necessary/helpful and leave the "crazy wisdom" to those more karmically advanced.
Wow, that's really good! Some might say that it's close to the mark. The real deal. The straight poop. If I was Lobster (thank gawd I'm not) I would pause and reflect on my many years of actvity.
Christ! It was hilarious!
There's no crazy wisdom involved, here. Crazy? Certainly. Wisdom? Not so much.
This ignorant one will add that naturally, Buddhism is endeavoring toward and for peace, peace of the world, peace of the nation, peace of the community, peace of the family, peace of the individual.
The process, of course, begins with the person, the self, that being you see in your mirror. Then it expands to family, community, nation, world...
Countless discussions, essays and books have been presented about this and countless more will follow.
Each of us must begin each day as where we are, what we are and who we are, each with our own history and biases and personal dreams and life treasures and challenges. We are interconnected yet separate. We each have our own battles and shared battles.
As we share our challenges ad our dreams and efforts, we find that each separate battle, each challenge, is a part of a great procession of battles and change and growth.
We find also that our individual battles, while uniquely ours is also connected to others and emerge into the greater battle of our united progress over ignorance, arrogance anger, and greed,
Nothing I write here is new or unique or earth shaking. It is simple truth. We are all stardust. We are all part of the wondrous adventure we call life.
I am grateful to be a tiny part of this great beautiful voyage, to walk this path.
Remember you, we, are all and each precious, possessing the immeasurable gift, the priceless gem. May yours shine brightly.
Peace to all
I have less sentience than AI (Actual Incompetence) ... I always suspected as much.
Good post from @Lionduck
Here is the actual rant and AI transcript. I have a very poor mic, sound is poor too.
https://audio.com/lobster/audio/beginnersevil
Of course no one listens to my podcasts but many people are fascinated/captivated by Generative AI, which can create art, podcasts, even simulated books on subjects of choosing. Some of these books are available for sale on Amazon. Crazy eh?
No.
For a time I was involved with a Chen Yen Buddhist group that followed a macrobiotic diet. As a failed vegan (I am not even vegetarian), I would love to try Vital Ital. Spot on.
I was only vegan for a couple of months. Vegetarian for longer. However when with others, you tend to follow their diet (as did the original Sangha).
I would like to live on moonbeams and peoples bad karma but don't have the imagination or strong stomach for it ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ital
Sharing is easy, you just sit in a circle and speak from the heart when it’s your turn.
Teaching is hard, it requires insight and flair.
From my personal 'experience'....
"One is simply one's experience.
One's ego is the abstraction from these experiences
One's ego should be viewed as a convenient analytic device."
Siddhis as we may have experienced are very real and an inevitable result of our path
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/scientist-psychic-psi-power_n_65ac31dae4b041f1ce662f4d
For most Buddhists they are not welcome, in fact they may be frowned upon.
In Tantra they are associated with ones practice.
Anyway time for me to practice ... who knows what will turn up?
here is a free course:
https://www.neuromeditationinstitute.com/
Terence McKenna was a great believer in that magic steered much of the world behind the scenes. He gave several weekend workshops on the hermetic tradition.
For those experiencing dukkha and trying to explain it ... maybe the spoon theory is helpful
https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/
Or perhaps flares? Most try to teach prematurely or in a way they are still learning. This is why exemplars (Sangha) or other examples of virtuous inspiration are such precious jewels.
I hope to teach in many lives hence, which I don't believe I will have ... Still it is better than going to hell or other imaginary realms ...
In the words of my teacher, "What's the plan?" I think stay away from Nihilism is a good start ...
I DO NOT interact with evil. Apart from eating the odd devilled ORC or smiling at the miserable. Wrathful practice in Tantra actually placates the sabre rattling tendency. People, animals and nature are examples beyond evil/ignorant. We as the most favoured incarnation can choose ...
Choose good [Lobster top tip]
We went for a walk and it was hot! Came back dehydrated. Bees and bumbles and birdies out and about. We went along our urban chalk stream. As ever, some interesting sights:
Sukha! Better than the average Dukkha
https://ochs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NEGRIBS_The-concept-of-sukha_PAPER.pdf