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Is: As you can see, unlike in your and Maharshi's conceptual system, not even the cave wall is reified here. You did use the expression "state of being." Also, Ramana Maharshi was in complete agreement that the Self/emptiness... More »
"What do you think enlightenment is about?" The four quotes I posted represents it very well, but since you ask I can try to formulate my own answer. Enlightenment is a state of being that is without ignorance.... More »
There is nothing absolutely empty, as there is nothing absolutely dense E=MC2, REMEMBER God is that which is uncreated, it has nothing to do with emptiness or non dual, two overused, and highly misunderstood terms. Remember... More »
I am delighted with the co-creation which is how poetry seems to me Not fully satisfied with So the consciousness that once roamed the land As Buddha, Christ, and other anointed ones Departed after sowing... More »
Zak, do you think it would be possible for an early human, like a Cro-Magnon man, to experience enlightenment?** Bruce, my idea of Evolutionary Intelligence covers your Cro-Magnon example. You should give it some... More »
Hi Tom, Yes, it would be interesting to explore the UR correlates of these deeper states and higher structures further. However, I don't think there is evidence to suggest that these deeper state experiences/realizations are... More »
Hi Bruce, I think you are making a similar point I was trying to make, namely that if "spirit" is not a thing, but the thingness of all things, i.e. existance, then it makes no... More »
Wilber: Actual nondual Spirit is the suchness of everything that’s arising. It doesn’t cause anything to do anything. So it’s the actual isness or suchness or emptiness of every single thing, anywhere in the... More »
it behooves us to allow whatever arises to arise and to fully experience it as divine will whether this is desire or revulsion or some other shade of fear - it is in the allowing... More »
Ted Biringer
Zen Master Dogen's Genjokoan says: To be actualized by the many things is to allow the body-and-mind of your self and the body-and-mind of other than your self to fall away. When the body-and-mind of... More »
Peacehunter
LIBERATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF UPANIŞADS AND BUDDHISM Shuva Langker Tanchangya Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Introduction 6 th century B.C. is the era in... More »
Nicole
Dearest friends, I invite you to comment here or over in the God pod here: True Compassion - your invitation to discuss :) What better place than in a board called Radical acts of compassion... More »
RLtruthseeker-artist
"Sometimes you have to suffer just to realize that suffering isn't necessary." Many non-Buddhists (and Buddhists) think that Buddhism is all about suffering. It is not. It is about finding the way... More »
Cinc
Opening Statement: I had problems with the film Unmistaken Child , especially since I happen to view Tibetan Buddhism as a serious hindrance to the worldwide attainment of enlightenment. For what the Dalai Lama... More »
starpeople
Great question for ripping ourselves apart. Ok, ...I think that everything around me is my teacher, I don't necessarily think that it is peole who are wise, nor do I consider it important to find... More »
RLtruthseeker-artist
"Do not go by oral tradition, by lineage of teaching, by hearsay, by a collection of texts, by inferential reasoning, by reasoned cogitation, by the acceptance of a view after pondering it,... More »
RLtruthseeker-artist
Most people confuse pain and suffering but the Buddha made a clear distinction between the two. He makes the distinction in how two people react to it. Both the ordinary person called "the uninstructed... More »
Cinc
Introduction: President Blacque Obammer's* speech in Cairo has been highly praised, mostly by people who haven't actually read it. Today, I will analyze some of Obammer's* text. For over three years, my contention has... More »
Attainment
Bodhidharma's name stands out amongst all the Buddhist enlightened people second only to Guatam Buddha. I met this man when I was about 18. I fell deeply in love. He stays in my heart... More »
Bodhidharma: Even if a buddha or bodhisattva should suddenly appear before you, there's no need for reverence. This mind of ours is empty and contains no such form. Those who hold onto appearances are devils. They fall from the Path. Why worship illusions born of the mind? . . . The basic nature of a buddha has no such form. Keep this in mind, even if something unusual should appear. Don't embrace it, and don't fear it, and don't doubt that your mind is basically pure. . . . Also at the appearance of spirits, demons, or divine beings, conceive neither respect nor fear. Your mind is basically empty. All appearances are illusions. Don't hold on to appearances. If you envision a buddha, a dharma, or a bodhisattva and conceive respect for them, you relegate yourself to the realm of mortals. If you seek direct understanding, don't hold on to any appearance whatsoever, and you'll succeed. . . . The sutras say, "That which is free of all form is the buddha." Disciple: But why shouldn't we worship buddhas and bodhisattvas? Bodhidharma: Devils and demons possess the power of manifestation. They can create the appearance of bodhisattvas in all sorts of guises. But they're false. None of them are buddhas. The buddha is your own mind. Don't misdirect your worship.
If you see your nature, you don't need to read sutras or invoke buddhas. Erudition and knowledge are not only useless but also cloud your awareness. Doctrines are only for pointing to the mind. Once you see your mind, why pay attention to doctrines?
The buddha is your real body, your original mind. This mind has no form or characteristics, no cause or effect, no tendons or bones. It's like space. You can't hold it. It's not the mind of materialists or nihilists. Except for a tathagata, no one else - no mortal, no deluded being - can fathom it.
Disciple: But the Bathhouse Sutra says, "By contributing to the bathing of monks, people receive limitless blessings." This would appear to be an instance of external practice achieving merit. How does this relate to beholding the mind? Bodhidharma: . . . Our true buddha-nature has no shape. And the dust of affliction has no form. How can people use ordinary water to wash an intangible body? It won't work. . . . To clean such a body you have to behold it. Once impurities and filth arise from desire, they multiply until they cover you inside and out. But if you try to wash this body of yours, you'll have to scrub until it's nearly gone before it's clean.
A buddha is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and bad. Such is his power that karma can't hold him. No matter what kind of karma, a buddha transforms it. Heaven and hell are nothing to him. But the awareness of a mortal is dim compared to that of a buddha, who penetrates everything, inside and out.
To go from mortal to buddha, you have to put an end to karma, nurture your awareness, and accept what life brings.
To invoke the Buddha's name you have to understand the dharma of invoking. If it's not present in your mind, your mouth chants an empty name. As long as you're troubled by the three poisons or by thoughts of yourself, your deluded mind will keep you form seeing the Buddha and you'll only waste your effort. Chanting and invoking are worlds apart. Chanting is done with the mouth. Invoking is done with the mind. And because invoking comes from the mind, it's called the door to awareness. Chanting is centered in the mouth and appears as sound. If you cling to appearances while searching for meaning, you won't find a thing. . . .
Not thinking about anything is zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is zen. To know that the mind is empty is to see the buddha. . . . Using the mind to reality is delusion. Not using the mind to look for reality is awareness. Freeing oneself from words is liberation.
When delusions are absent, the mind is the land of buddhas. When delusions are present, the mind is hell. Mortals create delusions. And by using the mind to give birth to mind they always find themselves in hell. Bodhisattvas see through delusions. And by not using the mind to give birth to mind they always find themselves in the land of buddhas. If you don't use your mind to create mind, every state of mind is empty and every thought is still. You go from one buddha-land to another. If you use your mind to create mind, every state of mind is disturbed and every thought is in motion. You go from one hell to the next.
. . . the fools of this world prefer to look for sages far away. They don't believe that the wisdom of their own mind is the sage . . . the sutras say, "Mind is the teaching." But people of no understanding don't believe in their own mind or that by understanding this teaching they can become a sage. They prefer to look for distant knowledge and long for things in space, buddha-images, light, incense, and colors. They fall prey to falsehood and lose their minds to insanity.
Centralised hub for Gaia Buddhists and those new to or interested in the Buddha Dharma as it... More »
I invite you to learn about and explore the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282), the founder of... More »
A place to discuss, compare, contrast Buddha Dharma in various traditions. There are discussion areas for Zen,... More »
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Most US New Agers are not aware of just how advanced progress in Science-Spirituality Integration is as there... More »
Please use this pod to share experiences of awakening. If you have experienced Deeksha with Shri Bhagavan,... More »
Do we need to "heal our wounded child"? or Transcend the illusion? Discuss the Intricasy's of Human... More »
We all know that sometimes is hard to be right, at least to be right in the... More »
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