﻿Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 21st, 2022 at 1:10 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
I'm personally in favour of giving Calgary to the States. Just the city. They can have a thin line of highway connecting it to the rest of America. We really don't need Calgary and they'd rather be gone themselves.

DNS said:
If that happened, then at least Ted Cruz could legally run for POTUS.

He ran for president, but wasn't even born in America, which is required by the Constitution. He was born in Calgary to an American mother and Cuban (not citizen at the time) father. It's unclear if that would count as "birth-US Citizen."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz#Citizenship

McCain was born in Panama, but that's allowed since it was on a military base to a father serving in the US Navy (an admiral at that).

Malcolm wrote:
Unfortunately:
Birthright citizenship in the United States is United States citizenship acquired by a person automatically, by operation of law. This takes place in two situations: by virtue of the person's birth within United States territory or because one or both of their parents is (or was) a US citizen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthright_citizenship_in_the_United_States


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 21st, 2022 at 1:05 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:


Caoimhghín said:
I wish we could give them free visas and dump them where they clearly want to live. Literally everyone would be happier.

Malcolm wrote:
We don't want 'em. You keep 'em. We have enough problems of our own.

Caoimhghín said:
I'm personally in favour of giving Calgary to the States.

Malcolm wrote:
They'll just be another red state sucking off the blue states for welfare karens. No thanks.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 20th, 2022 at 11:41 PM
Title: Re: Ukraine Crisis
Content:
KristenM said:
I’m sure what Malcolm is saying about Trump weakening NATO etc is correct, but it seems one big issue is gas. A lot of people are depending on that Russian pipeline.

Malcolm wrote:
A long term strategic error of the EU, especially Germany.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 20th, 2022 at 9:13 PM
Title: Re: Ukraine Crisis
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
And yes, NATO has to stand up to Putin. Crippling oligarchs is the first step to dismantling the Russian dystopia.

Könchok Thrinley said:
Yup. NATO has to stand up as Russia demands things that would influence not only Ukraine but entire eastern and central Europe. It is not just about one country.

Malcolm wrote:
Indeed.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 20th, 2022 at 8:08 PM
Title: Re: Ukraine Crisis
Content:
ManiThePainter said:
Putin has been a bad hombre for over a decade. There’s nothing new about it. He has flexed his muscles in Georgia, Syria and Crimea in the past. The only difference now is that we’re talking about a bigger slice of land.

I think that the West, despite its bluster and threats of sanctions, has already more or less accepted that Ukraine will fall to Russia. I know that many Europeans see the cultural relationship between Russia and Ukraine as being close enough to actually make it “acceptable,” even though they might not admit it. This is pretty evident in all of the shoulder-shrugging and finger-wagging going on. One only needs to remember how quickly everyone got over the annexation of Crimea.

To call this the start of a new Cold War is to draw a much sharper line between Russia and the West than what exists: Most of Russia’s upper class and oligarchs are deeply integrated into the scene in London and New York. The gas pipeline to Germany is so integral that it perfectly explains why the new German PM has been so hesitant to strongly condemn Russia. There’s no real talk of kicking Russia out of Swift, which might actually hurt. Many politicians in both North America and Europe adore Putin and will try to impede attempts to punish him. He was even invited to the former Austrian foreign minister’s wedding in 2018.

Frankly, Putin is gonna take Ukraine, harsh words will be shared, but ultimately nothing will come of it. Ukraine is neither NATO nor EU. It is absolutely outside the Western sphere.

The question isn’t whether it’ll happen or not. The question is: will Ukraine be fully annexed or will a pro-Russian puppet government be established?

KristenM said:
Excellent points.

Putin is betting on the fact that the US doesn't have the will to fight and I've heard that Putin chose this time because he believes the US is weakened now in the same way that Russia was in the 1990's. Especially after the retreat of US forces from Afghanistan, Putin has felt emboldened. I'm not blaming any particular administration, but Russia sees the US as vulnerable.

Ukraine has a strategic importance that Crimea may not have and the domino effect of Ukraine falling into Russian hands does not bode well for the EU or the US. This takeover may be more costly that what the Russians or Europe are expecting. A long, drawn-out war and refugee crisis that Europe isn't ready for, just for starters. So, the US and its allies need to put their foot down or else they are doomed to lick the proverbial boot. How they do that, I've no idea.

Malcolm wrote:
IMO, this more to do with Merkle stepping down, following Trump’s weakening of NATO.

And yes, NATO has to stand up to Putin. Crippling oligarchs is the first step to dismantling the Russian dystopia.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 20th, 2022 at 5:55 AM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Aemilius said:
According to Wisdom Library:

"In the Guna Karanda Vyuha it is written:

'When nothing else was, Sambhu was: that is the Self-Existent (svayambhu): and as he was before all, he is also called Adi-Buddha.'

The first system of Adi-Buddha was set up in Nepal  by a theistic school called Aisvarika, but was never generally adopted in Nepal or Tibet, and had practically no followers in China and Japan.

The Nepalese school supposed an Adi-Buddha infinite, omniscient, self-existing, without beginning and without end, the source and originator of all things, who by virtue of five sorts of wisdom (jnana) and by the exercise of five meditations (dhyana) evolved five Dhyani-Buddhas or Celestial Jinas called Anupapadaka, or 'without parents'.

When all was perfect void (maha-Sunyata)  the mystic syllable aum  became manifest, from which at his own will the Adi-Buddha was produced. At the creation of the world he revealed himself in the form of a flame which issued from a lotusflower, and in Nepal the Adi-Buddha is always represented by this symbol.

Svayambhu, or Adi-Buddha, was called Isvara by the Aisvarika, and Svabhava by the Svabhavika; but he was also given such special names as Vairocana, Vajrapani, Vajradhara, and Vajrasattva. In the Namasangiti (compiled before the tenth century a.d.) Manjusri, god of Transcendent Wisdom, is referred to as Adi-Buddha. "

https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/the-gods-of-northern-buddhism/d/doc4664.html

steveb1 said:
Coming late here, with an ignorant layperson's question.

To the extent any Buddhists "believe in" Adi-Buddha, do they typically align him in any way with the Mahayana Buddha Body of the Dharmakaya...? In my understanding, the Dharmakaya is not personal, is not a Creator-deity, but is an endless expression of Buddha's super-consciousness and ever-operative compassion. If that is correct, can the Dharmakaya and Adi-Buddha be considered to be functionally equivalent at some level...?

Malcolm wrote:
The commentaries on the term, of which there are many. equate adibuddha with the nature of reality.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 20th, 2022 at 12:56 AM
Title: Re: Dudjom Sangye Pema Shepa Rinpoche's parinirvana
Content:
Archie2009 said:
Rinpoche had no history of illness?

Malcolm wrote:
Not that I am aware. But I wouldn’t know anyway.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 9:36 PM
Title: Re: Dudjom Sangye Pema Shepa Rinpoche's parinirvana
Content:
Lingpupa said:
Where did this happen? Might there not be a demand for an autopsy when someone young and seemingly healthy suddenly dies? This might not go well.

Malcolm wrote:
In Tibet/China.

Autopsy unlikely.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 8:39 PM
Title: Re: Buddhism as a way of life
Content:
Ayu said:
I believe, ethical conduct is a core item for the way of life of a Buddhist.
Compassion is the base of that base.


There are "10 unwholesome deeds" defined. https://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php/10_unwholesome_actions

To avoid them is the exercise that is considered as "10 wholesome deeds".

So, if you manage to spare killing an ant, it's a wholesome deed already. The focus is not on guilt and sin. Rather  "10 wholesome deeds" are viewed as a practice. Nobody is perfect in this from the beginning. It is a steady exercise.

"Mindfulness, skillfulness, transcendence, awareness" are helpers for this task, I think. They are deepened while practicing 10 wholesome deeds.

Tennyson said:
What exactly does "wrong views" mean in this case?

Malcolm wrote:
Not observing proper relationship cause and effect, for example, believing in a creator god, or rejecting karma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 8:33 PM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:



haha said:
It is because you are searching it on wrong title.

Malcolm wrote:
I am responding to Amelius. She is the one claiming the term adibuddha comes from section four of the Karandavyūha. It is not found in that text at all. Glad you agree.

This text, the Guṇakāraṇḍavyūha, was written during the Malla era. It is quite late, so it frankly is completely irrelevant to the OP.

Aemilius said:
By the way I am a male person. The division into chapters is somewhat different in the text used by Lokesh Chandra compared with the text of Mithun Howdalar. The fourth Chapter in Lokesh Chandra is longer.  Lokesh Chandra is an established authority in the field, I am sure that the word is in the text used by him. Because he says it is there. Karanda Vyuha Sutra or The Supernal Virtues of Avalokiteshvara has the complete text in sanskrit.

I don't undestand why this issue has become so important. It is contrary to the general buddhist view of infinite past, where no beginning is found.
Adi means quite unequivocally "first", so it does give a wrong impression of a beginning in time.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, it isn’t. The term is not present in the extant Sanskrit, nor in Tibetan, nor in Chinese translations. It’s only in the Malla dynasty Nepalese summary.

Roberts addresses the Lokesh Chandra Manuscript in his intro to his translation of the original version.

Aemilius said:
The sūtra also exists in a later, longer, and more polished form, entirely in verse and incorporating passages from such texts as Śantideva’s Bodhi­sattva­caryāvatāra, which has great importance within Nepalese Buddhism. Dating to the fifteenth century, it is one of the last Sanskrit Buddhist sūtras. It has not been translated into Tibetan.

Malcolm wrote:
You should go read what he says.

The origin of the term is the Namasamgiti.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 7:30 AM
Title: Re: The moral outrage of strong karma...
Content:



wei wu wei said:
Malcolm, you've brought up earlier Sutra presentations of karma and are obviously familiar with Tibetan. Where do you land?

Malcolm wrote:
I don't worry about other people's karma. I worry about my own.

wei wu wei said:
As do I. Perhaps you'd generate some positive karma for yourself then by helping me clarify my own understanding of a pretty large and central issue in Buddhist thought.

Malcolm wrote:
Just read the karmasiddhiprakarana and chapter 4 of Abhidharmakoshabhasyam, that ought to sort you out.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 5:35 AM
Title: Re: Buddhism as a way of life
Content:
shanyin said:
What is Buddhism if considered from the point of view of a way of life?

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhism is 100% a way of life. It is a path, and there are instructions not just for view and meditation, but also for conduct.

As in life, there are many different Buddhist lifestyles, not just one.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 4:44 AM
Title: Re: Can you incarnate before dying?
Content:
Nalanda said:
How is it possible to reincarnate before even dying?

Malcolm wrote:
No.

But if you attain high realization, you can emanate 100 bodies, etc.


Nalanda said:
How do we explain Dudjom Lingpa taking a rebirth becore dying?

https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dudjom_Lingpa

"His immediate incarnation, born even before he himself passed away, was Dudjom Rinpoche."

Malcolm wrote:
He emanated. This language is not precise.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 4:36 AM
Title: Re: The moral outrage of strong karma...
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
That’s not exactly the “Tibetan view”, and there are all kinds of writings on karma across traditions, including Tibetan traditions, not all of which agree….what a surprise.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, no, not really. The Tibetan idea of karma is pretty uniform across all Tibetan traditions. Tibetans generally follow the idea stated in the Kośa that everything that happens to a person is the ripening of karma.

As stated more precisely, all pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral sensations are a result of karma. Not all events, per se.

On the other hand, more broadly the universe is created by the karma of all sentient beings, and all its diversity is a result of those actions.

wei wu wei said:
Malcolm, you've brought up earlier Sutra presentations of karma and are obviously familiar with Tibetan. Where do you land?

Malcolm wrote:
I don't worry about other people's karma. I worry about my own.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 4:17 AM
Title: Re: Can you incarnate before dying?
Content:
Nalanda said:
How is it possible to reincarnate before even dying?

Malcolm wrote:
No.

But if you attain high realization, you can emanate 100 bodies, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 2:51 AM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
Is T1050 the "Avalokiteśvaraguṇakāraṇḍavyūha" the Kāraṇḍavyūha or the "Guṇakāraṇḍavyūha?" I've generally seen T1050 and the Kāraṇḍavyūha to be considered "the same text." Is this wrong?

Malcolm wrote:
http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k1088.html

This is the same as the Basket Array posted from above.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 1:28 AM
Title: Re: The moral outrage of strong karma...
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
That’s not exactly the “Tibetan view”, and there are all kinds of writings on karma across traditions, including Tibetan traditions, not all of which agree….what a surprise.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, no, not really. The Tibetan idea of karma is pretty uniform across all Tibetan traditions. Tibetans generally follow the idea stated in the Kośa that everything that happens to a person is the ripening of karma.

As stated more precisely, all pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral sensations are a result of karma. Not all events, per se.

On the other hand, more broadly the universe is created by the karma of all sentient beings, and all its diversity is a result of those actions.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 1:13 AM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
No. Here is the complete Sanskrit:

There is no "adibuddhātma sambhuto anywhere in the fourth chapter.

haha said:
It is because you are searching it on wrong title.

Malcolm wrote:
I am responding to Amelius. She is the one claiming the term adibuddha comes from section four of the Karandavyūha. It is not found in that text at all. Glad you agree.

This text, the Guṇakāraṇḍavyūha, was written during the Malla era. It is quite late, so it frankly is completely irrelevant to the OP.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 12:58 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Nadereme said:
Well, not falsifiable from the perspective of one who isn’t awakened.

Malcolm wrote:
Its the only perspective that counts, actually.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2022 at 12:45 AM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Aemilius said:
Adibuddha is mentioned in Karandavyuha sutra, chapter 4.
"The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra is a Mantrayāna sutra that was compiled at the end of the 4th century or beginning of the 5th century CE."
It seems to be a lot earlier  scriptural reference to Adibuddha than Namasangiti.

haha said:
Indeed, you are correct, it is in forth chapter (Adhibuddhātma sambhuto).

Malcolm wrote:
No. Here is the complete Sanskrit:

There is no "adibuddhātma sambhuto anywhere in the fourth chapter.

candrādyutpattirnāma caturthaṃ prakaraṇam |



atha sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhī bhagavantametadavocat–bhagavana, adyāpi nāgacchatyavalokiteśvaro bodhisattvo mahāsattvaḥ ? bhagavānāha – anekāni kulaputra sattvakoṭiniyutaśatasahasrāṇi paripācayati | dine dine sa āgatya paripācayati | nāsti kulaputra īdṛśaṃ pratibhānaṃ tathāgatānāmapi yādṛśamāryāvalokiteśvarasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya ||



atha sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhī āha–kena prakāreṇa bhagavan ? bhagavānāha–bhūtapūrvaṃ kulaputra vipaśyī nāma tathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho loka udapādi vidyācaraṇasaṃpannaḥ sugato lokavidanuttaraḥ puruṣadamyasārathiḥ śāstā devānāṃ ca manuṣyāṇāṃ ca buddho bhagavān | tena kālena tena samayenāhaṃ sarvanīvaraṇaniṣkambhin sugandhamukho nāma vaṇikputro'bhūvam | tadā me śrutā vipaśyinastathāgatasya sakāśādāryāvalokiteśvarasya guṇodbhāvanā ||



atha sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhī bhagavantametadavocat– kīdṛśī tvayā bhagavan guṇodbhāvanā śrutā ? etāḥ sarvā pravadatām | vijñarāja bhagavan me prabodhaya, yādṛśī tvayā bhagavan guṇodbhāvanā āryāvalokiteśvarasya bodhisattvasya mahāsattvasya śrutā ||



bhagavānāha– cakṣuṣoścandrādityāvutpannau, lalāṭānmaheśvaraḥ, skandhebhyo brahmādayaḥ, hṛdayānnārāyaṇaḥ, daṃṣṭrābhyāṃ sarasvatī, mukhato vāyavo jātāḥ, dharaṇī pādābhyām, varuṇaścodarāt | yadaite devā jātā āryāvalokiteśvarasya kāyāt, athāryāvalokiteśvaro bodhisattvo mahāsattvo maheśvaraṃ devaputrametadavocat–bhaviṣyasi tvaṃ maheśvaraḥ kaliyuge pratipanne | kaṣṭasattvadhātusamutpanna ādideva ākhyāyase sraṣṭāraṃ kartāram, te sarvasattvā bodhimārgeṇa viprahīṇā bhaviṣyanti, ya īdṛśapṛthagjaneṣu sattveṣu sāṃkathyaṃ kurvanti ||



ākāśaṃ liṅgamityāhuḥ pṛthivī tasya pīṭhikā | 

ālayaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ līlayā liṅgamucyate || 1 ||



īdṛśaṃ mayā kulaputra vipaśyinastathāgatasya sakāśādāryāvalokiteśvarasya guṇodbhāvanā śrutā ||



tadapyatikramya śikhī nāma tathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho babhūva vidyācaraṇasaṃpannaḥ sugato lokavidanuttaraḥ puruṣadamyasārathiḥ śāstā devānāṃ ca manuṣyāṇāṃ ca buddho bhagavān | tena kālena tena samayenāhaṃ sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin dānaśūro nāma bodhisattvo mahāsattvo'bhūvam | tasya śikhinastathāgatasya sakāśādavalokiteśvarasya bodhisattvasya mahāsatvasya guṇodbhāvanā śrutā ||



iti candrādyutpattirnāma caturthaṃ prakaraṇam ||

http://www.dsbcproject.org/canon-text/content/42/387


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 10:53 PM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
The Sanskrit manuscript provided as an appendix lists the term ādibuddha 8 times, sometimes in the phrase ādibuddhaiḥ pracoditā, Was taught by the buddhas from the earliest times. And sometimes in the plural, ādibuddhair, primordial buddhas.

Caoimhghín said:
Seemingly, none of these English correspondences you've provided show "ādibuddha" being used in the sūtra to refer to any particular Buddha at all. Mind you, it's just two examples. I'll give the document a read to see if I see anything that changes my mind in it.

Malcolm wrote:
Correct, unlike the Namasaṃgīti, in which Mañjuśrī is clearly identified as THE ādibuddha, in this text no specific buddha is identified as the ādibuddha.

There are only eight examples of the term ādibuddha in the Sanskrit text, and its only translated two ways, buddhas from earliest time, and primordial buddhas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 10:40 PM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Aemilius said:
Adibuddha is mentioned in Karandavyuha sutra, chapter 4.
"The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra is a Mantrayāna sutra that was compiled at the end of the 4th century or beginning of the 5th century CE."
It seems to be a lot earlier  scriptural reference to Adibuddha than Namasangiti.

Malcolm wrote:
I looked, the term isn’t there.

It’s been well translated by Roberts over at 84,000 as Basket Display. Go read it. Rather than depending upon inaccurate wiki pages.


Aemilius said:
It is in the  Karanda   Vyuha Sutra or Supernal Virtues of Avalokiteshvara by Lokesh Chandra, publ P.K. Goel for Aditya Prakashan, Delhi 1999.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, we are talking about the same text. The text where the mantra oṃ manipadme hūṃ comes from.

There is just no doubt that information you have is wrong.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 10:36 PM
Title: Re: Most Important Empowerments in the Sakya Tradition
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
...each of the three inner empowerments: tummo and other prāṇāyama practices for the secret; karma mudra for the third; vajra waves for the fourth...

yagmort said:
is that a typo? i thought it is a typo initially, but maybe it is not. you talk about three empowerments and indeed have mentioned three only, but enumerate last 2 as "third" and "fourth". so is it three or four? if four what is the missing link between tummo and karmamudra?

Malcolm wrote:
There are four empowerments: one outer; three inner.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 10:14 PM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:


Caoimhghín said:
It's kind of obvious (to me at least) why there would be such an odd fudging of the content of this sūtra, namely "People want to believe in God and want the Buddha's realization tied to some sort of communion, communication, or gnosis of God." I see no other reason why we'd see so many falsified or mistaken references in otherwise relatively-well-established compendia. There is a bias at work.

Malcolm wrote:
This is the passage, the misunderstanding of which, has caused such confusion:

Bodhisattva Sarva­nīvaraṇa­viṣkambhin asked the Bhagavat, “What were the qualities of Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara that you heard the tathāgata describe?”

The Bhagavat said, “Āditya and Candra came from his eyes, Maheśvara came from his forehead, Brahmā came from his shoulders, Nārāyaṇa came from his heart, Devi Sarasvatī came from his canines, Vāyu came from his mouth, Dharaṇī came from his feet, and Varuṇa came from his stomach.

“When those deities had come from Avalokiteśvara’s body, that bhagavat told the deity Maheśvara, ‘Maheśvara, in the kaliyuga, when beings have bad natures, you will be declared to be the primal deity who is the creator, the maker. All those beings will be excluded from the path to enlightenment. They will say to ordinary beings:

“ ‘It is said: the sky is his liṅga,
The earth is his seat.
He is the foundation of all beings.
The liṅga is so called because they dissolve into it.

https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-051-004.html#UT22084-051-004-67

The Sanskrit manuscript provided as an appendix lists the term ādibuddha 8 times, sometimes in the phrase ādibuddhaiḥ pracoditā, Was taught by the buddhas from the earliest times. And sometimes in the plural, ādibuddhair, primordial buddhas. But it is never used in this text in sense of adibuddha in the Namasamgīti, and later texts. So, the Namasaṃgīti wins.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 9:42 PM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Archie2009 said:
But in advance, it's posited as a root cause of everything, no investigation necessary or tollerated. Don't agree then your anti-black™.

Malcolm wrote:
BLM’s excesses of rhetoric in no way delegitimizes the fact that White Supremacy is a major social and cultural problem in the US, harmful to civil liberties.

Archie2009 said:
I agree, though not in the sense of how I understand Critical Race Theory, Whiteness Studies, etc. define White Supremacy.

Malcolm wrote:
White supremacy means black people etc., face systematic disadvantages white people don’t


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 9:33 PM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Archie2009 said:
And BLM's mantra: "White Supremacy!"

Malcolm wrote:
Not a mantra, a legitimate complaint. Trying being black in the US.

Archie2009 said:
But in advance, it's posited as a root cause of everything, no investigation necessary or tollerated. Don't agree then your anti-black™.

Malcolm wrote:
BLM’s excesses of rhetoric in no way delegitimizes the fact that White Supremacy is a major social and cultural problem in the US, harmful to civil liberties.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 9:14 PM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:


Jesse said:
Our Future.

Malcolm wrote:
What you seem to fail to understand is that this is all just a continuation of the US civil war.

Archie2009 said:
And BLM's mantra: "White Supremacy!"

Malcolm wrote:
Not a mantra, a legitimate complaint. Trying being black in the US.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 8:18 PM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:


Jesse said:
Oh trust me, in general both sides are wrong.



Malcolm wrote:
Sure kid.

Both sides stormed the Capital. Uh huh.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 8:15 PM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Jesse said:
Look at how you are treated when attempting to defend one of their beliefs or ideals.

Malcolm wrote:
Really? Defend antisemitism? Anti-immigrant racism? Xenophobia? Christian dominionism?

We are not talking about seeing things from a conservative contra liberal point of view aka William F. Buckley v. Gore Vidal here.

Jesse said:
You are painting the entire right wing (Republican and further) as Xenophones, anti-semites, racists?

Malcolm wrote:
No, but I am saying that what passes for Republican these days is pretty much a mix of all those things in various proportions. The  Republican Party of today is not the home of Buckley style conservatives like Max Boot, David Frum, Billy Crystal and so on.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 7:29 PM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Aemilius said:
Adibuddha is mentioned in Karandavyuha sutra, chapter 4.
"The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra is a Mantrayāna sutra that was compiled at the end of the 4th century or beginning of the 5th century CE."
It seems to be a lot earlier  scriptural reference to Adibuddha than Namasangiti.

Malcolm wrote:
I looked, the term isn’t there.

It’s been well translated by Roberts over at 84,000 as Basket Display. Go read it. Rather than depending upon inaccurate wiki pages.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 11:24 AM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Jesse said:
Look at how you are treated when attempting to defend one of their beliefs or ideals.

Malcolm wrote:
Really? Defend antisemitism? Anti-immigrant racism? Xenophobia? Christian dominionism?

We are not talking about seeing things from a conservative contra liberal point of view aka William F. Buckley v. Gore Vidal here.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 8:50 AM
Title: Re: The moral outrage of strong karma...
Content:
wei wu wei said:
It's notable that Malcom's and Genjo's passages lead to entirely different and opposite conclusions--if I'm not mistaken.

Malcolm wrote:
No, they don’t actually.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 5:42 AM
Title: Re: The moral outrage of strong karma...
Content:


wei wu wei said:
How do you, presumably a Buddhist, give an account of such an event in light of karma?
2. "Master Gotama, what is the reason, what is the condition, why inferiority and superiority are met with among human beings, among mankind? For one meets with short-lived and long-lived people, sick and healthy people, ugly and beautiful people, insignificant and influential people, poor and rich people, low-born and high-born people, stupid and wise people. What is the reason, what is the condition, why superiority and inferiority are met with among human beings, among mankind?"

3. "Student, beings are owners of kammas, heirs of kammas, they have kammas as their progenitor, kammas as their kin, kammas as their homing-place. It is kammas that differentiate beings according to inferiority and superiority."

Malcolm wrote:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel248.html#shorter

wei wu wei said:
Then the brahmin youth Śuka, the son of Taudeya, asked the Bhagavān the following question: “Sir39 Gautama, there are many types of sentient beings, such as beings who have a short lifespan or a long lifespan, have many illnesses or few illnesses, are ugly or beautiful, have little power or are powerful, are highborn or lowborn, are poor or rich, are ignorant of the Dharma,40 or possess knowledge of the Dharma to a lesser or greater degree, have good or bad fortune, and so forth. How does karmic ripening lead to this diversity of beings?”41
1.­5
The Bhagavān replied, “Young brahmin, listen42 and pay careful attention to what I shall explain.43 Young brahmin, sentient beings are the owners of their actions committed in former lives;44 sentient beings have actions as their heritage, actions as their origin, actions as their individual causes; sentient beings develop through actions, young brahmin.45 [F.299.b]


Malcolm wrote:
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh339.html


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 5:18 AM
Title: Re: nol sang
Content:
pemachophel said:
There are drib-sang texts.

Malcolm wrote:
Of course. That is not what I was referring to.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 5:02 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:


Shinjin said:
True patriots of God

Malcolm wrote:
I didn't know God was a country.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 2:42 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Your own material aggregate. :HONK!:
[/quote]

I know, scary right?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 1:47 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Protestors live feed:


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 12:55 AM
Title: Re: nol sang
Content:



Toenail said:
Based on which text if I may ask?

Malcolm wrote:
sgrib bsang does not necessarily need a text, just bsang substance made according to a specific formula, and consecrated as such.

Toenail said:
Thats what I was curious about. How it is empowered. By which method. The Tendrel Mantra?

Malcolm wrote:
Not sure.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 12:32 AM
Title: Re: nol sang
Content:



pemachophel said:
If we have a public teaching or puja at our center, we dribsang everyone at the front door since we don't know everyone who's entering. The sang pot is placed by the front door and people simply walk through the smoke. We don't say anything about this. For most people, it's just "incense."

Toenail said:
Based on which text if I may ask?

Malcolm wrote:
sgrib bsang does not necessarily need a text, just bsang substance made according to a specific formula, and consecrated as such.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 18th, 2022 at 12:05 AM
Title: Re: nol sang
Content:
pemachophel said:
If we have a public teaching or puja at our center, we dribsang everyone at the front door since we don't know everyone who's entering. The sang pot is placed by the front door and people simply walk through the smoke. We don't say anything about this. For most people, it's just "incense."

Malcolm wrote:
According to one of my Tibetan Medicine teachers, Menpa Tingzin, sang, in general, comes from the ancient Tibetan nomadic custom of burning juniper by the tent door when visitors come in order to disinfect them, because juniper is antimicrobial. Splints for broken limbs are made from juniper for this reason also.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 10:28 PM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:
Archie2009 said:
Is your statement that the nature of the mind (sems nyid) has three characteristics the same as saying that the basis (gzhi) is endowed with three aspects?

Malcolm wrote:
No, not exactly. I am here just talking about the more standard new school (Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug) presentation of clarity and emptiness, what they term the kun gzhi, the all-basis.

Archie2009 said:
So sems not sems nyid.

Malcolm wrote:
sems nyid for Sakya, Kagyu, and Geluk. Not Nyingma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 10:24 PM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:
clyde said:
It’s also said that emptiness is the nature of mind and luminosity is its function.

Malcolm wrote:
Maybe in Chinese texts. I wouldn't know, as I have no skill in Chinese.

There is a bit of slippage in Tibetan texts between luminosity ('od gsal) and clarity (gsal ba), sometimes translated as cognizance. Generally the nature of the mind has three characteristics: it is empty, it is clear, and it is knowing. These characteristics are irreducible. They are also inseparable. "Clarity" in this context means that mind can receive impressions from objects without actually being affected by those impressions, like the surface of a mirror.

Archie2009 said:
Is your statement that the nature of the mind (sems nyid) has three characteristics the same as saying that the basis (gzhi) is endowed with three aspects?

Malcolm wrote:
No, not exactly. I am here just talking about the more standard new school (Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug) presentation of clarity and emptiness, what the Sakyas and Kagyus term the kun gzhi, the all-basis. The Geluks do not like that terminology. But this is off-topic for the thread...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 9:34 PM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:



Crazywisdom said:
Then why does Buddha say the mind is emptiness AND luminous, bright, soft, shining, etc...?

Malcolm wrote:
He doesn't, but sometimes translators who do not understand the meaning of terms do.

Crazywisdom said:
You'd have to prove that claim, because it seems like he says it a lot.

Malcolm wrote:
Anyone who knows Tibetan can quickly run through the synonyms of ‘od gsal in the canon. They will see this is the case. For example, not only are minds “luminous”, but all phenomena are luminous, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 12:50 AM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Aemilius said:
The widely known name Adam comes from the sumerian word Adapa, meaning "first man". The concepts that have been  used in  Buddhism in many cases existed before the teaching of Shakyamuni. Thus the word First-buddha or Adibuddha can be, for example, 10 000 or 100 000 years old.

Malcolm wrote:
Fantasy.

"First" here is metaphorical. It does not refer to a period in time.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 12:23 AM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:
clyde said:
The basic nature of mind and all phenomena is empty luminosity as taught by Zen (and Tibetan) Buddhist teachers.

Malcolm wrote:
"Luminosity" simple means the mind and phenomena are intrinsically pure. "Luminosity" is just a synonym for emptiness.

Crazywisdom said:
Then why does Buddha say the mind is emptiness AND luminous, bright, soft, shining, etc...?

Malcolm wrote:
He doesn't, but sometimes translators who do not understand the meaning of terms do.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 12:18 AM
Title: Re: Most Important Empowerments in the Sakya Tradition
Content:
yagmort said:
thank you.

never heard of "vajra waves" before. possible to explain what is it?

is there an explanation in Khecari root text as to why karmamudra is unnecessary in this system? is it substituted with a visualized consort? or there is simply no consort practice of any kind at all?

Malcolm wrote:
As for your first question, no.

There is explanation, but you need to receive the teaching.

Karmamudra practice in this system is associated with the Yab, Cakrasamvara, but not the yum, Vajrayogini. It is explained that karmamudra is not necessary for the realization of mahamudra in Yogini practice. This is probably based on the Kalacakra's rejection of karmamudra as well.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 12:14 AM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Aemilius said:
According to Wisdom Library:

"In the Guna Karanda Vyuha it is written:

'When nothing else was, Sambhu was: that is the Self-Existent (svayambhu): and as he was before all, he is also called Adi-Buddha.'


Malcolm wrote:
No, actually, it isn't written there at all. The term does not exist in this sūtra or any other.

The term adhibuddha (dang po'i sangs rgyas) either originates from the Mañjuśrīmulakalpa or the Namasaṃgiti, depending on which text one thinks was set down first.

Samantabhadra, to answer the OP's question, first shows up as a name for the dharmakāya in the Sarvatathāgatatattvasamgraha Tantra. Vajrasattva also first appears in this tantra.

Vajradhara first appears in the Susiddhikara-mahātantra-sādhanopāyika-paṭala, the root kriya tantra.

Crazywisdom said:
Do we have dates on these tantras?

Malcolm wrote:
We have the evidence of when they were translated into Tibetan and Chinese, and evidence of their development over time.

Susiddhikara-mahātantra-sādhanopāyika-paṭala was translated into Chinese in 726. The  Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṁgraha in 756. The  Mañjuśrīmulakalpa appeared in Chinese (983), and a bit later in Tibetan (1040+-). AFIK, the Nāmasaṃgīti was never translated into Chinese untl quite late, The version now in the Tibetan Kengyur was translated into Tibetan by RInchen Zangpo, but there exists a commentary attributed Vimalamitra with all the root verses, in a translation attributed to Nyak Jñānakumara. Davidson thinks it may have been composed around 700 CE. It is a work listed in the Ldan dkar catalogue. There is a Snying ma rgyud 'bum translation that differs from the one in the Kengyur. It is also found in Dunhuang. Anthony Tribe summarizes the scholarship on Namasaṃgīti here:

https://www.academia.edu/34621199/_Ma%C3%B1ju%C5%9Br%C4%ABn%C4%81masa%E1%B9%83g%C4%ABti._In_Brills_Encyclopedia_of_Buddhism_Volume_One_Literature_and_Languages_edited_by_Jonathan_Silk_Oskar_von_Hin%C3%BCber_and_Vincent_Eltschinger_353_59._Leiden_Brill_2015.

In any case, I would elect this as the likely source of the term "adibuddha."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 11:15 PM
Title: Re: Most Important Empowerments in the Sakya Tradition
Content:
yagmort said:
so Lamdre completion stage is tummo?
do they only practice tummo or there are other yogas involved akin to 6 dharmasa of Naropa set?

what about Khecari's completion stage?

Malcolm wrote:
Lamdre has a completion stage with signs for each of the three inner empowerments: tummo and other prāṇāyama practices for the secret; karma mudra for the third; vajra waves for the fourth. It also has a dream yoga, luminosity yoga, etc., like the Naro chos drug system.

Yogini's completion stage with signs is also tummo, and some ancillary practices, such as mental recitation, etc. Karma mudra is unnecessary in this system.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 11:11 PM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Aemilius said:
According to Wisdom Library:

"In the Guna Karanda Vyuha it is written:

'When nothing else was, Sambhu was: that is the Self-Existent (svayambhu): and as he was before all, he is also called Adi-Buddha.'


Malcolm wrote:
No, actually, it isn't written there at all. The term does not exist in this sūtra or any other.

The term adhibuddha (dang po'i sangs rgyas) either originates from the Mañjuśrīmulakalpa or the Namasaṃgiti, depending on which text one thinks was set down first.

Samantabhadra, to answer the OP's question, first shows up as a name for the dharmakāya in the Sarvatathāgatatattvasamgraha Tantra. Vajrasattva also first appears in this tantra.

Vajradhara first appears in the Susiddhikara-mahātantra-sādhanopāyika-paṭala, the root kriya tantra.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 10:06 PM
Title: Re: Most Important Empowerments in the Sakya Tradition
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
Apart from Lamdre, Naropa’s Khecari is the most important set of instructions in Sakya. .

yagmort said:
what are the completion stages of both Lamdre and Khecari, respectively?
from what i understand Lamdre is based on Hevajra - do sakyapas practice tummo?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 9:01 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


Toenail said:
There have always been Corona viruses. This does not prove that the Chinese had not experimented on this kind of virus.


Malcolm wrote:
It considerably reduces the probability that it came from a lab in China.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 8:57 PM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Minobu said:
Your usage is modern take on it.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it’s the original usage from the 19th century.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 7:00 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Shotenzenjin said:
Don't just post a video. Share your thoughts on it

Shinjin said:
Just trying to keep the conversation balanced. I like to hear from both sides.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 6:55 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Hilarious twitter thread about the collapse of the protests in Canada:



My favorite line so far:
“None of us know how to use that goddamn bitcoin,” says one guy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 5:36 AM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:
clyde said:
It’s also said that emptiness is the nature of mind and luminosity is its function.

Malcolm wrote:
Maybe in Chinese texts. I wouldn't know, as I have no skill in Chinese.

There is a bit of slippage in Tibetan texts between luminosity ('od gsal) and clarity (gsal ba), sometimes translated as cognizance. Generally the nature of the mind has three characteristics: it is empty, it is clear, and it is knowing. These characteristics are irreducible. They are also inseparable. "Clarity" in this context means that mind can receive impressions from objects without actually being affected by those impressions, like the surface of a mirror.

Nicholas2727 said:
I remember hearing somewhere that the luminosity in "empty luminosity" had to do with what you are describing as clarity. The ability to reflect or "light up" impressions (probably not the best word here) but not be affected by them due to its emptiness. Is this incorrect? Since you previously stated that luminosity is another way of saying empty, just wanting to check

Malcolm wrote:
There is some problematical slippage in these terms in Tibetan across lineages. So it is best to be very specific.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 5:12 AM
Title: Emptiness vs Clarity using Tibetan terminology (was Sudden Awakening 101)
Content:
clyde said:
It’s also said that emptiness is the nature of mind and luminosity is its function.

Malcolm wrote:
Maybe in Chinese texts. I wouldn't know, as I have no skill in Chinese.

There is a bit of slippage in Tibetan texts between luminosity ('od gsal) and clarity (gsal ba), sometimes translated as cognizance. Generally the nature of the mind has three characteristics: it is empty, it is clear, and it is knowing. These characteristics are irreducible. They are also inseparable. "Clarity" in this context means that mind can receive impressions from objects without actually being affected by those impressions, like the surface of a mirror.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 4:54 AM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:
clyde said:
And “intrinsically pure” is just a synonym for emptiness.

Malcolm wrote:
Correct. People mistake "luminosity" as if it were something like light. In this context, it isn't. The Sanskrit term is prabhāsvara/ābhāsvara. It is also adjective describing the audibility of bodhisattva's voice, for example.

The most famous line from the PP Sūtras is, "There is no mind in the mind; the original nature (prakṛti) of the mind is luminous."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 3:53 AM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:
clyde said:
The basic nature of mind and all phenomena is empty luminosity as taught by Zen (and Tibetan) Buddhist teachers.

Malcolm wrote:
"Luminosity" simple means the mind and phenomena are intrinsically pure. "Luminosity" is just a synonym for emptiness.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 3:47 AM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:


Ted Biringer said:
If you read the actual post rather than misrepresentations attributed to me it should be clear that I did not posit a “permanent knower.”

Malcolm wrote:
Sure you did.

Ted Biringer said:
I, in harmony with the classic Buddhist records, did and do recognize that “mind” (in context of “mind is Buddha”) is beginningless and endless.

Malcolm wrote:
Not as an integral entity (The Srenika Heresy xabir was referring to).

The continuum of mind has no beginning or end, but that continuum is constituted of moments that perish as soon as they arise. Thus the mind is constituted of parts, and apart from this mind, there is no other mind to be found. Not even the Buddha found some other mind outside the impermanent aggregate of consciousness.

Ted Biringer said:
Malcolm wrote: The "normal mind" is the aggregate of consciousness. It is impermanent and it changes constantly. There is no "awareness" or "mind" that is separate from the aggregate of consciousness.
Again, as I have made perfectly clear in my posts, I am using “mind” as it is used by the Zen masters in the sense of “mind is Buddha” – not as the aggregate consciousness,  This “mind” is intrinsically free from change, and the aggregates you refer to, along with all other thoughts and things (dharmas) are actually manifestations of this essential mind.

Malcolm wrote:
Then your "normal mind" falls into the extreme of permanence, since according to you it is a) not momentary and b) it is unchanging. An unchanging entity cannot produce anything, since an unchanging entity is uncompounded.

You are here claiming that there is an uncompounded agent (awareness, normal mind) that produces compounded things. Moreover, you claim this uncompounded agent is the "buddha." This is exactly why Astus is faulting your words.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 2:49 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Queequeg said:
Dear Canadians,

Sorry for the infection.

Sincerely,

Your neighbors

Malcolm wrote:
It's their fault, they should have worn a condom.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 2:26 AM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:
Ted Biringer said:
. To recognize that objects of mind (phenomena, forms, dharmas) arise and cease endlessly, while mind itself neither arises nor ceases is not to deny the reality (Buddha-nature) of such objects – just the opposite in fact. It is, in truth, the very coming and going of all transient forms that allows us to awaken to that which is ever and always free from coming and going. I

xabir said:
What you are describing is the Shrenika false view of eternalism which Dogen refuted.

Ted Biringer said:
Dear xabir,
I am very familiar with Dogen's work and with the Shrenika view. If you read my actual posts (and not just the misrepresentations attributed to me) you will see that I am definitely not advocating the Shrenika view - or any other form of dualism.
Please be more circumspect with your claims about what I may or may not be advocating in the future.
Thank you,
Ted


Malcolm wrote:
People only have your words to go on. Astus is quite right to fault your words, which posit a permanent knower. You made two mutually contradictory statements:
Moreover, “the mind” that “is Buddha”...is the normal mind as it is.
And:
Objects of mind come and go in an endless stream, contents of awareness arise and cease – mind or awareness is the unchanging realm in which objects come and go, the immutable dimension wherein the contents of awareness arise and cease.
The "normal mind" is the aggregate of consciousness. It is impermanent and it changes constantly. There is no "awareness" or "mind" that is separate from the aggregate of consciousness.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 1:40 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:



Minobu said:
These morons don't rate  bourgeoisie .

Malcolm wrote:
petite bourgeoisie: : the lower middle class including especially small shopkeepers and artisans.

Truckers fit right in here.

Minobu said:
I was just pointing out that being Bourgeoisie is all about their attitude. They crave to be part of the upper class and try to emulate themselves as such.

Malcolm wrote:
There are the bourgeoisie, the upper middle class, and the petite bourgeoisie, the lower middle class.

If you own a 100,000K truck, you are not working class.

The working class generally works for wages in businesses they do not own, and have very little discretionary income.

The line between the petite bourgeoisie and the working class is fuzzy, especially in the mind of the petite bourgeoisie, who often self-identify as working class, even though they are actually small business owners, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 1:16 AM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
"Canadian" is all about being "not American."

For instance, IMO, Canadians are not traditionally loudly "proud to be" Canadian. There are a few like that, but everyone kind of looks at them like idiots because everyone in the room is Canadian and who are they trying to impress? Instead, we're quietly "smug about being" Canadian.

Malcolm wrote:
I thought you were from America originally.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 12:26 AM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
It's in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Malcolm wrote:
I may have overstated the case.

But in Canada, freedom of speech is not as robust as in the US. One of the chief differences is whether hate speech can be outlawed. Canada, yes; US, no.

A rather long read:

https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4120&context=lcp


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 10:58 PM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-police-response-protests-spotlight-after-key-bridge-us-cleared-2022-02-14/
OTTAWA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to activate emergency powers in an effort to end protests that have shut some border crossings and paralyzed downtown Ottawa, sources said on Monday.

Nemo said:
55% of donors are from the US and their stated goal is overthrowing the democratically elected government.

Malcolm wrote:
Yup.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 10:36 PM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
It's just a segment of the petite bourgeoisie trying to usher in another Fascist moment in history, just as they did in Italy, Germany, and Vichy France, etc. They did not succeed with Trump, but they are still mad.

Minobu said:
These morons don't rate  bourgeoisie .

Malcolm wrote:
petite bourgeoisie: : the lower middle class including especially small shopkeepers and artisans.

Truckers fit right in here.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 9:45 PM
Title: “Russian” Flu, 1889
Content:
Unknown said:
In May 1889, people living in Bukhara, a city that was then part of the Russian Empire, began sickening and dying. The respiratory virus that killed them became known as the Russian flu. It swept the world, overwhelming hospitals and killing the old with special ferocity.

Schools and factories were forced to close because so many students and workers were sick. Some of the infected described an odd symptom: a loss of smell and taste. And some of those who recovered reported a lingering exhaustion.

Malcolm wrote:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/health/russian-flu-coronavirus.html


So, not from a lab…


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 9:27 PM
Title: Re: Sudden Awakening 101
Content:


Astus said:
That looks very much like a duality of a permanent awareness and impermanent objects. Then how is such an awareness not independent?
see that while things (objects of mind) appear to come and go the essence of mind is intrinsically free from change.
An unchanging subject, isn't that what is called a self?

Malcolm wrote:
It’s a purusha, and Ted is basically advocating a kind crypto-Samkhya.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 9:18 PM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Jesse said:
They are not, and the moment this alliance is no longer in the interest of democrats, everyone further left than democrat will be facing the exact same de-platforming, and censorship that conservatives currently are.

Malcolm wrote:
Nonsense. Truly complete and utter nonsense.

Jesse said:
it's not as if they'd go so far as to declare martial law to silence the free speech of people or something.. Oh Wait...

It really speaks to just how far they are willing to go to silence people who they disagree with. Martial law for a couple hundred people, after the police already cleared the bridges, and now they are announcing the canadian government has the broad authority to seize cryptocurrency accounts. That should go down well in crypto land.

I'm going to go watch democracies around the world curl up in terror for the day.

Malcolm wrote:
Canada does not have free speech written into their constitution.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 12:15 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
Unknown said:
In May 1889, people living in Bukhara, a city that was then part of the Russian Empire, began sickening and dying. The respiratory virus that killed them became known as the Russian flu. It swept the world, overwhelming hospitals and killing the old with special ferocity.

Schools and factories were forced to close because so many students and workers were sick. Some of the infected described an odd symptom: a loss of smell and taste. And some of those who recovered reported a lingering exhaustion.

Malcolm wrote:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/health/russian-flu-coronavirus.html


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 10:59 AM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Nalanda said:
I know these are in the tantric texts but have you come across from the academic perspective how these ideas come about and developed over time?

Javierfv1212 said:
I would look into scholarship which talks about texts like the Tattvasaṃgraha and Mahavairocana Tantras, these are considered by modern scholars some of the earliest full fledged Buddhist tantras.

Zhen Li said:
I think Ādibuddha might be a Kālacakra development, but I am not sure. I don't recall it being mentioned in those texts...

Malcolm wrote:
The term is probably,y first found in the Namasamgiti.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 5:54 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-police-response-protests-spotlight-after-key-bridge-us-cleared-2022-02-14/

Unknown said:
OTTAWA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to activate emergency powers in an effort to end protests that have shut some border crossings and paralyzed downtown Ottawa, sources said on Monday.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 at 3:54 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:


Nemo said:
Every thing he says is a lie.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, of course. It's Tucker Carlson.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 14th, 2022 at 8:11 PM
Title: Re: 84000: The Sūtra on Transmigration Through Existences (Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra) & Some Questions
Content:
Aemilius said:
"All words are true, because all words are false", says Mañjushri in Edward Conze's Buddhist Texts Through the Ages. I think you know the meaning.

identity
noun

The condition of being a certain person or thing.The set of characteristics by which a person or thing is definitively recognizable or known.The awareness that an individual or group has of being a distinct, persisting entity.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Malcolm wrote:
All identity is imputed. Things don’t possess identity.

Aemilius said:
Experientally speaking, alcohol has the identity of being alcohol and water has the identity of being water.

Malcolm wrote:
Not from their own side.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 14th, 2022 at 11:23 AM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Jesse said:
They are not, and the moment this alliance is no longer in the interest of democrats, everyone further left than democrat will be facing the exact same de-platforming, and censorship that conservatives currently are.

Malcolm wrote:
Nonsense. Truly complete and utter nonsense.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 14th, 2022 at 6:35 AM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Jesse said:
CNN is falling on hard times at the moment as well, they have lost a majority of their viewership.

Malcolm wrote:
Let's see:
On the positive side for CNN, there was some month-to-month viewership growth. CNN grew +4% in total primetime viewers—and +9% in the primetime demo from what was a particularly rough Dec. 2021. In total day, however, CNN did fall -1% in total viewers and held steady among adults 25-54.
https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/jan-22-ratings-cnn-is-among-cables-top-10-networks-but-struggles-at-9-pm-and-sees-year-over-year-declines/499572/

You might want to fact check your statements.

Jesse said:
The information you are posting are percentages.

Malcolm wrote:
And you are just talking about 9 PM.

Jesse said:
However, CNN is struggling in the key weekday 9 p.m. hour (posting its lowest delivery since July 2015) and has been delivering Nielsen ratings not seen since before Trump took office. CNN posted especially poor ratings relative to Jan. 2021. The network shed -77% in total primetime viewers, -82% in adults 25-54 during primetime, -74% in total day viewers and -81% in adults 25-54 across total day vs. what the network averaged in those measurements in Jan. 2021.

Malcolm wrote:
But this is all to be expected. Less people are watching news because there is less news to watch, thank goodness.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 14th, 2022 at 5:58 AM
Title: Re: Google's quest to control the destiny of humanity, without humanity's consent.
Content:
Jesse said:
CNN is falling on hard times at the moment as well, they have lost a majority of their viewership.

Malcolm wrote:
Let's see:
On the positive side for CNN, there was some month-to-month viewership growth. CNN grew +4% in total primetime viewers—and +9% in the primetime demo from what was a particularly rough Dec. 2021. In total day, however, CNN did fall -1% in total viewers and held steady among adults 25-54.
https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/jan-22-ratings-cnn-is-among-cables-top-10-networks-but-struggles-at-9-pm-and-sees-year-over-year-declines/499572/

You might want to fact check your statements.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 14th, 2022 at 2:26 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Queequeg said:
. Is it coincidence that the sabres are rattling again as the living memories of WWII have largely blinked out?

Malcolm wrote:
The sabres are rattling because people forgot the 1930's, the lead up to WWII. Remember, this is just the followup to Crimea (, equivalent to the militarization of the Rhineland, 1936), now we are at the equivalent of 1938, the Sudetenland Crisis. The German gvt. is behaving like Chamberlain.

If NATO backs down, there will be more Russian incursions into the former Soviet sphere of influence. As it stands, there is also Transnistria in Moldavia, on Ukraine's southwestern border, where Russian troops are stationed.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 14th, 2022 at 12:59 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:



Queequeg said:
I think that about sums up the situation across the West with the reactionary right finding a kindred spirit in Putin and the rest of us still thinking we're all playing by the same civil rules.

I think in the US, we still have a ways to go, but, things are not augering well.

Malcolm wrote:
The thing is, the kindred spirit of the right in western countries in the 1930s was Mussolini, then Hitler.

Everyone thought we were playing by the same rules then too.

Biden understands that this is not the case, and this is why he has tied NATO tightly together to oppose Putin, and rightfully so.

In the 1930's it was the Axis powers. Now it is Russia, China, and Iran. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

If this were Trump and Putin, this is now the conversation would:

Putin: We get Ukraine, you get Florida.
Trump: Sounds like a great deal, my people will love it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 14th, 2022 at 12:24 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
It's just a segment of the petite bourgeoisie trying to usher in another Fascist moment in history, just as they did in Italy, Germany, and Vichy France, etc. They did not succeed with Trump, but they are still mad.


Queequeg said:
As a final follow up - Dan, I hear what you are saying. I'm afraid the people who are planting their feet and refusing to vaccinate or take any steps to mitigate spread of COVID are too far gone to have a discussion with. Its an ideological stance at this point associated with the reactionary right. This crowd, at least here in the US and apparently in Canada also, is not interested in working these issues out together. They have demonstrated in words and deeds for long enough that there is no good will desire to work out some consensus. They are, as you can see, opting for intimidation and coercion - whether its storming the Capitol Building to disrupt the proceedings of our Congress or choking strategic border crossings, or shouting down local school board members and threatening the safety for doing the jobs they were democratically elected to do.

As you have demonstrated yourself, you yourself are not capable of carrying your empathetic listening to its end.

Sure, it would be great if these people had not taken a turn down a world view that brought them to this place adorned with lies, falsehoods and denial of science. That ship sailed for most of these people years ago. Instead, they've been filling their heads with toxic conservative media for years. I'm not sure you really understand this.

Listening empathetically is a nice platitude that I agree with in principle. In reality, there is no point. These are grown men who if they are sincere in wanting to help us all should find their place at the table and accept that for our democracies to work, there needs to be a commitment to the underlying principle of democratic norms. They're not there.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 13th, 2022 at 11:07 PM
Title: Re: 84000: The Sūtra on Transmigration Through Existences (Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra) & Some Questions
Content:
Leo Rivers said:
I have been both impressed and humbled by the level of this conversation.

But then I wonder if we don't need to step back.

Recall the distinction of "true aspectarian" and "false aspectarian".

If we review tha statements of Buddhist thinkers over the centuries between the Pali texts and first Tibetan translations isn't it risking ananchronism to treat all those diverse and changing landscapes of language as if the same words meant the same thing?

The way the word "identity" has been dicuscussed here demonstrates this.

Anyway, Beer and hot wings to everybody!  Have a happy Valentinius day.

Malcolm wrote:
Even true aspectsarian yogacarins don’t believe that phenomena have integral identities…


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 13th, 2022 at 7:02 PM
Title: Re: 84000: The Sūtra on Transmigration Through Existences (Bhava­saṅkrānti­sūtra) & Some Questions
Content:
Aemilius said:
"All words are true, because all words are false", says Mañjushri in Edward Conze's Buddhist Texts Through the Ages. I think you know the meaning.

identity
noun

The condition of being a certain person or thing.The set of characteristics by which a person or thing is definitively recognizable or known.The awareness that an individual or group has of being a distinct, persisting entity.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Malcolm wrote:
All identity is imputed. Things don’t possess identity.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 13th, 2022 at 4:55 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Dan74 said:
Matt, you drew me into this exchange.

Malcolm wrote:
Take some responsibility for your own actions, man. No one drew you into anything.

Dan74 said:
Yep, you're right and that will mean not participating in any more political threads.

Malcolm wrote:
Politics, by its very nature, is an exercise in misery.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 13th, 2022 at 3:45 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Dan74 said:
Matt, you drew me into this exchange.

Malcolm wrote:
Take some responsibility for your own actions, man. No one drew you into anything.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 13th, 2022 at 2:39 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Ayu said:
Okay, I'm sorry. The US stubbornness and ignorance about healthcare makes me quite angry. I think, I don't want to discuss it further, because I can't solve that problem anyway.

Malcolm wrote:
As we used to say in the Nixon days:


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 13th, 2022 at 1:35 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Shinjin said:
It will defininitely be his fault since he has the power to stop it.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, no he does not, unless you think it is a good idea for Europe to capitulate to Putin. Do you? Biden has pulled NATO back together. I personally think this is a good thing. I don't like fascists and Putin is a fascist. Democracies have to stand up to fascist bullies.


Shinjin said:
Military wise a very weak president. Look how he handled the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Malcolm wrote:
Afghanistan wasn't Biden's fault, and everyone who understands the history of the conflict and the extent to which Trump critically weakened US forces there in 2020 knows it. You recall that the Afghanistan Gvt. was left out of the negotiations with the Trump administration?

For those with short memories:



https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/30/us-generals-say-afghanistan-collapse-rooted-in-trump-taliban-deal


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 13th, 2022 at 1:21 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Svalaksana said:
That won't happen for sure. Putin may be a power-hungry authoritarian with an expansionist mindset, but he's not stupid nor reckless.

Malcolm wrote:
We shall see. He wants clear passage over the overland route to the Russian Navel base in Crimea, either through taking over the contested Donbas region, where he has been sponsoring a proxy war since 2014, or through forcing Ukraine to accept the terms of MINSK II, or something like it. Failing this power move, he either backs down, which I think is very unlikely, or he goes in, which is more likely.

Naturally, everyone will think its Biden's fault.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 12th, 2022 at 10:54 PM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:



Queequeg said:
No, D. This is a question for YOU. Where do YOU draw the line?

Malcolm wrote:
Dan has no stake in the game. He is in Switzerland. He is just a passive observer of this mess.

Soon, of course, there will another mess to contend with: Putin invading Ukraine.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 12th, 2022 at 7:16 AM
Title: Re: Averting Astrological Obstacles (Sok, Wang, Lungta, etc)
Content:
reiun said:
Then Tibetan Astrology is predictive of potential karma only?

Malcolm wrote:
No, it’s predicative of the how the elements change in the seasons, since everything is subject to impermanence and change in the elements. One can do these calculations for buildings,etc as well.

But karma always trumps calculation,


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 12th, 2022 at 6:24 AM
Title: Re: Averting Astrological Obstacles (Sok, Wang, Lungta, etc)
Content:
reiun said:
Just to clarify: Tibetan Buddhists believe that Tibetan Astrology is predictive of actual karma?

Malcolm wrote:
No.

It is basically a older version of five element calculation that comes from China. Rather than being based on the Indian elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space, it is based on the five phases of the Chinese system: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, and the mother/son/enemy/friend relationship between these five. These five are mapped over the cycle of twelve years, beginning with the rat year and entering with the ox year, making for a sixty year cycle. Also the months, days, and hours are similarly divided. It also includes the magic square of saturn (mewa), and the eight trigrams, called parkha in Tibetan in its calculations.

It is used as a kind of almanac, a general way of knowing what are good days and bad, and so on, whether a year has a positive outlook for one or negative, and if negative, what kind of rites one needs to use to repel them. It has a broad use in Tibetan culture.

Myth has it that it was taught by Manjushri to Confucius, and it was then brought to Tibet. Like the I ching trigams and hexagrams, a tortoise figures largely in its origins. The various legends it has about the origins of the trigrams, etc., and the cosmic tortoise itself are very entertaining.

But no one believes it trumps karma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 12th, 2022 at 3:19 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


Johnny Dangerous said:
It kind of blows me away that this is a  radical notion in some quarters …humans have lived with more severe diseases than this throughout most of our history, and usually some sense of “ normality”, however fleeting; is one of the things that got them through it.

Malcolm wrote:
In the past, there was less health care overall, so there was less of a healthcare system to disrupt, and hence less cost, since we just let people die in those days.

Our economies are more delicate, intricate, and more easily disrupted.

That said, millions more would have died from this, but for vaccines, masking, and so on.

Johnny Dangerous said:
but we need to develop a better sense of social resilience.

Malcolm wrote:
That will only happen with a global public health system that works. We can expect more of these kinds of issues. Remember, this is SARS 2. If you think there won't be a SARS 3, well...

Johnny Dangerous said:
Again, coronviruses (most viruses I think) don’t typically evolve into deadly superbugs. Anything is possible of course, and yes there will always be new variants, other viruses, etc. That actually speaks to my point of not living in permanent emergency mode, rather than against it.

As to the delicate economic structures, same thing. While we could argue masks, distancing and -especially- vaccination  (vaccine have been way more effective than the other two, IMO) have been protective of the economy, lockdowns, restriction on movement, etc. have not.

Malcolm wrote:
When this bug hit, people were literally dropping dead in the streets in China. Then there was years of political sabotage from the right (which is still going on).

Johnny Dangerous said:
About 50% of Covid policy has been theatre

Malcolm wrote:
Most of the theater has been right wing theater, IMO.

Johnny Dangerous said:
In the future, given the collateral damage, civil unrest, and economic damage they caused or contributed to,  I do not see most democratic governments being as quick with lockdowns and restrictions, that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned.

Malcolm wrote:
That's what happens when a man like Trump is let near an executive office.

Our health care system is still being stressed.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 12th, 2022 at 2:45 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


Johnny Dangerous said:
It kind of blows me away that this is a  radical notion in some quarters …humans have lived with more severe diseases than this throughout most of our history, and usually some sense of “ normality”, however fleeting; is one of the things that got them through it.

Malcolm wrote:
In the past, there was less health care overall, so there was less of a healthcare system to disrupt, and hence less cost, since we just let people die in those days.

Our economies are more delicate, intricate, and more easily disrupted.

That said, millions more would have died from this, but for vaccines, masking, and so on.

Johnny Dangerous said:
but we need to develop a better sense of social resilience.

Malcolm wrote:
That will only happen with a global public health system that works. We can expect more of these kinds of issues. Remember, this is SARS 2. If you think there won't be a SARS 3, well...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 9:14 PM
Title: Re: Was the monastic tradition/lineage established in Japanese Buddhism??
Content:
Zhen Li said:
the Age of Dharma Decline

Malcolm wrote:
One of the things I’ve recently come to appreciate is Dogen’s resistance to mappo ideology.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 8:57 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
Queequeg said:
Hopefully nothing.

Malcolm wrote:
Don’t bet on it. New variant, more lockdowns by July. Maybe not as widespread.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 6:50 AM
Title: Re: Persons whose hands have been cut off
Content:
Zhen Li said:
Again, Vinaya is not where you learn the Dharma—it's a historical and anthropological fossil. This may sound harsh but, if you are not a monk or academic you are wasting your time reading it, and even monks these days don't read or know it.

Malcolm wrote:
There is much agamic material in the Vinaya Vastu. It needs to be read and studied, and screw what some old monk thought about making it hands off for lay people.

For example, the Bhaisajya vastu is pretty interesting.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 6:43 AM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:


Nalanda said:
Now, let's suppose we have all these teachings/tools on a table. Tantra, Vippassana, Dzogchen, Meditation, Boddhicita, Compassion, Devotion. Now let's say they are all effective and can lead someone to enlightenment.

Malcolm wrote:
There is no such thing as "enlightenment."

There is bodhi.

What is bodhi? Realizing there is no self in persons and no identity in phenomena. This results in freedom from clinging and burns afflictions.

What is buddhahood? Omniscience about everything that has to do with realizing bodhi.

That's it. There are many different approaches to this elephant. Most of our discussions are well represented by the six blind men who each insist only they have the right part of the animal.

Drenched with the trunk,
pissed and shit upon near the tail,
crushed by the side,
stepped on with the foot,
brushed off with the ear,
impaled on the tusk—
the six blind men
can't ride the elephant.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 5:07 AM
Title: Re: Is kensho stream entry?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
The four kinds of āryas are defined on the basis of the fetters they have dropped. To say one is stream entrant in a Mahāyāna context is to claim to be a first stage bodhisattva.

Astus said:
In light of the fetters here's a classic story:

"there was a fourteen year old novice called Daoxin (Faith in the Way) who came to pay his respects to the Third Patriarch, saying, ‘Would that the Venerable Monk’s compassion allow me to beg for the Dharma gate of Liberation.’
The master replied, ‘Who binds you?’
‘No one,’ responded Daoxin.
‘Why seek liberation then?’ asked Sengcan.
On hearing this [Dao] Xin had a great awakening."
(Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, vol 1, 3.40)

Malcolm wrote:
Good story.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 4:00 AM
Title: Re: Do I need transmission, empowerment, lung, requirements, etc to read Tantric texts?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Are all tantric texts not to be read without the necessary requirements/pre-requisites?

How about specifically these:

Abhisambodhi Tantra
Sarvatathāgatatattvasamgraha Tantra
Mahāvairocana-abhisaṃBodhi-tantra
Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra

Malcolm wrote:
You need to have empowerment for all. There are no exceptions.

You need to understand this point: all tantric teachings are connected with transmission. Without transmission it is like trying to use an appliance without electricity. If you have received an anuttarayoga tantra empowerment, you are then permitted to read tantras. But even then, you should only do so under the guidance of a teacher. This is the tradition. Of course, no one can see what you do in your house. But this is the proper way.

To read Dzogchen texts you need Dzogchen empowerments. General anuttara empowerments like Hevajra, etc., are not sufficient because the path is different.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 3:55 AM
Title: Re: Single Stage:Ekabhumi
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
A commentary on the Soaring Garuda, one of the five lungs brought to Tibet by Vairocana:

In order to demonstrate the deviations of the stages:

Even relying on the tenth bhumi is an obstruction to awakening. 

Seeking that relies on the path method of the tenth bhumi of the causal bodhisattvas and the wish to attain by relying on the tenth stage of outer, inner and secret secret mantra are unable to see the place that is free from being traversed. 

The extremely rapid wisdom is free from all thoughts.

That being the case, because the self-originated wisdom, the basis of everything, is free from gradual progression, it is more rapid because of emphasizing nonprogression through mere seeing. Since that is free from all goal-oriented apprehension of objects and apprehending subjects, it is very special because there is no obscuration to purify.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 3:55 AM
Title: Re: Single Stage:Ekabhumi
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
duplicate


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 3:12 AM
Title: Re: Origin & Development of Adi-Buddha, Vajradhara, Vajrasattva, and Samantabhadra?
Content:
Nalanda said:
I know these are in the tantric texts but have you come across from the academic perspective how these ideas come about and developed over time?

Malcolm wrote:
You should subscribe to Academia.edu. There are thousands of Buddhist papers that will answer all your questions, and create thousands more.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 3:01 AM
Title: Re: Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche online reading transmission of the 17 Dzogchen Tantras
Content:
Nalanda said:
Is this the one?
http://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Seventeen_tantras

And it will take 3 days long, full days to listen/hear this read from start to finish?

Malcolm wrote:
Four days.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 2:04 AM
Title: Re: Formless shamatha + shamatha w/o object
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Nonmeditation means that one has reached a stage of practice where there is no distinction between equipoise and post-equipoise, buddhahood, basically.

Damchö_Dorje said:
Hi again. So with the four yogas in Mahamudra, is the last understood to be what you're discussing here (the result, buddhahood)? If so, that's very intriguing: I hadn't realized that those yogas were understood as progressive stages and considered attainments.

Malcolm wrote:
In Mahāmudra, yes, they are progressive.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 1:07 AM
Title: Re: Is kensho stream entry?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Mahāyāna also has stream entry. It’s called the path of seeing. Mahāyāna has once-returners, 7th stage bodhisattvas, never-returners, eighth on up, and arhats, aka samyaksambuddhas.

Astus said:
Do you know if anyone actually called them so? I have not found such a definition for stream entry (入流, 預流, 須陀洹) in the https://www2.buddhistdoor.net/dictionary/.
Which are the same fetters abandoned on the Mahayana path of seeing.
But, as you noted in another thread, a first stage bodhisattva can still break even basic precepts, unlike a stream enterer.

Malcolm wrote:
A first stage bodhisattva cannot actually break even basic precepts. They can appear to break basic precepts, but they will only do so if indeed there is reason to benefit another sentient being. One late, famous master of recent vintage used this doctrine to explain his sexual relationships with his women students while maintaining he was nevertheless still fully ordained.

Also, Introduction to the Middle Way (Shambhala), ch. 1, verse 6, line 2 (pg. 60):

Three fetters they have utterly forsworn.

Compare with Abhidharmakośabhaṣya 5:41cd-45

The four kinds of āryas are defined on the basis of the fetters they have dropped. To say one is stream entrant in a Mahāyāna context is to claim to be a first stage bodhisattva.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 11th, 2022 at 12:08 AM
Title: Re: Single Stage:Ekabhumi
Content:
Sādhaka said:
How does this line up with Yongdzin Rinpoche (and someone also  mentioned on this forum that Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche agrees with the Yongdzin on this point) talking about making sure that Dzogchen is not conflated with the Dzogchenpa?

Malcolm wrote:
It lines up perfectly. If someone thinks they are progressing from somewhere to somewhere, they deviate.

In any case, the point is that there is only one stage in Dzogchen. The practitioner of Dzogchen’s job is to realize this. Dzogchen is neither a gradual path nor a sudden path, since even “sudden” implies going from here to there.

Giovanni said:
This is the pure stream. But sometimes we draw back.

Malcolm wrote:
This is why we spend so much time learning about the meaning of the basis, aka primordial state and then how delusion occurs. The Dzogchen point of view is that without understanding the process of delusion, one cannot be free of it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 11:32 PM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:


Shinjin said:
It depends in what grade one is born into. High grade birth is instant buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it isn’t. And this is the problem: everyone claims their own path is the best, fastest, etc. but it’s not a race, and everyone has to work out their own path to their own satisfaction. But the one thing necessary in all is a teacher, a spiritual friend.

Shinjin said:
Yes, let's not repeat the same discussion we had over at the other thread. Everyone determines a path according to their own karmic dispositions. Mine happens to be JSS but I always like to keep an open mind.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, and even if the Buddha were sitting in front of us telling us in a group what the most effective teaching was, we would all hear something completely different.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 11:06 PM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:
Shinjin said:
It depends in what grade one is born into. High grade birth is instant buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it isn’t.

PadmaVonSamba said:
What is “High grade birth”?

Malcolm wrote:
He is referring to the nine grades of birth in in Sukhavati described in the Chinese canon’s contemplation sutra.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 10:58 PM
Title: Re: Is kensho stream entry?
Content:
clyde said:
I don’t recall reading any Zen text that compared or equated kensho and stream entry

Astus said:
Stream entry is on the shravaka path, hence it is something to be avoided by Mahayana followers.

Malcolm wrote:
Mahāyāna also has stream entry. It’s called the path of seeing. Mahāyāna has once-returners, 7th stage bodhisattvas, never-returners, eighth on up, and arhats, aka samyaksambuddhas.

Astus said:
Definitions for stream-entry are fairly standard. Here's a modern summary of the active and the abandoned qualities.

Malcolm wrote:
Which are the same fetters abandoned on the Mahayana path of seeing. The main difference is time to arhatship (full buddhahood in this case)  and the kind of emptiness realized.

And yes, I recognize paths and stages are somewhat irrelevant in Zen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 10:52 PM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Dan74 said:
QQ, listening, like Nemo does, is good. Empathetic listening even better.

Malcolm wrote:
As an American living in America, I have in this era found it is better not to discuss politics with strangers. It makes moving through our country easier. When meeting trumpsters I smile, look for nearest exit, and leave them to their imaginations, but I don’t engage them in conversation, because there is no point. They are a political cult.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 10:40 PM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:


Shinjin said:
Don't know. Even if it is not everyone has the luxury of finding a qualified guru and practicing with them. Nenbutsu on the other hand is accessible to all.

Malcolm wrote:
It very much depends on how quickly one is motivated to attain Buddhahood, from the point of view of the cause and result vehicles. It still requires three incalculable eons to attain buddhahood, even if one should take birth in Sukhavati, according to the causal vehicles.

Shinjin said:
It depends in what grade one is born into. High grade birth is instant buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it isn’t. And this is the problem: everyone claims their own path is the best, fastest, etc. but it’s not a race, and everyone has to work out their own path to their own satisfaction. But the one thing necessary in all is a teacher, a spiritual friend.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 5:33 PM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:
Shinjin said:
Nenbutsu is the easiest and most direct path especially in the current age.

Malcolm wrote:
Not so. For example, the Buddha in the Cakrasamvara tantra asserts that the practice of Heruka is the only means by which one can attain buddhahood in this degenerate age, and so on.

Shinjin said:
Don't know. Even if it is not everyone has the luxury of finding a qualified guru and practicing with them. Nenbutsu on the other hand is accessible to all.

Malcolm wrote:
It very much depends on how quickly one is motivated to attain Buddhahood, from the point of view of the cause and result vehicles. It still requires three incalculable eons to attain buddhahood, even if one should take birth in Sukhavati, according to the causal vehicles.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 10:12 AM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:
Shinjin said:
Nenbutsu is the easiest and most direct path especially in the current age.

Malcolm wrote:
Not so. For example, the Buddha in the Cakrasamvara tantra asserts that the practice of Heruka is the only means by which one can attain buddhahood in this degenerate age, and so on.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 9:32 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Kim O'Hara said:
the economy (

Malcolm wrote:
Is the problem. And as far as I can tell, no one is really interested in actual change.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 9:16 AM
Title: Re: Single Stage:Ekabhumi
Content:
Sādhaka said:
How does this line up with Yongdzin Rinpoche (and someone also  mentioned on this forum that Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche agrees with the Yongdzin on this point) talking about making sure that Dzogchen is not conflated with the Dzogchenpa?

Malcolm wrote:
It lines up perfectly. If someone thinks they are progressing from somewhere to somewhere, they deviate.

In any case, the point is that there is only one stage in Dzogchen. The practitioner of Dzogchen’s job is to realize this. Dzogchen is neither a gradual path nor a sudden path, since even “sudden” implies going from here to there.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 7:15 AM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:


Nalanda said:
Okay, thanks. After this 17 dzogchen tantras program, what happens next? I just go and listen / watch? Is there some kind of directions on what happens next?

Malcolm wrote:
You have the satisfaction of knowing you have received the reading transmission of the 17 tantras. This itself is very certain to cement your connection with Dzogchen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 7:08 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Queequeg said:
Seriously, though, as I said, that book is like watching a trick shot. Motherf*ckers aint doin shit. Humans didn't survive as a species by being bold and brave. We survived by being cowardly and opportunistic.

Malcolm wrote:
Nope. I just question Kim's assertion that it is a remotely workable blueprint.

Kim O'Hara said:
First you complained about the terrorists. Like others here, I dislike the idea of eco-terrorism but concede that it may happen and may improve our chances of survival.

Malcolm wrote:
It will happen, but it much more likely to be eco-fascist terrorism against indigenous people, which is the current state of affairs, ala Edward Abbey's "shut down the border 'cause brown people are ruining my view." That won't assist anything.

Kim O'Hara said:
Then you "question" the whole thing,

Malcolm wrote:
The banking system plot is high fantasy of the first order.


Kim O'Hara said:
Can you be more constructive, e.g. suggesting improvements to it, or an alternative to it?

Malcolm wrote:
For the next ten generations, nine out of ten women pledge to have no children and voluntarily sterilize themselves. 1 out of ten are restricted to one child. That ought to do it, or something like that.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 6:09 AM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:
Nalanda said:
After I attend the "Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche online reading transmission of the 17 Dzogchen Tantras"

What books would I be able to read? (if any)

Malcolm wrote:
Better you work with a teacher even after you have the lung, You still need at minimum Dzogchen empowerments and instructions. You cannot understand Dzogchen from books. You need instruction, step by step.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 5:42 AM
Title: Re: Single Stage:Ekabhumi
Content:
Archie2009 said:
The descriptions seem to correspond to the four visions of thögal?

Malcolm wrote:
Not even slightly. If you are going to go by that description of paths and stages, then the maturational vidyādhara level is only realized at the third, and the other three between it and the fourth.

Thinking in terms of paths and stages with respect to Dzogchen teachings is a great deviation.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 5:11 AM
Title: Single Stage:Ekabhumi
Content:
Archie2009 said:
I read in Dzogchen there are four Vidyādhara levels that correspond to the 1st, 5th, 8th, and 10th bhūmi respectively. (Source Alan Wallace.)

Malcolm wrote:
Alan Wallace might make that assertion, but I prefer to follow Garb Dorje comments on this passage from The Great Space of Vajrasattva:

The path of higher and higher purification 
is not consistent with the Dharma that is free of activity. 

Merit and wisdom are accumulated with thoughts that arise from the worldly. Objectives of traversing somewhere—gradual progress, the stages of bodhi, the abodes of Brahma and Indra, the universal emperor, and so on—are the path of affliction, and are bondage. Free from all activity, totally peaceful like space, bliss that is totally uniform and beyond limits, the natural great perfection cannot be thought, practiced, nor mediated. It does not depend on another by nature. For example, like the great king of wishfulfilling gems, it has the power to grant all treasures, whether Dharma or not Dharma.

If there were traversing a path, 
nothing would attained, like the boundary of space.

Also, the meaning commentary on the Cuckoo of Vidyā in the Bairo 'Gyud 'bum addresses the part of the title "single stage"

Since the suffering of effort is pacified because there is no progression in stages, there is the refreshment of great final solace without depending on arriving [somewhere].

As such, Dzogchen should be understood as an ekabhumi teaching.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 10th, 2022 at 1:03 AM
Title: Re: Trump encourages populace movement in Canada
Content:
Nemo said:
I suggest talking to them directly.

Queequeg said:
I have, and do.

Malcolm wrote:
No point.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 11:44 PM
Title: Re: Formless shamatha + shamatha w/o object
Content:
Damchö_Dorje said:
First, are formless shamatha and shamatha without an object the same practice?

What is the relationship of this kind of shamatha to nonmeditation?

Malcolm wrote:
You need to indicate where you are taking thus terminology from.

Damchö_Dorje said:
On this forum, I have usually seen the term nonmeditation in connection with Mahamudra just combing through old posts. Formless shamatha I have hardly come across at all, but it's a term I've seen used on this forum as well.

Malcolm wrote:
There is object-oriented śamatha, when one uses an outer object. Objectless śamatha is when you focus on a mental image, sometimes called a "nimitta." "Formless" śamatha is a western term that as far as I know has no Tibetan correlate.

Nonmeditation means that one has reached a stage of practice where there is no distinction between equipoise and post-equipoise, buddhahood, basically.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 11:20 PM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Queequeg said:
Seriously, though, as I said, that book is like watching a trick shot. Motherf*ckers aint doin shit. Humans didn't survive as a species by being bold and brave. We survived by being cowardly and opportunistic.

Malcolm wrote:
Nope. I just question Kim's assertion that it is a remotely workable blueprint.

Now, just let me get back to my greenwashed life.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 10:27 PM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Ummmm….KSR’s portrait depends heavily on actual terrorism. Just saying….

Queequeg said:
Some people need their teeth kicked in. Without malice, of course. Just saying...

Malcolm wrote:
Pretty hard to explain that to the relatives of people whose planes have been downed by drone attacks...just saying...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 9:34 PM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Queequeg said:
Yeah. Well.


Kim O'Hara said:
So far, https://www.vox.com/2020/11/30/21726563/kim-stanley-robinson-the-ezra-klein-show-climate-change looks best.


Kim

Malcolm wrote:
Ummmm….KSR’s portrait depends heavily on actual terrorism. Just saying….


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 7:32 PM
Title: Re: Persons whose hands have been cut off
Content:
Unknown said:
but blind people aren't, although they would be heavily dependent on others.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, actually they are forbidden to,ordain if they are already blind.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 6:52 AM
Title: Re: Persons whose hands have been cut off
Content:
Subcontrary said:
I have felt pretty uneasy about this section, as the decree does not seem compassionate at all. I don't see what purpose there is in excluding people with disabilities from the sangha...

Malcolm wrote:
It is meant to prevent people from joining the monastic Sangha out of a need for social services, which is the proper responsibility of their families or the state, that is all.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 6:49 AM
Title: Re: Who were the previous Buddhas before Shakyamuni (who lived in this world) according to our tradition?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Who were the previous Buddhas before Shakyamuni (who lived in this world) according to our tradition?

Malcolm wrote:
Depends on the tradition.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 5:17 AM
Title: Re: How to use dharani?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Like this one: https://read.84000.co/translation/toh750.html
Let me guess...need empowerment, lung, transmission, etc?

Malcolm wrote:
Some, most do not.

Nalanda said:
Are there dharanis for generating wealth for a practitioner to help with personal financial stability?

Malcolm wrote:
Tara practice.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 4:55 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
So this is will be my final contribution to the thread.

Virgo said:
Malcolm, before you go does this one need transmission or can it be done without lung?

https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/jamyang-khyentse-chokyi-lodro/brief-amitabha-sleeping-meditation

Malcolm wrote:
It can be done without a lung.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 4:51 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
You shouldn’t get angry if people have a different point of view in this case

Malcolm wrote:
I am not angry. But at this point I am beginning repeat myself. My final word:

There is no "other power" or "self power" in Tibetan Pure land practice.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 4:25 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Shinjin said:
I don't think anyone recites Amitabha without the desire for buddhahood. Generating bodhicitta isn't some sort of seperate activity.

Malcolm wrote:
Some people just want salvation, without understanding no buddha can offer this, not even Amitabha.

Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
In Jodo Shinshu it is profound trust in the working of the original vow the name becomes other power in this case no further understanding is required it’s a very unique teaching

With great respect to you Malcolm

Malcolm wrote:
You are completely missing my point. From the point of view of Tibetan Buddhism, no Buddha can offer you liberation. All they can do is show you a path, that includes Amitabha.

And, as I said, there is a defacto mutuality between one's desire to be born in Sukhavati and Amitabha's aspiration. But it really seems people are not interested in understanding Tibetan pure land practices on their own terms here. So this is will be my final contribution to the thread.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 4:20 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Shinjin said:
I don't think anyone recites Amitabha without the desire for buddhahood. Generating bodhicitta isn't some sort of seperate activity.

Malcolm wrote:
Some people just want salvation, without understanding no buddha can offer this, not even Amitabha.

Shinjin said:
The special feature of Sukhavati is that even ordinary worldly beings can be born there in contrast to other buddhafields. Nobody is excluded.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, there are some beings who are excluded, those who have committed the five heinous deeds, etc.; if you have not generated bodhicitta, etc. This is how is it understood in Tibetan Buddhism. YMMV.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 3:09 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Shinjin said:
Yes, condition 19 is only for those who are unable to let go of self power effort.

Malcolm wrote:
That is just not how it is seen in the Tibetan tradition. At no point in any Tibetan commentary is such an indication made. My point is that this distinction that strictly differentiates one's personal effort and Amitabha's aspiration is not made in Tibetan Buddhism, in fact, it is the opposite; they are mutual, without personal effort through generating bodhicitta and so on, Amitabha's aspiration is not effective for that person. It's quite clear in the text of the sūtra as we read it. YMMV.

Shinjin said:
I don't think anyone recites Amitabha without the desire for buddhahood. Generating bodhicitta isn't some sort of seperate activity.

Malcolm wrote:
Some people just want salvation, without understanding no buddha can offer this, not even Amitabha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 2:45 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Shinjin said:
Yes, condition 19 is only for those who are unable to let go of self power effort.

Malcolm wrote:
That is just not how it is seen in the Tibetan tradition. At no point in any Tibetan commentary is such an indication made. My point is that this distinction that strictly differentiates one's personal effort and Amitabha's aspiration is not made in Tibetan Buddhism, in fact, it is the opposite; they are mutual, without personal effort through generating bodhicitta and so on, Amitabha's aspiration is not effective for that person. It's quite clear in the text of the sūtra as we read it. YMMV.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 1:10 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
Ok fine from a Vajrayana point of view it’s different

Malcolm wrote:
It isn't even a Vajrayāna perspective, it's based strictly on sūtra.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 at 12:43 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
The Aspiration to go to the Pure Land is part of the 18th Vow which is Other Power

Malcolm wrote:
I understand how these distinctions are made in JSS, and I am not arguing with them about their understanding.

However, it is not germane to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. If we want to understand this from the Tibetan Buddhist point of view, we have to exclude imputing Jodo Shinshu, etc. interpretations, otherwise, we will not understand what Tibetan commentaries actually intend——and this is the main fault of the Halkias book and Cook paper.

The Tibetan version of the Sutra requires that sentient beings first must have generated Mahāyāna bodhicitta. Those who have not generated bodhicitta are necessarily excluded. Actually, conditions 18 and 19 are barely distinguishable, to the point where 19 is basically an elaboration of 18. For this reason, we see Tibetans selecting condition 19, with its four conditions as the critical point.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 11:45 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
Yes. This is why there are confirmation passages in the second half of the sūtra, confirming that indeed he is now a Buddha—therefore the praṇidhāna works and is true in all its aspects and not just in one.

Malcolm wrote:
Which means his aspiration depends on the power of our desire to take birth in Sukhavati.

Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
Maybe the aspiration is given by Amitabha in the first place

Malcolm wrote:
No. That is not possible. If it were possible, then there would be no sentient being who had heard Amitabha's name and ignored it. Why? Because presumably Amitabha's compassion would not permit it. But buddhas are not omnipotent. They do not have the power to change the karma of sentient beings by fiat, nor to plant thoughts in their minds. If they did, the consequence would be that since there is still suffering, buddhas would be incomparably cruel for not motivating all sentient beings to attain buddhahood by taking birth in Sukhavati. The inspiration for taking birth in Sukhavati necessarily depends on a sentient being's own karma and aspirations (smon lam).


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 11:38 PM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:


Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
I got that information from an Alan Wallace video. Unfortunately I did not bookmark it. You’ll have to take my word on it—or not.

treehuggingoctopus said:
Oh, I can easily believe you got it from Alan Wallace -- the guy reputed to have made some rather extraordinary claims in a similar vein ( https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=20699&hilit=dhyana+wallace ). It must have been a performative rather than descriptive statement -- one about what Alan Wallace would like things to be rather than about what they were (or are).

Tata1 said:
Allan wallace says that both approaches existed in tibet.

Malcolm wrote:
In fact, the way it actually is, is like this, according what I heard from HH Taklung Tsetrul, You go and get wang, lung, and tri. Since many of these Dzogchen cycles are too large to explain, point by point, you get the essential instructions you need for practice. You read the rest on your own for which you have received the lung. If you have questions, you go back and ask. Wallace is not completely wrong, but he has left out an essential part of the process. It all begins with empowerment, lung, and tri, and all Dzogchen empowerments contain direct introduction.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 11:34 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
I think if you reflect upon the matter, you will find that this is clearly the case, and that any mention of the four conditions for birth is a clear selection of specific aspects of the 48 conditions relevant to us.

Malcolm wrote:
Correct, but that condition is not possible without all the rest, they are all integral to one another, just as it is integral to all of them.  Since Dharmakara has done his job, presumably, without our participation the other 47 conditions fail. The crucial point of course is that it’s our faith, through hearing Amitabha’s name, upon which  Dharmakara depends for the success of his aspiration. Without us, he has no buddhafield.

Zhen Li said:
Yes. This is why there are confirmation passages in the second half of the sūtra, confirming that indeed he is now a Buddha—therefore the praṇidhāna works and is true in all its aspects and not just in one.

Malcolm wrote:
Which means his aspiration depends on the power of our desire to take birth in Sukhavati.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 10:54 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
My point is that while there is no absolutely sure way to determine if a teacher has attained realization (a point on which I think you’d agree), probably the safest bet is to find out if their teacher thinks so or not.

Malcolm wrote:
It's exactly the same. Who says their teacher is realized?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 9:11 PM
Title: Re: Most Important Empowerments in the Sakya Tradition
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Apart from Lamdre, Naropa’s Khecari is the most important set of instructions in Sakya. It’s easy to practice, profound, and complete. According to the Sakya Tradition, it’s the ultimate practice lineage from the Cakrasamvara tantra tradition as preserved by this school.

Konchog1 said:
In the Ganden Tradition, it is recommended to practice Heruka first. It's my understanding the Sakyapa only practice Hevajra first. Do you know the reason for this?

Malcolm wrote:
Yogini includes Heruka.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 8:58 PM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
You have to believe the narrative. But there is nothing about the narrative that can be proven to anyone. So, yes, there is in the end nothing but faith, unless someone is claiming direct personal knowledge, and you know how sketchy that is.

Astus said:
If by faith you mean cannot be proven to others, then it's all just faith.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes. And, quite honestly, having a more calm mind, etc., is just as likely to be an expression of maturity as a human being, as it is to be a result of some faith commitment to Buddhism or any other religion.

As for the rest tl;dr.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 8:21 PM
Title: Re: Formless shamatha + shamatha w/o object
Content:
Damchö_Dorje said:
First, are formless shamatha and shamatha without an object the same practice?

What is the relationship of this kind of shamatha to nonmeditation?

Malcolm wrote:
You need to indicate where you are taking thus terminology from.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 8:17 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


PadmaVonSamba said:
It’s the closest thing we have to peer review.

Malcolm wrote:
Of course this declaration can’t be checked, so it is hardly peer review.

PadmaVonSamba said:
No, but I said it’s the closest thing we have to it.

Malcolm wrote:
It isn’t close at all. Peer review is usually done by committee, and it is not a process free of flaws.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 8:14 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Dan74 said:
Maybe Malcolm's understanding of what attaining stream entry entails differs from that of Ven. Sheng-Yen and Guo Gu? I mean he has shown siddhis and all...

Malcolm wrote:
Mahayana streamentry means one has directly realized two-fold emptiness.

There are no observable external signs of such an attainment. So in this case, one would have to just take GG’s word at face value.

I mean, that would be like me publicly claiming that I’ve been told by some lama I won’t experience the bardo. Anyone would be quite justified in expressing their skepticism of such a claim.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 11:19 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
I think if you reflect upon the matter, you will find that this is clearly the case, and that any mention of the four conditions for birth is a clear selection of specific aspects of the 48 conditions relevant to us.

Malcolm wrote:
Correct, but that condition is not possible without all the rest, they are all integral to one another, just as it is integral to all of them.  Since Dharmakara has done his job, presumably, without our participation the other 47 conditions fail. The crucial point of course is that it’s our faith, through hearing Amitabha’s name, upon which  Dharmakara depends for the success of his aspiration. Without us, he has no buddhafield.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 10:16 AM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:
Nalanda said:
Where is the 17 tantras?

That Bon master video above?

Malcolm wrote:
No, I posted a link a while back, you can find it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 10:07 AM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:
Nalanda said:
Got it.

Well, I saved some money and time.

Thank you.

Malcolm wrote:
You can always buy them. It’s not that difficult to get teachings. For example you should attend the lung of 17 tantras that’s coming up. You should not try understand these things on your own.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 10:02 AM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:
Nalanda said:
Then it looks like Dzogchen is closed door for me right now.

Malcolm wrote:
You need to find a teacher. That is the base line. You cannot understand Dzogchen from books. Many people try. All fail.

In the beginning, you have to be like a bee, and visit and sample several teachers. Once you find the right teacher for you, then you settle down. The teacher, in every respect, is more important than the teaching.


Nalanda said:
Yes yes. You said several times and https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?p=615173#p615173, this isn't an overnight project. It will take a few years.

By my estimation:

For the next 10 years - General Buddhism, Sutrayana Mahayana, Tibetan Buddhism. FTMP, Tergar, my https://www.bodhicittasangha.org/ - Khenpo Sherab)

I just thought there are Dzogchen books I could read in the meantime.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s better you don’t, frankly. You won’t understand them without explanation.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 9:33 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
As I said, there is a semantic disconnect here.

Zhen Li said:
I do not have a disconnect, I am happy to recognise that praṇidhāna is smon lam and 願. That I represent this word with a different English term than you is of the lowest importance for the conversation. We shall just use praṇidhāna going forward.

Malcolm wrote:
My point related to how the term is understood in Tibetan, and we can’t simply gloss over it. The point I am making, which is being astutely ignored here, is that Dharmakara didn’t make 48 aspirations. He made one. His aspiration was to purify a buddhafield, and he specified 48 conditions integral to his success in doing so. I am maintaining that distinction is critical in understanding why the Tibetan pure land traditions are quite uniform in their presentation from the eighth century onward.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 9:10 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
As for Tibetan, for smon lam, Jeffrey Hopkins includes "vow; resolve," as does Valby, and Ives Waldo. For smon pa, JH has "resolve, vow."

I think the problem isn't really with the term "vow," it's that you may be assuming vow means saṃvāra or precept or something along those lines, when most people are using the term in a different way.

Malcolm wrote:
I was using a native Tibetan dictionary. The Valby dictionary is not reliable, it’s kind of like a pastiche of different translators. It’s not reflective of how Tibetans understand their own terminology at all. The native Tibetan etymology is as I explained it to you. No Tibetan considers a smon lam to be a sdom pa. As I said, there is a semantic disconnect here.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 8:54 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
Ultimately, asking for someone to reveal they are fully awakened is a trick question. As soon as you say, “I” you negate “am enlightened”.

Malcolm wrote:
No, this doesn’t follow, since the Buddha, so we have read, did exactly that.

PadmaVonSamba said:
Yeah, well, he was the exception, which is probably why we are Buddhists. He also backed it up with a few miracles

Malcolm wrote:
Which he also explained didn’t prove anything…


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 8:11 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:



Astus said:
What do you mean by that? One first needs to have faith in the texts initially, or there is nothing beyond faith? If the former, then why necessarily?

Malcolm wrote:
You have to believe the narrative. But there is nothing about the narrative that can be proven to anyone. So, yes, there is in the end nothing but faith, unless someone is claiming direct personal knowledge, and you know how sketchy that is.

Anyone want to stand up here and proclaim they are awakened? No? I thought as much.

PadmaVonSamba said:
Sure. I will.
Well…give me a few minutes. I haven’t had my coffee yet. But then…


Ultimately, asking for someone to reveal they are fully awakened is a trick question. As soon as you say, “I” you negate “am enlightened”.

Malcolm wrote:
No, this doesn’t follow, since the Buddha, so we have read, did exactly that.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 8:05 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
That’s just the most common translation for pranidhana.

Malcolm wrote:
Maybe in Chinese, not in Tibetan. In Tibetan pranidhana is translated as smon lam. Smon pa refers to a desire to attain something, lam refers to an utterance (tshig gi lam, literally path of words), hence we typically translate this term as “aspiration.” So there is a disconnect here based on semantics.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 7:57 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


PadmaVonSamba said:
It’s the closest thing we have to peer review.

Malcolm wrote:
Of course this declaration can’t be checked, so it is hardly peer review.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 6:44 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Right, without the ring of faith, there is nothing for the hook of compassion to catch. But this is beside the point. The point I keep making is that Pure Landers are inclined to focus on thus or that part of Amitabha”s aspiration. We aren’t.

Zhen Li said:
It is clear that there is no inclination to focus on particular vows, but the point the reference to Mipham was making is that it is at least in the background that if not a focus on the 19th vow, then the practices of other vows are at least presumed to be subsumed under the practices specified there. You could say that the 19th vow appears to have the most detailed rundown of things you can do to be born, so from a certain point of view, it would be logical to say that is the clear area of focus in terms of finding out what it is that one should practice.

Malcolm wrote:
These are the things the aspirant can do. But they are not parsed as "vows." There is no language in the text to indicate that they are, or that they can be treated as individual aspects.


Zhen Li said:
Personally, I am interested in a holistic view of the Buddha-Dharma, so I want to know how people in all traditions understand these things

Malcolm wrote:
Then stop calling the 48 parts of the aspiration of Dharmakāra "vows." They do not satisfy the requirement of a vow (samvara) from the pov of the Tibetan tradition.

If you continue to call these things vows, you won't understand pure land practice from the Tibetan Buddhist pov. You need to set aside your frame.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 6:40 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Necessarily. You have to have faith in these texts as authorities.

Astus said:
What do you mean by that? One first needs to have faith in the texts initially, or there is nothing beyond faith? If the former, then why necessarily?

Malcolm wrote:
You have to believe the narrative. But there is nothing about the narrative that can be proven to anyone. So, yes, there is in the end nothing but faith, unless someone is claiming direct personal knowledge, and you know how sketchy that is.

Anyone want to stand up here and proclaim they are awakened? No? I thought as much.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 6:07 AM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:
Nalanda said:
Then it looks like Dzogchen is closed door for me right now.

Malcolm wrote:
You need to find a teacher. That is the base line. You cannot understand Dzogchen from books. Many people try. All fail.

In the beginning, you have to be like a bee, and visit and sample several teachers. Once you find the right teacher for you, then you settle down. The teacher, in every respect, is more important than the teaching.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 5:47 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
And now you can reconsider your outrage when I expressed my doubts about Guo Gu’s declaration about his stream entry

clyde said:
Malcolm, I have reconsidered, but, as I explained before, I still have this problem.

If Guo Gu had simply said, “I am a stream enterer” and you said you doubted it, I would understand and have nothing to say.

But you heard Guo Gu say his teacher, Sheng Yen, told him he was a stream enterer and this creates the following dilemma: either your doubt is that Guo Gu was lying (and I hope that isn’t the reason for your doubt) or that Sheng Yen, a renown Chan Master who knew Guo Gu since he was a child and was his teacher for many years, was mistaken and your doubt is about Sheng Yen’s discernment. Frankly, I was asking (and hoping) you would point to a third possibility for your doubt such as a difference in understanding of the causes and results of stream entry.

Malcolm wrote:
I told you. When people start talking about their realization, I just doubt it. It does not mean I think they are bad people, or even lying. Guo Gu probably believes it. But such declarations cause me personally to have less confidence in people rather than more.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 5:44 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
It’s still subjective, since who knows whether the “mendicant” is deluded. There is no way to book dance your way around it.

Astus said:
Yes, subjective, but not necessarily based on faith.

Malcolm wrote:
Necessarily. You have to have faith in these texts as authorities.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 8th, 2022 at 12:44 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
It’s still subjective, since who knows whether the “mendicant” is deluded. There is no way to book dance your way around it. And hanging out with someone for a long while is also no guarantee, as the case of Sunakshatra shows.
There is also no reason to believe there is. Awakening is not a falsifiable phenomena.

Astus said:
'There is a method—apart from faith, preference, oral tradition, reasoned contemplation, or acceptance of a view after consideration—that a mendicant can rely on to declare their enlightenment.'
( https://suttacentral.net/sn35.153/en/sujato )

'Great king, as a layman enjoying sensual pleasures, living at home with your children, using sandalwood imported from Kāsi, wearing garlands, perfumes, and makeup, and accepting gold and money, it’s hard for you to know who is perfected or on the path to perfection.
You can get to know a person’s ethics by living with them. ... You can get to know a person’s purity by dealing with them. ... You can get to know a person’s resilience in times of trouble. ... You can get to know a person’s wisdom by discussion. But only after a long time, not casually; only when paying attention, not when inattentive; and only by the wise, not the witless.'
( https://suttacentral.net/sn3.11/en/sujato; also AN 4.192 & Ud 6.2)


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 9:40 PM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
clyde said:
but that it seems generally accepted that there are NO awakened living Buddhist teachers in any tradition!

seeker242 said:
There are plenty of awakened teachers. There is really no reason to believe there isn't.


Malcolm wrote:
There is also no reason to believe there is. Awakening is not a falsifiable phenomena. So in the end, it just amounts to a faith-based narrative.  Even the Buddha was absolutely clear about this:
Excellent, Sariputta. Excellent. Those who have not known, seen, penetrated, realized, or attained it by means of discernment would have to take it on conviction in others that the faculty of conviction... persistence... mindfulness... concentration... discernment, when developed & pursued, gains a footing in the Deathless, has the Deathless as its goal & consummation; whereas those who have known, seen, penetrated, realized, & attained it by means of discernment would have no doubt or uncertainty that the faculty of conviction... persistence... mindfulness... concentration... discernment, when developed & pursued, gains a footing in the Deathless, has the Deathless as its goal & consummation."
—- https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn48/sn48.044.than.html

I am not saying we should not have faith that there are somewhere awakened human beings out there. I am just saying we need to be honest that it isn’t an objective fact that can be ascertained beyond doubt. Relics, light shining from bodies, etc., are also not proof of realization.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 8:12 PM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Genjo Conan said:
dude, come on, the Stones are objectively better.

Malcolm wrote:
We think so but…

Anders said:
Would a Buddha's all knowledge extend to knowing which of the two are better?

Malcolm wrote:
Assuming Buddhas have ears, they would pick the Stones every damn day.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 8:09 PM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Generally try to stick with original texts, don’t waste your time on academic papers. Obtain wang, lung, and tri.

The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sūtra, Tantra and Dzogchen by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

The Precious Treasury of Philosophical Systems by Longchen(pa) Rabjam

Gateway to Knowledge by Jamgön Mipham

Dzogchen Teachings - Namhai Norbu Rinpoché

Wellsprings of the Great Perfection

Buddhahood in this Life

Treasury of Genuine Meaning

Ye she Lama

Treasury of the Fundamental State

Self Arisen vidya tantra

Self liberated vidya tantra

Tantra without syllables

Blazing Lamp



Nalanda said:
Thanks. Are any of these texts restricted requiring wang lung tri?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 6:57 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Genjo Conan said:
dude, come on, the Stones are objectively better.

Malcolm wrote:
We think so but…


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 5:16 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
clyde said:
Yes, it will simply be Zen practitioners opinions about Zen teachers. To be honest, I’ve sat with a number of Zen teachers and not all Zen teachers are equal based on their personalities and tendencies, capabilities and skills, and depth of realization. Some, in my opinion (What else is there, except your opinions?) are awakened, and some not. Admittedly, even those I don’t believe are awakened are often excellent teachers.

My point, as I’ve stated repeatedly, is that it’s false modesty to not be honest about what Zen students believe about Zen teachers. Yes, it will be opinions, but our opinions about contemporary Zen teachers are no different than our opinions about the ancient Zen Masters and even the Buddha, except that we have their presence to aid our judgement.

Malcolm wrote:
But then, since there are no objective standards, it merely becomes an aesthetic judgement, much like Tibetan Buddhists who claim lama so and so is a realized master, and so on.

And now you can reconsider your outrage when I expressed my doubts about Guo Gu’s declaration about his stream entry or calling into question the sort of rhetoric employed in Dosho Port’s article. It amounts to no more than preferring The Rolling Stones to the Grateful Dead.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 1:27 AM
Title: Re: Why is the book "Tibetan Book of the Dead" so popular amongst non-Buddhists / beginners
Content:



Aemilius said:
It is much earlier than that. What are the names of the youth- and subculture movements in 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's?

"Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (February 2, 1878 – July 17, 1965) was an American anthropologist and writer who was a pioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and in transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the Western world, most known for publishing an early English translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead in 1927. He had three other texts translated from the Tibetan: Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa (1928), Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines (1935), and The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation (1954), and wrote the preface to Paramahansa Yogananda's famous spiritual book, Autobiography of a Yogi (1946)."

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, and he understood none of them and interpreted all of them through the cloudy lens of Theosophy. His publications are useful for understanding the progress of the reception of Buddhism in the west, but importantly, none of his books are accurate and immediately attracted the attention of early Tibetan arrivals for their lack of accuracy. Of course the Sikkimese gentleman who translated these for him understood them perfectly well, but Evans-Wentz’s editing distorted these translations not to mention his introductions, etc.

Aemilius said:
Your eye of transcendental wisdom is lacking in compassionate understanding of the times and people of those times, I would kindly suggest.

Malcolm wrote:
I would suggest that EW’s publications were quite typical of colonialism, and nothing like Csoma De Koros pioneering work.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 1:21 AM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:



ManiThePainter said:
I always though the Gateway to Knowledge was more of a text on Abhidharma than on Dzogchen?

Malcolm wrote:
You need a little abhidharma.

ManiThePainter said:
Is there anything in the Gateway which is restricted?

Malcolm wrote:
No.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 12:40 AM
Title: Re: Geshe Tenzin Gelek Rinpoche
Content:


PeterC said:
I don’t know why people keep flogging the dead horse of Christianity here,

Malcolm wrote:
Makes a nice dull thud.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, February 7th, 2022 at 12:33 AM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Gateway to Knowledge by Jamgön Mipham

ManiThePainter said:
I always though the Gateway to Knowledge was more of a text on Abhidharma than on Dzogchen?

Malcolm wrote:
You need a little abhidharma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 10:27 PM
Title: Re: Why is the book "Tibetan Book of the Dead" so popular amongst non-Buddhists / beginners
Content:
Nalanda said:
It's so popular that even my aunt (who is a Christian) has one.

Why is this book such a hit to Westerners?

Malcolm wrote:
Hippies.

Aemilius said:
It is much earlier than that. What are the names of the youth- and subculture movements in 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's?

"Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (February 2, 1878 – July 17, 1965) was an American anthropologist and writer who was a pioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and in transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the Western world, most known for publishing an early English translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead in 1927. He had three other texts translated from the Tibetan: Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa (1928), Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines (1935), and The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation (1954), and wrote the preface to Paramahansa Yogananda's famous spiritual book, Autobiography of a Yogi (1946)."

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, and he understood none of them and interpreted all of them through the cloudy lens of Theosophy. His publications are useful for understanding the progress of the reception of Buddhism in the west, but importantly, none of his books are accurate and immediately attracted the attention of early Tibetan arrivals for their lack of accuracy. Of course the Sikkimese gentleman who translated these for him understood them perfectly well, but Evans-Wentz’s editing distorted these translations not to mention his introductions, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 10:19 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


dharmafootsteps said:
Sorry if I misrepresented you, thanks for clarifying.

Great interview by the way. Really enjoyed it.

Malcolm wrote:
Tulku Orgyen has said that all Yanas have some aspect of trekchod in their teachings. The term original purity is not unique to Dzogchen, it’s found in the PP sutras, etc.

So it is not surprising Meido would see some similarities between Dzogchen and Rinzai Zen in his later training.

But I don’t think one can just say Dzogchen and Zen are commensurate, there are important differences, not least of which is that Dzogchen is situated in a dialectic with the Path of Transformation in Vajrayana, whereas Chan/Zen/Son are situated in a dialectic with Sutric Buddhism, while largely accepting the path of renunciation advocated in Sutra as a basis for conduct, particularly in Chan and Son.

Similarities include, as noted above, teacher/student interaction that privileges oral instruction over scripture and rejection of path-based ranking schemes of realization.

A striking difference I perceive between Chan/Son/Zen is the extent to which Chan, etc., is deeply entwined with institutional practice, whereas Dzogchen practice is fundamentally a solo endeavor, carried out alone and in solitude. Of course I don’t mean to suggest there is no solo Chan/zen meditation practice, because of course there is. But group meditation practice, while not completely foreign to Dzogchen, especially in an instructional context, is not the general mode of practice. There are no Dzogchendos.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 9:23 PM
Title: Re: Building my Dzogchen literature library, please make a suggestion
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Generally try to stick with original texts, don’t waste your time on academic papers. Obtain wang, lung, and tri.

The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sūtra, Tantra and Dzogchen by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

The Precious Treasury of Philosophical Systems by Longchen(pa) Rabjam

Gateway to Knowledge by Jamgön Mipham

Dzogchen Teachings - Namhai Norbu Rinpoché

Wellsprings of the Great Perfection

Buddhahood in this Life

Treasury of Genuine Meaning

Ye she Lama

Treasury of the Fundamental State

Self Arisen vidya tantra

Self liberated vidya tantra

Tantra without syllables

Blazing Lamp


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 8:56 PM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:


clyde said:
You’re making this more than it is. I was only asking if Zen practitioners could name even a few modern dead Zen teachers whom they sincerely believe were awakened as they understand the term (not needing to accept any definition but their own).

Malcolm wrote:
So you are looking for opinions.

clyde said:
Malcolm, I understand your point, but what proof could there be?

Malcolm wrote:
That’s my point, none.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 9:40 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:


clyde said:
You’re making this more than it is. I was only asking if Zen practitioners could name even a few modern dead Zen teachers whom they sincerely believe were awakened as they understand the term (not needing to accept any definition but their own).

Malcolm wrote:
So you are looking for opinions.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 8:51 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Si-va-kon said:
) This porridge was brewed long before me.

The gradations given by Vasubanlhu in AK are refined by Maitreya/Asanga dividing the Path into five stages.
In Abhisamaya-alamkara and in Abhisamaya-alamkara-aloka says that the lowest entry level into the path,
the first stage of practice, is called proximate liberation (moksa-bhagiya).
The equivalent term in AS is sambhara-marga.

The second stage - proximate penetration (nirvedha-bhagiya) is called prayoga-marga.
Its four divisions - usmagata, myrdhagata, ksanti and laukikagradharma are identical to those found in earlier Buddhism.
But Maytreya and Haribhadra frequently emphasize that stages of Mahayana penetration are superior (visistata)
to the Hinayana equivalents.


Darshanamarga is Abhisamaya, she is the first bhumi.
This is the answer to the question whether dhyana is necessary here.
Everyone answered correctly - "No".

Dhyana is necessary from the second bhumi, this is already the stage of bhavanamarga.
In conclusion, a list of the degrees of pollutions eliminated on the bhavanamarga, respectively bhumi:

2 great great
3 middling great
4 soft great
5 great middling
6 middling middling
7 soft middling
8 great soft
9 middling soft
10 soft soft

Malcolm wrote:
Maitreya precedes Vasubandhu


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 4:58 AM
Title: Re: Can you conceive of a scenario where it turns out Nagarjuna was wrong (ex: not all things are empty, or otherwise)?
Content:
Si-va-kon said:
The referent of any word/concept is "empty".
A series of one-time objects conceived by us as one and the same object.

This mental image of an object "lasting" in time, created by the consciousness, is able to enter into connection with the word,
i.e. suitable for naming as well as for storing in memory.

And this "nomenclature unit" exists as a mental projection, as an artificial overlay on reality.

Cows, pudgals, pots - just such "imaginary" objects. In reality, there are only a fast change of frames,
a series of different (consisting of different groups atoms) of unique instantaneous objects,
divorced not only substantially, but also according to the time intervals of their existence.

Malcolm wrote:
Atoms are also imaginary objects,  no less than cows, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 4:55 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Si-va-kon said:
All the theses I have presented are taken from Sanskrit texts.
Abhidharma samuccaya, Astasahasrika, Abhisamaya-alamkara, Abhisamaya-alamkara-aloka, etc.
I just tried to back them up with Pali primary sources.

Malcolm wrote:
Your creating a strange brew.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 4:24 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
In works read by virtually no one for three hundred years. That doesn’t really count.

Anders said:
It counts for me in that I appreciate he did it.

Malcolm wrote:
My point is that he wasn’t running around bragging to all and sundry.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 2:43 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Si-va-kon said:
Intellectual comprehension of Truths is possible without dhyanas.
In this case, it is the fruit of the stream-enterer.

There are 7 remaining shackles to be eradicated from the total 10 saṃyojanāni.

Five higher bonds and five lower ones. Three of them (sakkāya-diṭṭhi, vicikichā, sīlabbata-parāmāsa)
are eliminated by the Way of Seeing the Truths, i.e. Abhisamaya - full of intellectual comprehension.

Dhyana without understanding the Truths can eliminate all degrees (strong-medium-weak) of these seven impurities,
except inherent in bhavagra (8th dhyana).

Only one who has mastered the entrance to the 8th dhyana and fully comprehended the Truth is able to balance shamatha and vipashyana
in such a way as to achieve nirodha-samapatti.

Vasubandhu gives the example of the Buddha himself, who "reached the 8th dhyana even before he sat under the bodhi tree."
Bhavagra - the limit of the mundane Path, i.e. Dhyana without Truth.

Defilements were recognized that could only be removed by Truths and only dhyana.

The underdevelopment of one of these two paramitas means the presence of certain impurities.
Their perfection and balance make it possible to achieve nirodha-samapatti,
"calcinate" the most intractable samskaras, defilements still remaining on the bhavagra.

Malcolm wrote:
This is the general shravakayana account.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 2:25 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
He concludes this section by saying that these qualities are not based solely on the “ripening force of individual beings” (sems-can rang-rang gi stobs smin-pa) but on the power of Amitābha's aspirations (smon-lam) and wisdom (ye-shes).

Malcolm wrote:
Right, without the ring of faith, there is nothing for the hook of compassion to catch. But this is beside the point. The point I keep making is that Pure Landers are inclined to focus on thus or that part of Amitabha”s aspiration. We aren’t.

As for accepting or rejecting sutras, if a sutra isn’t in the Tibetan Canon, we don’t read it, or reference it commentarially. You might regard this as short-sighted, but it isn’t. It’s just how our tradition evolved. Your’s evolved differently. That’s totally ok.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, February 6th, 2022 at 2:04 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:


Anders said:
Longchenpa never hid his attainment

Malcolm wrote:
On what basis do you make this claim?

Anders said:
That he'd in many places write about his own realisation.

Malcolm wrote:
In works read by virtually no one for three hundred years. That doesn’t really count. And such references aren’t in many places, but mainly in the commentary of the treasury of the dharmadhatu, written towards the end of his life.

And he doesn’t really come right out and say “I attained this or that”, he couches it in terms of “I understood this personally” which later scholars take as confirmations of his realization.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 8:15 PM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:


Anders said:
Longchenpa never hid his attainment

Malcolm wrote:
On what basis do you make this claim?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 5:21 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
So when the Buddha disagreed with someone, he was suffering?

Astus said:
If he had disagreed by taking one view and opposing with another...

Malcolm wrote:
FFS, Astus, get a sense of humor. We know very well you are an excellent book dancer, ready with your handy kindle library.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 5:01 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
dharmafootsteps said:
The differences are just method, and that in Dzogchen one is introduced to nature of mind, in Zen one discovers it.

Malcolm wrote:
There are important differences. I would never, for example, assert expertise in Zen, claim to be able to explain koans, etc., or argue that shikantaza and trekcho are the same thing, though it is tempting to draw similarities. I would be suspicious of any Zen teacher who claimed they could explain Dzogchen unless they knew Tibetan, etc.

But as JD astutely observed, my initial response was one of discomfort with the responses reported by Dosho Port. It all seemed just a little pat to me. Slogans like "OMG, I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together." Plus I really think that "nonduality" is an overused meme in Western "Eastern" spirituality, and when taken out of context is completely meaningless.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 4:50 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


Nicholas2727 said:
I guess the disagreement would be that Rigpa is not the same as Kensho? And from there the differences continue?

Malcolm wrote:
Why would rig pa be different than kensho? Both can be experienced by people who are not "enlightened." The whole point of the Dzogchen path is that one can recognize one's state. I presume this is the point of Zen. Enlightenment is overrated.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 3:16 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
It exists in its own place within the 18th Vow

What I took to mean from my old teacher was very generalistic like say praying to Guru Rinpoche as one example

Malcolm wrote:
And as I explained above, In the Tibetan tradition there is no analysis of the forty-eight parts of Dipamkāra Bodhisattva's aspiration, which can be privileged over any other, which could form the basis for a self-power/other-power distinction. It's simply foreign to the Tibetan tradition.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 2:45 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
Matylda said:
Was his book published in Chinese?

Meido said:
Yes, it was. Apparently selling 250,000 copies in China:

https://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/q-and-a-bill-porter-on-travel-writing-in-china/

Malcolm wrote:
Heh, the first time I hit that link it gave me this:

Error 503 first byte timeout

first byte timeout

Guru Mediation:

Details: cache-lga21936-LGA 1644000185 1426676425

Varnish cache server


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 2:42 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
He said to me there is Other Power in Tibetan Buddhism.

Malcolm wrote:
Not really. I have read literally tens of thousands of pages of Tibetan Buddhist commentaries and sadhanas, etc. The word "gzhan stobs" (tariki) does not exist in our discource. Halkias is mistaken to suggest translating "dngos po'i nus pa" (vastuśakti) as "other power," and Cook is mistaken to follow Halkias' lead in this. It is not a big deal, but it is misleading.

Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
Thanks Acharya

Yes it was nothing official more of a personal teaching not literal or definitive like it is in Shin

Malcolm wrote:
I personally think the main defect of the Halkias book is confirmation bias. He wanted to find tariki in the Tibetan Buddhist pure land tradition, and sure enough, he "found" it in one text by Mipham, by misconstruing a common Tibetan term to confirm his bias. Cook followed him down this rabbit hole.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 2:29 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
He said to me there is Other Power in Tibetan Buddhism.

Malcolm wrote:
Not really. I have read literally tens of thousands of pages of Tibetan Buddhist commentaries and sadhanas, etc. The word "gzhan stobs" (tariki) does not exist in our discource. Halkias is mistaken to suggest translating "dngos po'i nus pa" (vastuśakti) as "other power," and Cook is mistaken to follow Halkias' lead in this. It is not a big deal, but it is misleading.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 2:24 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:


Queequeg said:
Its also interesting that Red Pine himself might be responsible for the popularity of the area because of his book.

Matylda said:
Do you think so?

Malcolm wrote:
Amongst western spiritual seekers.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 1:31 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
Ok, thank you.

Malcolm wrote:
Also, there is no doubt a Tibetan/Sanskrit based version that is perhaps more text critically oriented than Gomez's will appear on 84000.co.

Shinjin said:
What problem do you have with Zhen Li's interpretation from a few pages back?

Malcolm wrote:
I don't have a problem with it per se, it just isn't how things are framed in a Tibetan Buddhist context. There is no commentarial analysis of these 48 points of Dharmakāra Bodhisattva's aspiration, for example. No distinctions are made between the 18th, 19th, and 20th point, no moḳsology connected with the kind of faith Zhen Li discusses——which isn't even one's own faith, properly speaking, but more of a pure trust in the efficacy of Dharmakāra's aspiration to do all the heavy lifting. This kind of idea is simply not present in the Tibetan Buddhist culture sphere.

The faith of simple people in Tibet is to recite the mani as much as possible, spinning prayer wheels all the while, and hope to be born in the Sukhavati after death, guided through the bardo there by a qualified lama. That's about it. When one does transference of consciousness, the form may be Amitabha, but the essence is one's guru. All phowas with three thoughts, a consciousness to transfer, a place to transfer, and the action are predicated on one transferring one's consciousness into the heart of one's guru visualized as Amitabha, Vajrasattva, etc. It is just an entirely different religious culture than Chinese or Japanese Pure Land Buddhism.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 1:15 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


Pablo said:
Thanks, Malcolm.

So then the point would be not to try to "match" two different rhetoric schemes (aka bhumis on one hand and Zen on the other), or am I misunderstanding you?

Malcolm wrote:
What I am saying is that at one level, it doesn't matter what this old master said or that one. What matters is gaining personal experience in the path. That can only happen if one actually make a commitment and actually practices the path. It is useless to sit around and compare realizations. We can only have our own realization and no one else's. No one can actually confirm our realization for us, in fact, not even the Buddha. That's why every teacher tells their students, "Great, you understood something, keep up the good work" if the student is sincere. Acknowledgement of a student by a teacher is far more about the student's sincerity than confirming that someone has achieved this or that rank.

For example, in Dzogchen teachings, there is only one level, rhetorically speaking. Where other teachings such as Vajrayāna, Lotus Buddhism, Shingon, etc., are ekayāna teachings, Dzogchen is an ekabhumi teaching. Zen is a little similar, according to my understanding. In Dzogchen, you learn to recognize your own state after it has been introduced; you work on removing doubt about that state; and then, when you have resolved your doubts, you continue in that state. But these are just words. The rubber has got to meet the road, otherwise it is all just rhetorical posturing.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, February 5th, 2022 at 12:28 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


Astus said:
If there is disagreement then there is discrimination, if there is discrimination there is suffering.

Malcolm wrote:
So when the Buddha disagreed with someone, he was suffering?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 10:36 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
Ok, thank you.

Malcolm wrote:
Also, there is no doubt a Tibetan/Sanskrit based version that is perhaps more text critically oriented than Gomez's will appear on 84000.co.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 10:29 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Pablo said:
Just to be clear (I ask because I truly do not know, I'm not really interested in polemics), what Malcolm and Johnny are saying is that the language used in the Zen tradition re Buddhahood (see for instance Astus's messages in this thread) is rhetorical, and that the awakening spoken of in Zen does not correspond with awakening as understood in the general Mahayana tradition. Is this correct?

Astus said:
There is such an interpretation, especially when one takes the side of Doctrine (jiao 教 - a Zen term for the rest of Buddhism that's based on scriptures and treatises). On the other hand, it can also be said that it's the 'general Mahayana' that is rhetorical, while Zen is seeing how things are. And there's also a third option, that it's all a matter of skilful means and one works with whatever one can work for the single goal of liberation.

Malcolm wrote:
It's all rhetoric, all the way down.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 10:26 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
There is no such contradiction. The Sanskrit and Tibetan recensions do not guarantee immediate birth for those of the third grade. Only the Chinese version does. It makes no sense to try and box the Tibetan tradition into a Chinese commentarial perspective. They are different traditions, with different textual histories, and different assumptions and motivational drives.

Shinjin said:
Could you recommend a sanskrit version of the Larger sutra that is available online?

Malcolm wrote:
You should just obtain a copy of Gomez's book which has both the Sanskrit and Chinese sūtras translated separately, because they are sufficiently different to warrant such separate treatment. The short title of his book is "The Land of Bliss."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 10:15 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I think that’s a legitimate approach within a tradition. There are plenty of Pure Land sutras that Honen and others could have used to support their approach, but either they didn’t know about them or they weren’t available. What we today consider the “canon” isn’t necessarily what historic monastic would call the Tripitaka or Twelve Section canon. Halkias makes this point too with reference to different monastic libraries in Tibet, which don’t perfectly have collections that all correspond to Derge equivalents.

As for the matter of particular vows, Halkias makes the interesting point that the four requisites are in fact directly lifted from the nineteenth vow, so Tibetan Pure Land methodology is explicitly a nineteenth vow approach in contrast to East Asian methodologies. Just something interesting that came out of my reading so far.

This is pretty interesting in as far as deconstructions of the vows were used to develop these methodologies. If you deconstruct the nineteenth vow you get the four requisites, and if you deconstruct the eighteenth vow you get the threefold mind. The twentieth vow on the other hand supports more the kind of continual Nembutsu practices you see in mainland schools and Tendai.

Malcolm wrote:
Among Tibetan commentaries, there is no such deconstruction of the parts of the aspiration. It is one aspiration with 48 parts. If any of the 48 parts are not satisfied, the other 47 are voided.

Shinjin said:
Then the commentaries contradict the sutras since the Larger sutra itself states that the lowest grade consists of those who have only recited the name and nothing else. Why should commentaries be taken more seriously than what the actual sutra states?

Malcolm wrote:
There is no such contradiction. The Sanskrit and Tibetan recensions do not guarantee immediate birth for those of the third grade. Only the Chinese version does. It makes no sense to try and box the Tibetan tradition into a Chinese commentarial perspective. They are different traditions, with different textual histories, and different assumptions and motivational drives.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 9:57 PM
Title: Re: “Formally” asking a lama to be one’s root guru?
Content:
KonchogUrgyenNyima said:
Hello,

I have heard it said that one has to formally ask a lama to be ones root lama?

Malcolm wrote:
Total misunderstanding of the meaning of "root guru" in Dzogchen.

Sonam Gyalmo said:
Are you going to point the OP in a useful direction, or just issue a ruling?

Malcolm wrote:
The issue has been discussed to death here.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 9:53 PM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:


clyde said:
Not really. Imagine someone promoting a process to heal your pain and promises success, but can’t (or won’t) identify anyone who has been successful.

Malcolm wrote:
What exactly do you think awakening is? What does realization mean to you? Meido brings up a good point, how are you going to tell if someone is awakened if you are yourself not an awakened person with clairvoyance?

The Mahayana sutras provide a good answer to your quandry: regard anyone you consider a teacher as if they are a buddha.  It really doesn’t matter who they are. And it doesn’t matter if they are a buddha in fact. They are a connection to the Dharma for you.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 9:38 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I think that’s a legitimate approach within a tradition. There are plenty of Pure Land sutras that Honen and others could have used to support their approach, but either they didn’t know about them or they weren’t available. What we today consider the “canon” isn’t necessarily what historic monastic would call the Tripitaka or Twelve Section canon. Halkias makes this point too with reference to different monastic libraries in Tibet, which don’t perfectly have collections that all correspond to Derge equivalents.

As for the matter of particular vows, Halkias makes the interesting point that the four requisites are in fact directly lifted from the nineteenth vow, so Tibetan Pure Land methodology is explicitly a nineteenth vow approach in contrast to East Asian methodologies. Just something interesting that came out of my reading so far.

This is pretty interesting in as far as deconstructions of the vows were used to develop these methodologies. If you deconstruct the nineteenth vow you get the four requisites, and if you deconstruct the eighteenth vow you get the threefold mind. The twentieth vow on the other hand supports more the kind of continual Nembutsu practices you see in mainland schools and Tendai.

Malcolm wrote:
Among Tibetan commentaries, there is no such deconstruction of the parts of the aspiration. It is one aspiration with 48 parts. If any of the 48 parts are not satisfied, the other 47 are voided.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 7:09 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
You know those three animals at the center of a Bhavachakra? Those are the same notion here as the dog, everyone in samsara is chasing their tail, and many of us can’t even differentiate between when we are doing that, and when we have ceased. That’s why there is so much literature (including in Zen) that addresses deviations from the path.

Malcolm wrote:
And just as clearly, the lesson we learn from history both recent and distant, is that even renowned teachers are really no different. Hence, my general distrust of authorization of any kind, institutional or otherwise.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 6:44 AM
Title: Re: Qbism... For your consideration
Content:
Queequeg said:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-quantum-mechanics-reveal-that-life-is-but-a-dream/

Hm.

Malcolm wrote:
Annoying webpage.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 6:36 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


reiun said:
Of course, since you are implying Zen people are like dogs, I am skeptical.

Malcolm wrote:
Nope, I am implying everyone.

reiun said:
And you?

Malcolm wrote:
Been there, done that. I am nobody special.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 6:29 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:
clyde said:
realizations

Malcolm wrote:
Realizations are not the same thing as awakening.

There are all kinds of realizations common people can have.

But when you realize bodhi, nonconceptual insight into emptiness, you are no longer an ordinary person. But even if you do realize bodhi, so what? You can't give it to anyone else. All you can do is teach.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 6:24 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
reiun said:
A Zen Teacher would have made this clear.

Malcolm wrote:
Nevertheless, people chase experiences, just like dogs chase their own tails.

reiun said:
Of course, since you are implying Zen people are like dogs, I am skeptical.

Malcolm wrote:
Nope, I am implying everyone.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 5:44 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
reiun said:
A Zen Teacher would have made this clear.

Malcolm wrote:
Nevertheless, people chase experiences, just like dogs chase their own tails.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 4:30 AM
Title: Re: the Zen promise is empty
Content:


clyde said:
And I believed the Zen promise that Buddhahood was attainable “in this lifetime”.

Malcolm wrote:
Bodhisattvas have great courage because they do not expect to attain buddhahood in this life. They understand the daunting task of practicing the perfections, and don't try to explain it with with clever rhetoric.

Of course everyone wants to attain buddhahood as soon as possible, however, 99.999 percent of people do not attain buddhahood in this life, no matter what path one chooses to follow.

clyde said:
I am saddened that it is not only considered improper for students or teachers to talk in public of one’s progress on the path, but that it seems generally accepted that there are NO awakened living Buddhist teachers in any tradition!

Malcolm wrote:
You shouldn't be sad. It is against monastic vows to speak of one's spiritual attainments, period. This precedent has force in the lay community as well. Hence there is clear standard of conduct where teachers, generally speaking, refuse to speak of their realization. And if they do, it's only carefully selected disciples with whom they would share such information.

clyde said:
I had assumed and continue to believe that there are awakened contemporary Buddhist teachers in all the traditions (e.g. - HHDL and the recently departed TNH).

Malcolm wrote:
Why believe things of people when they themselves reject it? For example, HHDL has stated in certain terms that he is not an ārya bodhisattva. Of course, many people will ignore him and assume he is merely being humble.

clyde said:
But if it is the case that there are no awakened Buddhists, not even among the most dedicated practitioners and teachers, then the Zen promise is empty.

Malcolm wrote:
The measure of progress in Dharma: are your three poisons under control? Are you a more loving and compassionate person?  Are you more patient, relaxed, and easy going? Are you wiser when viewing cause and effect? Do you have some understanding of emptiness and dependent origination? If the answer is yes to all of these questions, then you are doing pretty good job as a practitioner. In this case it does matter whether you practice Zen, Vipassana, Dzogchen, Pure Land, Nichiren Buddhism, Vajrayāna, and so on.

The awakening or enlightenment of other people is not transferrable. All teachers can do us is show us a path. As long as they understand the path they are practicing, have some core competencies in the literature of their tradition, as well as some kind of lineage transmission, then they can teach to interested people. If they happen to be awakened, great. But there is no special sign that someone is an ārya bodhisattva, they don't carry signs. One can only know a bodhisattva through their extraordinary compassion.

In the lower stages, bodhisattvas don't remember their training in past lives and will not possess the realization they had in previous lives. They practice the path and realize it again. This is why the lower bodhisattva stages are stages of retrogression. When one passes away, even if one reached the sixth bodhisattva stage, one will forget it in the next life until one meets the dharma again, whenever that is, in a future life. To be a Mahāyāna bodhisattva requires great courage and the commitment to practice the path to the end. There are many time where we will take rebirth where there will be no dharma for us to meet, no teachers to meet, no sangha to have.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 3:31 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:


WeiHan said:
The number is from Edelman, a neutral to mildly anti-China America based consultancy film.

Malcolm wrote:
I've been in China, more than once. I have many Chinese friends. One cannot trust what Chinese citizens say about China inside China. What they say inside is not what they say outside.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 3:17 AM
Title: Re: “Formally” asking a lama to be one’s root guru?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
63ucn4.jpg (67.11 KiB) Viewed 9855 times


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 2:00 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Matylda said:
However the competence and experience of a teacher from whom one could receive valid instructions is crucial.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, but that does not depend on some putative awakening proclaimed by devoted disciples. They just need to know what they are doing and know how to properly care for students.

Matylda said:
it is what I meant


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 1:21 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:



Malcolm wrote:
We don't read this sūtra. So it forms no part of our commentarial tradition at all.

Shinjin said:
Why is this?

Malcolm wrote:
It was never translated into Tibetan. There are three reasons why this may be so: 1) it may not have a Sanskrit original 2) It may not have been sufficiently well-known among Indians to be translated based on reputation. 3) It might have been a Central Asian text, the original of which did not survive. Whatever the reason, we don't read it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 12:33 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Matylda said:
However the competence and experience of a teacher from whom one could receive valid instructions is crucial.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, but that does not depend on some putative awakening proclaimed by devoted disciples. They just need to know what they are doing and know how to properly care for students.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 12:20 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
WeiHan said:
How well the pandemic is managed  not just reflected in death numbers but also, as you brought out, how fast and how far people life can get back to normal.

Malcolm wrote:
That depends on getting the world vaxxed. Then there is the issue of the virus spreading rapidly among the wild life population.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 12:15 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
Yes. In Tibetan Buddhism, the practice is designed on the basis of the first grade of practitioners. So if some one is serious about being in the best or second best kind of birth, they know what to do.

Shinjin said:
[22] The Buddha said to Ananda and Vaidehi,

Malcolm wrote:
We don't read this sūtra. So it forms no part of our commentarial tradition at all. Therefore, it cannot be used to discuss the issue, since there is no common textual base for a discussion. Therefore, we are not making it complicated.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, February 4th, 2022 at 12:09 AM
Title: Re: “Formally” asking a lama to be one’s root guru?
Content:
KonchogUrgyenNyima said:
Hello,

I have heard it said that one has to formally ask a lama to be ones root lama?

Malcolm wrote:
Total misunderstanding of the meaning of "root guru" in Dzogchen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 11:58 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Anders said:
Malcolm is just a guy on an internet forum.

dharmafootsteps said:
And HHDL is just a simple monk.


Matylda said:
It is what he says, isn`t it? And he has never said that he is a bodhisattva, the first bhumi neither any other bhumi up to the 10th. Of course Tibetans believe, that he is a kind of Avalokiteshvara in person, and that believe is shared by many non-Tibetans.

Malcolm wrote:
If Buddhism depended on enlightened teachers these days, it would have already been extinguished.

The very first Buddhist teacher I ever encountered was on a weekend field trip to go sit with Eido Shimano in 1978 at Dai Bosatsu Zendo. I was sixteen, and I thought for sure that this guy must be enlightened. When I heard about the drunken sprawl that constituted a weekend field trip sit with Trungpa at Tail of Tiger, I was pretty smug, since I was very impressed with Dai Bosatsu (I was't permitted to go because I was delinquent in my homework).

At Dai Bosatsu, I remember chanting the Heart Sutra in Japanese, but of course I could not keep up. And I remember being hit with a stick, which at that place you had to request. I wanted to see what it felt like.  Of course I never received a Koan, etc., because I never went back there. But I always felt a kinship with the Japanese Zen tradition in general. When I went to Japan, a monk from Koyasan who spoke English asked me what kind of Buddhist I was, since I self-identified as a Buddhist, and I told him I was a Rinzai Buddhist. Of course, I did not know what I was talking about, but because I had that weekend experience at a nominally Rinzai place, that's what I said. (A funny aside, some of the kids brought valium to make it through the sitting periods, but I toughed it out).

Imagine my disappointment when, thirty-two years later, I heard he had been a serial womanizer, and that Robert Aitken had been keeping a record of his indiscretions for decades. The scandal went so deep that Myōshin-ji rejected the qualifications of all people that Shimano had designated as successors.

Now, many of the major Zen Buddhist founding teachers and their students in the US of note have been implicated in some kind of impropriety with women, financial impropriety, etc. some even claiming their bodhisattva activity justified their behavior. We all know who they are, no need to rehash the details . Many major Tibetan Buddhists like Trungpa, etc., were all deeply involved sex scandals, drug addiction, alcoholism, etc. Not just in the Kagyu school, but in Nyingma, Gelug, and so on. Even here we run into people who assert Trungpa was enlightened because x or y said so. I don't believe it.

I generally do not believe students of teachers when they assure me their guru or roshi or sensei or geshe or tulku is a highly realized being. I certainly don't believe it when a guru or roshi or sensei or geshe or tulku declares they are a highly realized being.

If someone passes, and they shows signs and relics at the time of their death, maybe I will believe it. But also signs and relics can just be the play of the four elements, and illustrate nothing special at all, so maybe I won't. Also nonbuddhist yogis sometimes sit for days without their bodies showing signs of decay, which demonstrates nothing more than function of mundane samādhis and nothing about awakening, bodhi.

All I know is that studying and practicing Dharma has brought meaning and purpose to my life. But claims of realization by Buddhist teachers and for Buddhist teachers? Meh. You can keep 'em. I am not buying.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 11:15 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Anders said:
Malcolm is just a guy on an internet forum.

dharmafootsteps said:
And HHDL is just a simple monk.

Malcolm wrote:
HHDL asserts, and I see no reason to doubt him, that he is not an ārya.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 9:35 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Shinjin said:
My current practice is reciting the name at least 108 each day before going to bed followed by saying "May I be born in Sukhavati and attain supreme enlightenment". What would you add to that?

Malcolm wrote:
The sleeping yoga composed by Sakya Pandita.

Könchok Thrinley said:
Looking at the text, is a transmission of lung or anything necessary? It seems like a rather straightforward instruction that can be used by anyone who practices vajrayana.

Malcolm wrote:
It does not need a lung. It’s sutra level.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 8:32 PM
Title: Re: Buddha Nature of insentient thing.
Content:
Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
However he does throw in Mipam and Longchenpa into the subject.

Malcolm wrote:
Neither would ever assert rocks and trees have Buddhanature.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 8:25 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Self-power, other-power, who cares? it’s doesn’t matter either way. Only the hook of faith is able to catch the ring of compassion.

Zhen Li said:
It's the difference between practising without calculation and attaining Buddhahood upon death, and wavering and spending 500 years or many kalpas to even begin hearing the Dharma again. This is an interpretation not treated in TB, so we don't have to continue this discussion here, but I personally find it interesting to explore potential overlaps and parallels. The different kinds of Phowa, for instance, are something worth exploring in this regard.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes. In Tibetan Buddhism, the practice is designed on the basis of the first grade of practitioners. So if some one is serious about being in the best or second best kind of birth, they know what to do.

Apart from  irmanakaya phowa, the other two do do not involve birth in Sukhavati.
In particular lamas train in nirmanakaya phowa mainly to help others. Also when train, you need to have the sign of phowa to assist others, and as proof you yourself will succeed if you can do it at the time death.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 8:20 PM
Title: Re: Seventeen Tantras Lung with Tulku Dakpa
Content:
yagmort said:
can i attend if i don't have any nyingthig wang yet?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 8:12 PM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
sun-and-moon said:
Thanks for your answer. Could you give a reference on Longchenpas texts?

Malcolm wrote:
Commentary on the treasury of dharmadhatu.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 11:55 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I agree that Bhadracari would be sufficient for birth, but would identify it as birth through the 19th and 20th vows.

Malcolm wrote:
In our tradition, Dharmakāra only makes one aspiration. It may have forty-eight parts, but they are integral to a single aspiration. One can argue over which passage is more important, but actually, it's just one aspiration.

Zhen Li said:
This is the same in Jōdo Shinshū, the term 本願 (pūrva-praṇidhāna) has multiple referents:
1. The 48 vows.
2. The Gates for Birth (Essential Gate (19th), Provisional (20th), and Ocean Like (18th))
3. The Ocean Like Vow or True Gate (18th)

These distinctions were originally made by Shandao.

Hōnen added the dimension of "selection." This means that each of the 48 vows was specifically selected for a reason and to provide the Pure Land with a particular quality. It's not just a shotgun blast with a scattering of qualities here and there—they are actually selected for particular purposes. Hōnen also points out that we can select among the gate for birth, and indicates that the essential intent of the Larger, Shorter, and Contemplation sūtras is that the 18th vow is the universal vow that permits the full working of Amitābha's other power.

Shinran only added the clarification that the 19th vow is specifically meditative and non-meditative good acts, and that birth occurs by transferring the merits of those practices to birth, and that the 20th vow is Amitābha-oriented practice, but reliant upon self-power, hence it contains both "true and provisional aspects," i.e. both self and other power components. So, with Phowa, we can say that it is enabled by the 20th vow because it depends upon the practitioner's meditative act to activate, but it is enabled by Amitābha making the vow that enables birth through such methods in the first place.
Malcolm wrote:
Sure, one might argue that the 18th part is the most important because of the gatha that says:

If any sentient being hears my name,
they will be born in my buddhafield.

But this is nothing I have ever seen any Tibetan scholar advance as a special position, Mipham included.

Zhen Li said:
It also depends on the audience. 98% of the pūrva-praṇidhāna is skilful means.

Malcolm wrote:
Self-power, other-power, who cares? it’s doesn’t matter either way. Only the hook of faith is able to catch the ring of compassion.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 6:52 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
clyde said:
slander.

Malcolm wrote:
Expressing an opinion is not slander. What is slander? "The action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation."

Now, my statement is not false. How could it be? I merely expressed an opinion, one you don't like. But that's your problem of attachment, not mine. You are certainly entitled to think my opinion is wrong, misguided, deluded, shameful, and any number of terrible things. But it isn't a false statement, since it's my opinion and I stated it directly and honestly.

But I certainly have not ruined anyone's reputation, either, and I don't answer to you, clyde. So get over yourself.

Now, this little exchange has become a meta-conversation and is therefore, out of TOS.

One other thing-- if Guo Gu was a first stage bodhisattva, do you think he would care? Of course not, so get over it. This is solely your problem. It isn't my problem, Sheng Yen's problem, or Guo Gu's problem. Maybe you ought to get in touch with that luminous mind. It would definitely solve your problem.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 6:36 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I agree that Bhadracari would be sufficient for birth, but would identify it as birth through the 19th and 20th vows.

Malcolm wrote:
In our tradition, Dharmakāra only makes one aspiration. It may have forty-eight parts, but they are integral to a single aspiration. One can argue over which passage is more important, but actually, it's just one aspiration.

Sure, one might argue that the 18th part is the most important because of the gatha that says:

If any sentient being hears my name,
they will be born in my buddhafield.

But this is nothing I have ever seen any Tibetan scholar advance as a special position, Mipham included.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 5:42 AM
Title: Re: What will you do...
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
It's not a "Blue State" problem, it's a west coast problem, primarily. And it is somewhat overblown by the right wing media.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 5:31 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Matylda said:
Those people were real zen people. Some of them wrote quite a lot, like Sawaki (circa 20 vol.) some wrote virtually nothing but were still famous in the inner circles. I found myself that those who were not inclined to write, talk and show up, were best.

Malcolm wrote:
Thanks.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 5:00 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
ItsRaining said:
He himself used satori a lot which also refers to some kind of realisation.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, I am aware of this. Thanks for your overall reply.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 4:30 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:


Minobu said:
(edits weird joke about what white Americans might refer to themselves in about 150 years)

Malcolm wrote:
Oh, they already think they are indigenous and have indigenous rights, you don't have to wait 150 years.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 3:38 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
Genjo Conan said:
a significant chunk of the population still looks up to the men who fought to preserve slavery as heroes worthy of public monuments.

Malcolm wrote:
Talk about lost causes...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 3:35 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:


sun-and-moon said:
3. Since dhyana stabilizes the mind and mental factors, does stability of dhyana bring stability in rigpa too?

Malcolm wrote:
The dhyāna being discussed is not the dhyāna discussed in Dzogchen teachings. The latter does not depend on mental factors, unlike the former. So the answer is a solid no. In fact, it is the opposite. Rig pa (knowledge of one's own state)  brings about natural concentration (rang bzhin bsam gtan), which is unlike the dhyānas spoken of in the lower yānas. Longchenpa writes about this extensively.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 3:31 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
Minobu said:
Indigenous is an oxymoron for they too migrated to to North America and are not of the land.

Malcolm wrote:
All humans are indigenous to planet earth.

But when your people have been living in the same place, more or less for the past 15,000+ years as opposed to the last 400, I think its ok to call yourself "indigenous."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 2:55 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
Tibetan Pure Land has a rich tradition of their own and perfect for those who are into more self power oriented practices.

Malcolm wrote:
We don't articulate it as a separate tradition. Everyone has faith in Amitabha Buddha, and everyone recites the Aspiration of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra as a matter of course, which is sufficient for birth in the pure land, sooner or later.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 2:51 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Matylda said:
Well, Rev. Okamura is very important person in American and Western soto. I am not a scholar as you know.

Malcolm wrote:
You are an important cultural informant, at the very least.

Matylda said:
Scholars with their intelectual understanding simply kill zen.

Malcolm wrote:
I'd say they are pretty well murdering Buddhism in general.

Thanks for your answer.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 2:09 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
But is this anti-kensho stance in Soto actually modern?

Matylda said:
Yes.. it was first attacked by Nishiari Bokusan,

Malcolm wrote:
So do you agree or disagree with Shohaku Okumura:

Some people think mind to be permanent and body to be impermanent. In this case, mind was considered to be atman; that is, pure and permanent. And the body was considered to be the source of delusive desire and impermanent. In this case, mind was called shinsho (mind nature) and body was called shinso (bodily form). And this mind-nature was often used as a synonym of buddha-nature. This is the reason Dogen negates the idea of kensho (seeing the nature).

http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Genjokoan_Okumara.htm

Or is the case you are making that Nishiari Bokusan's influence was so strong that it has overwhelmed a more balanced view of the subject?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 1:49 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


Meido said:
Of course, in at least one major corner of Western Soto Zen, ayahuasca is now the hot thing. Too bad.

Malcolm wrote:
Sheesh, and here I thought it was just the inability to distinguish Advaita Vedanta from Buddhadharma that was contaminating Zen-- too much emphasis on "nonduality."

Ayakensho, who knew? It's 1964 all over again.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 1:45 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


clyde said:
You don’t believe Guo Gu is a stream enterer, so either he’s lying or Sheng Yen, a renown Chan Master who knew Guo Gu as a child and was his teacher for many years, was mistaken - and you know better. Which is it?

Malcolm wrote:
I told you, I don't believe it. That's all the answer you are going to get. What I believe is irrelevant to you, just as it is irrelevant to Sheng Yen, and Guo Gu. Why would they care what I think? And why do you care what I think?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 1:22 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Experiences are transient. They come and go.

reiun said:
But they may leave their mark and open doors.

Malcolm wrote:
Oh, experiences are necessary, but they are not the point, at least not in Buddhism as I understand it, no matter what school we are referring to. Experiences are mind. Minds come and go.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022 at 12:59 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:


FiveSkandhas said:
For example, I believe cancel culture is a legitimate criticism that can be leveled be against the left.

Malcolm wrote:
Whose doing the cancelling now? Trump cancels anyone who disagrees with him.

FiveSkandhas said:
America should always be a place where difference of opinion vis protected. Oversensitivity about what really are often minor verbal gaffes really do destroy lives and careers, and it's a frightening trend.

Malcolm wrote:
Who gets to decide what's minor?

FiveSkandhas said:
book-banning

Malcolm wrote:
Strictly a right-wing thing. Or haven't you been paying attention to the news?

https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdpen/mississippi-furry-book-banning?utm_source=email&utm_medium=editorial&utm_content=news&utm_campaign=220202

As far as taking down statues of Confederate traitors, we have not been thorough enough. We also need to blow the faces off of Stone Mountain in GA.

FiveSkandhas said:
And COVID disinformation needs to be patiently rebutted with facts

Malcolm wrote:
It is, repeatedly, or haven't you been paying attention to the news?

FiveSkandhas said:
The desire to secure the southern border...

Malcolm wrote:
Is basically rooted in racism and 19th century history of US imperialism. Just when was Texas, NM, AZ, and CA part of the thirteen original colonies?

Where is the wall on the Canadian border? Oh, right, mostly white people up there with a common Anglo heritage, apart from Quebec and the First nations.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 11:57 PM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
Queequeg said:
Observation - seems Trump's tariffs on China are an issue for our friends from the Sinosphere... they're never mentioned here. I guess we can conclude they're making someone uncomfortable. Maybe its an effective tactic after all.

Malcolm wrote:
Tariffs just punish the intended market for goods, not the producers of those goods. Tariffs are bad foreign policy. However, once they are in place they are difficult to unwind.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 11:37 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Personally, I rather admire the anti-kensho stance.

Anders said:
In what way?

Malcolm wrote:
I see a lot of people chasing experiences, chasing recognition of the nature of the mind, objectifying the nature of the mind as if it is something to be grasped and held. The way it is summarized by Astus from a variety of sources here makes a lot of sense to me:

https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=20655

Dosho Port's article, for me, is describing are what are classified as experiences: Tib. nyams su myong ba, Skt. anubhava.

Experiences are transient. They come and go.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 10:29 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Shinjin said:
My current practice is reciting the name at least 108 each day before going to bed followed by saying "May I be born in Sukhavati and attain supreme enlightenment". What would you add to that?

Malcolm wrote:
The sleeping yoga composed by Sakya Pandita.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 8:37 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


Meido said:
In any case, i do not think there is confusion in Rinzai Zen regarding what kensho is and isn't vis a vis the path. I agree that the article in question expresses a needed corrective to trends especially within Soto Zen since Meiji (what the author has called the "Post-Meiji Soto Orthodoxy") arising at least partly from Christian influence. He has written in more detail regarding those things here, if anyone is interested:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildfoxzen/2021/08/the-showa-dispute-about-true-faith.html

Malcolm wrote:
Interesting. Removing  Christian influence from any Buddhist tradition is a net gain for Buddhism as a whole.

But is this anti-kensho stance in Soto actually modern?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 8:29 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
clyde said:
For those who are interested, I posted links to interviews of Guo Gu (

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is where he made his comment.

clyde said:
Malcolm, Guo Gu is a respected Chan teacher and he said his highly regarded teacher, Sheng Yen confirmed Guo Gu’s stream entry.

Earlier you wrote,

Malcolm wrote:
I find that difficult to believe.

clyde said:
So, is it that you believe Guo Gu is lying? Or that Sheng Yen was mistaken? Or what?

Malcolm wrote:
Mahayana stream entry is the first bhumi, so I don’t believe it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 10:07 AM
Title: Re: I freakin' love vaccinations now
Content:


Johnny Dangerous said:
Sorry to say, while antivaxx sentiment has always existed, from my point of view the Biden era CDC and related policy makers have done a bad enough job that combined with above factors, the paranoid have only dug in their heels.

ManiThePainter said:
The paranoid dug in their heels a year ago.

The blame for this lies with Trump and his cronies and no one else. Whatever antivaxxer hysteria we’re dealing with today, it is something that Trump knowingly stoked and attempted to use to his political advantage. He also completely gutted the CDC as one of the first things he did when he came into office.

Blaming Biden for this is unfair.

Johnny Dangerous said:
I disagree, the CDC under Biden has been a joke,

Malcolm wrote:
Imagine, if you will, someone suffering from brain damage after a serious car accident. The car accident was Trump.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 10:03 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
clyde said:
For those who are interested, I posted links to interviews of Guo Gu (

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is where he made his comment.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 10:00 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
So, it is recognition of the nature of mind. Got it.

Malcolm wrote:
So, not bodhi, check.

Johnny Dangerous said:
Yeah, from my perspective at least, "awakening" is a weird term to use for this, again I think just by use of that term there is a bit of unintentional (counter?) cultural crossover with the way Neoadvaita people talk about "awakening". Until this conversation I was quite unsure whether or not it was essentially recognizing the nature of mind, it just sounded like it. Apparently there is some precedent for it being exactly that...if I am following.

Malcolm wrote:
Re: Meido’s definition, it’s  the entrance to authentic mahamudra and Dzogchen practice as well. But we don’t call this “awakening” or even “realization.” It’s just a recognition.

And, as I understand things, Dogen didn’t like the term “kensho” because it implied an imperishable mind as opposed to a perishable body.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 9:54 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
So, it is recognition of the nature of mind. Got it.

Malcolm wrote:
So, not bodhi, check.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 9:51 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
That being said, if someone successfully completes Phowa and opens one's sahasrāra, I understood that no lack of merit and no karmic obstruction can prevent one from being born in Sukhāvatī.

Malcolm wrote:
If you can manage to get your act together. Sukhavati phowa is enormously unreliable in this regard.  Case in point: there was a famous phowa master in Dedham Dun, who successfully performed phowa often for other people. However, when it came time for this master to perform phowa for himself, he was unable to do so.  He died before His Holiness Sakya Trichen was able to perform it for him.

There are many forms of phowa. Some involve Sukhavati, but not all. Sukhavati phowas are considered nirmanakaya phowas, because they involve a subject, an object, and an action. There are also sambhogakaya phowas and dharmakaya phowas. These later two have nothing to do with birth in Sukhavati, and instead refer to attaining buddhahood in bardo or at the time of death. Phowa is a rich tradition, which encompasses many approaches.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 9:39 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I will continue with Halkias' book. It was interesting so far and it is worthwhile considering all other perspectives.

GrapeLover said:
Perhaps you might also find interesting the commentary by Mipham Rinpoche available at the end of this Document: https://www.academia.edu/35095965/JU_MI_PHAM_ON_PURE_LAND_DOCTRINE_AND_PRACTICE

Malcolm wrote:
One reservation I have about this paper is that Cook misleadingly follows Halkias in translating a common Tibetan term, dngos po gi nus pa,  vastushakti, as “other power.” I was going to mention this reservation earlier, but I see it is more necessary now, seeing that Cook here follows Halkias’ error.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 9:06 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/recite-amitabha%E2%80%99s-name-every-day

If you recite Amitabha's name every day, when you die you will go to the blissful realm of Amitabha like a rocket, without any obstacle.

PRAYER:
I prostrate to the Tathagata Infinite Light Buddha.
I prostrate to the Suchness Savior Limitless Light.

MANTRA:
OM AMI DEWA HRIH
If possible, recite this 108 times daily, then dedicate:

May I be born in the Western blissful realm.

I guess he agrees with the chinese/japanese mahayana perspective.

Malcolm wrote:
No, if you examine carefully, all four characteristics discussed in the commentaries are present in this short practice. The Amitabha mantra (Amideva is a Tibetan corruption of Amitabha) is there for focus. There is a supplication. There is dedication. Prostration as an expression of faith.

Charlie123 said:
If someone is trained in Phowa, are the 4 causes still necessary?

Malcolm wrote:
They’re baked in.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 2:50 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:


Caoimhghín said:
Because it is a threefold training, we can be confident that the one-pointedness that is supposed to be cultivated is not one like watching a TV, because watching a TV does not require śila as a support.

Malcolm wrote:
The only difference between the samādhi of watching TV and the training of samādhi in the Dharma is that the former is contaminated, and the latter is not. But the samādhi, the mental factor, is identical in both cases, only the object is different. What makes the samādhi part hard is that it is difficult to shift one's focus from mundane contaminated objects to mundane uncontaminated objects, such as the path dharmas. Hence, the need for śila as a basis for samādhi. But this has nothing actually to do with samādhi itself. Samādhi can be focused wherever one likes. And in the case of a practitioners, that concentration is focused on Dharma. It also has nothing developing rarified samadhis, etc. Samādhi here just means being able to focus the mind at will. Thats it. People keep turning these things into strange beasts. We avoid things that disturb our minds (śila), so that we can focus (samādhi) on developing the three wisdoms. That's it. It's not complicated.

Its better to understand the essence of a thing, rather than pile elaboration on top of elaboration.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 2:44 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
Archie2009 said:
I was surprised to learn "In GA, voter roll purges are mandated by a law created by Democrats(!) in 1997-98."

Malcolm wrote:
Which is why we need federal voting standards and objective districting based on math, not gerrymandering.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 2:40 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
Shinjin said:
Yes, not very much different at all.

Malcolm wrote:
Biden is quite polite to the press compared to 45. At least Biden perceives the need for a free press, unlike the previous guy, who cannot stand the slightest disagreement or criticism from the press at all, because he is such a whiny, little bitch.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 2:35 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


KeithA said:
Our friend Malcolm's pov is that Dzogchen is superior...

Malcolm wrote:
Bzzzzt. Wrong answer.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 2:32 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
KeithA said:
where we speak of waking up just now, in this life.

Malcolm wrote:
I have no problem with the idea of waking up in this life (Dzogchen, check; Zen, check), a teaching outside of the sutras ( (Dzogchen, check; Zen, check), based on following a qualified teacher (Dzogchen, check; Zen, check).

I merely question the promiscuous use of the term "bodhi" to describe what appear to me to be training experiences.

Presumably, we are all trying to realize the same reality, no? the same absence of self, the same emptiness of dharmas and persons?

Bodhi, waking up, means realizing emptiness, not intellectually, but in actuality. It's inexpressible, so how can it be expressed in words?

This is why, when I see such articles like these in Trike, etc., it makes me skeptical. I don't doubt that Dosho Port is writing this in good faith. I am just skeptical.

Have these people even achieved patience towards their own afflictions? Are they still gripped by the three poisons? If they are, then they have not realized emptiness at all, but merely had an training experience that approximates emptiness. It's a good experience, a positive working basis for bodhi, but it isn't awakening, bodhi. It's like someone who opens their eyes for moment before waking up in the morning and then falls back into the early morning dream they were having.  YMMV.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 2:00 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:


Minobu said:
nightmare but I have a weird feeling he will win. the republicans are going to go ape in getting the vote out .

Malcolm wrote:
"the republicans are going to go ape throwing votes out"

There, fixed it for you.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 1:57 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


reiun said:
And it is only stage one . . . As long as it is verified by a qualified teacher, for me, it's no contest.

Malcolm wrote:
That means the teacher must be such a person and so on. But as I said, if one has realized emptiness, one needn't depend on anyone to confirm it. Confirmations serve only institutional purposes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 1:53 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


Johnny Dangerous said:
There’s no one to one comparison there, just saying, I don’t think kensho necessarily implies a person has reached the first Bhumi or something, but maybe I’m wrong and there is some ‘traditional’ justification for that….

Malcolm wrote:
The word used in the article is "bodhi." Last time I checked, it meant realizing emptiness.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 1:42 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
I get the impression that Kensho is kind of having a moment in Western Zen these days.

Genjo Conan said:
I think it's been a response (and in some ways a useful corrective) to certain strains in American Soto Zen.

Johnny Dangerous said:
Yeah iI got that impression, and it probably is a good thing. The thing that I don’t get though is what sort of differentiation there is in the article between just a basically samsaric ‘peak experience’ and kensho.

Malcolm wrote:
If someone has actually realized emptiness and woken up, they don't need anyone to confirm it for them. If on the other hand, they have a bit of doubt, and are not sure they have understood the meaning of emptiness, they might need a little push from a teacher to direct them in the proper way.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 1:37 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
I get the impression that Kensho is kind of having a moment in Western Zen these days.

Genjo Conan said:
I think it's been a response (and in some ways a useful corrective) to certain strains in American Soto Zen.

Malcolm wrote:
Personally, I rather admire the anti-kensho stance.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 1:31 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
Unknown said:
Haven't seen that claim...

Malcolm wrote:
He made it in a video presentation, when he was describing an encounter with his teacher, who informed he had achieved the first bodhisattva bhumi. One could argue that Guo Gu was not making the claim himself, merely reporting what Shenyen had told him, but even bringing it up...makes it a claim he is making for himself.

Unknown said:
Since you know Guo Gu well enough to judge his claim false, thus damaging his reputation, in the context of the above definition only, where do you think he falls short?

Malcolm wrote:
I am generally skeptical when people claim to be first stage bodhisattvas. Example, Michael Roach.

I doubt my skepticism damages his reputation. There are all kinds of claims of realization for this and that teacher and by this and that teacher. I am generally skeptical of them all.

In my book, one can claim one has some realization without being a first stage bodhisattva. But claiming one has directly realized emptiness is a big claim. To claim one is a first stage bodhisattva is to put on some big pants. A well know but somewhat controversial student of Maezumi Roshi once told me he thought he was a first stage bodhisattva, when I asked him for an explanation of Tozan's five ranks. I didn't believe him either.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 12:36 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/recite-amitabha%E2%80%99s-name-every-day

If you recite Amitabha's name every day, when you die you will go to the blissful realm of Amitabha like a rocket, without any obstacle.

PRAYER:
I prostrate to the Tathagata Infinite Light Buddha.
I prostrate to the Suchness Savior Limitless Light.

MANTRA:
OM AMI DEWA HRIH
If possible, recite this 108 times daily, then dedicate:

May I be born in the Western blissful realm.

I guess he agrees with the chinese/japanese mahayana perspective.

Malcolm wrote:
No, if you examine carefully, all four characteristics discussed in the commentaries are present in this short practice. The Amitabha mantra (Amideva is a Tibetan corruption of Amitabha) is there for focus. There is a supplication. There is dedication. Prostration as an expression of faith.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 12:32 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
narhwal90 said:
I suppose the dramatic awakening experiences make for dramatic reading.

Malcolm wrote:
Apparently, only Zen/Chan/Son people are allowed to confirm or question the claims of awakening of Zen/Chan/Son people. Others need not apply.

reiun said:
There shouldn't be a problem to "question" claims of awakening. But you should understand that it is only a Zen Teacher,  i.e., someone like Meido Moore or Guo Gu, who is qualified to "confirm" (verify) it.

Malcolm wrote:
That supposes they are qualified to confirm it. Guo Gu claims to be a first stage bodhisattva. I find that difficult to believe. On the other hand, I don't find it difficult to believe that Dogen was an awakened person.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 at 12:12 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
Wisdom is acquired through samādhi, so while samādhi may not be "the main point" of Buddhism, it is the methodology through which "the main point" is made manifest, no?

Malcolm wrote:
Prajñā is not acquired through samādhi at all. However, śila provides a basis for a focused mind (samādhi), and a focused mind provides a basis for prajñā.

Prajñā is acquired through hearing (śrutimayāprajñā), reflection (cintamayāprajñā), and cultivation (bhāvanamayīprajñā).

The dhyānas are not required for this at all. Samādhi is just mental one-pointedness on a object. For most people, that would be TV, these days.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 11:34 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
At least I’m not someone else’s luminous mind.
That would totally suck.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 11:28 PM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
narhwal90 said:
I suppose the dramatic awakening experiences make for dramatic reading.

Malcolm wrote:
Apparently, only Zen/Chan/Son people are allowed to confirm or question the claims of awakening of Zen/Chan/Son people. Others need not apply.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 11:25 PM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
If the yogin fails at the stage of any of the dhyānas, they will lead to rebirth for him.

Malcolm wrote:
Below the path of seeing, the dhyānas are just causes for rebirth.

Caoimhghín said:
If the yogin succeeds, then he can use the dhyānas to destroy lust and hatred, as well as attachment to the kamadhātu. That's what I'm familiar with. Whether you consider it wrong is another matter.

Malcolm wrote:
Without vipaśyanā, samādhi is useless——this is why there are three prajñās, not only one. Meditation just isn't the main point of Buddhadharma. Prajñā is.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 11:11 PM
Title: Re: Most Important Empowerments in the Sakya Tradition
Content:



n8pee said:
Why is this?

Malcolm wrote:
Apart from Lamdre, Naropa’s Khecari is the most important set of instructions in Sakya. It’s easy to practice, profound, and complete. According to the Sakya Tradition, it’s the ultimate practice lineage from the Cakrasamvara tantra tradition as preserved by this school.

Passing By said:
Easier than Ganga Mahamudra and Dzogchen? Speaking of which, is this found only in Sakya or does Kagyu Mahamudra / Samvara contain the gist of it also?

Malcolm wrote:
They are three completely different paths.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 11:07 PM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
It seems that in a lot of Mahāyāna, the eight vimokṣas have become disassociated from the dhyānas and arūpyasamāpattis.

Malcolm wrote:
The eight dhyānas are paths of rebirth. The only reason the Buddha meditated on them was to remove traces connected with rebirth in these lokas.

Otherwise, as I mentioned, and as Astus affirms, the first bhumi requires only one-pointedness, non-distraction, on the object of contemplation, four-fold emptiness. Upon its attainment, one can manifest one hundred bodies, visit one hundred buddhafields and so on:

“If he wishes to, he can apply himself in such a way that in just one instant, in one moment, he can give up his entire family, wife, and possessions and be ordained in the Tathāgata’s teaching. Having been ordained, in just one instant he will attain and rest in a hundred samādhis, see a hundred buddhas and know their blessings, cause a hundred worlds to shake, go to a hundred buddha realms, [F.185.b] illuminate a hundred worlds, ripen a hundred beings, remain for a hundred eons, enter a hundred previous eons and a hundred future eons, open a hundred Dharma doors, manifest a hundred bodies, and manifest each body having a retinue of a hundred bodhisattvas.
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh44-31.html#UT22084-036-002-390


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 9:36 PM
Title: Re: Can you conceive of a scenario where it turns out Nagarjuna was wrong (ex: not all things are empty, or otherwise)?
Content:


Dgj said:
In other words, there is nothing stopping an understanding from being valid in which one could realize that the teaching that dependent origination and emptiness invalidate or disprove an ultimately existing Buddha Nature are wrong

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, there is quite a bit stoping such an understanding. There is not such a thing as a self which is anything more than a designation for the series of aggregates. Such an understanding that you suggest is just Hinduism in drag.

Aemilius said:
Conventional everyday reality/language exists even for Buddhas. Buddha Shakyamuni  had a father, a mother, relatives, clan, tribe, country and upbringing. These make up one's identity and position in a society. He is called Shakya-muni,  i.e. a sage/silent  one of the Shakya people. That is an identity. And it is Buddhism that accepts reality as it truly is.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, a conventional designation of the series of skandhas called “Buddha.” But there is no real or permanent identity there.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 9:02 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
I haven’t gotten to Halkias’ translations but so far I haven’t been so fond of his translation choices and there are a few errors.

Malcolm wrote:
He does make some minor errors hear and there—-who doesn’t?—-but the point is not the accuracy of his translations, but his review of a selection of various commentaries composed by Tibetans on the subject. You will see there, invariable, they are univocal about the need for four causes to take birth in Sukhavati. I’ve consulted these to make sure he’s got it right, and some commentaries he hasn’t presented, such as the Sakya commentary mentioned, for review. The Tibetan Buddhist approach is pretty well summarized by Weihan above.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 11:35 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
This is generally how things are understood in the Tibetan tradition, in every commentary in every school

Zhen Li said:
Do you mind sharing some examples?

Malcolm wrote:
Read the Halkias book. He summarizes it all quite.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 10:17 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:



Malcolm wrote:
Even then, it’s not guaranteed, even from the point of view of the tradition of Karma Chakme. A commentary by Tujey Zhanphen Pel on Karma Chakme’s famous aspiration specifies four requirements for birth in Sukhavati: the support, the recollection of the merit field at the time of death; the cause, gathering of accumulations and the purification of obscurations; the assistant, the generation of bodhicitta; and the condition, the pure aspiration.

The point is that if, at the time of death, one cannot maintain this recollection of Amitabha and his host, even if one spent a lifetime aspiring to birth in Sukhavati, one will not succeed in the end. From this perspective, mere faith is not a sufficient cause, in our tradition.

Zhen Li said:
Mere faith isn't sufficient for birth in the highest grade and highest rank in Jōdo Shinshū either. That's why Shinjin isn't one's own citta, it's the citta of Amida. Assurance is something that comes from the Buddha. However, the Pure Land sūtras permit birth by very slight causes. Birth in the lowest grade and lowest rank is rendered possible by one's own power, thinking of Amida even only ten times, including by those who committed the five grave offences.

Jangchup Donden said:
It may be just me but I feel like when sutras guarantee rebirth (or other things) by slight causes, it's that it will happen eventually, but it may be a very very long time until it happens.

Malcolm wrote:
This is generally how things are understood in the Tibetan tradition, in every commentary in every school


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 10:04 AM
Title: Re: Haiku today.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Pizza and cold beer,
Damn it’s frosty outside now,
The show’s almost done.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 6:48 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


KeithA said:
I hope every student of the way reads that.

Malcolm wrote:
I read it, but it sounded to me like a lot of confirmation bias and scripted realizations.

KeithA said:
This is the Zen forum, so no playing in the sandbox with you today, Malcolm.

Malcolm wrote:
I am not criticizing Zen. I am talking about the content of the article. Unless for some reason only agreement is allowed here.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 6:45 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:


KeithA said:
I hope every student of the way reads that.

Malcolm wrote:
I read it, but it sounded to me like a lot of confirmation bias and scripted realizations, and a bit Eckhart Tollish.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 6:37 AM
Title: Re: Can you conceive of a scenario where it turns out Nagarjuna was wrong (ex: not all things are empty, or otherwise)?
Content:


Dgj said:
In other words, there is nothing stopping an understanding from being valid in which one could realize that the teaching that dependent origination and emptiness invalidate or disprove an ultimately existing Buddha Nature are wrong

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, there is quite a bit stoping such an understanding. There is not such a thing as a self which is anything more than a designation for the series of aggregates. Such an understanding that you suggest is just Hinduism in drag.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 6:18 AM
Title: Re: We Are All This Luminous Mind
Content:
clyde said:
A must read by Dosho Port,

We Are All This Luminous Mind: The Possibility and Importance of Awakening

A Zen view of what awakening is and isn’t, with personal stories from contemporary practitioners

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/zen-awakening/
Simply put, awakening begins with an abrupt nondual embodiment.

Malcolm wrote:
It does? Why?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 6:05 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
...inherited traditional bodies of knowledge

Malcolm wrote:
That's what I meant by people who just read books. The only concentration one needs is to be able to focus on one's analysis without being distracted. That's it.

If one goes chasing after samadhi, one will waste a lot of time and never realize emptiness, and that is a fact.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 5:28 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
Where does the eightfold path and threefold training stand in relation to the bodhisattva bhūmis if not even the first dhyāna is a prerequisite? What does the samādhi component entail if not the anāgamya or first dhyāna?

I am personally familiar with first dhyāna being an absolutely mandatory necessity, but I'm open to other perspectives.

Malcolm wrote:
Samadhi is a natural mental factor of one pointedness. People with no experience, who like to follow books like recipe guides, say such things as "first dhyāna is absolutely mandatory for the path of seeing." But then you have to ask them if they have discovered the path of seeing. If they say no, then obviously they are just going to the basis of what they have heard or read in a book. If they say yes, there are other tests you can apply.

In Mahāyāna, the samadhi part is not perfected until the fifth bhumi. There is no requirement for the first dhyāna to realize the first bhumi. The first bhumi merely requires realization of śunyatā. That can come about as a result of the union of śamatha and vipaśyāna, or it can be arrived at merely through vipaśyāna. It depends on the person. All that is really necessary is that aspiring bodhisattva can focus on their analysis on the emptiness of objects without being distracted, but is certainly does not mean that they have to first perfect all four or five factors of the first dhyāna. It won't harm them if they do, but it is not required.

You should examine Discerning the Middle from the Extremes, it presents a concise summary of the five paths and how they are realized in Mahāyāna. Madhyamaka texts do not discuss this so much, at least, not early ones.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 4:59 AM
Title: Re: I freakin' love vaccinations now
Content:
Archie2009 said:
Identity politics is deranged.

Malcolm wrote:
I agree, white supremacists are quite deranged.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 4:48 AM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
I'll make this a separate topic, since I've ventured off the topic, but I thought I had recalled you saying that perfect śamatha was the first dhyāna, and that this was necessary for the first bhūmi. As always, I could be quite wrong. I've very good at misremembering what I've read on these forums.

Malcolm wrote:
No, I never said it was a requirement. However, generally speaking śamatha is considered an important container for stable insight. And yes, perfect śamatha is the first dhyāna.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 4:37 AM
Title: Re: Is first dhyāna necessary for the first bhūmi?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
The title says it all. Related: Is first dhyāna necessary for any particular significant degree of Bodhi?

Malcolm wrote:
Nope.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 4:13 AM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
If you'll humour me further, of the five powers on the path of joining, there is a samādhi component included.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is a reference to the indriya of samadhi, which is also one of the ten neutral mental factors belonging to all minds. It is a faculty. I assume you are talking about prayogamarga, the path of application/preparation. Actually, you need these faculties even to enter sambharamarga.

Caoimhghín said:
So am I wrong to conclude, based on your responses here, that in your understanding, neither a single dhyāna nor the anāgamya (much less the samādhi on nothingness) is necessary for the first bhūmi, because these are to be practiced later?

Malcolm wrote:
It is useful to have perfect śamatha/first dhyāna, but by no means required. The point of Buddhism is not meditation. The point of Buddhism is waking up. Meditating incorrectly leads to no place good.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 4:06 AM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
There are transcendent samadhis and mundane samadhis. The four dhyānas are all mundane. They are mastered after the path of seeing in order to remove traces connected with them.

Caoimhghín said:
If you'll humour me further, of the five powers on the path of joining, there is a samādhi component included.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is a reference to the indriya of samadhi, which is also one of the ten neutral mental factors belonging to all minds. It is a faculty. I assume you are talking about prayogamarga, the path of application/preparation. Actually, you need these faculties even to enter sambharamarga.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 1:04 AM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
If this isn't off-topic, where does the samādhi that takes as its object the "āyatana of nothingness" (無所有入處) stand in Tibetan Buddhism and in relation to this topic?

Malcolm wrote:
Oh, this is when one makes a samadhi on the mental image of nothingness. It's a serious deviation...

Caoimhghín said:
If the yogin becomes ensnared in the samādhi, does it lead to birth as an asaṃjñsattva (unconscious being), or is that only if the yogin fails at the fourth arūpyasamāpatti?

Malcolm wrote:
If one falls into a samadhi of nonconceptuality, this results in being born among the unconsciousness devas. If one makes a samadhi on the āyatana of nothingness, then one will be born in that formless āyatana.


Caoimhghín said:
The Bodhisattvas have to master all samādhis, the dhyānas and the samāpattis, but some are evidently more dangerous than others to Bodhisattva practice. There is a time and place for arūpya cultivation, and likely this life isn't it for most. Nonetheless, is the reason for the danger the likelihood of getting entranced in it and taking birth in the arūpyadhātu as an asaṃjñsattva? Is that the specific reason?

Malcolm wrote:
There are transcendent samadhis and mundane samadhis. The four dhyānas are all mundane. They are mastered after the path of seeing in order to remove traces connected with them.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 12:13 AM
Title: Re: I freakin' love vaccinations now
Content:
pemachophel said:
Actually no, not the uterus. The cervix. Cervical cancer.

Malcolm wrote:
True, my bad.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 at 12:06 AM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
If this isn't off-topic, where does the samādhi that takes as its object the "āyatana of nothingness" (無所有入處) stand in Tibetan Buddhism and in relation to this topic?

Malcolm wrote:
Oh, this is when one makes a samadhi on the mental image of nothingness. It's a serious deviation...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 11:14 PM
Title: Re: I freakin' love vaccinations now
Content:
Toenail said:
In women it can cause cancer in one part of the vagina where babies come from. I don't know the English name.

Malcolm wrote:
Uterus.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 9:43 PM
Title: Re: Ancient Shamanic Bön
Content:
Kosm said:
Hello All!

Does anyone have any info about the original shamanic type of Bön from which Yungdrung Bön grew?
The ancient type was not connected to temples and organised religion, but was a system of animistic/shamanistic techniques and ritual magic.It was not even called Bön (apparently it was called “gter”).

Any info/source much appreciated, thank you!

Malcolm wrote:
If you want to know about pre-Buddhist Bon, you should read Drung, Deu, and Bon, by Namkhai Norbu, Arrow and Spindle by Samten Karmay, etc. Modern Bon has no resemblance to ancient Bon.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 9:39 PM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
You can conceive nothing,
But you can’t conceive nothing ness.

PeterC said:
How are we discussing something if we can’t conceive of it?

PadmaVonSamba said:
Nothingness? What is there to discuss?
What is there to conceive?

The problem is that one is starting out with an abstract concept. It’s like talking about art, or god,  beginning with an abstract concept and then only afterwards trying to determine what defines it. But nothing defines nothing. So, it can’t be discussed.

Malcolm wrote:
Then how are you discussing it? It’s similar claiming that one can only discuss concrete concepts, but “concrete concepts” is also abstract concept.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 9:08 PM
Title: Re: Happy New Year/ ལོ་གསར་ / 新年快樂
Content:
tingdzin said:
Thanks. Tibetan tiger year doesn't start for another month.

Malcolm wrote:
In the Tshurlug system, it starts tomorrow. In the Phuklug system, next month.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 9:03 PM
Title: Re: Argentinian guy who remembers his past lives
Content:
yagmort said:
it is very funny to see guys who dead sure that great masters can leave footprints on a rock, can fly or disappear as a rainbow, that dzogchen tantras have been taught in language of birds and was taught in 13 other galaxies, that there are higher beings who transmit practices to certain individuals later to be known as tertons etc., are all of a sudden take cringe when Atlantis is mentioned ..

Malcolm wrote:
Who said we were sure of any of theses things? I have mentioned many times it is important to distinguish myth (language of birds), legends, (footprints in rocks, etc.) and history (such and such a text shows up in x century and not before).


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 8:56 PM
Title: Re: Samādhirāja Sūtra Translation Plans?
Content:



Svalaksana said:
Thanks for the heads-up regarding the 84000 translation, Malcolm.

Why must our hope perish in flames upon glancing on Hopkins' Meditation? Is it because of its unabashedly Gelug leaning? I must say I found Chandrakirti's Slivers exposition and the Buddhapalita/Bhavaviveka debate section quite illuminating, among other things.

Malcolm wrote:
It is the Scilla and Charybdis of Madhyamaka translations.

Svalaksana said:
I chuckled, but I'm honestly interested in your opinion, wouldn't mind a bit more specificity though. Does that mean it is a bad translation, a hard translation, both, or none?

Malcolm wrote:
It’s book that has crushed the spirit of many Madhyamaka adventurers. It’s nit so easy a book for beginners, that’s all.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 9:10 AM
Title: Re: Why is the book "Tibetan Book of the Dead" so popular amongst non-Buddhists / beginners
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
They aren't entirely wrong, but are missing out on the fact that the book is not for "everyone," nor is it useful to "everyone." I have a copy of one of the translations. It was given to me one Christmas. It's not a useful book for me, but I was obviously very polite when I received it.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s specifically a bardo guidebook for Dzogchen practitioners. First Evans Wentz published his version, very influenced by his Theosophical leanings, totally not understanding it’s context. Then, well, hippies like Leary started to read this while they were tripping. He then wrote his LSD version. Then, Trungpa collaborated with Francesca Freemantle to reestablish the book’s context, Thurman dud a version, that, quite frankly, is just weird. Gyurme Dorje translated the liturgical content.

Caoimhghín said:
I was given the Thupten Jinpa translation by a very well-meaning relative. Where does this translation stand amongst those?

Malcolm wrote:
Was unaware he made one. I am sure it is technically accurate enough.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 9:06 AM
Title: Re: Samādhirāja Sūtra Translation Plans?
Content:
Svalaksana said:
Hopkins' Mediation on Emptiness

Malcolm wrote:
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.

Svalaksana said:
Thanks for the heads-up regarding the 84000 translation, Malcolm.

Why must our hope perish in flames upon glancing on Hopkins' Meditation? Is it because of its unabashedly Gelug leaning? I must say I found Chandrakirti's Slivers exposition and the Buddhapalita/Bhavaviveka debate section quite illuminating, among other things.

Malcolm wrote:
It is the Scilla and Charybdis of Madhyamaka translations.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 5:54 AM
Title: Re: Samādhirāja Sūtra Translation Plans?
Content:
Svalaksana said:
Hopkins' Mediation on Emptiness

Malcolm wrote:
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 5:45 AM
Title: Re: Samādhirāja Sūtra Translation Plans?
Content:
Seeker12 said:
Are there any known plans for a full translation of the Samādhirāja Sūtra?

Malcolm wrote:
It has been translated by the 84000 folks. Its right there in the reading room.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 3:42 AM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
You can conceive nothing,
But you can’t conceive nothing ness.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure you can, you just did.

Dolma said:
What you are referring to is the label but not the content.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, just like the son of a barren women, it's a mere label, that's all a total nonexistent can be, a mere label.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 2:41 AM
Title: Re: Current status of Rumtek.
Content:
Lingpupa said:
Why are legal moves still ongoing?

Malcolm wrote:
Because the Tshurphu Labrang keeps filing motions in court about this thing and and that thing. But the main point is that KCT won their case, showing that KCT was the legal entity that rightfully controlled Rumtek. It's all over money. Rumtek is very wealthy. Personally, I don't have a horse in this race. This is an internal affair within Karma Kagyu. I have no Karma Kagyu teachers.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 2:05 AM
Title: Re: Current status of Rumtek.
Content:
Lingpupa said:
But I fear your link is not it. It does really look as if the situation is as muddy as it has been for more than 20 years now!

Malcolm wrote:
The Sikkim Supreme Court ruled in favor of the KCT. It was reported in the Indian media when it happened.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/hc-rejects-tsurphu-labrang-plea/cid/809033

https://www.ngofoundation.in/ngo-database/karmapa-charitable-trust-contact-number-contact-details_i62163

https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/the-karmapa-controversy-1502680000.html

https://sikkimnews.blogspot.com/2011/05/karmapa-charitable-trust-kct-terms-any.html

Enough yet?

Lingpupa said:
Well, in fact, no.
Your first link, from 19 years ago, does not reflect the current situation.
Your second only shows me some registration information for the Karmapa Charitable Trust, saying nothing about the current legal situation.
Your third has the merit of being less than four years old, but makes no reference to the legal situation then, now, or before.
Your fourth link, more than 10 years old, repeats the position of the KTC, but reveals nothing about the actual legal situation even then, let alone now.

It appears there has been no final legal determination. The situation is opaque - if there has been a resolution, it is being kept damned quiet.

Malcolm wrote:
2002 Sikkim Supreme Court ruled KCT owns Rumtek. Ruling supported by Indian Supreme Court who declined to hear an appeal.

Case closed.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 1:38 AM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
You can conceive nothing,
But you can’t conceive nothing ness.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure you can, you just did.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 1:31 AM
Title: Re: Current status of Rumtek.
Content:
Lingpupa said:
But I fear your link is not it. It does really look as if the situation is as muddy as it has been for more than 20 years now!

Malcolm wrote:
The Sikkim Supreme Court ruled in favor of the KCT. It was reported in the Indian media when it happened.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/hc-rejects-tsurphu-labrang-plea/cid/809033

https://www.ngofoundation.in/ngo-database/karmapa-charitable-trust-contact-number-contact-details_i62163

https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/the-karmapa-controversy-1502680000.html

https://sikkimnews.blogspot.com/2011/05/karmapa-charitable-trust-kct-terms-any.html

Enough yet?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 31st, 2022 at 1:07 AM
Title: Re: Argentinian guy who remembers his past lives
Content:
Aemilius said:
Graham Hancock explains in this TED talk why Atlantis is a serious scientifically plausible concept:


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 30th, 2022 at 11:26 PM
Title: Re: Argentinian guy who remembers his past lives
Content:
Aemilius said:
He recalls that in Atlantis…


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 30th, 2022 at 11:22 PM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:


Dolma said:
Yep, and that's very interesting because the question is: must the object to be refuted be an object of mind.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure. Example: rabbit horn is a conceptual object.

Dolma said:
"Rabbit" is a valid object as well as "horn", so I can have an image of a rabbit with a horn in my mind. No problem.

But not of nothingness. Because then my mind would be nothing.

Malcolm wrote:
You can also have conceptual image of nothingness.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 30th, 2022 at 10:59 PM
Title: Re: Dodrupchen is in Thukdam
Content:
reiun said:
Tidwell said the Thukdam Project is working on a study of how bodies decompose in different climatic conditions in India, and Dunne said he wants to look outside the brain for signs of post-mortem consciousness."

Malcolm wrote:
They are barking up the wrong tree. I know Dunne and Tidwell, they at least know Tibetan and can check sources. But there are problems they will encounter such as the distinction made in Dzogchen texts between rig pa, which exits the body through the eyes, and mind, which exits the body through the fontanelle. Moreover, there is the fact that unlike other tantric traditions, the highest level Dzogchen practitioners do not remain in thukdam for many days. The less developed your practice is, the longer your thukdam will be.

reiun said:
I'm guessing that mind is said to exit through the anterior fontanelle, rather than any of the other five? From what I have researched, this fontanelle evidently stays open longest (average closure is between 13 - 24 months), and is thus a pediatric feature. Not required to be open for exit of mind, as I understand your comment.

Malcolm wrote:
The purpose of phowa practice is to open a tiny opening, into which a straw is inserted as a sign of success. But it’s not entirely necessary for it to be open.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 30th, 2022 at 10:34 PM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:


Dolma said:
Yep, and that's very interesting because the question is: must the object to be refuted be an object of mind.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure. Example: rabbit horn is a conceptual object.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 30th, 2022 at 10:20 PM
Title: Re: Why is the book "Tibetan Book of the Dead" so popular amongst non-Buddhists / beginners
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
They aren't entirely wrong, but are missing out on the fact that the book is not for "everyone," nor is it useful to "everyone." I have a copy of one of the translations. It was given to me one Christmas. It's not a useful book for me, but I was obviously very polite when I received it.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s specifically a bardo guidebook for Dzogchen practitioners. First Evans Wentz published his version, very influenced by his Theosophical leanings, totally not understanding it’s context. Then, well, hippies like Leary started to read this while they were tripping. He then wrote his LSD version. Then, Trungpa collaborated with Francesca Freemantle to reestablish the book’s context, Thurman dud a version, that, quite frankly, is just weird. Gyurme Dorje translated the liturgical content.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 30th, 2022 at 9:07 PM
Title: Re: Current status of Rumtek.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
http://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/DECISION_OF_THE_INDIAN_SUPREME_COURT_-_20

Unknown said:
This decision was the culmination of the case that the Karmapa Charitable Trust filed in 1998 to regain control of Rumtek monastery. In this decision, given in the case of Tsurphu Labrang vs. Karmapa Charitable Trust and Ors., announced in New Delhi on July 5, 2004, the court refused to hear the appeal of the Tsurphu Labrang, a group created by Gyaltsab Rinpoche and Tenzin Namgyal to represent the claims of followers of Ogyen Trinley to manage Rumtek in legal proceedings. The court rejected their Special Leave Petition to this effect. By thus refusing to interfere in the earlier decision of the Sikkim District Court and a subsequent confirmation by the High Court in New Delhi, the Supreme Court allowed the original decision to stand -- meaning that the Tsurphu group had no legal claim to Rumtek, and that the Karmapa Charitable Trust was the only group recognized to manage the monastery.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 30th, 2022 at 8:54 PM
Title: Re: Current status of Rumtek.
Content:
Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
I stumbled upon this website that purports to have been a livestream of Thaye Dorje from Rumtek last month.

https://www.karmapa.org/kagyu-monlam-2021-live-streaming-post/

Has there been a change in the status of Rumtek?

Thanks.

Malcolm wrote:
Rumtek has been in the hands of Thaye Dorje for some years now, after the Indian courts awarded his side control. Where have you been, Rip Van Schrödinger?

jmlee369 said:
I am somewhat surprised to hear that, and not sure what to make of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqYq3N6xXWw of Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche purportedly visiting in early 2021.

Malcolm wrote:
The court awarded control of Rumtek to the organization that was controlled by Shamar, originally setup by the 16th. This does not bar OTD followers from Rumtek, they just don’t control it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 30th, 2022 at 8:49 PM
Title: Re: Why is the book "Tibetan Book of the Dead" so popular amongst non-Buddhists / beginners
Content:
Nalanda said:
It's so popular that even my aunt (who is a Christian) has one.

Why is this book such a hit to Westerners?

Malcolm wrote:
Hippies.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 11:37 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
There are simply two schools of thought in this matter. While on the one hand the Nirvana Sutra affirms that there are icchantikas, it also suggests that not only will they lose their icchantika status, but as with all beings, they’ll attain buddhahood inevitably.

Malcolm wrote:
This is one kind of agotra. There is a second, the permanent agotra, mentioned in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra. Interestingly, gotra and tathāgatagarbha are not the same thing. All beings have tathāgatagarbha, but not all beings possess the gotra.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 11:10 PM
Title: Re: "Nothingness"
Content:
Dolma said:
Is there any concept or notion of "nothingness" in TB?
I do not mean emptiness, and I do not mean e.g. "the absence of a flower in a sky", but I mean the complete absence of anything, something like in classical physics a vacuum.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this concept exists as an object of criticism.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 10:57 PM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:


Nalanda said:
I do have questions about the other things said in that quote.
“The Buddha’s body never grows decrepit with age. He is only endowed with all virtues, yet he makes a show of having a body which grows decrepit with age.”
Is this “Buddha” here the other 2 of the trikaya bodies? If so, that would make sense. Or is this referring to the nirmanakaya body itself? Is it saying that the disciples were looking at a body that was immortal and does not age but it appears to them as a “normal aging” body?

Malcolm wrote:
It refers to the sambhogakāya.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 9:54 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
All Buddhas attained buddhahood under the guidance of a guru,

Nalanda said:
Does that mean Sakyamuni had a guru?

Malcolm wrote:
Ultimately, yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 12:10 PM
Title: Re: I read Ongi kuden chapter 16, and it left me a little perplexed..
Content:


Queequeg said:
More generally, Zen has never been a popular sect -

Malcolm wrote:
The Soto School is the largest single Buddhist institution in Japan, with 14,000 temples. There are are larger denominations—pure land is the largest, with 8 million followers, but it is split into ten different  bodies, with Nishi Honganji being the largest, with 10,000 temples.

Despite the popularity of Zen in Kamakura and Hōjō Tokiyori‘s support for it, Zen in Kamakura itself was still small potatoes, and confined to the literate elite. It was the “it” Buddhism of the day, since it was the latest Import from China. When Tokiyori ordained in 1256, Nichiren would had been 34. And had himself barely arrived in Kamakura.  It would be six years more before Nichiren forwarded his Risshō Ankoku Ron to Tokiyori, who had by then ordained and left the government in the hands of Hōjō Nagatoki. The person most instrumental in spreading Zen in the Kamakura era was Hōjō Tokimune. It was he who banished Nichiren to Sado Island. Tokimune’s teacher was the Chinese monk, Mugaku Sogen. However, Mugaku did not arrive until 1279.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 11:17 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
So, this is probably one, among many reasons, why all beings having Buddha-nature is equivalent to all beings will attain buddhahood. It is both a necessary and sufficient condition (so I am changing my opinion from earlier that it was necessary but not sufficient).

Malcolm wrote:
The reason why your argument here is flawed is that there is a clear distinction to be made between natural gotra and “expanded gotra.” For example, all viable seeds have the potential to germinate (natural gotra), but without water, warmth, and soil, they won’t germinate (expanded gotra). It is just not inevitable that all sentient beings will develop the aspiration to attain buddhahood for the welfare of all sentient beings. As the old saying goes, one can lead a horse to water, but one can’t force it to drink. All sentient beings may be “buddhanatured”, but not all sentient will necessarily generate Mahayana  bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta, buddhahood is just not possible. This also why Madhyamikas like Candrakirti entertain the probability that there are some benighted sentient beings who will never attain buddhahood, despite having the potential to attain buddhahood, just as some seeds never germinate, even though they are viable.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 6:06 AM
Title: Re: Thereavada vs Mahayana Buddhist Goal
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
"Cognac and tonic moans" sometimes happen in front of the toilet after a long night, or so I've been told.

Malcolm wrote:
To be followed up with Ashton Kuchner in "Dude! Where's My Māla?"


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 5:52 AM
Title: Re: Thereavada vs Mahayana Buddhist Goal
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
The pratisaṃdhivijñāna, specifically in the case of the modern Theravāda sect (which rejects the "in-between" state between births), is compared to lighting an unlit candle with a lit candle. If there is no unlit candle to inherit the flame, then the flame goes out and dies (i.e. it becomes "extinguished"/nirvṛti). I believe that this is what Schrödinger’s Yidam was referring to.

Astus said:
It might be so, although it could as well be what's taught in the https://suttacentral.net/mn72/en/sujato as an illustration of the Buddha not being identifiable as anything already in his life, hence the baseless conjecture about birth after death:

“Suppose that fire burning in front of you was extinguished. Would you know: ‘This fire in front of me is extinguished’?”
“Yes, I would, Master Gotama.”
“But Vaccha, suppose they were to ask you: ‘This fire in front of you that is extinguished: in what direction did it go—east, south, west, or north?’ How would you answer?”
“It doesn’t apply, Master Gotama. The fire depended on grass and logs as fuel. When that runs out, and no more fuel is added, the fire is reckoned to have become extinguished due to lack of fuel.”
“In the same way, Vaccha, any form by which a Realized One might be described has been cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, and unable to arise in the future. A Realized One is freed from reckoning in terms of form. They’re deep, immeasurable, and hard to fathom, like the ocean. ‘They’re reborn’, ‘they’re not reborn’, ‘they’re both reborn and not reborn’, ‘they’re neither reborn nor not reborn’—none of these apply.”

Malcolm wrote:
Yup, when the beer is gone, so is the cognition and hedonic tone...or was that the cognac and hedonic tone...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 5:47 AM
Title: Re: I read Ongi kuden chapter 16, and it left me a little perplexed..
Content:
Queequeg said:
Zennies in Kamakura on the other hand definitely had it out for him.

Malcolm wrote:
Unlikely. Zen Buddhism, during Nichiren's life was fledgling. When Nichiren was 3, Dogen was 25, and Eisai, the master who brought Rinzai to Kakakura had been dead for 15 years.

Anyway, it is pretty clear that the Zen that got Nichiren's back up was the Daruma school, but that had already been banned by 1194 becasue Eisai, recently returned from studying Chan in China, requested the Tendau school to shut Nonin down.

Both Eisai and Dogen met with a lot of resistance from the Tendai school over their versions of Zen, with Dogen eventually fleeing Kyoto politics to the mountains outside present day Fukui City in western Japan in 1243, where he built Eiheiji.

The Pure Land school was much more immediately popular than Zen during the 13th century. The hegemony of Zen in Japanese Buddhism took considerable time to develop.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 2:11 AM
Title: Re: I read Ongi kuden chapter 16, and it left me a little perplexed..
Content:


Queequeg said:
A hippie friend of mine tried to convince me that Trump is part of some grand functioning of the universe that will ultimately bring harmony.

Malcolm wrote:
That must have been some pretty strong weed.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 2:06 AM
Title: Re: Thereavada vs Mahayana Buddhist Goal
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
"Cessation of perception and feeling," or "cessation of cognition and hedonic tone." I'm sure there are other popular renderings too.

Malcolm wrote:
632lqn.jpg (86.84 KiB) Viewed 122 times


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 2:01 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Some people conceive of tathagatagarbha as a kind of uncompounded agent that propels one inevitably to buddhahood.

Astus said:
Even so, it is not in and of itself the cause of liberation, hence cannot guarantee it either.

'The causes of freedom from these two veils are the two jnanas, considered as being the non-conceptual jnana and the ensuing jnana.'
(Uttaratantrasastra 5.174, tr Holmes)

Malcolm wrote:
I didn't say they were right.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at 12:17 AM
Title: Re: Thereavada vs Mahayana Buddhist Goal
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
saṃjñāvedayitanirodha.

Malcolm wrote:
As a reminder, as we are not in the Academic forum, terms like this need to have a translation next to them.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 11:50 PM
Title: Re: Thereavada vs Mahayana Buddhist Goal
Content:


Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
Thus proving Asanga felt the need to defend his position from Shravakayana criticisms.
QED

Malcolm wrote:
It means you erred when you claimed no śrāvaka...

Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
It means I was correct in that the 8th consciousness was criticized by Shravakayanis.

Malcolm wrote:
It's also criticized by Mahāyānīs. Asanga was actually directing his rebuttal at Madhyamakas by pointing out there is this concept of bhavanga citta in śrāvaka Abhidharma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 11:44 PM
Title: Re: Thereavada vs Mahayana Buddhist Goal
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
The Theravadins have a concept of the bhavangacitta, it’s a linking consciousness between this life and the next. Asanga invokes this doctrine in defense of the all-basis consciousness.

Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
Thus proving Asanga felt the need to defend his position from Shravakayana criticisms.
QED

Malcolm wrote:
It means you erred when you claimed no śrāvaka...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 11:40 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
Nembutsu recitation is more than enough. Shinran, Honen, Genshin, Shandao and many other qualified teachers agree.

Malcolm wrote:
You should observe that this is the Tibetan Buddhism forum. If you care to understand the Tibetan Buddhist point of view more fully, there is Halkias' book, Luminous Bliss. It is a pretty good history book, covers the literature well.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:54 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
The idea that all beings will eventually become Buddhas is a Mahāyāna teaching not covered by the Śrāvakayāna texts.

Astus said:
But why would all eventually become a buddha? The reasoning that "if it can happen, it will happen" does not stand. That all beings have buddha-nature is not a sufficient condition either.

Malcolm wrote:
Some people conceive of tathagatagarbha as a kind of uncompounded agent that propels one inevitably to buddhahood.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:44 PM
Title: Re: Thereavada vs Mahayana Buddhist Goal
Content:
Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
Vasabandhu is a Mahayana author.

Astus said:
It is in Mahayana where one can find the doctrine of eight consciousnesses. But the eighth is not something posited on top of the five aggregates.

Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
I don’t know what you mean by “on top of”.

No Shravakayani would accept the idea of an 8th consciousness that goes from one life to another. The would say it a corruption imported from Hinduism. Vasabandu is light years away from Shravakayana.

Malcolm wrote:
The Theravadins have a concept of the bhavangacitta, it’s a linking consciousness between this life and the next. Asanga invokes this doctrine in defense of the all-basis consciousness.

I am afraid you been hoisted on the petard of “No True Scotsman.”


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:27 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:


Queequeg said:
Real life is messy and indeterminate. Dogma only goes so far. Sometimes, people don't need a grand sermon on the highest teaching; sometimes they just need a hand.

Malcolm wrote:
We can’t save anyone. We can benefit others through pacifying their fear, satisfying their material needs, or teaching Dharma. But the last requires active participation on the part of the person to be benefited.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:23 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
Choice and practice are two things that are essentially done away with in JSS. But like I said, there's no contradiction with the rest of the Dharma. You are led to what suits you.

Malcolm wrote:
That only gets you as far as Sukhavati. There are still many eons to go.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:00 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
Because of the nature of eternity and infinite arrangements, every being will come to have the arrangement of conditions that you speak about, Astus.

Astus said:
Samsara has no beginning (SN 15), therefore the infinite arrangements is already covered by that. In other words, just because something could happen does not mean it eventually happens.

Zhen Li said:
The idea that all beings will eventually become Buddhas is a Mahāyāna teaching not covered by the Śrāvakayāna texts.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s one of those things one needs not take literally, since certainly there are a number of Mahayana opinions on the subject.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 9:18 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
. Since there are infinite beings, yes, there will always be some beings who haven't attained Buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
Then it is axiomatic, some beings will never attain buddhahood.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 9:04 PM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Good interview with Kim Stanley Robinson:

https://apple.news/AURZkmoiIS1mRnMn1oM6c-w


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 8:36 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I am not saying that there is no interaction between teacher and student. Just that we ultimately rely directly on the Buddha as a teacher.

Malcolm wrote:
Of course there are virtuous friends in common Mahayāna, but it’s just not same relationship as one has with one’s teacher in Vajrayana and Zen.

Zhen Li said:
But even TB takes refuge in the Buddha before the Guru.

Malcolm wrote:
No, actually the Guru jewel comes first. This is ubiquitous in TB.

Zhen Li said:
There you go. This is why TB doesn't work for everyone, it depends a lot on karmic connections. Actually, the same is true with Pure Land. It's not the practitioner who chooses the practice but the practice that chooses the practitioner.

Malcolm wrote:
All Buddhas attained buddhahood under the guidance of a guru, and in the common path, through attaining empowerment at the conclusion of the tenth bhumi after three asamkhya kalpas. Your path is different only in so far as you want Amitabha to be your guru, so you put off finding a guru in this life, under whom you can receive ripening empowerment and liberating instructions to attain buddhahood in thus life, at the time of death, or the bardo, for the common paths and stages which are pursued in Sukhavati under tNe guidance of Amitabha. It’s a valid choice, but it’s no short cut.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 11:39 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I am not saying that there is no interaction between teacher and student. Just that we ultimately rely directly on the Buddha as a teacher.

Malcolm wrote:
Of course there are virtuous friends in common Mahayāna, but it’s just not same relationship as one has with one’s teacher in Vajrayana and Zen.

Zhen Li said:
But even TB takes refuge in the Buddha before the Guru.

Malcolm wrote:
No, actually the Guru jewel comes first. This is ubiquitous in TB.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:44 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
This is also an interesting topic and maybe it's worth a separate thread. But I have been taught a few times that we can take Master Shinran or Rennyō as our teacher. There's actually not the specification that the teacher needs to be alive or present before us. Hōnen, for instance, relied on Shandao's writings to gain Shinjin but did not himself meet Shandao.

Rennyō said, for instance, that if someone lacks faith, let them listen to the scriptures of our tradition (i.e. KGSS) repeatedly, up to a hundred times. If they don't have Shinjin after that, then they lack the karmic roots.

Malcolm wrote:
This is definitely a difference between common Mahayana on the one hand, and Vajrayana as well as Zen on the other. Dogen, for example, makes it absolutely clear that real Zen lies in the interaction between teacher and student.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:35 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
All beings will—this is also supported by the sūtras. Given infinite time, there are no beings that will not come to attain buddhahood, that would be an inconceivability.

Malcolm wrote:
There will always be some being who has not attained buddhahood.

You’d be better off asserting Lonngchenpa’s resolution: primordial liberation. It’s a copout, but it’s easier, and in fact, more sensible.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:23 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
Then it shouldn't be such a surprise to suggest that all beings can attain buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
All beings can attain buddhahood, that does not entail that all beings will.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 10:17 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:



Zhen Li said:
There are multiple layers of development in the sūtra, as I demonstrate in the introduction. If you reject an argument simply because your tradition's text says differently, then you are relying purely on argumentum ad verecundiam and are simply falling into the criticism that you levelled against Astus for using quotes:

Malcolm wrote:
When someone’s argument depends on a citation which does not correspond to their premise, the entire argument can be regarded as a failure.

You might think your argument hangs together on the basis of what you’ve judged an accurate rendering of the Chinese, but since the Tibetan translation, likely rendered in reference to the Chinese translation, is at such a stark variance, I can’t accept your argument on the face of such a stark contrast. You will note I did not assert your rendering entirely wrong, merely that I consider this passage invalid based on a version I consider more authoritative.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 6:42 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Malcolm, I had posted in the previous page what a sravaka might say about all of this. I wonder if there are historical arguments from Mahayana/TB on this:

(about arhat not being actually final enlightenment/nirvana, only leading to formless realm, and reborn to do the Bodhisattva path...)
I think the sravakas would ask "If that's all true, why would the historical Buddha Shakyamuni not teach the actual path? Yeah yeah okay, 500 years before Nagarjuna, people are not as sharp in mental faculties, but why bother teaching the sravaka path at all considering it sounds a lot like the Jain vehicle? So either that's the case, or maybe your team's calculations is off a bit and that the Buddha Shakyamuni was actually right and sravaka is the path he taught in the buddhavacana."

Malcolm wrote:
I didn't say arhats took birth in the formless realm, that is a samsaric place. Their samadhi of cessation resembles such a state. I honestly don't care what people who belong the śrāvakayāna would say to this.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 5:13 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Nalanda said:
I think tho that that needs to be clarified to beginners. The "mind" of such dharmakaya is not material or has essence? (or is that wrong) Rather, the dharmakaya is emptiness itself, so there cannot be a "mind" that is "something". (Please correct, if this statement is in error)

So going back to Caoimhghín's post, the Buddha does not have a "mind", in the dharmakaya sense. (emptiness) And in the material/nirmanakaya sense.

So when Malcolm says the mind of the nirmanayaka is the dharmakaya, I feel like, yes that's true. But that mind in not "something" or a substance/material.

Plz correct if this is wrong. My reading of Madhyamaka and other materials is introductory level.

Malcolm wrote:
The dharmakāya is the realization of emptiness. But there are various opinions on whether buddhas have thoughts or not.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 4:38 AM
Title: Re: Current status of Rumtek.
Content:
Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
I stumbled upon this website that purports to have been a livestream of Thaye Dorje from Rumtek last month.

https://www.karmapa.org/kagyu-monlam-2021-live-streaming-post/

Has there been a change in the status of Rumtek?

Thanks.

Malcolm wrote:
Rumtek has been in the hands of Thaye Dorje for some years now, after the Indian courts awarded his side control. Where have you been, Rip Van Schrödinger?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 3:56 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
Higher Bodhisattvas and the Buddhas are also "formless," and merely create "formed" bodies via the powers of their minds. It's a matter of two different kinds of formlessness. The Arhats' minds are constantly preoccupied by their all-emcompassing samādhi. The minds of Āryabodhisattvas are otherwise. Buddhas do not have "minds." My opinion, obv, but one I feel confident defending.

Nalanda said:
Well the Buddha Dharmakaya obviously have no "minds" right?

But the Sambhogaya do?

And Nirmanayaka clearly do have minds.

Malcolm wrote:
The three kāyas are inseparable. The mind of the nirmāṇakāya, nominally speaking, is the dharmakāya.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 3:48 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
Are the four requirments that Karma Chakme talks about based out of the Pure Land sutras or is it only his opinion?

Malcolm wrote:
It is based on a passage from Ārya Amitābhavyūha Sūtra:

Ānanda, any sentient beings who repeatedly thinks of the aspects of that tathāgata, generates immeasurable quantities of roots of merit, totally dedicates themselves to generating the thought to awaken (bodhicitta), and offers supplications to be born in that world, when the time of death draws near will see before them the Tathāgatam Arhat, Samyaksambuddha Amitābha surrounded by many groups of bhikṣus.  Upon seeing Bhagāvan Amitābha, they will die with a mind of utter faith, and be born in that world, Sukhavati."

Shinjin said:
Thank you, but the Larger Sutra states:

(3. The lower grade)

[25] The Buddha said to Ananda, "The lower grade of aspirants are the devas and humans in the worlds of the ten quarters who sincerely desire to be born in that land. Although unable to do many meritorious deeds, they awaken aspiration for the highest Enlightenment and single-mindedly concentrate on Amitayus even ten times, desiring birth in his land. When they hear the profound Dharma, they joyfully accept it and do not entertain any doubt; and so, remembering the Buddha even once, they sincerely aspire to be born in that land. When they are about to die, they will see the Buddha in a dream. Those aspirants, too, will be born in the Pure Land. Their merit and wisdom will be next to those of the middle grade of aspirants."
http://web.mit.edu/stclair/www/larger.html#Three%20grades%20of%20aspirants

Nowhere does it mention the four requirements here.


Malcolm wrote:
What I quoted from is the so-called Large Sūtra, it is the passage immediately before this one above. The Sanskrit and Tibetan text certainly mentions these four requirementsfor those who see Amitabha before them in person. For whatever reason, in the Tibetan tradition, seeing Amitabha in a dream is not sufficient for immediate birth, only those of the first and second grade will do so.

Because the second grade also generate (1) bodhicitta, (2) the altruistic thought to attain birth there, (3) much merit, and (4) direct their minds to Sukhavati, when they approach death, an emanation of Amitabha and his retinue appear to that person and as soon as they die, they will take birth in Sukhavati.

No such stated guarantee is made for people who merely see Amitabha in dream. In its Sanskrit and Tibetan version there is no statement in the Long Sūtra that as soon as those person's die they will be born in Sukhavati. It merely says they will be born there without specifying a time frame.

Thus, there is a difference in the textual tradition which underlies a difference in understanding the requirements for birth in Sukhavati. Thus, as I said, it is not so easy to take birth in Sukhavati from the Tibetan tradition's point of view. For this reason there is a sadhana practice of Amitabha with the mantra.

Generally, in the Tibetan tradition, we focus on the longevity-providing aspect of Amitabha, Amitayuḥ.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 2:14 AM
Title: Re: Dodrupchen is in Thukdam
Content:
reiun said:
Tidwell said the Thukdam Project is working on a study of how bodies decompose in different climatic conditions in India, and Dunne said he wants to look outside the brain for signs of post-mortem consciousness."

Malcolm wrote:
They are barking up the wrong tree. I know Dunne and Tidwell, they at least know Tibetan and can check sources. But there are problems they will encounter such as the distinction made in Dzogchen texts between rig pa, which exits the body through the eyes, and mind, which exits the body through the fontanelle. Moreover, there is the fact that unlike other tantric traditions, the highest level Dzogchen practitioners do not remain in thukdam for many days. The less developed your practice is, the longer your thukdam will be.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 1:28 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
Are the four requirments that Karma Chakme talks about based out of the Pure Land sutras or is it only his opinion?

Malcolm wrote:
It is based on a passage from Ārya Amitābhavyūha Sūtra:

Ānanda, any sentient beings who repeatedly thinks of the aspects of that tathāgata, generates immeasurable quantities of roots of merit, totally dedicates themselves to generating the thought to awaken (bodhicitta), and offers supplications to be born in that world, when the time of death draws near will see before them the Tathāgatam Arhat, Samyaksambuddha Amitābha surrounded by many groups of bhikṣus.  Upon seeing Bhagāvan Amitābha, they will die with a mind of utter faith, and be born in that world, Sukhavati."

Karma Chakme's prayer is structured around these four points from the sūtra. His aspiration is a supplement  to the Sadhana practice of Amitabha found in the Sky Treasure (Nam chos) tradition, which is widely practiced in both Nyingma and Kagyu, but not really in Sakya or Geluk.

There is a shorter aspiration, set down by Namcho Migyur Dorje:

༄༅། །སྨོན་ལམ་བསྡུས་པ་བཞུགས།
Brief Sukhāvatī Aspiration

from the terma of Mingyur Dorje


ཨེ་མ་ཧོ༔ ངོ་མཚར་སངས་རྒྱས་སྣང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས་དང་༔
emaho, ngotsar sangye nangwa tayé dang
Emaho! Amitābha, magnificent Buddha of Boundless Light,

གཡས་སུ་ཇོ་བོ་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་དང་༔
yé su jowo tukjé chenpo dang
With the great compassionate lord Avalokiteśvara to his right,

གཡོན་དུ་སེམས་དཔའ་མཐུ་ཆེན་ཐོབ་རྣམས་ལ༔
yöndu sempa tuchen tob nam la
And Vajrapāṇi-Mahāsthāmaprāpta on his left,

སངས་རྒྱས་བྱང་སེམས་དཔག་མེད་འཁོར་གྱིས་བསྐོར༔
sangye changsem pakmé khor gyi kor
Surrounded by an assembly of countless buddhas and bodhisattvas

བདེ་སྐྱིད་ངོ་མཚར་དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པ་ཡི༔
dekyi ngotsar paktu mepa yi
In the place of wonder and boundless joy and happiness

བདེ་བ་ཅན་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་ཞིང་ཁམས་དེར༔
dewachen shyejawé shyingkham der
That is the heavenly realm of Sukhāvatī, the Blissful Paradise.

བདག་ནི་འདི་ནས་ཚེ་འཕོས་གྱུར་མ་ཐག༔
dak ni di né tsé pö gyur ma tak
When the time comes for me to leave this present life,

སྐྱེ་བ་གཞན་གྱིས་བར་མ་ཆོད་པ་རུ༔
kyewa shyen gyi bar ma chöpa ru
May I go there directly, without any other birth upon the way,

དེ་རུ་སྐྱེས་ནས་སྣང་མཐའི་ཞལ་མཐོང་ཤོག༔
dé ru kyé né nang té shyal tong shok
And being reborn there, may I see Amitābha face to face!

དེ་སྐད་བདག་གིས་སྨོན་ལམ་བཏབ་པ་འདི༔
deké dak gi mönlam tabpa di
May this, my fervent prayer of aspiration,

ཕྱོགས་བཅུའི་སངས་རྒྱས་བྱང་སེམས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས༔
chok chü sangye changsem tamché kyi
Be blessed by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions

གེགས་མེད་འགྲུབ་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབ་ཏུ་གསོལ༔
gekmé drubpar jingyi lab tu sol
So that it is accomplished, without the slightest hindrance!

ཏདྱ་ཐཱ༔ པཉྩ་ནྡྲི་ཡ་ཨཱ་ཝ་བོ་དྷ་ནཱ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ༔
teyatha | pentsadriya awabodhanayé soha
tadyathā pañcendriyāvabodhanīye svāhā

ཞེས་པ་འདི་ནི་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་མི་འགྱུར་རྡོ་རྗེ་དགུང་ལོ་བཅུ་གསུམ་གསེར་འཕྱང་གི་ལོ་ས་ག་ཟླ་བའི་ཚེས་བདུན་ལ་གཙོ་འཁོར་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་ཞལ་གཟིགས་པའི་ཚེ་སངས་རྒྱས་སྣང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས་ཀྱིས་དངོས་སུ་གསུངས་པའོ།། །།
When Tulku Mingyur Dorje was thirteen years old, on the 7th day of the month of Saga Dawa, Fire Bird year (1657), he had a vision of the deities of the maṇḍala, and Buddha Amitābha spoke these words directly.

https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/terton-mingyur-dorje/brief-sukhavati-aspiration


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 1:02 AM
Title: Re: Where does the rigpa'i tsalwang fit in?
Content:
Sonam Gyalmo said:
No, I'm not asking anyone to describe it. I have a fair idea what it "is", and it not a thing I'd ask net-writers to break "secrecy" about.

But I do need help understanding where it fits it. Such as:
Is it a Longchen Nyingtig speciality?

Malcolm wrote:
No.

Sonam Gyalmo said:
If it's found outside Longchen Nyingtig, do other dzogchen traditions put the same emphasis on it?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.

Sonam Gyalmo said:
Does it appear both as a stand-alone empowerment as well as embedded in other more deity-oriented or lama-oriented empowerments?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.

Sonam Gyalmo said:
Does it appear in equivalent form but under another name in other parts of the Nyingma and dzogchen traditions?

Malcolm wrote:
Sometimes it is referred to as the "precious word empowerment." Sometimes it is called "direct introduction." Sometimes it is called "the extremely unelaborate empowerment."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 12:54 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
From the ultimate perspective there is no Buddha, sentient being, liberation, or bondage. There isn’t even a dharmakaya.

Zhen Li said:
That's why this discussion is going in circles. The ultimate perspective is continually being responded to with the conventional perspective.

Malcolm wrote:
The ultimate perspective is that no buddha, sentient being, liberation, bondage, or buddhakāyas can be established at all. Buddha, sentient being, liberation, bondage, kāyas, gnoses, etc. are all just conventional designations and do not refer to anything real. Why? Your sūtra itself states it as follows:

The tathāgata kāya is the kāya of space, the kāya equal with the unequalled, the kāya that is superior to all the three realms, the kāya of endowed with the suchness of all sentient beings, the kāya that is incomparable, unmatched, pure, immaculate, and without all afflictions, the kāya of natural luminosity, the kāya that does not arise by nature, the kāya that is unproduced by nature, the kāya that is not connected with mind, intellect, or consciousness, the kāya that has the nature of an illusion, mirage, and a moon in the water..."

Then of course, there is the Sūtra That Explicates the Relative and Ultimate Truth ( ārya-saṃvṛti-paramārtha-satya-nirdeśa-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra Toh. 179):

Child of a good family, all buddhafields are not buddhafields. Why? because there is truly is no birth in the ultimate. All buddhas are not buddhas. Why? because there is truly no production in the ultimate. All phenomena are not phenomena. Why? Because there is there is truly nothing real in the ultimate. All sentient beings are not sentient beings. Why? Because there is truly no source of suffering in the ultimate.


Zhen Li said:
Chapter 1 section 8k

Malcolm wrote:
Not seeing how this section endorses your assertion.

Zhen Li said:
But more specifically Chapter 15 section 1: the superior wisdom possessed by all Tathāgatas dwells in the bodies of all sentient beings...

Malcolm wrote:
I don't agree with your rendering of this part of the passage:

ཆོས་སྨྲ་བ་དེ་དག་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་ལུས་ལ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་གནས་སོ

This states very clearly in Tibetan, "The gnosis of the tathāgata abides in the bodies of all those dharmabhāṇakas."

It does not say the the gnosis of the tathāgata abides in the bodies of all sentient beings. This being so, I reject your argument.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 11:51 PM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Wow, that's just wow. I have some adjustments in thinking to do. I just thought arhats are enlightened (but that their enlightenment is not similar to that of the Buddha) and that once enlightened there is nothing further to do. I didn't know they are still in samsara and will take rebirth in spite of the belief that there is nothing further after their reaching their arhatship.


Malcolm wrote:
Arhats, after they die, are basically formless realm beings, who because they have subtle traces, wind up taking birth again. They are among the "some buddhas" who err and re-enter samsara. It's not very shocking, since we already know that arhats can fall away from arhatship, according even to śrāvaka sources.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 10:35 PM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Is it mainstream/majority Mahayana view that arhats are to walk the Bodhissatva path eventually?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is the mainstream view.

Nalanda said:
Does that mean then that they are reborn (inspite of what they expected: arhats = end of rebirth) reborn as regular sentient beings to become Bodhissatva?

Malcolm wrote:
This is a difficult point. Some scholars assert that, once roused from the absorption of cessation (nirodhasamāpatti), arhats are basically equivalent to 7th stage bodhisattvas and some even assert they can enter the bodhisattva path on the eighth bodhisattva stage because it is asserted that arhats are equivalent to bodhisattvas in realizing the selflessness of phenomena that is the absence of inherent existence.

Other scholars assert that once roused from the absorption of cessation (nirodhasamāpatti) arhats must begin at the beginning of the Mahāyāna path of accumulation since they have not generated Mahāyāna bodhicitta nor have they realized the profound emptiness free from extremes. I personally favor the latter position because the Abhisamayālaṃkāra clearly describes the superiority of the hearing and reflection on signlessness in the Mahāyāna path of accumulation, and so on. Gorampa summarizes it as follows in his Moonrays:
Therefore, in our own system of Madhyamaka, although the selflessness of the three yānas is equivalent, the difference between whether freedom from proliferation, the two accumulations, the ultimate nature and reality are realized or not realized is clear in all Madhyamaka textual systems.
Basically, arhats have a subtle grasping to true existence because they do not realize four-fold signlessness. Since they have this subtle grasping to true existence, they continue to grasp a self. Because they continue to grasp a self, they accumulate action. And since they continue to accumulation action, they can continue to take birth, having been roused from nirodhasamāpatti. And because of this arhats, in order to realize buddhahood, must begin at the beginning of the Mahāyāna path of application where one reviews through hearing and reflection signlessness, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 9:38 PM
Title: Re: For myself
Content:
KathyLauren said:
I am home now.  It won't be a speedy recovery, but I am on the mend.

Om mani padme hum
Kathy

Malcolm wrote:
Glad to hear it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 8:03 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
No more deluded than imagining that there are Buddhas and sentient beings “in here somewhere”

Astus said:
Such an assumption was meant to be avoided by the subsequent quotes. Another one on that specifically:

Malcolm wrote:
Quotes are boring, unless couched in reasonings which they support. Proof texts are not arguments.they are to be used to support arguments. You can’t just imitate the words of old masters. You have to use your own words, which show your own understanding.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 7:26 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
. but not having enough monoclonals for transplant recipients in my hometown.

Malcolm wrote:
They don’t work against omicron, that’s why the FDA pulled authorization on their use.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 6:34 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Astus said:
Imagining that there are sentient beings and buddhas out there somewhere, how is that not delusion?

Malcolm wrote:
No more deluded than imagining that there are Buddhas and sentient beings “in here somewhere”

Poor Huineng, the delusions perpetrated in his name…


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 12:02 PM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
To be fair, they say that the doctrine of the rousing is provisional.

I believe in the rousing myself, it's in the Lotus Sūtra and the Prajñā Treatise, but there are plenty that don't. Furthermore, we are talking about Buddhahood in two different ways with regards to two different things. I am familiar with imperfect degrees of Buddha, including "(Ārya)Bodhisattva" and "Pratyekabuddha."


Malcolm wrote:
Who are "they?" Some modern academicians?

There are all kinds of grades of bodhi, that is not at issue here. We can certainly consider tenth stage bodhisattvas a type of buddha, since the Abhisamayālaṃkāra deems it so, since their omniscience is very nearly that of a samyasaṃbuddha. But to claim that arhats and pratyekabuddhas cannot be roused from their samadhi a) defies scripture b) defies logic. In the first place, we have already agreed that there is scriptural evidence that arhats, etc. are roused. In the second place, asserting they cannot be roused means they are essentially icchantikas, that their continuums have ceased to exist, and so on. Moreover, such as assertion harms the bodhisattva path, because the consequence of this assertion is that no one can attain samyaksambuddhahood, not even the buddha, since as soon as their afflictions are completely eradicated, a bodhisattva can no longer proceed on the bodhisattva path. So I stand by my initial claim. There is no such thing as a śrāvakabuddha. They may not like the idea since an arhat, once roused from cessation, has to begin at the Mahāyāna path of accumulation, rendering them effectively ordinary sentient beings.

ItsRaining said:
This view is very popular amongst those that study or specialise in Yogacara, particularly Xuanzang’s transmission of it in China. One text reports that before Xuanzang returned to China he asked Śīlabhadra on whether he should teach the five gotras as it was extremely unpopular among Chinese Buddhist. Śīlabhadra replied that if he were to teach anything he must teach the five gotras as that was the definitive view of the Mahayana. People kept carrying on this legacy I guess.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, Yogacara accepts icchantikas. But their view on this is incorrect.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 11:45 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
Beings are infinite, I vow to liberate them all.

This is what it means to be a bodhisattva. Infinite means infinite. Liberate means liberate. It's so simple and yet it's beyond calculative thought.

Malcolm wrote:
In the Tibetan tradition this is understood to be an impossible aspiration, though meritorious. For example, the Buddha, as Shantideva points out, perfected generosity not because he could actually relieve the poverty of all sentient beings, but because he wished to—the merit of such aspirations exceeds the fact that they cannot possibly be achieved. And it goes without saying, Buddhas cannot liberate anyone. The proof of this is that there are still sentient beings. No Buddha with the capacity to liberate sentient beings would ever leave so many in samsara. One can only liberate oneself from this samsara. No Buddha or bodhisattva can do it for you. There is no choice but to practice a path taught by the Buddha, and without a precious human birth, that choice isn’t even available.

Zhen Li said:
This is conflating the time of aspiration with the time it takes to liberate beings. The time it takes is also infinite. Buddha activity is continuous and infinite. From the perspective of an ordinary being it will appear like nothing is being done, but actually, awakening activity is continually being wrought upon one unawares.

Again, the idea that one is liberating oneself is from the ordinary perspective. From the ultimate perspective, all hearing, understanding, and practice are performed by the Buddha, who dwells within the bodies of all beings. This is taught in Chapter 1 of the Tathāgataguhya.

Malcolm wrote:
From the ultimate perspective there is no Buddha, sentient being, liberation, or bondage. There isn’t even a dharmakaya.

Did you have in mind a specific passage from your translation?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 11:30 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
Birth in the lowest grade and lowest rank is rendered possible by one's own power, thinking of Amida even only ten times, including by those who committed the five grave offences.

Malcolm wrote:
This is definitely not considered adequate for birth in Sukhavati in the Tibetan tradition.

Buddhas cannot hand you liberation. All they can do is show you the path.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 11:15 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
Beings are infinite, I vow to liberate them all.

This is what it means to be a bodhisattva. Infinite means infinite. Liberate means liberate. It's so simple and yet it's beyond calculative thought.

Malcolm wrote:
In the Tibetan tradition this is understood to be an impossible aspiration, though meritorious. For example, the Buddha, as Shantideva points out, perfected generosity not because he could actually relieve the poverty of all sentient beings, but because he wished to—the merit of such aspirations exceeds the fact that they cannot possibly be achieved. And it goes without saying, Buddhas cannot liberate anyone. The proof of this is that there are still sentient beings. No Buddha with the capacity to liberate sentient beings would ever leave so many in samsara. One can only liberate oneself from this samsara. No Buddha or bodhisattva can do it for you. There is no choice but to practice a path taught by the Buddha, and without a precious human birth, that choice isn’t even available.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 11:04 AM
Title: Re: How do you replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts?
Content:
2ndchance said:
How do you replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts?

Let me give you two examples.

1) A middle-aged man has an attractive younger female platonic friend. He likes to develop bodhicitta / loving-kindness / compassion for his attractive younger female platonic friend without triggering any lustful emotions and/or romantic emotions at all.

How does he replace negative lustful emotions and/or romantic emotions towards his attractive younger female platonic friend with bodhicitta / loving-kindness / compassion?

Malcolm wrote:
He should cultivate the thought this women is his daughter or his younger sister.



2ndchance said:
2) A middle-aged man has a very aggressive hot-tempered younger brother who has been attacking the middle-aged man with verbal abuse and vulgarities and even threatening the middle-aged man with physical violence and challenges to physical fights.

How does he replace negative angry emotions towards his younger aggressive hot-tempered bully brother with bodhicitta / loving-kindness / compassion?

Malcolm wrote:
He should understand this younger man is not in his right mind. And if necessary, place distance between himself and the aggressor.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 10:56 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Zhen Li said:
As for TB, people practice all their lives to accumulate merit and realisations, and yet, at the end of the day, they rely on Amitābha to gain birth and attain actual buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
Even then, it’s not guaranteed, even from the point of view of the tradition of Karma Chakme. A commentary by Tujey Zhanphen Pel on Karma Chakme’s famous aspiration specifies four requirements for birth in Sukhavati: the support, the recollection of the merit field at the time of death; the cause, gathering of accumulations and the purification of obscurations; the assistant, the generation of bodhicitta; and the condition, the pure aspiration.

The point is that if, at the time of death, one cannot maintain this recollection of Amitabha and his host, even if one spent a lifetime aspiring to birth in Sukhavati, one will not succeed in the end. From this perspective, mere faith is not a sufficient cause, in our tradition.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 10:21 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Pure Land - It ain't easy but its guaranteed.

Malcolm wrote:
Well,that’s the point. It’s not.

Nalanda said:
It's not?

The idea is you end up there and your enlightenment is guaranteed. Isn't this a universal understanding?

Malcolm wrote:
If you end up there.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 8:27 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Pure Land - It ain't easy but its guaranteed.

Malcolm wrote:
Well,that’s the point. It’s not.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 7:19 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Nalanda said:
That is such a great promise of Dzogchen.

A good slogan might be:

Who needs Pure Land when you have Dzogchen?

or

Dzogchen, why settle?

Skip the lines, take Dzogchen.

Shinjin said:
The same can be said about pure land. It has a success rate.

Malcolm wrote:
There are in fact various points of view on that in Tibetan Buddhism. The general point of view is that it is not so easy as Japanese schools maintain.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 6:39 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
I can agree with that. I can also see the other side's logic, even if I don't agree with it and think that the conclusion is flawed.

There's more issues than that though, as I see it. By his logic voiced elsewhere that I can find in a bit, a Bodhisattva becoming a Bhūmika would be like a Śrāvaka stream-entrant: seven lifetimes and then it's "over." According to the more radical consequences of his thought, attaining the first bhūmi would have to be indefinitely postponed.

Malcolm wrote:
There are many issues with such a position, such as the one you just mention.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 6:32 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
It's the link from earlier. It's poorly formatted, not being clearly integrated into my text well. I'm on my phone, so hyperlinks are a bit dodgy. Look on page 1, the fourth post from me. There's a hyperlink there.

I had thought I had read you two disagreeing over it, but likely it was something else I'm misremembering. I think I'm conflating you explaining the rousing in one of the old "three vehicles/ekayāna" threads with that linked thread from ages ago.


Malcolm wrote:
Here is the passage:
If a person has already entered into the status of certitude [to perfection], they are unable to generate mental aspiration toward anuttarāsamyak saṃbodhi. For what reason? Because they have already constructed an embankment against [the torrent of cyclic] birth and death.
-- An Annotated English Translation of Kumārajīva’s Xiaŏpĭn Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra

This is not a problem. This requires that arhats be roused in ordered to be introduced to Mahāyāna aspiration. It is not a passage claiming arhats cannot be roused by a buddha. The reason it is possible for an arhat to realize perfect buddha eventually is given a little later:
Then, Ānanda said: “Teaching the meaning of Prajñāpāramitā in this way, avinivartin bodhisattvas, those who possess right views, and arhats who have fulfilled their aim; [people] such as these will be able to take it up.”


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 6:16 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
Other than that, the only other I've heard of is Ven Hùifēng based on his reading of the Śakra section of the Prajñāpāramitā.

Malcolm wrote:
can you point me to a link.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 6:04 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
Shinjin said:
Polls were showing Hillary would beat trump by landslide in 2016 .

Malcolm wrote:
Well, she did. Trump pulled off an electoral college win by the thinnest of margins, 77k votes across four states. The GOP knows they can only win by cheating now.

Shinjin said:
Both sides are always accusing the other of cheating.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, but only one actually does cheat, the GOP, at least in modern elections since Reagan. For example, the Gore recount was shut down because of a riot fomented purposefully at the counting precinct by Roger Stone. Had the ballots continued to be counted, it is a sure thing, a matter of fact and not speculation, that Florida would have to have gone to Gore.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 6:01 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Nalanda said:
I see. I'm confused by this. So Dzogchen is jhana or Citta?

All we can say is that from a Dzogchen point of view, the practices and teachings that belong to the nine yānas are based on mind (citta) and not gnosis (jñāna). But we don't expect that others will agree.

Malcolm wrote:
You are confusing the Sanskrit term jñāna (gnosis) with the Pali term jhana (concentration).


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 5:56 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
Not necessarily. Plenty of Buddhists don't believe in it and agree with Ven Hùifēng and believe that "Arhat = game over." For these, it is necessary that Arhats be a variety of Buddha, much like Aryabodhisattvas are a variety of Buddha and Pratyekabuddhas are a variety of Buddha.

Malcolm wrote:
This idea of three gotras is provisional.

Caoimhghín said:
To be fair, they say that the doctrine of the rousing is provisional.

I believe in the rousing myself, it's in the Lotus Sūtra and the Prajñā Treatise, but there are plenty that don't. Furthermore, we are talking about Buddhahood in two different ways with regards to two different things. I am familiar with imperfect degrees of Buddha, including "(Ārya)Bodhisattva" and "Pratyekabuddha."


Malcolm wrote:
Who are "they?" Some modern academicians?

There are all kinds of grades of bodhi, that is not at issue here. We can certainly consider tenth stage bodhisattvas a type of buddha, since the Abhisamayālaṃkāra deems it so, since their omniscience is very nearly that of a samyasaṃbuddha. But to claim that arhats and pratyekabuddhas cannot be roused from their samadhi a) defies scripture b) defies logic. In the first place, we have already agreed that there is scriptural evidence that arhats, etc. are roused. In the second place, asserting they cannot be roused means they are essentially icchantikas, that their continuums have ceased to exist, and so on. Moreover, such as assertion harms the bodhisattva path, because the consequence of this assertion is that no one can attain samyaksambuddhahood, not even the buddha, since as soon as their afflictions are completely eradicated, a bodhisattva can no longer proceed on the bodhisattva path. So I stand by my initial claim. There is no such thing as a śrāvakabuddha. They may not like the idea since an arhat, once roused from cessation, has to begin at the Mahāyāna path of accumulation, rendering them effectively ordinary sentient beings.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 5:41 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Does citta-based practice mean of a different (higher-grade) than jhana-based practices?

Malcolm wrote:
No, Dhyāna is citta based practice.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 5:33 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
Not necessarily. Plenty of Buddhists don't believe in it and agree with Ven Hùifēng and believe that "Arhat = game over." For these, it is necessary that Arhats be a variety of Buddha, much like Aryabodhisattvas are a variety of Buddha and Pratyekabuddhas are a variety of Buddha.

Malcolm wrote:
This idea of three gotras is provisional.

Caoimhghín said:
If Arhats are not a variety of Buddha, then the Śrāvakas do not have an authentic path to liberation.

Malcolm wrote:
Liberation comes from having eliminated the afflictive obscuration. Vasubandhu points out, however, that arhats and pratyekabuddhas possess a nonafflictive ignorance. And it is clearly stated in Mahāyāna sutras, such as the Lanka, that arhats are roused from their samadhi of cessation and required to join the path again.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 5:01 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
This is incorrect. I do not expect you to be familiar with terminologies for "Arhats" from foreign sects that you've not studied though. Likely there is no such term in your tradition, so you've mistakenly stated that such a term does not exist.

Malcolm wrote:
Oh I am familiar enough with the term as used in Hinayāna schools. But there isn't any such thing.

Caoimhghín said:
Out of curiosity, do you interpret the fourth of the eight downfalls for ordinary persons (referencing the 18 root downfalls for those who do not know) as something like "denying the rousing of the Arhats?"

Malcolm wrote:
The elimination of afflictions is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for buddhahood. Also seventh stage bodhisattvas eradicate the afflictive obscuration entirely, but they do not then attain buddhahood.

As for arhats being roused from a samadhi of cessation, this is standard Mahāyāna doxology.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 4:58 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:


Nalanda said:
Who needs Pure Land when you have Dzogchen?

Malcolm wrote:
It's not like that. Despite whatever petty quarrels people have, all Dharma is good in the beginning, the middle, and the end. For example, Zhen li is a Jodo Shinshu person, he always slips in a plug for Jodo Shinshu, where ever he can. He's really on about other power, etc. We couldn't say that he is making a mistake by forgoing Dzogchen teachings. He has likely even received some. But he is into Jodo Shinshu. All we can say is that from a Dzogchen point of view, the practices and teachings that belong to the nine yānas are based on mind (citta) and not gnosis (jñāna). But we don't expect that others will agree.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 4:37 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Toenail said:
I feel like practice with little diligence may still be really hard in reality? What are the criteria of it?

Malcolm wrote:
Pretty sure you already know. Anyway, people who are interested can just go to teacher and find out.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 4:21 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
This is incorrect. I do not expect you to be familiar with terminologies for "Arhats" from foreign sects that you've not studied though. Likely there is no such term in your tradition, so you've mistakenly stated that such a term does not exist.

Malcolm wrote:
Oh I am familiar enough with the term as used in Hinayāna schools. But there isn't any such thing.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 3:34 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
Shinjin said:
Polls were showing Hillary would beat trump by landslide in 2016 .

Malcolm wrote:
Well, she did. Trump pulled off an electoral college win by the thinnest of margins, 77k votes across four states. The GOP knows they can only win by cheating now.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 2:52 AM
Title: Re: Nyingthiks
Content:
Pema Rigdzin said:
It’s in these upadeshas from our guru that we find our realization.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, as the Tantra Without Syllables states:

"The dharmakāya is encountered in the intimate instructions."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 2:40 AM
Title: Re: Biden would beat Trump in 24
Content:
Genjo Conan said:
1 point is well within the margin of error, and polling has consistently understated Trump's actual turnout.

I don't think that Trump is a lock (and he might get indicted soon, which would throw a crimp in things), but I don't think a 1-point lead two years out is a slam dunk for Biden either.

Malcolm wrote:
Especially with GOP's record of attempted and successful election rigging.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 2:31 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
This is something that Mahāyānikas often end up explaining exhaustively to their critics. It is Parinirvāṇa that is delayed, not Bodhi.

Malcolm wrote:
Even then, Mahāyāna nonabiding nirvana can encompass the display of parnirvana.

Caoimhghín said:
Yes, but the skandha-parinirvāṇa does not actually occur at the apparent end of life of an Āryabodhisattva. They aren't Śrāvakabuddhas. The display is just a display. Kleśa-parinirvāṇa occurs arguably far before the stage at which one is called an "Ārya" bodhisattva. The bodhisattvas do not indefinitely put-off kleśa-parinirvāṇa, surely, even though one might appear as such to guide defiled beings as one of them.

Malcolm wrote:
There is no such thing as a śrāvakabuddha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 2:09 AM
Title: Re: After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
Delaying Buddhahood is not part of the bodhisattva path.

Caoimhghín said:
This is something that Mahāyānikas often end up explaining exhaustively to their critics. It is Parinirvāṇa that is delayed, not Bodhi.

Malcolm wrote:
Even then, Mahāyāna nonabiding nirvana can encompass the display of parnirvana.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 2:04 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Nalanda said:
So for Dzogchenyanist, they don't bother with Purelands at all except those who like hedging bets in common Mahayana aspirations?

Malcolm wrote:
I can't speak for most Dzogchen practitioners.

I can tell you that my main teacher never emphasized pure lands at all. And I can tell you for sure that in the Dzogchen tantras and commentaries, there is little emphasis on pure lands at all, outside of what I just mentioned, that is, how it is explained for average practitioners. Most Dzogchen practitioners attain buddhahood in the bardo, eliminating the need for pure lands at all.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 1:40 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Wait, there's a distinction?

Pure Buddhafield (Sukhavati) - aspiration of common Mahayana?

natural nirmāṇakāya buddhafields, which are buddhafields emanated by the five sambhogkāya buddha families - aspiration of Dzogchen/Vajrayanist? (although they can opt for Sukhavati as well?)

Malcolm wrote:
No. b) is not an aspiration. It is a guaranteed result of practicing the path for people of minimal diligence. One doesn't need to have faith in the aspirations of this or that buddha or rely on "other power" in order to take birth in these buddhafields. However, one does need to a) have the fortune to meet Dzogchen teachings, b) have faith in them, and c) try to put them into practice as best one can.

It is not a competition however. Sukhavati teachings are a perfectly suitable and valid path.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 1:09 AM
Title: Re: Seventeen Tantras Lung with Tulku Dakpa
Content:
Marenz said:
Do you know if Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche has plans to give the rigpa’i tsal wang at some point? Does he offer this from time to time, and would you have a suggestion on how to best connect with him?

I think this an excellent opportunity and would like to receive these verbal transmissions, but as I have not received Dzogchen transmission up until now, I’m wondering what would be the benefit in my receiving the lungs only.

Malcolm wrote:
It is not hard to become a student of Tulku Dakpa. He is very kind.

The benefit of the receiving the lungs now is that you won't have to receive them again later. In any case, I am not sure what empowerments you may have received, but most Nyingma empowerments contain the rig pa rtsal dbang in a brief form, at minimum. At worst, you will create a positive connection to receive Dzogchen teachings in the future, so there is really no downside to attending.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 1:02 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
There are many Dzogchen/Vajrayanists who encourage practioners to pray for rebirth in Sukhavati. Karma Chagme for example, a well known Dzogchen master.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure, but most practitioners are not Dzogchen practitioners. And a lot of Vajrayāna practitioners like to hedge their bets. But Dzogchen practitioners don't need to be concerned about this, but if they like to recite aspirations for birth in Sukhavati, there is no problem with this either. Everytime I recite the Bhadracaryapranidhana, etc., I don't deliberately exclude the aspiration for birth in Sukhavati. But I also know that for me it is not necessary. YMMV.

Just to add a point: Dzogchen is its own vehicle, it does not depend on the lower vehicles in any way. One can of course approach it from lower vehicles, but it is independent and stands on its own.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 27th, 2022 at 12:13 AM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Shinjin said:
According to Machig Labdron:
For those who wish to become buddhas swiftly, it is necessary to pray for rebirth in a pure buddha-field...

Malcolm wrote:
Everything she says is true with respect to common Mahāyāna practitioners.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 11:54 PM
Title: Re: In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?
Content:
Nalanda said:
In TB, is there a specific Pure Land we aim for (Sukhavati?) or you can aim for whatever you want?

Malcolm wrote:
There are some well-known pure lands: Khechari realm, where the vidyādharas hang out (but you only get there by realizing mahāmudra); the Copper Colored Mountain where Padmasambhava hangs out; Sukhavati where the Amitabha devotees hang out. There is Tara's pure land, called the Turquoise realm, Avalokiteśvara's pure land, Mt. Potala in S. India, Mañjuśrī's pure land, Wutai Shan, in China, Medicine Buddha's pure land (which you can take birth in if you recite the dhāraṇi of Medicine Buddha seven times every day), etc. All of these pure lands are "generated nirmāṇakāya" pure lands, which arose out of the aspiration of this or that bodhisattva to purify a buddhafield, one of the important deeds of a bodhisattva on the stages.

There are also natural nirmāṇakāya buddhafields, which are buddhafields emanated by the five sambhogkāya buddha families. Birth in these is guaranteed for the average practitioner of Dzogchen teachings, people who have received Dzogchen teachings but are unable to practice them well in this life.

The special feature of these nirmāṇakāya buddhafields is that the door to the three realms is permanently closed, and perfect, full buddhahood is attained within five hundred human years, without taking another birth in samsara, rather than the interminably long, albeit blissful and edifying, time one spends in other pure lands. It should also be mentioned that middling practitioners of Dzogchen attain perfect, full buddhahood in the bardo. The best practitioners attain perfect, full buddhahood either in this life or at the moment of death.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 11:34 PM
Title: Re: Does buddhism require taking scripture literally?
Content:
wonderingaround said:
That to call oneself a Buddhist, one must have faith in these things and that it is wrong to view the stories as metaphorical.

Malcolm wrote:
Wrong view in Buddhadharma is confined to rejecting rebirth, karma, and dependent origination. Questioning the existence of nāgās and so on does not rate as wrong view.

wonderingaround said:
Thank you Malcolm. Are there any (possibly) beginner friendly resources on this I could do further readings on?


Malcolm wrote:
There is an interesting book by Bhikku Analayo on rebirth:

https://www.amazon.com/Rebirth-Early-Buddhism-Current-Research/dp/1614294461

wonderingaround said:
German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions. The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles. The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence. Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives. The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 11:31 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:



Queequeg said:
I've encountered this teaching in Tiantai, also. They assert the buddhahood of lower teachings (doesn't follow the same yana model in Dzogchen) is provisional in nature and not authentic Buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s a symptom of an incomplete gnosis.

Queequeg said:
Yes. The degree of incompleteness is commensurate with the relative insight of the particular yana. The thing that distinguishes the highest teaching from the penultimate teaching is whether fundamental nescience, the ignorance beyond the myriad dust like afflictions, is overcome.

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhology is fun!


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 11:22 PM
Title: Re: Buddhahood In This Life
Content:
Toenail said:
can I read Buddhahood in this life?

Malcolm wrote:
It’s better if you the lung for BITL.

Toenail said:
Any idea when he will give it next?

Malcolm wrote:
I have no idea. Recently Shechen Rabjam gave the lung for the 7 treasures of Longchenpa. If you attended that, that is sufficient. But in reality, it is a text you should hear, not just read.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 11:15 PM
Title: Re: Prajnaparamita Translations & Commentaries
Content:


Zhen Li said:
"Groundless Paths" is also the same kind of work, but from the Nyingma tradition.

Malcolm wrote:
The AA commentary by Paltrul is basically just a crib of Tsongkhapa’s AA commentary. So, one should just get Sparhams translation of Tsongkhapa’s commentary.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 11:10 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:



Queequeg said:
It would mean that some beings, after attaining buddhahood, fall back into the error of not recognizing their fundamental state, buddhahood. Its a logical impossibility.

Malcolm wrote:
For lower yanas, yes, it seems impossible. But the Buddhahood they assert is reversible.

Queequeg said:
I've encountered this teaching in Tiantai, also. They assert the buddhahood of lower teachings (doesn't follow the same yana model in Dzogchen) is provisional in nature and not authentic Buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s a symptom of an incomplete gnosis.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 10:45 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:


Queequeg said:
I agree with Zhen Li here - there is ample scriptural support for the assertion that all sentient beings will become buddhas;

Malcolm wrote:
No, there is scriptural support for the idea all _can_ become Buddhas. Even the Lotus only asserts a prediction. Such assertions are interpretable, like the teachings on buddhanature itself. Thus is not a guarantee that all will become Buddhas. This is why Indian Madhyamakas, no slouches when it comes to reading and interpreting sutras, deny the existence of icchantikas while allowing that there are some beings so benighted that they will never attain buddhahood.

They amount to a “Sure, buddy, you can do it!” In contrast to the sourpuss shravakayana assertions that one has to receive a prediction in person from a buddha, while being male and so on.

And, if all sentient beings are actually going to become Buddhas, thus undermines the reason for having bodhicitta in the first place. There are a number of negative consequences for taking such a position literally.

Queequeg said:
I think I come around more or less without carrying the one, so to speak. As edifying stories, they imply what needs to be done now, by someone who chooses to undertake the path. Whether such calculations are even possible where the absolutes are inestimable is beside the point. One must conduct themselves as though this is a literal possibility. At bodhi, from what I can infer, the actual answer to this question doesn't matter.

Malcolm wrote:
Also, Dzogchen teachings assert that while all sentient beings manifested in this mahakalpa will attain buddhahood, in the next kalpa, an infinite number of latent sentient beings will manifest.

Above, I said “traditions”, I should have said “positions.” The position that all sentient beings will attain buddhahood is not a valid Mahayana position, IMO.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 10:40 PM
Title: Re: Dude, you're just a sim.
Content:
Queequeg said:
Some people who think very highly of their intelligence think we're living in a computer simulation.

Malcolm wrote:
Such people failed Phil101.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 10:14 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:


Queequeg said:
I agree with Zhen Li here - there is ample scriptural support for the assertion that all sentient beings will become buddhas;

Malcolm wrote:
No, there is scriptural support for the idea all _can_ become Buddhas. Even the Lotus only asserts a prediction. Such assertions are interpretable, like the teachings on buddhanature itself. Thus is not a guarantee that all will become Buddhas. This is why Indian Madhyamakas, no slouches when it comes to reading and interpreting sutras, deny the existence of icchantikas while allowing that there are some beings so benighted that they will never attain buddhahood.

They amount to a “Sure, buddy, you can do it!” In contrast to the sourpuss shravakayana assertions that one has to receive a prediction in person from a buddha, while being male and so on.

And, if all sentient beings are actually going to become Buddhas, thus undermines the reason for having bodhicitta in the first place. There are a number of negative consequences for taking such a position literally.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 10:04 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:



Malcolm wrote:
some  Buddhas err and return to the state of being sentient beings.

ConfusedOne said:
If I may, would you explain what err is? Sounds really intresting. Can't seem to find more about this on google.

Queequeg said:
It would mean that some beings, after attaining buddhahood, fall back into the error of not recognizing their fundamental state, buddhahood. Its a logical impossibility.

Malcolm wrote:
For lower yanas, yes, it seems impossible. But the Buddhahood they assert is reversible.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 10:00 PM
Title: Re: Buddhahood In This Life
Content:
Toenail said:
can I read Buddhahood in this life?

Malcolm wrote:
It’s better if you the lung for BITL.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 11:26 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
So, no, there is no valid Mahāyāna tradition that teaches it is inevitable that all sentient beings will attain buddhahood.

Zhen Li said:
Jōdo Shinshū.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s not a claim you can validate.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 11:22 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
So, Dzogchen also teaches that it is inevitable that all beings will attain Buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s interpretable and can’t be taken at face value, since Dzogchen texts also state some  Buddhas err and return to the state of being sentient beings.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 10:07 AM
Title: Re: Monastic Advice for Modern Society
Content:


BodhiPrajna said:
My friend then asked me, "How can someone who has spent their whole life in a monastery, cloistered away from the real world, offer any advice on how to live in the real world, when they don't have bills to pay, and they don't get stuck in traffic or have a boss that talks down to them, and they don't deal with any of the things that people in the real world have to deal with on a daily basis?"

Malcolm wrote:
Samsara is samsara no matter where you. Monasteries also have bills to pay, monks get stuck in traffic, and have pushy bosses too, etc. Your friend has a misunderstanding of monastic life.

KeithA said:
This. Monks have many of the same concerns lay people have. They are just framed a little different. No one escapes the fire of samsara.

Malcolm wrote:
Plus they have added anxiety of modeling awakening, whether they are or not.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 6:36 AM
Title: Re: Dodrupchen is in Thukdam
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Sad news.

Seeker12 said:
I saw a facebook post saying that reports of his death were misinformation and he was in fact doing just fine. Do you have reliable info that he has passed?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.

It has been confirmed to me by a Tibetan tulku. Also Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal announced it earlier today.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 5:19 AM
Title: Re: Monastic Advice for Modern Society
Content:


BodhiPrajna said:
My friend then asked me, "How can someone who has spent their whole life in a monastery, cloistered away from the real world, offer any advice on how to live in the real world, when they don't have bills to pay, and they don't get stuck in traffic or have a boss that talks down to them, and they don't deal with any of the things that people in the real world have to deal with on a daily basis?"

Malcolm wrote:
Samsara is samsara no matter where you. Monasteries also have bills to pay, monks get stuck in traffic, and have pushy bosses too, etc. Your friend has a misunderstanding of monastic life.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 5:13 AM
Title: Re: Dodrupchen is in Thukdam
Content:
Arnoud said:
Indeed. Did you ever meet him?

Malcolm wrote:
Once.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 4:04 AM
Title: Dodrupchen is in Thukdam
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Sad news.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 3:19 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:


Shinjin said:
In other words the number is actually finite but there's a high improbability of it ever happening because of icchantikas.


Malcolm wrote:
Well, we Madhyamakas don't actually admit there is such a thing as real icchantikas, but allow that there are de facto "icchanitikas"
in so far as there are some sentient beings who may never have the causes and conditions to meet the Dharma.

Shinjin said:
Does everything cease to exist if every senteint being attains parinirvana? No more earth, deva realms, pure lands, rainbow bodies etc?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, because the cause of outer universe is the result of collective karma of all sentient beings. No sentient beings, no karma, no outer universe left. All that will be left is the field of the wisdom of Buddhahood, which is actually all there is anyway, we just don't see it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 3:15 AM
Title: Re: Creating representations of the Buddha = Wealth, Fame, Happiness?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Question about the sutra “Describing the Benefits of Producing Representations of the Thus-Gone One”

Āryatathāgata­pratibimba­pratiṣṭhānuśaṃsa­saṃvarṇananāmadharmaparyāya

https://read.84000.co/translation/toh320.html

It says that you will get this as benefits:
excellent life circumstances such as happiness and fame
physical beauty
wealth they will accrue
the donor will become a universal emperor enjoying all the advantages of that position
that the donor will be reborn among the gods and enjoy all divine distinctions.
and this is over "benefits accrued by creating representations of the Buddha."

What is this "representation" being talked about here? Statues of the Buddha?

And, really? Those benefits are to be expected for creating statues of the Buddha?

Malcolm wrote:
Statues and paintings. But this does not mean just coming up with some drawing. Images of the Buddha have to made according to very strict rules composition and need to be studied under a qualified teacher.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 1:28 AM
Title: Re: Buddhahood In This Life
Content:
Shaiksha said:
Another question, if I may though: how does Buddhahood relate to the Seventeen Tantras in terms of practice? If I receive the transmission and instructions for the Seventeen Tantras, should I still get a transmission and instruction on Buddhahood when an opportunity arises? E.g. are they complementary or one is more complete than the other?

Malcolm wrote:
If you have received the lung for the Tshig Don mDzod (Treasury of Genuine Meaning) than you can read Buddhahood, providing of course you have received Dzogchen transmission. Both it and Buddhahood present how one is to systematically approaches the material in the 17 tantras, the former being an expansion of the latter by Longchenpa.

If you receive the lung for the 17 tantras you can study those tantras that have been translated, as well as their commentaries.

Shaiksha said:
Oh okay - good to know the relation between Longchenpa's Precious Treasury of Genuine Meaning and Buddhahood. How does theg mchog mdzod (Treasury of Supreme Vehicle) come into the picture? Do we even have a translation on this work?

I note that a new book is coming out - the Precious Treasury of the Fundamental Nature. I wonder if this is a translation and commentary of theg mchog mdzo?

Thank you.

Malcolm wrote:
The Theg mchog mdzod is a treatment of the 17 tantras in 25 chapters. It is in two volumes and has not been translated. And it really shouldn't be translated until all 17 and their extant commentaries have been translated.

The text you mention, the gnas lugs mdzod, is not the theg mchog mdzod.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 12:32 AM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Shinjin said:
It's impossible since the number of sentient beings is infinite.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, but it is an infinity that has a limit. Meaning, no new sentient beings come into being. So it could be possible, but there are other factors that make it improbable.

Shinjin said:
In other words the number is actually finite but there's a high improbability of it ever happening because of icchantikas.


Malcolm wrote:
Well, we Madhyamakas don't actually admit there is such a thing as real icchantikas, but allow that there are de facto "icchanitikas"
in so far as there are some sentient beings who may never have the causes and conditions to meet the Dharma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 11:50 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
Shinjin said:
It's impossible since the number of sentient beings is infinite.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, but it is an infinity that has a limit. Meaning, no new sentient beings come into being. So it could be possible, but there are other factors that make it improbable.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 11:41 PM
Title: Re: Will all eventually become Buddhas?
Content:
truthb said:
I am wondering about Mahayana/Vajrayana Teachers, Schools or Sutras which talk about the inevitable "salvation" of all from Samsara?

Malcolm wrote:
You have to distinguish between two types of gotra, or inclination for awakening: natural and activated.

Only those sentient beings who have activated their inclination for awakening will attain buddhahood. There is no guarantee that all sentient beings will awaken to full buddhahood, since there is no guarantee that all sentient beings will eventually take birth as human beings with eight freedoms and ten endowments and meet the Dharma. And meeting the Dharma is the condition for attaining Buddhahood. And, the Buddha did say:

Misdeeds cannot be washed away with water.
Suffering cannot be removed by hand.
I cannot give liberation to you, 
but I can demonstrate the path.

Meeting the path of the Dharma always requires some cause, some gathering of merit. No one can meet the Dharma and practice the path without first attaining the precious human birth. Various examples are taught by the Buddha to illustrate the rarity of the fully qualified human birth, one of the most famous of which is that a precious human birth is as rare as a blind sea turtle who rises to the surface of the ocean every one hundred years, and just happens to put his head through a golden yoke that has been floating on the surface of the ocean.

So, no, there is no valid Mahāyāna tradition that teaches it is inevitable that all sentient beings will attain buddhahood. It is a realistic probability that some sentient beings, despite having the potential to attain buddhahood, will never gather the causes and conditions for meeting the Dharma, much less even be reborn as a human being who can attain buddhahood.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 11:27 PM
Title: Re: Buddhahood In This Life
Content:
Shaiksha said:
Another question, if I may though: how does Buddhahood relate to the Seventeen Tantras in terms of practice? If I receive the transmission and instructions for the Seventeen Tantras, should I still get a transmission and instruction on Buddhahood when an opportunity arises? E.g. are they complementary or one is more complete than the other?

Malcolm wrote:
If you have received the lung for the Tshig Don mDzod (Treasury of Genuine Meaning) than you can read Buddhahood, providing of course you have received Dzogchen transmission. Both it and Buddhahood present how one is to systematically approaches the material in the 17 tantras, the former being an expansion of the latter by Longchenpa.

If you receive the lung for the 17 tantras you can study those tantras that have been translated, as well as their commentaries.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 10:17 PM
Title: Re: Buddhahood In This Life
Content:
Shaiksha said:
Hi All

Here is the registration link (just in case anyone needs it):

https://wisdomexperience.org/seventeen-tantras-lung/?fbclid=IwAR1aZyyMvIQyBl3bEhJ0o5iKH7qWrbDY8MKzqrRV0ZoQfn0nxYIDJ5ut_ok

I have a question and hopefully someone can help me. Once I receive this transmission, can I also read and practice with the Buddhahood in this life since it is a related text? Or, do I need to have a separate transmission?

Thank you all in advance.

Malcolm wrote:
In general, you to have received Dzogchen transmission and instructions on how to practice. There is no DYI Dzogchen for beginners.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 11:03 AM
Title: Re: Seventeen Tantras Lung with Tulku Dakpa
Content:
Charlie123 said:
Thank you, I am excited for this. Do you know who Tulku Dakpa received this transmission from?

Malcolm wrote:
Sangye Nyenpa, who received it from Dilgo Khyentse.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 9:38 AM
Title: Re: Is Jamyang Losel a monk?
Content:
Nalanda said:
https://sakyakachodcholing.org/blueflower/

Asking because the website says he is an ordained monastic but he seems to have a lot of hair on his head.

Malcolm wrote:
He is a getsul, not a gelong.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 9:16 AM
Title: Re: Asoka and the Jains
Content:
Zhen Li said:
but Ajātaśatru killed his father so he committed one of the five heinous crimes.

Malcolm wrote:
This is debatable, actually. He didn’t actually slay Bimbisara, rather, Bimbisara starved to death. As Ajatashatru attained stream entry, etc., according to some accounts, it’s questionable if he committed an uninterruptible deed, and is a topic of debate among Tibetan scholars.

As far as Ashoka goes, I think it certainly plausible that early in his conversion he may have engaged in sectarian violence, despite his later turn toward tolerance.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 1:57 AM
Title: Seventeen Tantras Lung with Tulku Dakpa
Content:
Unknown said:
Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche, the director of Danakosha Ling in Finland, at the request of Zangthal Editions in association with Wisdom Publications, has kindly agreed to bestow the reading transmission (lung) of the Seventeen Tantras online beginning March 18, 2022, the anniversary of Nirmāṇakāya Garab Dorje’s birth on Danakosha Island.

Malcolm wrote:
Register here:

https://wisdomexperience.org/seventeen-tantras-lung/


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 1:20 AM
Title: Re: Refuge as a pre-requisite for lung
Content:



ManiThePainter said:
Thanks PeterC. I thought I had read somewhere that one had to go for refuge and take vows in person (one could say it by oneself but it would not be the same). Clearly I was misinformed.

Malcolm wrote:
Mahayāna refuge can be taken by visualizing the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in front of you and reciting refuge formula. You do not need a preceptor. This system is clearly taught in the Mahāyāna sūtra. However, you should not let other people's religious trips make you anxious.

ManiThePainter said:
Thanks.  I appreciate the help.

So the cutting of hair as part of the refuge ceremony is just a formality?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, it is a formality. You never read in the sutras where someone cuts hair just for going for refuge. All ordination rites are later developments. None of them come from the Buddha himself.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 1:03 AM
Title: Re: Refuge as a pre-requisite for lung
Content:



ManiThePainter said:
Nobody here is saying anything about never taking refuge.

Since I’m planning on taking an online lung within a couple of months but might be unable to take formal refuge (I would like to do so in person at a temple or with a sangha and to take vows) due to the current coronavirus strain, I was merely wondering if it was pointless to receive the lung if I hadn’t already gone for refuge.

PeterC said:
You can take refuge anywhere, at any time.  If you feel a little formality would be desirable, look into Garchen R’s ‘refuge at a distance’ arrangement.

ManiThePainter said:
Thanks PeterC. I thought I had read somewhere that one had to go for refuge and take vows in person (one could say it by oneself but it would not be the same). Clearly I was misinformed.

Malcolm wrote:
Mahayāna refuge can be taken by visualizing the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in front of you and reciting refuge formula. You do not need a preceptor. This system is clearly taught in the Mahāyāna sūtra. However, you should not let other people's religious trips make you anxious.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 at 12:57 AM
Title: Re: Asoka and the Jains
Content:
Zhen Li said:
In fact, as far as what can be established by the edicts alone, Aśoka himself was supportive of Buddhism, Jainism, Brahmanism and Ajīvikism.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, after a certain point in his reign. But the Avadana records that he was a tyrant, very cruel, and explains the reason for his softening to be the execution of his brother.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 11:02 PM
Title: Re: Asoka and the Jains
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
There is a mistake in the text, but it is clear that Jains were the intended targets of the purge.

Screen Shot 2022-01-24 at 10.00.41 AM.png (119.32 KiB) Viewed 4216 times


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 10:51 PM
Title: Re: Does buddhism require taking scripture literally?
Content:
wonderingaround said:
That to call oneself a Buddhist, one must have faith in these things and that it is wrong to view the stories as metaphorical.

Malcolm wrote:
Wrong view in Buddhadharma is confined to rejecting rebirth, karma, and dependent origination. Questioning the existence of nāgās and so on does not rate as wrong view.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 7:27 PM
Title: Re: Asoka and the Jains
Content:
Zhen Li said:
Aśokāvadāna, but this is mixing Ājīvakas and Jains and is more legendary than historical.

tingdzin said:
Thanks, I thought it might be something like that.

Malcolm wrote:
It’s a strange thing to include if there is no truth to it at all.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 7:20 PM
Title: Re: Refuge as a pre-requisite for lung
Content:
Inedible said:
I'm not Catholic so I don't take Communion. My parents tried, but it didn't take. I don't know about other religions. Why would someone want to be involved with someone else's religion without actually joining it?

Malcolm wrote:
The Buddha never said to anyone, “Before you sit and listen to me, you must go for  refuge to me.” However, very often at the end of a discourse, people, impressed by his words, then went to refuge in the Three Jewels.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 5:15 AM
Title: Re: Does buddhism require taking scripture literally?
Content:
wonderingaround said:
Like with all internet arguments, I felt like an idiot for engaging in one, but couldn't help myself reading these outrageous claims.
I was so taken aback by someone claiming that a literal interpretation of the scriptures is mainstream and that I must follow some "american Zen way" to think otherwise.

Malcolm wrote:
There are two doctrines, without which Buddhadharma makes no sense: karma and rebirth. These are the two main existential issues Buddhadharma seeks to address. Without these two doctrines, Buddha's solutions to the problem of suffering do not make sense.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 3:39 AM
Title: Re: Sotapannas and killing
Content:
Unknown said:
"And what does it mean to be consummate in virtue? There is the case where a noble disciple abstains from taking life, abstains from stealing, abstains from illicit sexual conduct, abstains from lying, abstains from taking intoxicants that cause heedlessness. This is called being consummate in virtue.

Malcolm wrote:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/into_the_stream.html#association

Unknown said:
"Monks, there are these six rewards in realizing the fruit of stream-entry. Which six? One is certain of the true Dhamma. One is not subject to falling back. There is no suffering over what has had a limit placed on it. [1] One is endowed with uncommon knowledge. [2] One rightly sees cause, along with causally-originated phenomena.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 2:01 AM
Title: Re: Sotapannas and killing
Content:
Arnoud said:
Since stream enterers get rid of view of self, clinging to rituals and doubt, how does it follow that they can’t kill?

Malcolm wrote:
They are incapable of breaking precepts, the most basic of which is refraining from killing.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 1:58 AM
Title: Re: Sotapannas and killing
Content:


Shinjin said:
I'm talking about the Hinayana stream enterer.

Malcolm wrote:
It's not possible.

Shinjin said:
Even out of self defense or if they have a mice infestation inside their homes? How is that practical for them?

Malcolm wrote:
They live with the mice, they have no self to defend.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 1:37 AM
Title: Re: Sotapannas and killing
Content:
Shinjin said:
Do Sotapannas/stream enterers have the ability to kill according to the Mahayana understanding?

Malcolm wrote:
Assuming you are referring to Mahāyāna stream entrants, i.e. first stage bodhisattvas, sure——they definitely can end the life of evil beings in order to protect sentient beings.

Shinjin said:
I'm talking about the Hinayana stream enterer.

Malcolm wrote:
It's not possible.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 1:33 AM
Title: Re: Does buddhism require taking scripture literally?
Content:
wonderingaround said:
Hi,
I recently encountered an online conversation whether buddhists must accept deities, the other realms etc. as fact and believe in them.

Malcolm wrote:
This rather fundamentalist idea mainly circulates in some Nyingmapa circles.

wonderingaround said:
I have considered myself as a Buddhist for some time and frankly, got slightly upset that my view that I have assumed is very mainstream especially in the West is considered an insult to "real buddhists".

Malcolm wrote:
There are fanatics everywhere.

wonderingaround said:
I would really appreciate any views on this and also how to respond if I encounter this sort of claims again.
Many thanks in advance!

Malcolm wrote:
Treat it the same way you would treat any fundamentalist claim.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 1:13 AM
Title: Re: Did Buddha really teach the Middle Way?
Content:
Realmwalker said:
To me it comes across that you are agitated with my words, and instead of responding indepthly you simply tell me I am incompetent and refer me to go seek out a teacher.

Malcolm wrote:
The Dunning–Kruger effect is the cognitive bias whereby people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability.
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect


Realmwalker said:
I am comparing Buddha's wisdom to my own mystical experience in order to deepen my understanding of that experience

Malcolm wrote:
The Dunning–Kruger effect is usually explained in terms of meta-cognitive abilities. This approach is based on the idea that poor performers have not yet acquired the ability to distinguish between good and bad performances. They tend to overrate themselves because they do not see the qualitative difference between their performances and the performances of others
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 12:43 AM
Title: Re: Sotapannas and killing
Content:
Shinjin said:
Do Sotapannas/stream enterers have the ability to kill according to the Mahayana understanding?

Malcolm wrote:
Assuming you are referring to Mahāyāna stream entrants, i.e. first stage bodhisattvas, sure——they definitely can end the life of evil beings in order to protect sentient beings.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 24th, 2022 at 12:08 AM
Title: Re: How to know if a Dharma Center is a "Sangha" or "official"?
Content:


zerwe said:
There are layers of meaning to the word "Sangha." I can't remember, but technically a group would have at least 3 ordained to qualify.

Malcolm wrote:
This refers only to a monastic Sangha.

zerwe said:
The term "Sangha" gets thrown around a lot and, in the west people consider a group of dharma brothers and sisters to be a "Sangha," but this is not the true meaning of the word.

Malcolm wrote:
Of course it is.

saMgha	m. (fr. %{sam} + %{han}) `" close contact or combination "' , any collection or assemblage , heap , multitude , quantity , crowd , host , number (generally with gen. pl. or ifc. , e.g. %{muni-s-} , `" a multitude of sages "' BhP. ; %{zatru-s-} , a host of enemies Ra1jat.) MBh. Ka1v. &c. ; any number of people living together for a certain purpose , a society , association , company , community ; a clerical community , congregation , church Mn. Sa1h. &c. ; (esp.) the whole community or collective body or brotherhood of monks (with Buddhists ; also applied to a monkish fraternity or sect among Jainas) Buddh. Sarvad. MWB. 176.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 at 11:54 PM
Title: Re: Thich Nhat Hanh has passed away
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
TNH's commentary on the Heart Sutra was one of the first Buddhist teachings I ever heard. His social engagement, which grew out of his experience dealing with colonial repression in Vietnam caused him to coin the term "engaged Buddhism." He is the OG Engaged Buddhist teacher, one of the most important Buddhist teachers of the 20th and early 21st century.

"Our ecology should be a deep ecology—not only deep, but universal."
--Thich Nhat Hahn.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 at 11:29 PM
Title: Re: Are we living in a virtual reality?
Content:
Kim O'Hara said:
...Chalmers argues that we could already be inhabitants of a virtual reality: “We can never prove we’re not in a computer simulation because any evidence of ordinary reality could be simulated.”

This is known as the simulation hypothesis, the scenario that is explored in the recently released Matrix Resurrections. Chalmers points out that humans have already invented games that simulate real life, such as The Sims. These will become more sophisticated over time, with versions of them running on millions of devices. Furthermore, out there in the rest of the universe, “if any aliens have human-level intelligence, they should eventually develop computers and program them. If these alien civilisations survive long enough, they’ll likely create simulated universes.” Statistically speaking, that means simulated beings probably already vastly outnumber “real” ones. In other words, it’s more likely we’re living in a simulation than in the original version of our world. ...

Ultimately, Reality+ is about extending our sense of the real. Chalmers’s central idea, that “there is more to reality than we thought”, is seductive, and I was surprised to find his arguments delightfully – or perhaps worryingly – convincing.

He has taken a subject most people would dismiss as pure science fiction and produced a brilliant and very readable philosophical investigation.
This is the David Chalmers who defined the 'hard problem' of consciousness so we should take him (at least a little ) seriously. His new book Reality+ is reviewed here - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jan/19/reality-by-david-j-chalmers-review-are-we-living-in-a-simulation.


Kim

Malcolm wrote:
This is just a variation of Descarte's demon:
And yet firmly rooted in my mind is the long-standing opinion that there is an omnipotent God who made me the kind of creature that I am. How do I know that he has not brought it about that there is no earth, no sky, no extended thing, no shape, no size, no place, while at the same time ensuring that all these things appear to me to exist just as they do now?...I will suppose therefore that not God, who is supremely good and the source of truth, but rather some malicious demon [mauvais génie] of the utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies in order to deceive me.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-epistemology/#EvilGeniDoub


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 at 8:53 PM
Title: Re: Refuge as a pre-requisite for lung
Content:
ManiThePainter said:
Quite a few different views on this it seems.

From my own basic knowledge I’d assume that practice necessitated refuge.

But is receiving a lung a practice?

Malcolm wrote:
For a practitioner it is a practice, part of the three wisdoms.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, January 23rd, 2022 at 10:13 AM
Title: Re: Refuge as a pre-requisite for lung
Content:
Inedible said:
Do you really have to ask? Without going for Refuge, you aren't a Buddhist. You don't have to have a formal ceremony, but you have to say the words. And mean them.

Malcolm wrote:
Not really. It’s sufficient to be sincerely interested in the Dharma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 10:35 PM
Title: Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?
Content:


Aemilius said:
Has there been any discussion or guide lines about aliens taking refuge in the Three Jewels?

Malcolm wrote:
Nonhuman beings cannot receive upasaka precepts. Nor, for that matter, can all humans. Chapter 4, Kishabhasya.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 9:00 PM
Title: Re: Question about White Tara Initiation bestowed by H.H. The Sakya Trichen Rinpoche
Content:
Aloke said:
Thank you so much!

Couldn't find the Sadhana, but I found this very interesting and appropriate book by Lama Choedak Rinpoche:

Meditation on White Tara: The Goddess of Vitality and Longevity https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/0994581319/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_AZEB351KCYGQGWSF8AHB



Malcolm wrote:
The sadhana in in this book.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 11:23 AM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:
Nalanda said:
So what is it that actually brings about enlightenment in someone?

Malcolm wrote:
Insight.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 9:02 AM
Title: Re: Question about White Tara Initiation bestowed by H.H. The Sakya Trichen Rinpoche
Content:
Aloke said:
Dear all,

H.H. The Sakya Trichen Rinpoche just bestowed the White Tara Wish Fulfilling Wheel Initiation online today.

Can anyone confirm if it was the Six-Domed White Tara Empowerment?

As it was given at the same time of the scheduled White Tara Retreat at Sakya Canberra:

https://www.sakya.com.au/civicrm/event/info/?reset=1&id=435

Thank you very much!

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, and you can purchase the sadhana on Amazon as arranged by Khenpo Migmar


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 7:57 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
I'm double vaxxed. For me, perhaps because I'm young, it seems like it was a very uncomfortable 3-day affair that is coming to a conclusion. We'll see if I still have symptoms next week.

I did cough up blood once, which was worrying, but only once, and now my coughing is quite mild.

Malcolm wrote:
Covid continues to damage internal organs, even if you don't notice it. The fact you coughed up blood is something you should take seriously.

Caoimhghín said:
Well, I certainly didn't cough up blood and then think "Well, it's just my time of the month."

Malcolm wrote:
Sorry I expressed concern.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 3:47 AM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:
Nalanda said:
I'm sold, teacher. I'm sold. But some teacher don't accept any more students.

Malcolm wrote:
There are many good teachers out there. But you have a lot of learn just about General Buddhadharma to begin with. It's better to make a connection with a principle lineage, and then when you know what you are doing, continue from there.

I do not recommend connection with rando teachers on the internet.

Making a connection with a guru is serious business and many so-called teachers presenting themselves as as so-called gurus have concocted or exaggerated credentials. Nor do they have any idea how to care for their students. Being a teacher is a serious responsibility, as is being a student.

So one has to be discerning in the beginning. You have to be like a bee, and see which teachers and lineages resonate, and then investigate them, and see what faults and qualities they have. What you do not need is an old fraud like me.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 2:30 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
More likely would be an MOR Republican like Romney who can catch independent voters and centrists on both sides, leaving the extremes to fume and sputter.

ManiThePainter said:
I thought that Romney, as one of the few Republicans who dared speak out against Trump, was on the Republican shitlist?

Queequeg said:
Yeah, there's no frickin way.

The benches of both parties are pretty thin.

A third party candidate might actually have a shot here. I don't know what that party would look like.

Right of Center? A little populist/working class?

Malcolm wrote:
How about a Romney/Cheney ticket?

Or HRC again?

We are so f**cked.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 2:12 AM
Title: Re: Every school/tradition's most effective method/practice to reach enlightenment...
Content:
Aemilius said:
There are many stories in modern and ancient times when some person practices under the impression and conviction that it is a technique that will take him to enlightenment/nirvana/vimoksha. Then after many years and even decades of searching for and practicing a "perfect technique", he finally meets a person who shows him/her the truth in some simple way or manner.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is true, there is no special technique for awakening, there is just recognition, realization, and liberation. But paths based on mind are limited and produced a limited, and temporal result.

Queequeg said:
By mind, are you referring to mano, manas and alaya vijnananas? Ie. conditioned levels of mind?

Malcolm wrote:
The eight consciousnesses.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 2:05 AM
Title: Re: What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)
Content:
Nalanda said:
What exactly is it that leads to Enlightenment? (arhat and buddhahood)

Malcolm wrote:
A guru.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 1:41 AM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
I don't actively practice Tibetan medicine any more, but in Tibetan Medicine and Ayurveda, this view of illness is not favored. If there is an effect, there must be a cause. If the cause is not addressed—and some causes cannot be addressed in the case of karmic illnesses, for example—the effect cannot be removed, just palliated.

chokyi lodro said:
Understood, but my point is that in many instances the cause is simply unknown.

Malcolm wrote:
I understand that Western Medicine leaves these causes as unknown. That is not the case with Tibetan Medicine and Ayurveda. The cause of all diseases is known. They are the three humors: vata, pitta, and kapha. Those in turn arise from desire, hatred, and confusion. Its a complete different way of looking at illness, including mental illness.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 1:36 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
I would not at all be surprised with a De Santis or Doctor Oz presidency.

Malcolm wrote:
I would. Trump might win. These two? Never.

More likely would be an MOR Republican like Romney who can catch independent voters and centrists on both sides, leaving the extremes to fume and sputter.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 1:30 AM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
Proper diagnostics must account for causes.

Johnny Dangerous said:
There are all kinds of idiopathic diseases which are defined primarily by symptoms.

chokyi lodro said:
Correct.  And for many mental health conditions, the cause becomes somewhat irrelevant to both the patient and practitioner.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is the Western paradigm, the Hippocratic approach to treating illnesses.

I don't actively practice Tibetan medicine any more, but in Tibetan Medicine and Ayurveda, this view of illness is not favored. If there is an effect, there must be a cause. If the cause is not addressed—and some causes cannot be addressed in the case of karmic illnesses, for example—the effect cannot be removed, just palliated.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 1:11 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
ManiThePainter said:
Will Trump win again or will someone worse come in?

Malcolm wrote:
If Trump manages to steal the next election, he will be a smarter, more dangerous Trump.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 12:43 AM
Title: Re: Every school/tradition's most effective method/practice to reach enlightenment...
Content:
Aemilius said:
There are many stories in modern and ancient times when some person practices under the impression and conviction that it is a technique that will take him to enlightenment/nirvana/vimoksha. Then after many years and even decades of searching for and practicing a "perfect technique", he finally meets a person who shows him/her the truth in some simple way or manner.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is true, there is no special technique for awakening, there is just recognition, realization, and liberation. But paths based on mind are limited and produced a limited, and temporal result.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 12:33 AM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Sure, and seizure disorders are a real possibility in OCD. Many people with epilepsy have associated symptoms of OCD. There are a vast range of seizures in severity. People have mini seizures they do not even recognize. We really do not know very much about the brain. But one thing I do know, having known many people with OCD disorders, is that their conditions is aggravated by what we call vata diets and behaviors. In traditional Tibetan medicine and Ayurveda, OCD is considered a vata disorder, and that it is better for such people have vata reducing diets, etc. Vata diseases are real diseases and they can be treated.

n8pee said:
Now I'm curious about what a vata reducing diet would entail...

Malcolm wrote:
It is not hard to find out:

https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/info/ayurvedic-living/living-ayurveda/diet/vata-pacifying-diet/

There is none of the standard meats added here, but to this list one could add oily fish such as salmon, tuna, etc.; meats such as lamb, duck, and dry aged beef, buffalo, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 12:01 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


PeterC said:
He’s not really winning any right now.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, he has two people in his party in the Senate who decided to throw in their lot with the party of the insurrection for personal gain.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 11:57 PM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:
Toenail said:
All the evidence shows that these are probably real conditions that can be treated.

Malcolm wrote:
by what we call vata diets and behaviors. In traditional Tibetan medicine and Ayurveda, OCD is considered a vata disorder, and that it is better for such people have vata reducing diets, etc. Vata diseases are real diseases and they can be treated.

Toenail said:
So now you are basically saying these diseases can be cured by adjustments of behavior?

Malcolm wrote:
Not alone, no. They require changes in behavior, diet, combined with herbs and physical therapies. But the Western Medical establishment does not recognize Ayurveda, etc., so...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 11:28 PM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:
Toenail said:
All the evidence shows that these are probably real conditions that can be treated.


Malcolm wrote:
Sure, and seizure disorders are a real possibility in OCD. Many people with epilepsy have associated symptoms of OCD. There are a vast range of seizures in severity. People have mini seizures they do not even recognize. We really do not know very much about the brain. But one thing I do know, having known many people with OCD disorders, is that their conditions is aggravated by what we call vata diets and behaviors. In traditional Tibetan medicine and Ayurveda, OCD is considered a vata disorder, and that it is better for such people have vata reducing diets, etc. Vata diseases are real diseases and they can be treated.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 11:21 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
I'm double vaxxed. For me, perhaps because I'm young, it seems like it was a very uncomfortable 3-day affair that is coming to a conclusion. We'll see if I still have symptoms next week.

I did cough up blood once, which was worrying, but only once, and now my coughing is quite mild.

Malcolm wrote:
Covid continues to damage internal organs, even if you don't notice it. The fact you coughed up blood is something you should take seriously.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 11:09 PM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:



Toenail said:
Psychiatric medicine as well as all other schools of thoughts about this do believe they know the causes of these illnesses. Obviously this "OCD is a seizure disorder" thing you defended so strongly before brings no benefit for patients and your medication you referred to as evidence is a shit treatment. CBT is the best option we have to treat mental illnesses. And cbt has a very clear idea of what the causes of most mental illnesses are. It addresses them and when these causes are annihilated the illness is gone.

Malcolm wrote:
CBT is a management strategy only. It does not "cure" anything. But we should define what we mean by "illness" as opposed to "behavior." We will probably avoid unnecessary disagreement by doing so. For me, an illness is a disorder in the physical organism. There are many behaviors which may result from such illnesses, but not all pathological behaviors are "illnesses."

Toenail said:
That is not true at all. CBT can cure most mental illnesses completly. Evidence? Follow-up studies. Also behavior in the phrase CBT means physical behavior as well as thought patterns and emotions etc. It does not just refer to observable behavior.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, I understand this. My point is quite different. Mental illnesses are subjective and culturally determined, even physical illnesses, to some extent, are as well. Example—oracles, who clearly from a western diagnostic point of view are sufferers of petite and grand mal seizures, are elevated to important positions in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy. Things like cancer, infections, etc., on the other hand are recognized everywhere as physical pathologies. So, again, we are talking at cross purposes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 10:55 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
I currently have the coronavirus. For me, it was a rather intense but not deadly 3-day flu. Some difficulty breathing, a lot of coughing. The worse part by far was actually the fever. What am I doing about it? Just hanging out around the house. I predict that today will be the day when just hanging out around the house gets very boring, since I no longer have a fever and am no longer preoccupied with aches and pains in my joints etc.

Malcolm wrote:
My friend, who contracted covid a month ago, is still suffering from exhaustion. And his symptoms would remerge from time to time over the past month, after the first ten days when the vid first ran its course.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 10:49 PM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:



Toenail said:
I would say that it should be included in treatment. You are taking one aspect of treatment/curing an illness (diagnosing it) and criticize it for not including other aspects of the big thing. That is unfair and really just semantics. At the end all medicine should be evidence based. You look at how patients with this problem feel before the treatment and ask them how they feel afterwards. As simple as you would check whether or not a medicine works.

Malcolm wrote:
If you don't know the cause of an illness, you cannot treat it effectively since you have no evidence to address its causation and hence its cessation. The most you can do is give palliative treatment for symptoms, which sadly, is where most psychiatric medicine is at these days.

Toenail said:
Psychiatric medicine as well as all other schools of thoughts about this do believe they know the causes of these illnesses. Obviously this "OCD is a seizure disorder" thing you defended so strongly before brings no benefit for patients and your medication you referred to as evidence is a shit treatment. CBT is the best option we have to treat mental illnesses. And cbt has a very clear idea of what the causes of most mental illnesses are. It addresses them and when these causes are annihilated the illness is gone.

Malcolm wrote:
CBT is a management strategy only. It does not "cure" anything. But we should define what we mean by "illness" as opposed to "behavior." We will probably avoid unnecessary disagreement by doing so. For me, an illness is a disorder in the physical organism. There are many behaviors which may result from such illnesses, but not all pathological behaviors are "illnesses."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 10:09 PM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:
Toenail said:
So criticizing them for only treating symptoms is ridiculous and unfounded since they are only for diagnostics…

Malcolm wrote:
Proper diagnostics must account for causes.

Toenail said:
I would say that it should be included in treatment. You are taking one aspect of treatment/curing an illness (diagnosing it) and criticize it for not including other aspects of the big thing. That is unfair and really just semantics. At the end all medicine should be evidence based. You look at how patients with this problem feel before the treatment and ask them how they feel afterwards. As simple as you would check whether or not a medicine works.

Malcolm wrote:
If you don't know the cause of an illness, you cannot treat it effectively since you have no evidence to address its causation and hence its cessation. The most you can do is give palliative treatment for symptoms, which sadly, is where most psychiatric medicine is at these days.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 9:28 PM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:
Toenail said:
So criticizing them for only treating symptoms is ridiculous and unfounded since they are only for diagnostics…

Malcolm wrote:
Proper diagnostics must account for causes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 10:44 AM
Title: Re: Who is Goddess Prajnaparamita and is she a valid part of the Buddhist pantheon?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
, but Buddhists are usually fairly adamant in their assistance that the Buddha is not "god." If we are going to call PP devī a goddess, we have to start saying "our god is Buddha"—no thanks.

Malcolm wrote:
I was referring to offering goddesses, not major figures, even so, in Tibetan Buddhism we refer to the creation stage as Deity Yoga. And in that context PP is a deity, like Tara, etc. but thus all an argument over nothing.

Zhen Li said:
Even deity, I have noticed, has been something that many newcomers to Mahāyāna/Vajrayāna have found to be a confusing term.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, given that newcomers to Mahayana and Vajrayana are usually completely confused about everything, there are only so many training wheels which be provided. A lot they have to sort out themselves.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 10:10 AM
Title: Re: Who is Goddess Prajnaparamita and is she a valid part of the Buddhist pantheon?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
, but Buddhists are usually fairly adamant in their assistance that the Buddha is not "god." If we are going to call PP devī a goddess, we have to start saying "our god is Buddha"—no thanks.

Malcolm wrote:
I was referring to offering goddesses, not major figures, even so, in Tibetan Buddhism we refer to the creation stage as Deity Yoga. And in that context PP is a deity, like Tara, etc. but thus all an argument over nothing.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 8:45 AM
Title: Re: Emptiness as negation
Content:



Shinjin said:
He has a phd in philosophy according to his bio.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, well, you know what Ph.D stands for? Pinheaded Dope.

PeterC said:
Relative to BS, I thought it stood for Piled Higher and Deeper

Malcolm wrote:
That too….


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 6:40 AM
Title: Re: Who is Goddess Prajnaparamita and is she a valid part of the Buddhist pantheon?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I believe that god and goddess are terms that shouldn't be used in Buddhism...

Malcolm wrote:
It results in strained sadhana translations. For devas, asuras, and pretas, these terms are preferred over gods, titans, and ghosts, but in a sadhana, when we are describing an offering goddess, for example, washing water, I think goddess is preferable to devi. But it is a fairly arbitrary choice.

Miorita said:
It doesn't. It's called a deity.


Malcolm wrote:
Can you imagine, "the female deities of washing water...." Thanks, I'll keep "goddesses."

Anyway, goddess is a fine English word, as is god:

goddess (n.)
mid-14c., female deity in a polytheistic religion, from god + fem. suffix -esse (see -ess). The Old English word was gyden, corresponding to Dutch godin, German Göttin, Danish gudine, Swedish gudinna. Of mortal women by 1570s. Related: Goddesshood.

god (n.)
Origin and meaning of god
also God; Old English god "supreme being, deity; the Christian God; image of a god; godlike person," from Proto-Germanic *guthan (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Dutch god, Old High German got, German Gott, Old Norse guð, Gothic guþ), which is of uncertain origin; perhaps from PIE *ghut- "that which is invoked" (source also of Old Church Slavonic zovo "to call," Sanskrit huta- "invoked," an epithet of Indra), from root *gheu(e)- "to call, invoke." The notion could be "divine entity summoned to a sacrifice. "

But some trace it to PIE *ghu-to- "poured," from root *gheu- "to pour, pour a libation" (source of Greek khein "to pour," also in the phrase khute gaia "poured earth," referring to a burial mound; see found (v.2)). "Given the Greek facts, the Germanic form may have referred in the first instance to the spirit immanent in a burial mound" [Watkins]. See also Zeus. In either case, not related to good.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 5:53 AM
Title: Re: Emptiness as negation
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
As I said, he is an idiot.

Shinjin said:
He has a phd in philosophy according to his bio.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, well, you know what Ph.D stands for? Pinheaded Dope.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 5:29 AM
Title: Re: Who is Goddess Prajnaparamita and is she a valid part of the Buddhist pantheon?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
I believe that god and goddess are terms that shouldn't be used in Buddhism...

Malcolm wrote:
It results in strained sadhana translations. For devas, asuras, and pretas, these terms are preferred over gods, titans, and ghosts, but in a sadhana, when we are describing an offering goddess, for example, washing water, I think goddess is preferable to devi. But it is a fairly arbitrary choice.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 4:24 AM
Title: Re: Emptiness as negation
Content:
cyril said:
Ok, so I am currently reading Avi Sion’s “Logical criticism of Buddhist doctrines” and I came across the following argumentation:

Can anyone spot what is wrong in this line of thought? I’ve been ruminating on this for a couple of days now and I still cannot find any fault in the author’s reasoning. And yet, since it denies the Aryas’ non-conceptual cognition of emptiness, there must be something wrong there.

Malcolm wrote:
It is very faulty. Buddha's awakening was predicted on seeing dependent origination. Whatever is empty is dependently originated, whatever is dependent originated is empty. Negations are merely an analytical manner of approximating emptiness. Negations are not themselves the insight into the absence of inherent existence of dependently originated phenomena. When an ārya cognizes emptiness, they are cognizing the emptiness of something, and that something is always something which arises dependent on causes and conditions.

So, basically Avi Sion is an idiot who did not bother to even understand the thought of the person he was refuting.

cyril said:
Ok, understood. But when we say all dependently originated phenomena are empty of inherent existence, we do not negate that which arises as dependently originated; that's only the basis for our negation. What we negate is the inherent existence; but, since that is a concept, it follows that the non-conceptual mind could not cognize it as such. It looks like there is something i fail to grasp here.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, inherent existence, an existence that is nondependent, is a false concept that we negate in relation to mere existence, an existence that arises dependent on causes and conditions. When we search for inherent existence, we cannot find it. That nonfinding is called "emptiness." For example, we can say a pot is empty of water, without implying there is water somewhere else. No one refutes this kind if negation, if they do, it is what is termed an exaggeration, no one argues that saying something is empty of water necessarily implies water elsewhere. Also, no one can argue that the perception of the absence of water is invalid. Sion's thesis, that one cannot perceive an absence is foolish and naive. As I said, he is an idiot.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 1:27 AM
Title: Re: Emptiness as negation
Content:
cyril said:
Ok, so I am currently reading Avi Sion’s “Logical criticism of Buddhist doctrines” and I came across the following argumentation:
Emptiness cannot be claimed as a one-off experience because it is defined by negation as the absence of essence or self-nature. Negation is a basic act of reason. It is not something ever directly experienced, not a positive phenomenon. Thus, to claim that what Buddha experienced is precisely emptiness, it would be necessary to claim a positive character to emptiness; otherwise it must be admitted his rational faculty was involved.

Can anyone spot what is wrong in this line of thought? I’ve been ruminating on this for a couple of days now and I still cannot find any fault in the author’s reasoning. And yet, since it denies the Aryas’ non-conceptual cognition of emptiness, there must be something wrong there.

Malcolm wrote:
It is very faulty. Buddha's awakening was predicted on seeing dependent origination. Whatever is empty is dependently originated, whatever is dependent originated is empty. Negations are merely an analytical manner of approximating emptiness. Negations are not themselves the insight into the absence of inherent existence of dependently originated phenomena. When an ārya cognizes emptiness, they are cognizing the emptiness of something, and that something is always something which arises dependent on causes and conditions.

So, basically Avi Sion is an idiot who did not bother to even understand the thought of the person he was refuting.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 1:20 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


Johnny Dangerous said:
One thing the pandemic has really shown is the folly of deregulation and austerity measures, but I doubt we will learn the appropriate lessons.

Malcolm wrote:
Oh, we've known this from the 80's, but you know, union busting, etc.It's like when the pension fund in Detroit collapsed, driving the city into bankruptcy. Why? Because pension funds were for the first time allowed to invest in stocks, and when those collapsed, that pension fund collapsed, and went bankrupt. Had they stayed in bonds, Detroit would have never gone into receivership.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 12:22 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


PeterC said:
My moneys on annexation of Ukraine by early March.

Malcolm wrote:
My bet is no later than February 23, Men's Day aka the Defender of the Fatherland anniversary.

PeterC said:
He won’t do it during the Winter Olympics as that would annoy China.

Malcolm wrote:
This year, I don't think China will care much.

PeterC said:
The 23rd is days before the closing ceremony.  One person in Beijing will be seriously pissed if Putin upstages that, and it’s a person Putin needs to stay on good terms with.

Malcolm wrote:
Then I think it willl be next week, so they can declare victory on the 23rd. March is already pretty muddy in the Ukraine:

https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/ukraine

I think they will take Kiev, and stop at the Dnieper River...for now.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 20th, 2022 at 11:36 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


PeterC said:
My moneys on annexation of Ukraine by early March.

Malcolm wrote:
My bet is no later than February 23, Men's Day aka the Defender of the Fatherland anniversary.

PeterC said:
He won’t do it during the Winter Olympics as that would annoy China.

Malcolm wrote:
This year, I don't think China will care much.

PeterC said:
By April the ground will have melted and will be harder going for tank regiments, and by May the troops will have rotated and he’ll have less experienced recruits on the border.

Malcolm wrote:
Indeed, tanks don't do so well in thick, Ukrainian mud. That lesson was learned in WWII.

PeterC said:
And the demands he’s making now are ones that nobody can or will agree to - he’s not trying to negotiate, he’s preparing an excuse for more aggressive measures.

Malcolm wrote:
Indeed, Putin wants this war. He needs it because of growing unrest in Russia.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 20th, 2022 at 11:21 PM
Title: Re: Is there an atman in your school? (Shentong)
Content:



Anders said:
There was neither a "gzhan stong" nor "rang stong" for Shankara to take inspiration from in 8th century India.

But even if there were, how does that relate to what I posited? I am simply saying that it is understandable that Advaita Vedanta and Gzhan stong should be quite similar, given how much inspiration Shankara took from nagarjuna.

Malcolm wrote:
I guess you don't seem to understand here is that gzhan stong isn't derived from Nāgārjuna, but is instead a distortion of Nāgārjuna.

Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
Correct. It comes from Asanga and the Kalachakra Tantra.

Malcolm wrote:
Many people overlook the fact that the Agamaśāstra, the source Anders alludes to, combines Madhyamaka and Yogacāra views indiscriminately to present a nondual view of Vedanta. This is what influenced Shankara, since Gaudapāda, the author of the Agamaśāstra, was Shankara's guru's guru.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 20th, 2022 at 10:55 PM
Title: Re: Is there an atman in your school? (Shentong)
Content:



Anders said:
They are quite similar. And why not? Shankara was greatly inspired by Nagarjuna.

Malcolm wrote:
Gzhan stong is not the view of Nagarjuna.

Anders said:
There was neither a "gzhan stong" nor "rang stong" for Shankara to take inspiration from in 8th century India.

But even if there were, how does that relate to what I posited? I am simply saying that it is understandable that Advaita Vedanta and Gzhan stong should be quite similar, given how much inspiration Shankara took from nagarjuna.

Malcolm wrote:
I guess you don't seem to understand here is that gzhan stong isn't derived from Nāgārjuna, but is instead a distortion of Nāgārjuna.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, January 20th, 2022 at 10:51 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:
PeterC said:
Omicron is, hopefully, the end of all of this...

Malcolm wrote:
Nope. Wishful thinking. Think 2024. My guess is that since we are far away from global vaccination, there will continue to be dangerous variants like Omicron (from which one can still die, and still get "long" covid) that will bypass older vaccines, and continue to stress our healthcare systems every year.

Plus, Western Europe is preparing for a war in Eastern Europe in response to Russian aggression over Ukraine, etc. etc.,


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 11:54 PM
Title: Re: What is the Orthodox position of your school on alcohol, narcotics, psychedelics?
Content:
Nicholas2727 said:
I believe I remember you saying there are not many rituals in Dzogchen either in a different post.

Malcolm wrote:
A Dzogchen practitioner can use a lot of rituals, if they find this useful, or none at all. The main point is knowledge (rig pa) of one's own state.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 11:11 PM
Title: Re: What is the Orthodox position of your school on alcohol, narcotics, psychedelics?
Content:
Padmist said:
Or does it break the precepts as well?

Malcolm wrote:
It breaks the fifth precept. But one does not have to follow the fifth precept at all, in the Tibetan tradition. One can choose to follow only the vows against killing, stealing, and lying.

Of course, if you are a Dzogchen practitioner, there really are no hard and fast rules. You can try anything, but if you get habituated to anything, this is negative.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 6:21 AM
Title: Re: mostly Raw organic vegan diet for mental health?
Content:
Artziebetter1 said:
whenever I used entheogens and the ocd went away...

Malcolm wrote:
Sounds to me like a brain chemistry issue.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 6:18 AM
Title: Re: So Many Mahayana Sutras - Do They All Agree - Why So Many?
Content:
Nalanda said:
Oh ok then. I just like his take on Early Buddhist Schools. That's all

Malcolm wrote:
There is no reason to criticize early Buddhist schools.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 5:31 AM
Title: Re: So Many Mahayana Sutras - Do They All Agree - Why So Many?
Content:


Nalanda said:
What do you think?

Malcolm wrote:
I think this guy is a perennialist. I have no patience with that sort of inclination.

Nalanda said:
Oh...I thought he's strong defense of Mahayana and Tantra against fundamentalist sravakayana make him the opposite of Perennialist. I don't know tho.

Malcolm wrote:
He equates rainbow body with Christian stuff. He also writes stuff on Aleister Crowley, Taoism, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 5:06 AM
Title: Re: So Many Mahayana Sutras - Do They All Agree - Why So Many?
Content:


Nalanda said:
What do you think?

Malcolm wrote:
I think this guy is a perennialist. I have no patience with that sort of inclination.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 3:59 AM
Title: Re: So Many Mahayana Sutras - Do They All Agree - Why So Many?
Content:


Nalanda said:
Yeah it looks like it hasn't been translated yet by 84000.co

Malcolm wrote:
Everything you really need to know about Mahāyāna is in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras and their commentaries. This is the class of sutras, according to Sakya Paṇḍita, the Buddha spent the most time teaching (ten years), out of his 45 year long career. These are the most important sūtras of Mahāyāna, the most extensive class of sūtras (20 volumes in their Tibetan translation), and the sūtras most commented upon in surviving Indian sources.

Nalanda said:
Also I love that you called out before that some Chinese Sutras are not Sutras. lol
Platform Sutra for example. Can we rely on some notable sutras of East Asian Tradition / Pureland Tradition as sutras?

Malcolm wrote:
It has been the case from the time sutras were being set down in writing that different schools did not accept some or all of sutras of some other school. For example, outside of a very few tantras that were basically too important to exclude, virtually all of the tantras of the Nyingma school were excluded from the official Tibetan canon in the 14th century, including all the most important Dzogchen tantras. But we don't care. Likewise there are many sutras likely composed in China that are important to Chinese Buddhists, and they don't care that we do not accept them. We Mahāyānis in general don't care that the Theravadins do not accept our sūtras, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 3:46 AM
Title: Re: So Many Mahayana Sutras - Do They All Agree - Why So Many?
Content:


Nalanda said:
Yeah it looks like it hasn't been translated yet by 84000.co

Malcolm wrote:
Everything you really need to know about Mahāyāna is in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras and their commentaries. This is the class of sutras, according to Sakya Paṇḍita, the Buddha spent the most time teaching (ten years), out of his 45 year long career. These are the most important sūtras of Mahāyāna, the most extensive class of sūtras (20 volumes in their Tibetan translation), and the sūtras most commented upon in surviving Indian sources.

Nalanda said:
I like that. Thanks. And I might actually do just that, put all my eggs in Prajanaparamita.

Could you please tell me though why people like Alex Duncan would study all Mahayana sutras like this?
https://palisuttas.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/how-to-study-buddhism/

If this is not necessary, then why do it? Personal accomplishments? Job?

Malcolm wrote:
You will have to ask him.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 2:57 AM
Title: Re: So Many Mahayana Sutras - Do They All Agree - Why So Many?
Content:


Nalanda said:
Yeah it looks like it hasn't been translated yet by 84000.co

Malcolm wrote:
Everything you really need to know about Mahāyāna is in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras and their commentaries. This is the class of sutras, according to Sakya Paṇḍita, the Buddha spent the most time teaching (ten years), out of his 45 year long career. These are the most important sūtras of Mahāyāna, the most extensive class of sūtras (20 volumes in their Tibetan translation), and the sūtras most commented upon in surviving Indian sources.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 2:46 AM
Title: Re: Nyingthiks
Content:
Passing By said:
Besides the Khandro and Vima Nyingthiks what are the main Nyingthik cycles in Nyingma?

The big three are Nyingthik Yabzhi, Gongpa Zangthal and Chetsun Nyingthik right?

Also how do you tell if a cycle is Nyingthik (as opposed to other divisions of Menngagde) or not since just having the word in the name is not a sure indicator and they may not be as detailed as the main three above? Are cycles like Dudjom Saraha Nyingthik and Khandro Thuktik considered as Dzogchen Nyingthik?

Malcolm wrote:
The term "snying thig" in actuality refers to the teaching of the Seventeen Tantras, that is where the term comes from. Of the many teachings called "snying thig," only the Vima Snying thig, Bla ma yang thig, and the Zab mo yang thig are solely devoted to the teachings of the Seventeen Tantras. The mKha' 'gro Snying thig is based in the klong gsal tantra, which is sort of a compilation of the key topics of the Seventeen Tantras. Then there is the Ati zab don of Terdag Lingpa, this is about is stripped down a Dzogchen Snying thig cycle as one is likely to find. Most of the others, including the dgongs pa zang thal, focus mainly on the teachings of the Seventeen Tantras, but have other more elaborate cycles for intermediate practitioners.

All the other snying thigs have supporting practices derived principally from Anuyoga, but their dzogchen teachings are based on the utterly secret unsurpassed cycle, so they can be included in "snying thig". Otherwise, the term "snying thig" has become kind of a popular name.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 1:19 AM
Title: Re: Chod Teachers England UK
Content:


Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
Is it OK to read the whole book or do the other parts require transmission?

Thanks Malcolm

Malcolm wrote:
It's a little better to have the empowerment before reading the ritual sections, but the instructions in the first part are fine to read.

Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
So up to section 13 ‘Door Opening Empowerments’?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes. Unless you have received such an empowerment.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 12:48 AM
Title: Re: Chod Teachers England UK
Content:


Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
Is it OK to read the whole book or do the other parts require transmission?

Thanks Malcolm

Malcolm wrote:
It's a little better to have the empowerment before reading the ritual sections, but the instructions in the first part are fine to read.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 4:08 PM
Title: Re: So Many Mahayana Sutras - Do They All Agree - Why So Many?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
So, yes, Ānanda memorised the Mahāyāna but also some people received it in revelation from Vajrapāṇi.

Malcolm wrote:
This is disputed. Vasubandhu in the Vyākhyāyukti criticizes Ānanda because he did not know all the sūtras, meaning the Mahāyāna sūtras.

Zhen Li said:
Haribhadra suggests…

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, there are various accounts, but the main point I was making is that in general the idea is that Mahayana sutras were not compiled by Ananda, but rather by high bodhisattvas. As far as I know, the first person to point this out was Vasubandhu.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 6:59 AM
Title: Re: Chod Teachers England UK
Content:
Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
Is that in this book?:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Machiks-Complete-Explanation-Clarifying-Foundation/dp/1559394145/ref=sr_1_2?crid=7ERXOASU30MC&keywords=machig+labdron+complete+explanation&qid=1642459714&sprefix=machig+labdron+complete+explanation%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-2

I have this but not sure if it requires transmission?




Malcolm wrote:
The great collection can be approached from both a sutra and Vajrayana pov, so the lung transmission is good, but not absolutely needed.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 6:28 AM
Title: Re: Chod Teachers England UK
Content:


Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
I do have the Lord Jigten Sumgon Mahamudra Chod but stopped practicing as I felt I needed a personal teacher to guide.

Malcolm wrote:
Understanding the principle of Chod far more important than playing a chod liturgy, which in any case should only be taken up after one has really understood the meaning of Machik's presentation of the four māras.

Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
Thanks Acharya I’m not in a rush with it but would love to find a teacher to seriously hone down the points and finer points

Malcolm wrote:
As I said, I would try to find instruction on the Great Collection. Practicing Chod liturgies without this is a waste of time.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 3:49 AM
Title: Re: Chod Teachers England UK
Content:


Konchog Thogme Jampa said:
I do have the Lord Jigten Sumgon Mahamudra Chod but stopped practicing as I felt I needed a personal teacher to guide.

Malcolm wrote:
Understanding the principle of Chod far more important than playing a chod liturgy, which in any case should only be taken up after one has really understood the meaning of Machik's presentation of the four māras.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 12:48 AM
Title: Re: Does shedra style debate have any place in the Dzogchen tradition?
Content:
tigerneptune said:
Good to know, i didnt have idea

Malcolm wrote:
Chapter 69 in the Self-Arisen Vidyā Tantra gives keys to refuting opponents of Dzogchen teachings, but we Buddhists have never really turned them into a courtyard debate formate.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 12:00 AM
Title: Re: So Many Mahayana Sutras - Do They All Agree - Why So Many?
Content:
Zhen Li said:
So, yes, Ānanda memorised the Mahāyāna but also some people received it in revelation from Vajrapāṇi.

Malcolm wrote:
This is disputed. Vasubandhu in the Vyākhyāyukti criticizes Ānanda because he did not know all the sūtras, meaning the Mahāyāna sūtras.

See Skilling, https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/viewFile/9178/3036

Also the Tibetan tradition clearly maintains that the compilers of the general Mahāyāna was not Ānanda, but rather Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara, and Samantabhadra on Mt. Potala in South India.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 17th, 2022 at 11:09 PM
Title: Re: What is the motivation for Tibetan Buddhists to join the monastics?
Content:
Miorita said:
Of course, the expenses might weigh easier on someone, but a monastery offers education, different horizons and perspectives, and a way of life in which there is a chance to excel. Living high up in the mountains does not allow much interference from the social...

Malcolm wrote:
This a pretty Shangri La account. It's not very grounded in reality.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 17th, 2022 at 9:22 PM
Title: Re: The Great Quit
Content:


Kim O'Hara said:
(which I take to be primarily economics and social justice)

Malcolm wrote:
I was thinking of the the whole.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 17th, 2022 at 9:42 AM
Title: Re: The Great Quit
Content:
Kim O'Hara said:
The great mass of people will therefore be surplus to requirements.

Malcolm wrote:
World population is already headed in the other direction.

And face it, we have no idea what the world will look like in 2122.

Kim O'Hara said:
2122?
With the way things are changing now, we will have either crashed and burned long before that or decided we're smart enough to make some hard choices.

Malcolm wrote:
As I said, we have no idea how things are going to go. Right now, it doesn’t look very good.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 17th, 2022 at 2:58 AM
Title: Re: Conversion of mahayana texts into indian languages
Content:
khemindas said:
I think it would be a nice idea, if somebody would convert mahayana texts into original indian languages into pali and sanskirt...

Malcolm wrote:
This won't work, because even the Tibetan texts are not as uniformly translated as many people imagine. It is best to just translate them straight out of the languages in which they are presently preserved.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, January 17th, 2022 at 1:41 AM
Title: Re: What do you call a gift of respect to someone more accomplished than you?
Content:
Miorita said:
The alcohol burns the herbs, it takes away some of the virya. It also packs blood vessels with fat.

Malcolm wrote:
That depends on how it is made. Medicinal alcohol has long history in Ayurveda.


