﻿Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 18th, 2021 at 4:06 AM
Title: Re: No tathāgatagarbha according this person
Content:


tkp67 said:
Keeping to simple terms and understanding Nichiren sought to connect those to the dharma who had no connection otherwise.

Malcolm wrote:
Everyone in Japan was a Buddhist in the 13th century, every one was connected with the Dharma. So I am not sure what you are getting at.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 18th, 2021 at 3:52 AM
Title: Re: How Nichiren Shonin could be the Eternal Buddha
Content:


Minobu said:
So at first there was the Dharmakaya from which sentients became enlightened to and then attained Buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
First there is reality, suchness, dharmatā, śunyatā, etc. The realization of that reality is called "dharmakāya." When dharmakāya is realized, then the rūpakāyas can manifest. Dharmakāya isn't a thing, it is a realization.

Minobu said:
I'm talking about the Dharmakaya Body that permeates all of Samsara.

Malcolm wrote:
Right, that refers to śunyatā, emptiness. Since everything is empty, we can say that the reality buddhas realize pervades everything.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 18th, 2021 at 3:50 AM
Title: Re: No tathāgatagarbha according this person
Content:
tkp67 said:
Since the LS and Nichiren are clear on the matter I would assume it is a linguistical misunderstanding.

Malcolm wrote:
Not mine. I read English pretty well.

tkp67 said:
I am going to go on a limb as say innate here doesn't just mean inherent but inherently manifest opposed to inherently latent.

Malcolm wrote:
Leaving aside for the moment the question of what tathāgatagarbha actually refers to, tathāgatagarbha is latent, not manifest, until buddhahood. It is only in buddhahood that tathāgatagarbha is actualized as the dharmakāya of the buddhas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 18th, 2021 at 3:47 AM
Title: Re: No tathāgatagarbha according this person
Content:
LastLegend said:
The seed as a cause leading towards seeing nature because we have been veiled for so long. A seed...through different interactions. There is not an only way to spread the seed.

Read a Sutra, a line from Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra, recite a past Buddha’s name, see a vow of a particular Buddha, made offerings to Buddhas, etc..those are seeds.

Queequeg said:
This. The person quoted is probably speaking from a Nichiren perspective (didn't read that linked wall of text). Its not denying universal buddhanature, but the necessity of having it pointed out. The idea is that those who appear in the degenerate age have weak or non-existent connection to Dharma. For Nichirenists, its the title of the Lotus Sutra that is the seed and means by which one becomes aware of Buddhanature.
are NOT endowed with the innate Buddha nature (tathagatagarbha)

Malcolm wrote:
Seems like a pretty straightforward, and strange, claim to me.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 18th, 2021 at 12:49 AM
Title: Re: More UFOs
Content:
Shotenzenjin said:
I've read the lotus Sutra. And chant it
Agree regarding evolving species. Shucks I was kinda liking the idea of an alien Buddha...

Malcolm wrote:
"Human" does not necessarily means "looks like homo sapiens." But it is hard for us to imagine it otherwise. "Human" can also mean 8 foot tall, four-armed, furry, blue beings with wings.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 18th, 2021 at 12:47 AM
Title: Re: How Nichiren Shonin could be the Eternal Buddha
Content:


Minobu said:
So at first there was the Dharmakaya from which sentients became enlightened to and then attained Buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
First there is reality, suchness, dharmatā, śunyatā, etc. The realization of that reality is called "dharmakāya." When dharmakāya is realized, then the rūpakāyas can manifest. Dharmakāya isn't a thing, it is a realization.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 18th, 2021 at 12:32 AM
Title: Re: is buddhist an exclusivist religion?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Those Buddhists who think they should evangelize the Dharma are in error. We promote the Dharma through example, not through conversion and trying to convince people of something.

Queequeg said:
WWBD.

I think the Buddha's conversation with Brahma after his enlightenment guides Buddhists on whether the Dharma should be shared openly or not: the Dharma should be shared openly. I think that is further modified by the account of Anathapindika's death bed conversation with Sariputra where Sariputra taught him the actual teachings for the first time (not just encouragement to cultivate the Brahma Viharas, generosity, etc.), prompting Anathapindika to ask that these teachings not be withheld from lay people.

The question is how far one can go in sharing - only passively? Or can one reach out to another to suggest a better way to live? There are mentions in the sutras of the benefit that accrues to a person who inspires another to go and listen to teachings, "Come, friend, let's go listen to this teacher."

Clearly, trying to get people to take refuge to notch the numbers is stupid and pointless.

Malcolm wrote:
If people are interested, then we share what we know. If they are not interested, than we don't. It is that simple.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 11:55 PM
Title: No tathāgatagarbha according this person
Content:
ronnymarsh said:
As, according to this understanding, we are living in the End of Dharma Era, this means that we, who were born at that time, are NOT earth bodhisattvas, are NOT endowed with the innate Buddha nature (tathagatagarbha), and do NOT have relationship with Shakyamuni.

Malcolm wrote:
This is the strangest thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

One, this assertion makes the Buddha a liar. In the Tibetan translation of the Nirvana sūtra translated from Sanskrit, in three separate places the Buddha states:

"Tathāgtagarbha exists in all sentient beings."

In the Tibetan translation of the Nirvana sūtra from Chinese, it says 10 times:

"Buddhanature exists in all sentient beings."

There is no statement in any sūtra that claims, "Tathāgtagarbha exists in all sentient beings, except for those born after such and such a date."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 11:41 PM
Title: Re: is buddhist an exclusivist religion?
Content:
Queequeg said:
Dalai Lama says to people, stick with your grandmother's religion.

Malcolm wrote:
While HHDL discourages "conversion," he also stated that if one really feels connected with Dharma, there is no problem at all in taking refuge, etc., because he recognizes there are many Westerners who have past life connections with the Dharma.

Queequeg said:
Yes. I just saw a talk with Bob Thurman and he commented on that and asking HHDL about his refuge.

I think that advice is in line with the long standing Buddhhist sensibility that the sangha should not impose on the community that hosts them. Its a bad look if the sons of householders are actively recruited, etc. The sangha got enough grief for just passively inspiring the sons of householders to abandon home and join the itinerant drop outs.

Malcolm wrote:
Correct. We do not evangelize. Those Buddhists who think they should evangelize the Dharma are in error. We promote the Dharma through example, not through conversion and trying to convince people of something.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 11:36 PM
Title: Re: Buddhist marriages
Content:
mabw said:
Is anyone aware of the earliest Buddhist marriage recorded?

Malcolm wrote:
This is a modern idea. There are married Buddhists, but there has never been a "Buddhist" wedding ceremony until the last century.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 11:32 PM
Title: Re: is buddhist an exclusivist religion?
Content:
Queequeg said:
Dalai Lama says to people, stick with your grandmother's religion.

Malcolm wrote:
While HHDL discourages "conversion," he also stated that if one really feels connected with Dharma, there is no problem at all in taking refuge, etc., because he recognizes there are many Westerners who have past life connections with the Dharma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 8:13 PM
Title: Re: Can the mind only hold a single object at a time?
Content:
fckw said:
Yes, because that would be the eternalist position all Buddhists throughout the world reject. Unless you talk about "ground" in the context of Mahamudra or Dzogchen, which is not a "thing" in itself.

Malcolm wrote:
The basis is just one’s own unfabricated mind. Indeed, it is not a thing in itself, a substratum, etc. these misconceptions come about from viewing such Buddhist ideas through a Western philosophical lens.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 10:26 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


tkp67 said:
This is exactly what the buddha taught AND expressed in his lifetime.

Women's rights without metta is a bit unreasonably sterile. YMMV.

Malcolm wrote:
What you think the Buddha taught has no bearing on women’s reproductive rights.

Your opinions simply don’t matter. If you don’t want to have an abortion, don’t have one the next time you get pregnant. But don’t get in the way of other people’s choice to end unwanted pregnancies.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 9:38 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:



tkp67 said:
Yet in the degenerate age these designations don't carry the same benefits in regards to liberation do they?

Malcolm wrote:
I don't understand what you mean.

tkp67 said:
The value of birth family is identical in all ages?

Malcolm wrote:
There are always families of higher and lower social status.

tkp67 said:
The buddhist realms as referenced by your message above.

Malcolm wrote:
I was referring solely to birth as a human being, not a hell being, preta, animal, asura, or deva.

tkp67 said:
Buddhists shouldn't be concerned with prolonging suffering and the consequence of creating negative karma? This is a religious concern only?

Malcolm wrote:
“Karma” is a religious framework. Even the Buddhist definition of suffering is couched in a religious framework that is not obvious to nonBuddhists.

tkp67 said:
If the bodhisattva vow is treated as a play won't the results be nothing short of dramatic?

Malcolm wrote:
This is irrelevant to the question at hand: women’s reproductive rights.

My personal feelings about abortion do not affect my commitment to Democracy, secular government, and reproductive rights for women. This is why I reject religious interpretations of abortion as being a valid criteria for discussing this issue. Religion is just a bunch of shit we believe because we choose to.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 7:30 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
can that baby feel before fully formed, based on the life within the body?

Malcolm wrote:
Nothing, until the 19th week.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 4:50 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
There is no such thing as new “life.,” again, that is a Christian pro-life talking point.

Könchok Chödrak said:
What about the concept of impermanence and rebirth: born again, and again, and again... can’t someone refresh their life in such a way? What is the purpose of rebirth then if it isn’t a certain type of “new life”?

Malcolm wrote:
It is not a new life. The reproductive tissues which are implanted on the wall of the womb are not new in any sense. The consciousness that seeks rebirth is not new either. There is no purpose to rebirth. It's a blind process which is suffering from beginning to end.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 4:48 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


tkp67 said:
is the assumption that each opportunity for rebirth and the conditions of those specific existences is identical presumptuous and deterministic? Or is there a teaching that details such things?

Thank you in advance.

Malcolm wrote:
It is not deterministic, but if the being has the karma to be born into a cakravartin family, they will never be born in a family of farmers, and vice versa. This is based on their own actions in past lives.

Further, if a being has the throwing karma to be reborn in the human realm, they will not be reborn elsewhere, even if aborted, because a fetus cannot create new karma which would interfere with a human rebirth, and the throwing karma will still be active.

tkp67 said:
Yet in the degenerate age these designations don't carry the same benefits in regards to liberation do they?

Malcolm wrote:
I don't understand what you mean.

tkp67 said:
And if all these realms...

Malcolm wrote:
What realms?


tkp67 said:
isn't aborting prolonging suffering either way while potentially accumulating negative karma for others?

Malcolm wrote:
That is a religious concern, not a secular concern.


tkp67 said:
For this reason, Buddhists should not get all worked up about abortion the way Christians do, because we accept rebirth and karma, and they do not. They use language like "a new life," "innocence," etc., because they have a one and done view of birth. One is only born once, with a soul given to one by God, and when one dies one ultimately goes either to heaven or hell forever.
This is a straw man argument that draws contrast through belief that isn't represented here.

Malcolm wrote:
Many Buddhists who take a pro-life argument adopt Christian talking points and buy into the narrative proposed by a non-Buddhist religious group. All they can do is point to prohibitions against abortion in the Vinaya.

But all this is irrelevant to the womens reproductive rights issue at hand. The former is a religious issue. The latter is a secular issue. I personally favor keeping religion and the state completely and totally separate. I am complete opposed to legislating any religious view point into law. It annoys me no end that our national motto was changed from "E Pluribus Unum" to "In God We Trust" during the Red Scare of the 1950's.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 17th, 2021 at 1:39 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
reiun said:
[ I believe that 1. ability of the fetus to experience physical pain, and/or 2. ability to experience consciousness, are the criteria where a line may be drawn.

Malcolm wrote:
19 weeks then.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 10:45 PM
Title: Re: Religious/Philosophy Education
Content:


Johnny Dangerous said:
Philosophy (of the non-religious variety) was available a little in high school if you were a dedicated student, took the right literature classes maybe, but certainly not emphasized. I had a few English classes such as Crime and Punishment that were closest thing you would to an ethics class or something at that level of education.

mabw said:
Are students exposed to theories on epistemology, ontology or Greek philosophy at school?

Malcolm wrote:
Only in private schools, for the most part.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 10:40 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


tkp67 said:
is the assumption that each opportunity for rebirth and the conditions of those specific existences is identical presumptuous and deterministic? Or is there a teaching that details such things?

Thank you in advance.

Malcolm wrote:
It is not deterministic, but if the being has the karma to be born into a cakravartin family, they will never be born in a family of farmers, and vice versa. This is based on their own actions in past lives.

Further, if a being has the throwing karma to be reborn in the human realm, they will not be reborn elsewhere, even if aborted, because a fetus cannot create new karma which would interfere with a human rebirth, and the throwing karma will still be active.

For this reason, Buddhists should not get all worked up about abortion the way Christians do, because we accept rebirth and karma, and they do not. They use language like "a new life," "innocence," etc., because they have a one and done view of birth. One is only born once, with a soul given to one by God, and when one dies one ultimately goes either to heaven or hell forever.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 10:18 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:




PeterC said:
The fact that someone else chooses to terminate has absolutely nothing to do with you, it is in now way a judgment or comment on you or your parents decisions.  It’s completely separate and distinct.

Malcolm wrote:
Not only that, if his mother had chose to end the pregnancy, it still would have nothing to do with him, because a) a fetus is not a person and b) if one has the karmic traces to be reborn a human being it’s gong to happen anyway.

tkp67 said:
doesn't this imply the perpetuation of suffering through a perpetuation of rebirths due to suffering?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, suffering is perpetuated through rebirths, the cause of suffering (vipaka) is karma, and the cause of karma is affliction. However, if a sentient being has activated the traces of affliction to be reborn in the human realm, they will be reborn a human being, if they do not, then they cannot ever be born a human being until they activate those traces.

As long as there is birth in the three realms, there is suffering. This is axiomatic in Buddhadharma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 8:32 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
PeterC said:
If my father had his way, my life would have been aborted. My mother chose to have me, lived as a single mother, raised me into the adult I am now. I have had my share of crappy moments in life - but overall I am happy to be alive.  I am happy that I was given the chance to live. My mother is proud of the person I have become.
The fact that someone else chooses to terminate has absolutely nothing to do with you, it is in now way a judgment or comment on you or your parents decisions.  It’s completely separate and distinct.

Malcolm wrote:
Not only that, if his mother had chose to end the pregnancy, it still would have nothing to do with him, because a) a fetus is not a person and b) if one has the karmic traces to be reborn a human being it’s gong to happen anyway.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 8:26 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
PeterC said:
When the man chooses not to masturbate but instead conserves his semen for sex.  The cells then have the potential to become life.  So by your argument, that potential should be protected

Könchok Chödrak said:
This is actually a fun argument. What about that time you walked by that hot girl and didn’t get with her....



Well...

I guess the implication of the sadder and more difficult portion of the argument is whether and when new life has been created towards the womb...

Malcolm wrote:
There is no such thing as new “life.,” again, that is a Christian pro-life talking point.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 8:24 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


Pondera said:
If it’s not about preference, then what is it about?

Malcolm wrote:
It’s not about YOU and YOUR preferences.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 9:47 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
This issue just isn’t about you or your preferences.



Pondera said:
Under what conditions does sperm reach the uterus when a man masturbates to pornography (or what have you)?

What are the chances that the haploid gametes released during masturbation will reach an ovum? Keep in mind that haploid gametes are not living.

That being said; I think that masturbation is a poor use of time.

PeterC said:
When the man chooses not to masturbate but instead conserves his semen for sex.  The cells then have the potential to become life.  So by your argument, that potential should be protected

Pondera said:
Okay. So instead of masturbation you have indicated sexual intercourse.

Without preventative measures, any man and woman engaging in sexual intercourse should not be surprised if the woman becomes pregnant. Nor should it be their choice to abort the fetus because it’s an “inconvenience” for them.

If men and women choose to have sexual intercourse with out contraception, they should be prepared for the consequences.

I have nothing against masturbation; just as (in the same way) I have nothing against a woman having a period each month.

I have nothing against contraception. My only suggestion is that if a pregnancy occurs - then one should consider the life form brewing within. And one should consider it’s right to live.

I understand that in practice abortions happen for many reasons. Unwanted pregnancies happen all the time. The development of the fetus (or embryo) in some cases is within such a short time frame that the designation of “life” is debatable. So don’t straw man me here. I have a very reasonable point of view that only slightly verges on “the right to live”. And for that I should be vilified?

So, look. I’m not arguing against your belief that a woman has a right to decide whether she brings an fetus to term or not. That is her right.

I’m saying that, as it was in the case of my own birth, a woman might want to consider that the fetus has a right to life - however inconvenient the circumstances might be.

If my father had his way, my life would have been aborted. My mother chose to have me, lived as a single mother, raised me into the adult I am now. I have had my share of crappy moments in life - but overall I am happy to be alive.  I am happy that I was given the chance to live. My mother is proud of the person I have become.

That being said; I think masturbation is a waste of time and resources. It is a habit of the young. It is a habit of this generation who has access to pornography at the touch of a button. Watching pornography increases your testosterone levels by 35%. That elevation in testosterone drives you to find a sexual outlet as fast as you can. And obviously, we all now how that ends.

Do the sewage system a favour and save your testosterone for a better purpose.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 9:03 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
muni said:
Well, of course there are others. But I don't believe the feelings of a minority should be used as a cudgel to restrict the reproductive rights of the majority. No one is forcing women to have abortions that that don't want; the question is whether women who do want abortions should be allowed to have them. I believe they should.
I see.

Here men are saying that woman should be allowed to decide. Women are not all having same rights in this world and this is by delusion, by identification by appearances. And so we have less right to speak.

Malcolm wrote:
Correct, and thus why being pro-choice is a bedrock of feminist values.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 2:06 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:


Zenny said:
So how do you know you are a non returner?

Malcolm wrote:
I am confident of liberation.

Zenny said:
If people are already  possessed of buddha nature then why the rebirth?

Malcolm wrote:
What do you imagine buddhanature is?

Zenny said:
Why is your nirvana not permanent?

Malcolm wrote:
I already answered this.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 2:04 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:
Zenny said:
Is your experience of nirvana permanent?

Malcolm wrote:
Whatever has ceased in my continuum has ceased. Cessations are the absence of causes for further arisings.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 1:52 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:


Zenny said:
Nothing to feel? How do you know you experienced it then?

Malcolm wrote:
It is a question of what I don't experience now and did experience once.


Zenny said:
Are you an arhat?

Malcolm wrote:
No, and people who claim they are are deluded.

Zenny said:
What of those traditions that speak of enlightenment being practice,and that buddha nature is Innate?

Malcolm wrote:
What about them?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 1:46 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:
Zenny said:
In your own experience can you say happiness is not possible in this life?

Malcolm wrote:
It very much depends on what one means by happiness.

What do you mean by happiness?

Zenny said:
A feeling of joy,satisfaction,shared exuberance,confidence,etc
I'm sure you've experienced those.

Malcolm wrote:
Those feelings things are impermanent, contaminated, so not happiness. Suffering of change.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 1:45 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:


Zenny said:
So,you are saying you know you are not going to be reborn in samsara?

Malcolm wrote:
Correct.

Zenny said:
So you are liberated according to your tradition?

Malcolm wrote:
Not yet.

Zenny said:
You have felt nirvana before death?

Malcolm wrote:
Nirvana is just a cessation. There is nothing to feel.

Zenny said:
I don't think other  traditional buddhists would agree that is possible.

Malcolm wrote:
Stream entry is based on tasting nirvana.

Zenny said:
Enlightened. A buddha?

Malcolm wrote:
Sometimes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 1:33 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:
Zenny said:
In your own experience can you say happiness is not possible in this life?

Malcolm wrote:
It very much depends on what one means by happiness.

What do you mean by happiness?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 1:22 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:
Zenny said:
No happiness in life is just escapist.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it is just a fact.

Zenny said:
A belief inspired by fear.

Malcolm wrote:
It is not a belief. It is a direct perception. "Happiness" is just the suffering of change.

Zenny said:
Ergo,you want to be happy but you need the promise of a nirvanic state to feel safe. Fear of death simply. Fear of an unknown.

Malcolm wrote:
You sure spend a lot of time indulging in projections about people you don't know.

Zenny said:
Many feel happiness now,that disproves your theory.

Malcolm wrote:
The "happiness" that foolish common people think they experience does not disprove the Buddha's observation that there is no happiness in samsara:

"All contaminated phenomena are suffering."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 1:12 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:


mabw said:
Can you elaborate on this? This is the goal of Buddhist practice, so if you have come to this certainty, I am interested to know what you mean. This is a sincere request, not a sarcastic remark

Malcolm wrote:
It is the outcome of studying and practicing Dzogchen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 1:11 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:
Zenny said:
No happiness in life is just escapist.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it is just a fact.

Zenny said:
A belief inspired by fear.

Malcolm wrote:
It is not a belief. It is a direct perception. "Happiness" is just the suffering of change.

Zenny said:
Ergo,you want to be happy but you need the promise of a nirvanic state to feel safe. Fear of death simply. Fear of an unknown.

Malcolm wrote:
You sure spend a lot of time indulging in projections about people you don't know.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 12:49 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:


Zenny said:
OK. So these cessations,were they accompanied with happiness,satisfaction,etc?

Malcolm wrote:
Happiness and satisfaction have negative definitions. I am not ill, so I am well. I am not unhappy, so I am happy. I am not dissatisfied, so I am satisfied.

Zenny said:
Your response is very much couched in conceptual jargon. The concepts are vague. Why does less afflicted not mean happiness?

Malcolm wrote:
All words are concepts. If you understand the words, then you understand the concepts. I am happy and satisfied that I am not going to continue taking rebirth in samsara, that is the result of having reduced afflictions. But I am not sure that is the kind of happiness and satisfaction you are seeking.

Zenny said:
Sure,you said no happiness in samsara,but this implies some kind of robotic state. Surely practitioners should be happy,even joyful!?

Malcolm wrote:
No, it just means there is no happiness in samsara. Frankly, I don't think about happiness very much.

Zenny said:
Compassion, your meaning is somewhat vague as well.

Malcolm wrote:
Compassion is just the wish for others to be free of suffering and the causes of suffering. That's it.

Zenny said:
I don't doubt your practice has helped in some regards,but it's pretty conceptual from your online mannerisms.

Malcolm wrote:
This is an internet forum. All we have here are concepts and words.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 16th, 2021 at 12:08 AM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:


Zenny said:
You have experienced nirvana? And how has practice helped your relations to others.

Malcolm wrote:
It led me to cut through hope and fear such as the hope for nirvana, fear of samsara; hope for acceptance, fear of rejection; and so on.

Zenny said:
OK. So you haven't experienced nirvana.
We're you born buddhist,as I'm trying to see how it improved your life from before and after,not just intellectually understanding buddhist concepts. Eg,are you happier,more peaceful,more sociable,more confident,etc.

Malcolm wrote:
Nirvana is cessation. I have experienced many cessations since rediscovering the Buddhist path in this life. Nirvana is not an all or nothing discovery.

All of the outcomes you list are mundane. There is no happiness in samsara.

The only outcome that matters personally is whether or not one has less afflictions. The only outcome that matters with regard to others is whether or not one is more compassionate. I would say that as a result of having met Buddhadharma for forty-four years ago, and having spend the past thirty years spending most of my time practicing and studying Buddhadharma, I am less afflicted, more compassionate, and have very little to worry about.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 11:16 PM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:
Zenny said:
What are the tangible benefits you have experienced from your practice,and how has it helped you in your life and interactions with others?

Malcolm wrote:
Not really sure we are on the same page as to what "practice" is but, here it goes:

It has helped me understand that all compounded phenomena are impermanent; all contaminated phenomena are suffering; all phenomena lack identity; nirvana is peaceful.

Zenny said:
You have experienced nirvana? And how has practice helped your relations to others.

Malcolm wrote:
It led me to cut through hope and fear such as the hope for nirvana, fear of samsara; hope for acceptance, fear of rejection; and so on.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 10:44 PM
Title: Re: How has Practice benefited you?
Content:
Zenny said:
What are the tangible benefits you have experienced from your practice,and how has it helped you in your life and interactions with others?

Malcolm wrote:
Not really sure we are on the same page as to what "practice" is but, here it goes:

It has helped me understand that all compounded phenomena are impermanent; all contaminated phenomena are suffering; all phenomena lack identity; nirvana is peaceful.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 7:38 PM
Title: Re: What is the proof for anatman in tantra
Content:
Artziebetter1 said:
I have heard that the tantras promote anatman and momentariness thereof and that dolpopa misquoted the tantras to promote a self view.what is the biggest proof for anatman in the tantras and momentariness of the alaya therein?I don't want this to be a debate about wether prasangika is correct or shentong is correct I just want to know if there are any tantras that support the so called anatman/momentariness view and go against the permanent self view.

Malcolm wrote:
All of them.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 7:12 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:



Zenny said:
So no books in India before Siddartha? No Vedas?

Malcolm wrote:
The Vedas are oral texts.

Zenny said:
So your suggesting that the vedas didn't exist as books before Siddartha?
Bottom line, did Siddartha know what writing or books were? And if he did,why no books from him,or suggestions for a written record from his fellows?

Malcolm wrote:
There is no evidence of writing in India prior to the mid-third century BCE. The Buddha’s parinirvana was around 407 BCE.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 6:55 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Zenny said:
Any ideas on why Siddartha Guatama never wrote or left a book,nor his fellows?

Malcolm wrote:
Indians had not yet adopted writing.

Zenny said:
So no books in India before Siddartha? No Vedas?

Malcolm wrote:
The Vedas are oral texts.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 6:21 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Zenny said:
Any ideas on why Siddartha Guatama never wrote or left a book,nor his fellows?

Malcolm wrote:
Indians had not yet adopted writing.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 5:42 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
Since many sutras are written as chronicles of actual events yet contain phrases to the effect of:
“Whoever repeats even a few lines of this sutra will benefit”
...I mean, that right there is an impossibility.
You can’t have, “this is a story about someone and in that story he mentions referring to this story”.

Malcolm wrote:
Why not? Narratives are just narratives. They can have many layers.

PadmaVonSamba said:
Because you’d be referring to a story about the present but that story, itself, wouldn’t exist until the future.

It would be like me saying “and then I replied to Malcom’s comment and then he responded to it” while actually referring to the words I am typing now, before you even read them (much less reply)

Malcolm wrote:
Well, no it’s more like saying,if you tell people about this medicine, they will benefit.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 5:22 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
Since many sutras are written as chronicles of actual events yet contain phrases to the effect of:
“Whoever repeats even a few lines of this sutra will benefit”
...I mean, that right there is an impossibility.
You can’t have, “this is a story about someone and in that story he mentions referring to this story”.

Malcolm wrote:
Why not? Narratives are just narratives. They can have many layers.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 4:31 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


Sādhaka said:
“However, if you have visited the site in present-day Rajgir, it is obvious that it is impossible for more than a few people to fit onto the summit. So, we have to understand the truth of these accounts at a different level, a level beyond the ordinary one confined by conventional notions of space and time.” — The Essence of the Heart Sutra


Malcolm wrote:
Correct, which means we not speaking about history, which is all about conventional notions of space and time. And this is precisely why claiming this or that Buddhist narrative is truly true, more true than someone else's narrative is complete bollocks.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 4:15 AM
Title: Re: Self and Other?
Content:
Tirisilex said:
What did the Buddha say on the relationship of self and other? I Googled It and all I get is Self and no self.

Malcolm wrote:
In what context?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 2:02 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Genjo Conan said:
As Malcolm wrote, that's a non sequitur, but go for it, I suppose.

Malcolm wrote:
The fact is that very few people in this conversation have really given any serious thought to the ethical issues at hand. They are mostly just spewing knee-jerk religious dogmas, borrowing rhetoric from pro-life Christians, who have a one-lifetime view.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 1:58 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


SonamTashi said:
I think the idea that the sutras are either directly from the historical Buddha or are fiction is a false dichotomy.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, agreed. But they are still stories. We were not there. To claim we know for a fact that the what is reported in Mahāyāna Sūtras, or for that matter, even the Agamas, represent actual historical events is basically fanaticism, fundamentalism of the worst kind.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021 at 1:53 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


Crazywisdom said:
We are meant to take them at face value that they were heard and saidnin the places they say and to whom.

Malcolm wrote:
Ok, you can take everything at face value if you like. That is your prerogative.

But do you really think thousands of monks can fit here?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 11:57 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
muni said:
The Great Castration Debate.

Malcolm wrote:
That would only be apropos if this thread were entitled "The Great Clitorectomy Debate, but an abortion is neither a castration nor a clitorectomy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 11:55 PM
Title: Re: Why is offering meritorious?
Content:
Hazel said:
Why does making offerings to the Buddha/gurus/etc. generate merit?

Malcolm wrote:
Because the object is superior. In other words, offerings to untainted objects produces more merit than offerings to tainted objects.

Hazel said:
But why is the offering meritorious in the first place? Independent of tainted/untained.

Malcolm wrote:
Because an offering is motivated by a positive mind. "Offerings" which lack such motivation are actually demeritorious.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 11:27 PM
Title: Re: Why is offering meritorious?
Content:
Hazel said:
Why does making offerings to the Buddha/gurus/etc. generate merit?

Malcolm wrote:
Because the object is superior. In other words, offerings to untainted objects produces more merit than offerings to tainted objects.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 10:54 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:



Crazywisdom said:
Termas happen. That's a fact.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure, termas are revealed. That's what all Mahāyāna sūtras and tantras are, treasure revelations.

Crazywisdom said:
Right, so the revealings are not just stories and concepts

Malcolm wrote:
They are revelations that contain stories and concepts. And, with Mahāyāna sūtra and tantras, we do not actually know who revealed them. They are anonymous compositions.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 10:17 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


tkp67 said:
I never said he was dependent. I said he did not exist independently.

Malcolm wrote:
An entity that does not exist independently is dependent. So you just contradicted yourself. Bravo.

tkp67 said:
I hope this helps.

Malcolm wrote:
Stop being disingenuous and just admit you contradicted yourself. Any other answer is just the same kind of dissembling you engaged in here.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 9:57 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
The most important thing is to have Compassion for others in all of these situations. What is a Buddhist without Compassion? If we continue on in such a manner where we always care for individuals who are on either side of this issue, as well as those struggling in hospitals and places where these procedures are done, they will feel Loved. And if they feel Loved, they will likely choose a path that is most suitable for them in the situation as opposed to acting out of fear, coercion, or pressure. If they themselves receive enough Compassion from someone else, they will make Compassionate choices, and what Buddhist would argue against a truly Compassionate choice, if it is truly that?

Malcolm wrote:
Compassion can be tricky.

Suppose there is a runaway train. You are standing at a switch on a railroad track, and on one branch there was a work party and the other just one person. If you don't throw the switch, everyone in the work party dies. If you do throw the switch, one person dies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem

If you knew your pregnancy was going to result in Hitler, would you abort?

Further, all the pro-lifers here are arguing from the perspective that a zygote/fetus is a person. But this is really not clear at all. The generally accepted biological definition of "personhood" is viability, that is, abortion should be prohibited (other than in special cases) after a fetus reaches viability:
"Until the fetus is viable, any rights granted to it may come at the expense of the pregnant woman, simply because the fetus cannot survive except within the woman's body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beginning_of_human_personhood


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 9:51 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


tkp67 said:
I never said he was dependent. I said he did not exist independently.

Malcolm wrote:
An entity that does not exist independently is dependent. So you just contradicted yourself. Bravo.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 9:48 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:



Könchok Chödrak said:
Do you believe a literal belief in the miracles in the sutras or at least the possibility of such miracles happening are conductive to an open mind that leads closer to liberation? Like say, circling the Buddha for thousands of kalpas, or the World-Honored One performing a miracle of picking up the entire multitude of Bodhisattvas in His hand to give them a Transference of His Enlightenment in the Lotus Sutra. There is reality, but what creates limits for us in this world? And how do you view the Pure Land of Holy Eagle Peak?

Malcolm wrote:
Beliefs are concepts. Concepts and buddhahood are mutually exclusive.

Gridrakuta is a place you can visit in India.

Crazywisdom said:
Termas happen. That's a fact.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure, termas are revealed. That's what all Mahāyāna sūtras and tantras are, treasure revelations.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 8:00 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:




microbodhi said:
Was he reading at the time, did he remember a time in his past life when he was reading or writing texts, Malcom no disrespect to you but i think your backing yoruself into a corner here. Im not denying or have denied that shatras play an role in the dharma traditions, but bodhi is not preceded by texts or even dependant on it, that would be insight and insight is not intellectual or textual understanding, that is not samma dhitti. I thought this was obvious. Texts play a role in preservation or lineages and memory and what is more important than texts is oral or shabda pramanas, and those pramanas should lead to the mind being silent and empty of all views.

Malcolm wrote:
I gather you are not familiar with concept of oral texts. It’s obvious that sutras and tantras are recorded buddhavacana.

microbodhi said:
Oral transmissions is not the same as the texts or reading from texts as its done by most people, oral traditions is a living tradition , all shabda ( sound ) pramanas are from akash, kash means visible a is means without, akash is source of sound vak, they are invisible and is invisible to ordinary perception's…

Malcolm wrote:
Now you just making shit up.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 7:54 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


Pondera said:
All lives should be given a chance.

Malcolm wrote:
You can certainly feel that, but you have no arguments at all to bring against a women’s choice to end an unwanted pregnancy that are not fundamentally religious. Religion Has no role in democratic governance in a secular society. In most modern nations, A women in these countries can choose to end a pregnancy or not, it’s up to her.

Dharma and governance are different. The Buddha understood this, and in matters of law deferred to the state.

Pondera said:
Certainly. She can do that. But there are other options. One could put the baby up for adoption.

I’m of the mind that this being growing inside of her is “meant to be” - and despite all the hardships it may endure - it deserves a right to live.

It is better to endure one’s karma in a crappy life than to be eliminated before one is even born.

Malcolm wrote:
Good thing you are not in charge of women’s bodies.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 10:29 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
Reading and contemplating texts is an conceptual activity. putting into practice what is in them, and eventually experiencing realization is not. Believing that the texts themselves stop at the limits of intellectual knowledge is a strange position to take. All of Buddhism is in the beginning a conceptual activity, because we are samsaric beings living in concepts, time and space.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, the old MMK “without relying on the conventional…” etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 10:25 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
microbodhi said:
Anyone who has done a simple vipassana retreat will know directly that just observing the nature of mind is enough for insight and it is insight that leads to bodhi…

Malcolm wrote:
Even the historical Buddha first remembered the dharma he had heard in past lives, and then applied that insight in one session. So as I said, text always precedes realization and in this case there is no fault of infinite regression.


microbodhi said:
Was he reading at the time, did he remember a time in his past life when he was reading or writing texts, Malcom no disrespect to you but i think your backing yoruself into a corner here. Im not denying or have denied that shatras play an role in the dharma traditions, but bodhi is not preceded by texts or even dependant on it, that would be insight and insight is not intellectual or textual understanding, that is not samma dhitti. I thought this was obvious. Texts play a role in preservation or lineages and memory and what is more important than texts is oral or shabda pramanas, and those pramanas should lead to the mind being silent and empty of all views.

Malcolm wrote:
I gather you are not familiar with concept of oral texts. It’s obvious that sutras and tantras are recorded buddhavacana.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 10:06 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
microbodhi said:
Anyone who has done a simple vipassana retreat will know directly that just observing the nature of mind is enough for insight and it is insight that leads to bodhi…

Malcolm wrote:
Even the historical Buddha first remembered the dharma he had heard in past lives, and then applied that insight in one session. So as I said, text always precedes realization and in this case there is no fault of infinite regression.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 8:32 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


Pondera said:
All lives should be given a chance.

Malcolm wrote:
You can certainly feel that, but you have no arguments at all to bring against a women’s choice to end an unwanted pregnancy that are not fundamentally religious. Religion Has no role in democratic governance in a secular society. In most modern nations, A women in these countries can choose to end a pregnancy or not, it’s up to her.

Dharma and governance are different. The Buddha understood this, and in matters of law deferred to the state.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 12:42 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


microbodhi said:
One could question how much thought plays a role in buddha dharma, people debate over translations, in ones true nature whatever that is there is no debate, i guess it passes times to translate things and some are necessary but that is more about traditions going from one culture to another. In India for example language, dress and culture changes every 15-20km yet reality is one and undivided and is only known through living traditions and absorbing it via experience this is true bhavana, it cant be translated, its to vast, reality is to vast to be explained and is only known through silence and shunya.

Samma Dhitti Samadrishti is not about translations, intellectual sectarian or religious view is not drishti, drishti is far more insightful and organic to our true nature. Insight is enough, if one has insight into reality without modification of views and conditions then its enough even if one calls themselves a buddhist or not, its more simple and profound than people want to give credit or perhaps insecurity or domination wants to make it to be more than what it is. One moment of insight is worth more than a dictionary of translated texts which sometimes gives a brief stimulation to the intellect and not a profound change in ones being.

Malcolm wrote:
There are two kinds of Dharma: text and realization. The former are necessary for the latter.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 13th, 2021 at 10:03 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Aemilius said:
is said in the sutras that a Buddha cannot appear in a world if the society is corrupt, if wrong views are the norm, (i.e. that there is no karma, no result of karma, no higher and lower planes of existence, no spiritual path, and no result of the path, i.e. no arhats)

Malcolm wrote:
This is a shravakayana perspective, and really applies only to supreme nirmanakayas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 13th, 2021 at 8:07 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
In every case you describe, it’s up to the women to decide whether to end a pregnancy or not. Our approval or disapproval is irrelevant, the happiness of the husband is irrelevant, the right of an adult women over her own body is the only important issue her. No one but she should have any say in the matter.


muni said:
And in order for that to occur, women must have the absolute right to choose for themselves whether it is appropriate to end an unwanted pregnancy.
I appreciate your care, Malcolm. And I agree in the many cases the woman becomes unwanted pregnant.

However there are different circumstances.

I have known a friend who liked so much charming men. She could not get enough of them. 5 times this resulted in pregnancy, 5 times an abortion. She spoke about like she was proud to can solve her problems.

A fellow was making a beautiful bed for his coming child, since his wife was pregnant. He was so happy to become father. But behind his back, his wife asked for an abortion.

There was a women desperate, she wanted to take care of the child in her womb but she could even not take care of herself. There was nobody to help her. Easy to give her the rights to decide for herself.

Therefore no general law or opinion can be the one for all, but depending on the circumstances avoiding as much as possible harm.
And if men can help, they should but at least not harm. Same for women. Respecting all, our nature has no gender.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 13th, 2021 at 9:11 AM
Title: Re: Israel/Gaza situation escalating
Content:
明安 Myoan said:
May they all be born in Amida Buddha's Pure Land.

Malcolm wrote:
Unlikely.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 13th, 2021 at 9:06 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Your comment about translation is not well thought out.

microbodhi said:
Buddha is not a person, in fact there is no easy way to translate what buddha is, also what sutras are is more or less beyond any English translation and definitions

Malcolm wrote:
Silly.

microbodhi said:
How so

The intellectual ego function, ie i know everything i can explain everything within the mind thinks it has the capacity to explain and know the totality of everything, the mind has many short comings and is a poor instrument to explain and understand everything.

How long have the scholars and intellectuals been trying to explain what is the dharma and the meaning of the sutras, yet there is little evidence of their bodhi and experience, where they can only quote others experience or speak concepts, how many more posts does one need on a forum to keep going round and round in circles circulating the same old worn out opinions and speculation only obscuring the real essence

Buddha cannot be put into concepts, its beyond words, words limit what awakened being/consciousness is, the translations are a mess, one just has to choose which one they think is right or makes the most sense

Like Nemo says science now accepts that they only know 5% within that 5% is a human who thinks his mind has the capacity to understand the whole, this is a fundamental error and should be quite obvious.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 13th, 2021 at 1:10 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Nicholas2727 said:
I remember when I was reading Treasures of the Sakya Lineage there was a section that discussed disagreement on this point. If I remember correctly the book said that the Sakya school says Buddha's do not see suffering, although the Gelug's say Buddha's do see suffering. Not sure how other schools stand on the disagreement, but just thought I would include this.

Malcolm wrote:
Glad someone is reading the book Lama Migmar and I collaborated upon.

Yes, according to the Gelukpas, Buddhas have concepts and perceptions. But this is very disputed point, and in general all the other schools disagree.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 13th, 2021 at 1:01 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
muni said:
"The Dalai Lama has said that abortion is "negative," but there are exceptions. He said, "I think abortion should be approved or disapproved according to each circumstance."

Malcolm wrote:
And in order for that to occur, women must have the absolute right to choose for themselves whether it is appropriate to end an unwanted pregnancy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 13th, 2021 at 12:12 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:



tkp67 said:
By this logic suffering doesn't matter because buddhas no longer experience it once liberated.

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhas do not even perceive suffering, since they have no impure perceptions. To a buddha, all is buddhahood.

tkp67 said:
Yet Shakyamuni perceived the sufferings of people well enough to teach them according to cause, capacity and conditions. His existence was not independent of ours.

Malcolm wrote:
That's the story you like. This is the one I prefer, Maitreya states in chapter 4 of the Mahāyānottaratantra:

Likewise, without leaving the dharmakāya,
 the Muni effortlessly displays emanations
to all fortunate ones
in all the worlds.

Just as Brahma enters the desire realm without leaving his celestial mansion,
and is seen by the devas, and upon his sight, they abandon delight in objects,
the fortunate in all worlds see the tathāgata, who does not move from the dharmakāya,
upon whose sight their taints are permanently removed. 

Brahma effortlessly appears [to the devas],
through the power of his past aspirations
and the virtue of the devas,
the self-originated nirmaṇakāya is just the same.

So, you see, the Buddha does not need to perceive the suffering of sentient beings, because he appears to them based on the cause, his past aspirations, and the condition, their virtue.

Having transmigrated, been conceived, born, arrived at his father's palace, 
enjoyed amusements, [remained in] isolation, [engaged in ascetic] practice, conquered māra,
attained great awakening, demonstrated the path to the city of peace,
and having shown that, the Muni [now] cannot be seen by the unfortunate.

These deeds arise from the Buddha's past aspirations, but without merit, one cannot see him, or even hear his name.

The text continues:

Just as the heat of the rays of the sun simultaneously
cause lotuses to bloom and jasmine to close,
but the sun gives no thought to the faults and qualities
of the opening and closing of the lotus, the sun of the ārya is the same.

Just as the sun, without thought, 
shines its light all at once
and causes the petals of the lotus to blossom
and ripens everything else,
in the same way, without thought,
the sublime dharma light rays of
of the tathāgata sun
enter the disciple lotuses.

So here we see the Buddha has no need to perceive or think about the happiness and suffering of sentient beings, just as the sun pays no regard to the opening and closing of the lotus and jasmine flower. The Buddha Sun shines his light upon all.

tkp67 said:
If you say it was all a show and his life a mirage you destroy the teaching that buddhahood in human form is attainable.

Malcolm wrote:
Again, the above text states in chapter 2:

Because (1) the unimaginable is inexpressible;
because (2) the inexpressible is ultimate;
because (3) the ultimate cannot be analyzed;
because (4) that which cannot be analyzed cannot be inferred;
because (5) that which cannot be inferred is unsurpassable;
because (6) the unsurpassable cannot be categorized [in either samsara or nirvana];
because that which cannot be categorized does not abide [in either samsara or nirvana;
because there is no thought of qualities [of nirvana] or faults [of samsara];
the dharmakāya is inconceivable
because of being subtle through [the first] five reasons; 
and the rūpakāya is inconceivable
as it is not an entity because of the sixth.

And in chapter 4:

Showing an appearance like the king of the gods in a jewel;
well-formed like the drum of the gods;
like cloud banks, his pervasive love and wisdom
spreads to the peak of existence of limitless migrating beings;
like Brahma, demonstrating myriad emanations
while never leaving his stainless abode; 
like the sun, the light of gnosis always shines;
their minds are like the pure wishfulfilling gem,
the speech of the victors is like an echo, without syllables,
like space, their kāyas are pervasive, immaterial, and permanent;
and like the ground, the stage of buddhahood is the ground
of developing all the medicinal, positive qualities of migrating beings.

tkp67 said:
It also denies his declaration and desire to make himself equal with all sentient beings by proxy.

Malcolm wrote:
There is no such declaration  by the Buddha or nor desire in the Buddha.

tkp67 said:
The lotus was taught as a proof.

Malcolm wrote:
You can always prove any story you like.

tkp67 said:
If it does not hold up to the light of the lotus sutra it is not congruent with his enlightenment.

Malcolm wrote:
This is just another story you are telling yourself.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 9:05 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
muni said:
Since it is been said more women should talk here..

The long term of the quality of life needs attention. Many opinions and laws have already caused enough suffering.

What law thinks on the suffering of an unwanted child, not getting any compassion, no any  love and so difficult to know to give it then as well? Or a mom alone, even not able to feed herself, or a mom with a sever mental problem, or a genetic disease causing lots of suffering and some other cases. Instead of listening to laws, the welfare of the eventually child is important.

Therefore I find a general law is not okay, because each case is different.

In some cases giving the little for adoption would be an option.

Life is precious, give it value, able to practise, give it the necessary care, the needful affection.

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."

Malcolm wrote:
In a secular society, which we live in, we should not be enforcing what are essentially religious views. If you are against abortion, then don’t have one. But please do not advocate that other women who have unwanted pregnancies should be forced to bring them to term against their will. That’s also suffering.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 8:21 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
So, you probably won’t find, specifically, sutras that say whether a buddha has beliefs or not, because it doesn’t matter in that regard. Just as a Buddha is not moved depending on whether the sky is clear or cloudy, likewise, the question of ‘believing’ is Irrelevant.

tkp67 said:
By this logic suffering doesn't matter because buddhas no longer experience it once liberated.

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhas do not even perceive suffering, since they have no impure perceptions. To a buddha, all is buddhahood.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 8:19 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:



Könchok Chödrak said:
Okay, on a side note then, can you direct me to a Sutric reference which talks of beliefs not being a part of the Buddha-mind?

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhas are omniscient, they have no need of beliefs.

tkp67 said:
They don't need dharma or liberation either so doesn't that make the answer completely irreverent?

Malcolm wrote:
Ummm, no. It’s a clear answer to the question posed. And yes, buddhas don’t need liberation, and when they teach dharma, it’s for mutual enjoyment (sambhoga).


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 8:17 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
microbodhi said:
Buddha is not a person, in fact there is no easy way to translate what buddha is, also what sutras are is more or less beyond any English translation and definitions

Malcolm wrote:
Silly.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 12:39 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:



Könchok Chödrak said:
Do you believe a literal belief in the miracles in the sutras or at least the possibility of such miracles happening are conductive to an open mind that leads closer to liberation? Like say, circling the Buddha for thousands of kalpas, or the World-Honored One performing a miracle of picking up the entire multitude of Bodhisattvas in His hand to give them a Transference of His Enlightenment in the Lotus Sutra. There is reality, but what creates limits for us in this world? And how do you view the Pure Land of Holy Eagle Peak?

Malcolm wrote:
Beliefs are concepts. Concepts and buddhahood are mutually exclusive.

Gridrakuta is a place you can visit in India.

Könchok Chödrak said:
Okay, on a side note then, can you direct me to a Sutric reference which talks of beliefs not being a part of the Buddha-mind?

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhas are omniscient, they have no need of beliefs.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 9:32 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Why do you believe certain things you can’t easily explain but not others? And another question, do you believe that your connection to the Dharmakaya with your Buddha-Nature gives you access to an Omniscient truth? Perhaps in meditation you can seek what you are looking for..

Malcolm wrote:
Belief and acceptance are two different things. Somethings are conducive to liberation, some are not. But that varies quite a bit from one person to another.

Könchok Chödrak said:
Do you believe a literal belief in the miracles in the sutras or at least the possibility of such miracles happening are conductive to an open mind that leads closer to liberation? Like say, circling the Buddha for thousands of kalpas, or the World-Honored One performing a miracle of picking up the entire multitude of Bodhisattvas in His hand to give them a Transference of His Enlightenment in the Lotus Sutra. There is reality, but what creates limits for us in this world? And how do you view the Pure Land of Holy Eagle Peak?

Malcolm wrote:
Beliefs are concepts. Concepts and buddhahood are mutually exclusive.

Gridrakuta is a place you can visit in India.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 9:01 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Why do you believe certain things you can’t easily explain but not others? And another question, do you believe that your connection to the Dharmakaya with your Buddha-Nature gives you access to an Omniscient truth? Perhaps in meditation you can seek what you are looking for..

Malcolm wrote:
Belief and acceptance are two different things. Somethings are conducive to liberation, some are not. But that varies quite a bit from one person to another.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 8:01 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Why do you believe certain things you can’t easily explain but not others? And another question, do you believe that your connection to the Dharmakaya with your Buddha-Nature gives you access to an Omniscient truth? Perhaps in meditation you can seek what you are looking for..

Malcolm wrote:
To whom is this question directed?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 6:34 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


Minobu said:
Now I have had some extraordinary things happen with Buddha Goddess Tara

Malcolm wrote:
I recommend Tara practice regularly. I also practice Tara from time to time.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 3:27 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


Minobu said:
so the below only counts as long as it's non tibetan ? Or as long as it comes from a Dzogchen guy

Malcolm wrote:
That Dzogchen guy happens to be my guru. But still, it is just a story.

Minobu said:
i did not mean for it to sound disrespectful.
sorry if i offended you.

Malcolm wrote:
No, you did not offend me at all. What I am saying is that we cannot verify anything. We either accept this or that claim or not. No one can prove anything.

For example, before his post was deleted in this thread, Illaraza made the absurd and indefensible claim that Nichiren's Buddhism was the only valid path. This is just a story of which he has convinced himself. Based on what? Based on a story he believes for which he has no proof.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 1:13 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Sādhaka said:
It is just that a lot of it resonates with me, especially in today’s ever-increasingly-authoritarian world.

Malcolm wrote:
There is nothing more authoritarian than the state determining for women what they can and cannot do with their bodies.

Generally speaking, people who oppose so-called "political correctness" are generally the ones who elevate authoritarians into power. So you might want to re-evaluate your admiration for monarchist lamas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 12:41 AM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


Minobu said:
so the below only counts as long as it's non tibetan ? Or as long as it comes from a Dzogchen guy

Malcolm wrote:
That Dzogchen guy happens to be my guru. But still, it is just a story.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 12:07 AM
Title: Re: Zen beliefs.
Content:
narhwal90 said:
If your concern about zen is its beliefs, perhaps share some of yours?

Zenny said:
With regard to Zen as a method/practice my main belief is that Meditation/dhayana works.

Malcolm wrote:
What does "works" mean?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 at 12:02 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
SilenceMonkey said:
I was just reading in "Perfect Conduct" about the root downfall of killing. Dudjom Rinpoche says killing involves killing a human being, which includes an unborn fetus.

I was a bit surprised when I read this, having come from a modern education. I understand the in depth arguments made earlier in this thread, but I thought it was interesting that such a being as Dudjom Rinpoche said this.

Sādhaka said:
It’s not surprising that most Lama’s don’t see things in a way that aligns with contemporary western politically correct sensibilities.

Malcolm wrote:
Most Lamas don't have to worry about abortions, unless they impregnate a women by accident and want to cover it up (and this happens...I know of several instances). So as usual, religious leaders tell their flock one thing, and do the opposite when it is poses inconveniences for themselves.

And this, more than than anything else, is why a women's choice is more important than the opinions of men. As a libertarian, you should be down with that, not complaining about "political correctness."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 11:57 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:
Dorje Sempa Namkha Che, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s Introduction to his Oral Commentary said:
https://Melong.com

“When we follow a buddhist teaching it is important to know that Buddha’s teaching is not only the oral teaching he gave in India. Buddha is omniscient, a totally enlightened being having many possibilities to communicate; so the Buddhist teaching has many aspects, not only what was taught in India. In Tibet we have the collection of all the teachings of Buddha called Kangyur. Ka means word of Buddha, gyur means translated in ancient times from Sanskrit to Tibetan. The Kangyur comprises 108 volumes. It does not mean that all these were taught in India at Bodhgaya or somewhere else as oral teachings. In sacred places of India, like Rajghir at Vulture Peak, Buddha taught Mahayana, but most Mahayana teachings are not oral teachings developed in India...

Malcolm wrote:
Word.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 11:05 PM
Title: Re: So are Sutras really from the Buddha, or just fiction
Content:


Minobu said:
the question is 
Did Buddha give us the Sutras or are they just man made stories by common mortals.

Malcolm wrote:
You will never find a satisfactory answer to that question. All you will find are different stories competing for your attention.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 11:23 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Minobu said:
I think Malcolm thinks everything is metaphor and story..sort of this uber modern guy and like ...well... you know ...

Malcolm wrote:
We are in the realm of just so stories. Versions of some stories are more interesting than others. Anyone who claims their version of Buddhist myths and legends is the only right one should have their head examined. All we can honestly say is that we prefer this version to that one.

Minobu said:
So this whole because of the Buddha's Dharmakaya body we get all this Mahayana sutras is just myth .And actually it's just guys putting stuff together like star trek and the Lotus sutra should both be together in the same category in the library, under science fiction.

Malcolm wrote:
So, whose version of the Dharma is more correct? Which version is more true? And who is the authority upon whom we can rely to ascertain this fact? You? Me? Some book/s written down by people whose names we will never know? Some medieval scholar? There are a lot of religious fanatics out there. There are also a lot of Buddhist religious fanatics. Fanaticism is toxic.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 10:36 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Minobu said:
I think Malcolm thinks everything is metaphor and story..sort of this uber modern guy and like ...well... you know ...

Malcolm wrote:
We are in the realm of just so stories. Versions of some stories are more interesting than others. Anyone who claims their version of Buddhist myths and legends is the only right one should have their head examined. All we can honestly say is that we prefer this version to that one.

tkp67 said:
Even if they are just stories the benefit of function is still understood through cause and effect.

The manifestation of the realms is real enough to require emancipation or it perpetuates great suffering.

The Buddha understood all stories, why they were told and how to lead each one to liberation.

Malcolm wrote:
Stories are compelling. That’s why people keep telling them.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 9:58 AM
Title: Re: Know what this is?
Content:
cky said:
I wouldn't throw it in the trash, however. The mantra is sacred even though…

Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
How best then to dispose of prayer flags printed on plastic?  You can’t burn them.

Malcolm wrote:
The best way to dispose of them is to refrain from purchasing them in the first place.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 9:38 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Minobu said:
I think Malcolm thinks everything is metaphor and story..sort of this uber modern guy and like ...well... you know ...

Malcolm wrote:
We are in the realm of just so stories. Versions of some stories are more interesting than others. Anyone who claims their version of Buddhist myths and legends is the only right one should have their head examined. All we can honestly say is that we prefer this version to that one.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 5:16 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Minobu said:
So it's like She was not really born from The tear, but because of the tear ,came to help out Buddha Avalokiteshvara and so appeared this way ?

Volan said:
Here is the story according to His Eminence Kenting Tai Situpa
A teaching given in New Delhi 18.1.2004

For so many eons Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara with that aspiration was liberating sentient beings, and then after many eons through his wisdom and realisation he made an observation, these days we would call it something like a survey. He found that countless sentient beings were suffering. Before also countless sentient beings were suffering and now also. Countless sentient beings are countless, and they will always be countless. Countless cannot become countable sentient beings. Countless by definition is countless always, limitless by definition is limitless; you cannot limit the limitless.

When he saw that, he was so disturbed and upset that he almost broke his vow of saying that I will not reach Buddhahood until the last sentient being attains the Buddhahood. Originally, when he took that vow he said: "If I break my vow may I break into pieces and perish." Because of his original vow he broke into thousands of pieces. At that time he realised that the Buddha is limitless and sentient beings are limitless and sentient beings' essence is also Buddha. That happened because all the Buddhas of the ten directions blessed him and he realised that. Therefore his thousands of pieces transformed into thousand arms and thousand eyes. Normally good things become bad and bad things become worse, but here bad things became good and superb. So the thousand pieces became thousand arms and thousand eyes, and the thousand eyes represent the Buddhas and the thousand arms represent the thousand Universal Monarchs who will be the vehicle of Buddhas' activity. That way Avalokiteshvara developed this quality.

His activity is continuously benefiting sentient beings. Once upon a time he again made an observation. He still saw countless sentient beings suffering. This time it did not make him disappointed and break his vow. Instead he was filled with compassion and out of that compassion two drops of tears dropped from his two main eyes and from those tears one transformed into White Tara and another one transformed into Green Tara. They took a vow from Avalokiteshvara, saying that until your original vow is fulfilled, may we be the mother to all sentient beings suffering in Samsara and liberate them to the Buddhahood. White Tara's manifestation represents helping sentient beings to have longevity, prosperity and all that aspect, and Green Tara represents providing protection for all sentient beings from all fears. White and Green Tara manifest this way.

Malcolm wrote:
Yup, another story. But I still think Tārānātha's account is more comprehensive and interesting.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 2:58 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


SilenceMonkey said:
Maybe it’s not relevant what happens after seven years. If the egg dies before the baby is born, I would assume the consciousness would be propelled to a new body by the force of its karma.

Malcolm wrote:
Being aborted is also a result of karma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 2:57 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Giovanni said:
Perhaps semantics, but nothing “enters” anything. Consciousness arises. It is a function not a “thing”. And it arises to the degree that conditions exist. In the absence of a CNS then consciousness, sparsa, etc can only arise to the degree that conditions for its arising exist. Consciousness is not an atta entering a body. It has causes and conditions. Largely these are karma driven.

SilenceMonkey said:
Maybe you should read the Buddha’s teachings on this.

The consciousness we’re talking about is what reincarnates.

Malcolm wrote:
Giovanni is correct that consciousness is not an atman entering a body. He is also correct that consciousness also depends on causes and conditions.  There certainly is language the Buddha used which says, "When consciousness descends into the womb...," etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 2:38 AM
Title: Re: Buddhist Death Metal Group
Content:
Nirveda said:
I just found this and I'm a little...stunned.

https://www.flipsyde.live/buddhist-death-metal-band-growls-sutras-and-mantras-in-sanskrit?fbclid=IwAR2iZ-JZ0KE75J4wANNDy3ojKQt2ka0DXY4n3eGF3DHzg0tGfPL4fD77ocs

Malcolm wrote:
This music is horrible.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 2:32 AM
Title: Re: Consciousness is not momentary
Content:
Caoimhghín said:
There are many ways to be "anti-momentaryism," and just because you disagree with Ābhidharmika momentaryisms of various Śrāvaka sects, that does not equate to "There are no moments." As mentioned before by another user, Śrāvaka momentary doctrine is a form of "atomism for time" and is critiqued in largely the same way that atoms are critiqued by Yogācārins and Madhyamakas alike. Just because there are no ultimate atoms of ultimate form, it does not follow that there are not bits of rūpa that sentient beings interact with. Just because the moments are deconstructed, it doesn't mean that there is no such thing as a particular moment of time for a particular locus of experience.

Malcolm wrote:
Also, the Buddha was quite clear that phenomena, including minds, were momentary. The Buddha may not have elaborated in detail upon what a "moment" was, but in the end, the basic unit of time in Buddhism is number of moments it takes to form a thought. In reality, moments are partless. Partless moments that perish as soon as they arise have no observable duration and are immune from Madhyamaka critique.

The notion that the mind is permanent (i.e. not momentary) is just a Hindu idea, Vedantic.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 2:08 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:


Minobu said:
So it's like She was not really born from The tear, but because of the tear ,came to help out Buddha Avalokiteshvara and so appeared this way ?

Malcolm wrote:
It's a poetic image. Not be to taken literally. Tārā is also the mother of all the buddhas, including Śākyamuni, because she is the embodiment of Prajñāpāramitā, so again, poetic, not literal.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 12:45 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:


tkp67 said:
The function Tara provides is manifested through this bodhisattva.

Malcolm wrote:
No, that is really not how it is.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 12:34 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Hazel said:
I guess it's "how could she come from a tear if she had her own continuous mind stream?"

Malcolm wrote:
Poetic license. If you read her biography (mentioned above), you will see she received her name and made her aspiration to never take male form eons ago, you will see her association with Tathāgatas Amoghasiddhi and Akṣobhya, her identification with Prajñāpāramita, her relationship with Avalokiteśvara, and her role in Śakyamuni Buddha's awakening, and so on.

Tāra is a complex figure, and cannot be reduced to an accouterment of a male bodhisattva's compassion.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 12:33 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:



Minobu said:
Also I only really feel comfortable referring to Her as Buddha Goddess Tara.

also when did this concept of Her Being Born of a Tear first appear?


Malcolm wrote:
"Devi" does not necessarily imply she is a goddess of the desire or form realm. Tārā was a princess, and the term devi is also used for princesses, just as the term devaputra is used for princes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 at 12:29 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Volan said:
Tibetans elaborate that story - she was born from the tears of Avalokiteshvara.

Malcolm wrote:
This is from the praise to 21 Tārās, so not a Tibetan elaboration at all.

As for her biography, for example, Tārānātha's famous Golden Rosary (See, Wilson, In Praise of Tārā,1996), there is no contradiction between the Princess Candrajñānā  having first wakened her bodhicitta under the Tathāgata Dundubhisvara, receiving the name Tārādevi, and vowing to attain buddhahood in female form and her later association with Avalokiteśvara.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 11:19 PM
Title: Re: Question: The eternal śrāmaṇera see if it?
Content:
FiveSkandhas said:
Thanks for the answers all.

I'm sort of fascinated by the "rank" of śrāmaṇera because it's clearly not lay but I'm not sure it can be called truly "clerical" either.

Malcolm wrote:
Śrāmaṇeras are definitely part of the "ordained" Sangha. They have gone forth (pravrajita) into the homeless life.


FiveSkandhas said:
It seems to be positioned higher than an Upasaka. But since it seems to be a transitory stage on the way to Bikkhu for most -- and also associated with extreme youth -- it's hard for me to get a sense of what a long-term śrāmaṇera would actually do. Do they assist in temple ritual in some way? Can they preach or teach?

Malcolm wrote:
They follow the vows and conduct of a śrāmaṇera, and yes they can teach, etc. The difference between "the laity" (not really an appropriate term for upāsakas) and śrāmaṇeras is the difference of vows. The Buddha's original monastic sangha had no rules. Then eventually, there were 200+, and a common joke in Tibetan circles is that if the Buddha had lived to 100 there would have been more than 500, because most of the rules were implemented because lay people complained about the behavior of this or that monk, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 9:44 PM
Title: Re: Know what this is?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Tourist art. It has no use.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 8:36 PM
Title: Re: Question: The eternal śrāmaṇera?
Content:


FiveSkandhas said:
What are some of the Tibetan rationales and reasons for remaining śrāmaṇera?

Malcolm wrote:
Some people are content with just being a dge tshul (śrāmaṇera). I have met many such people. Full ordination is a big step, and being a dge slong (bhikṣu) not a decision entered lightly.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 1:10 PM
Title: Re: Question: The eternal śrāmaṇera?
Content:


FiveSkandhas said:
My question to anyone in the know is a bit odd: are there any cases of people who remain eternal śrāmaṇera? Who receive the Tokudo and vows of this category yet never go on to become actual monks?

Just curious.

Malcolm wrote:
This is quote common in Tibet.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 7:06 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Tara vowed to acheive buddhahood in a female form, and never take male rebirth.

cyril said:
Wouldn't that amount to shooting herself in the leg a little bit? How does she emanate in the hell realms where there is neither male nor female?

Malcolm wrote:
Emanations are not births.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 6:38 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Volan said:
Tara is the same entity as Avalokiteśvara manifesting itself in form of the goddess-devi.

Malcolm wrote:
No, Tara has her own rnam thar, and her own pure land, etc.

Volan said:
Potala pure land - Avalokiteshvara at the top of the mountain and Tara in the forest at the foot. And there are even forms with the combined mantras.

Malcolm wrote:
Hayagriva, Garuda, Vajrapani also have combined mantras, this does not  make them the same, it in fact points to their difference. Tara vowed to acheive buddhahood in a female form, and never take male rebirth.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 6:16 AM
Title: Re: Origin of the Four Seals?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
This term, chos/bka' rtags kyi phyag rgya bzhi, the seal of the four characteristics of the Dharma
Sorry, the four seals of the…


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 5:54 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Volan said:
Tara is the same entity as Avalokiteśvara manifesting itself in form of the goddess-devi.

Malcolm wrote:
No, Tara has her own rnam thar, and her own pure land, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 5:30 AM
Title: Re: Consciousness is not momentary
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Life, personhood, pleasure and pain
— This is all that's bound together
In a single mental event
— A moment that quickly takes place.

Even the spirits who endure
For eighty-four thousand aeons
— Even these do not live the same
For any two moments of mind.

What ceases for one who is dead,
Or for one who's still standing here,
Are all just the same aggregates
— Gone, never to connect again.

The states which are vanishing now,
And those which will vanish some day,
Have characteristics no different
Than those which have vanished before.

With no production there's no birth;
With becoming present, one lives.
When grasped with the highest meaning,
The world is dead when the mind stops.

There's no hoarding what has vanished,
No piling up for the future;
Those who have been born are standing
Like a seed upon a needle.

The vanishing of all these states
That have become is not welcome,
Though dissolving phenomena stand
Uncombined from primordial time.

From the unseen, [states] come and go,
Glimpsed only as they're passing by;
Like lightning flashing in the sky
— They arise and then pass away.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/nm/nm.2.04.olen.html


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 2:43 AM
Title: Re: Ksitigarbha & "the most lenient" cultivation
Content:
FiveSkandhas said:
150px-Jizo_(Ksitigarbha)_(Nara_National_Museum).jpg

I found the perspective of a certain essay ("Study Guide to the Sutra of Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows") quite interesting.

Malcolm wrote:
Most likely a Chinese or a Khotanese text.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 12:38 AM
Title: Re: Consciousness is not momentary
Content:
Aemilius said:
If it were momentary...

Malcolm wrote:
Take it up with the Buddha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 10th, 2021 at 12:32 AM
Title: Re: Origin of the Four Seals?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
This term, chos/bka' rtags kyi phyag rgya bzhi, the seal of the four characteristics of the Dharma appears to have entered Tibet in the 11th century. It is a late Mahāyāna term for what constitutes the śrāvakayāna basic criteria for authenticating the Buddhist teachings. They are explained as seals because these four features are held to be like the seal or decree which a minister uses to invoke the authority of the king. This term is found in native Tibetan texts as early as the 12th century, and probably earlier.

The formula, "all compounded phenomena...nirvana is peace" is found in Sthiramati's commentary on the Mahāyānasūtralaṃkara, which was translated in either the 11th century by an obscure translator named Che Tashi (Lce bkra shi) with an Indian.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 9th, 2021 at 4:05 AM
Title: Re: Signs of future rebirth
Content:



Malcolm wrote:
And we didn't even manage rebirth in a natural nirmanakāya buddhafield, sheesh!

mechashivaz said:
I've heard it takes much longer to attain liberation in a pure land, so wouldn't it be better to take rebirth in a realm like our current one?

heart said:
been there, done that.

/magnus



Malcolm wrote:
But did you get the t-shirt?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 9th, 2021 at 1:59 AM
Title: Re: A question about Buddha Goddess Tara
Content:
Minobu said:
Why do we refer to Her as a Goddess and not just a Buddha ?

Malcolm wrote:
We don't refer to her as a goddess in Buddhism. Hindu's do, however.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 10:56 PM
Title: Re: Signs of future rebirth
Content:
PeterC said:
because we didn’t achieve liberation in that lifetime or in the bardo afterwards.)

Malcolm wrote:
And we didn't even manage rebirth in a natural nirmanakāya buddhafield, sheesh!


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 9:47 PM
Title: Re: Definition of music
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
The offering of the faithful,
the livelihood of the poor, 
and the stirring of the emotions of the passionate,
all come from knowledge of music.

-- Sa skya Paṇḍita, Treatise On Music.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 9:22 AM
Title: Re: Origin of the Four Seals?
Content:
manjusri said:
Does anyone know when these were first formulated and by whom? I am also curious if they can be found in the Theravada? I believe I was introduced to them through a teaching given by HHDL. Thanks, everybody.

Malcolm wrote:
They are found in several sutras. I once ran a search on them in Tibetan canon to see where they could be found. I don’t remember the ore use sutras, but they are found in whole and in parts in several sutras.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 3:20 AM
Title: Re: Tibetan Medical pulse testing/self pulse testing
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
Anyone have resources on this?

Malcolm wrote:
It has to be learned in person.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 2:11 AM
Title: Re: Signs of future rebirth
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
When one takes rebirth, it is actually the various qualities which are reborn again. It’s like carrying dozen eggs home from the grocery store.

Malcolm wrote:
If you consider afflicted aggregates qualities...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 1:25 AM
Title: Re: Running over an animal
Content:
DharmaJunior said:
Imagine that all the turtles you have helped want you to be stronger, including the one that expired. Be the best possible version of yourself that you can be. So now continue with the good work.

Ardha said:
That would be a comfort. But even now I can’t be sure whether I wanted to run it over thinking it was something else. I looked up from my phone and hit it and saw it flying in the rear view. I’m still haunted by the image of it flying in the air and seeing it writhing on the ground with a deep gash when I went back to check on it. I can’t believe it still.....

Malcolm wrote:
Sarva dukkhaṃ, suffering is everywhere.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 1:24 AM
Title: Re: Music time
Content:



Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 1:22 AM
Title: Re: Music time
Content:



Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 1:20 AM
Title: Re: Music time
Content:



Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 1:18 AM
Title: Re: Lord Manjushri Mantra
Content:
Minobu said:
in Tibetan it goes
Om A Ra Pa Tsa Na Dhih

in Sanskrit
Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih

would Ca sound like ca in  calling ?

Malcolm wrote:
Cha as is "cha cha cha."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 11:58 PM
Title: Re: Mudita
Content:
mabw said:
Greetings,

What has, in your experience, been most effective in cultivating sympathetic joy and reducing jealousy?

Malcolm wrote:
Equanimity, upekṣa. Though it is normally listed last, according to Kamalashila, it should be cultivated first in order that one does not mistake attachment for love, compassion, and sympathetic joy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 11:56 PM
Title: Re: Running over an animal
Content:
Ardha said:
I killed a turtle on the road today due to my negligence and I feel awful about all of it. I went back to check on the turtle and I
What can I do? How do I proceed?

Malcolm wrote:
Sarva dukkhaṃ, suffering is everywhere.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 10:23 PM
Title: Re: Rushen in Bon and Nyingma
Content:


Passing By said:
And this decision is purely deciding with certainty on the knowledge of the actual nature of things yes? Is this literally just as simple as having experiential knowledge of trekcho via a direct introduction/semzin/ guru yoga?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, and maintaining that.



Passing By said:
But in that case, what does the commonly encountered phrase "stability in trekchod" mean? Knowledge is an either you know or you don't thing so what stability is there to maintain?

Malcolm wrote:
Not being distracted from that knowledge.

Passing By said:
And when the knowledge becomes obscured, it's actually not that difficult to apply the pointing out instructions to reinforce it again....so, just like that, without relatively much effort, is sufficient for what is generally held to be the highest form of trikaya phowa short of full out rainbow body?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 10:02 PM
Title: Re: His Holiness says that one can follow a book, not a teacher
Content:
Volan said:
I have to say that Shantideva is not exclusively a Sutrayana teacher - he is definitely a Vajrayana practitioner.

Malcolm wrote:
Maybe, maybe not. But everything in the Compendium of Training is kriya tantra.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 10:01 PM
Title: Re: His Holiness says that one can follow a book, not a teacher
Content:


Volan said:
This statement is somewhat revolutionary to the Tibetan Buddhism - traditionally one is supposed to receive oral
transmissions and commentaries.

Malcolm wrote:
Not really. Vajrayāna topics yes, sūtrayāna, not so much.

Volan said:
Three types of Prajna: wisdom acquired through listening (study, teaching) (srutamayiprajna), wisdom acquired
through reflection (cintamayiprajna) and wisdon acquired through [rnental] cultivation (bhavanamayiprajna).

You can see that it is listening, not reading and shruta is common with shrotra, which is the ear organ. Shravaka - listener.

Even for the Sutrayana teachings there are lists of lineage gurus, i have seen such list for a Gelugpa`s Abhisamayalamkara lineage.

Malcolm wrote:
I am in agreement with you that in general dharma is an aural tradition. However, this does not mean that one is required to have received a lung for such texts the MMK, Abhidharmakośa, etc. When lungs for these things are given it is more a formality.

Volan said:
How sad that it is just some antique thing in the canon - no study, no tradition.

Malcolm wrote:
People study it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 9:55 PM
Title: Re: Anti-racism as new, intolerant religion
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
‘Racism’ is a loaded term. People interpret it in many different ways, and it appears in many different forms. That doesn’t mean there’s no such thing as racism, or that it doesn’t exist, or isn’t a fact of American history. But it’s an abstract concept.

Malcolm wrote:
All concepts are abstractions. But racism is not a concept for someone is being killed by the police or lunched by a mob.

PadmaVonSamba said:
When people deny that there is racism, that’s a problem. At the same time, the concept of “systematic racism” is vague.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it is very precise. It refers to a system of justice where white people are given preferential treatment under the law. It goes all the way back to the slave codes of Virginia, and the three-fifths compromise in the original Constitution.

PadmaVonSamba said:
Are we talking about the legal system, the economic system, the social system the political system?

Malcolm wrote:
We are referring to all four, actually. Systematic racism is systematic because has been embedded. It is embedded in the fact that Native Americans, for example, were not even permitted to vote in US elections until 1924, but even then it was left to the states to grant Native American suffrage, until the Voting Rights act of 1965.

Your post sounds like it was written by a white guy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 9:45 PM
Title: Re: How many Vajrasattva 100-Syllable mantra is required for Ngondro?
Content:
Volan said:
Not a ngondro, Siksa-samuccaya of Shantideva, which is the classical Indian treatise.

In the "purification" 8th chapter there is an advice on 100 syllable mantra of Vajrasattva - 8000 to purify a fault. And there are some additional instructions - not only a Vajrasattva, a pack of methods according to Sutrayana and Vajrayana, signs of accomplishment...

Malcolm wrote:
No, what is discussed in the Compendium of Training in the 100 syllable mantras of the tathāgatas, which also exists as an extract, de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po yi ge brgya pa'i bsrung ba dang sdig pa bshags pa'i cho ga, Toh. 3941.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 6:33 PM
Title: Re: Anti-racism as new, intolerant religion
Content:



Johnny Dangerous said:
"America is not racist, nothing to see here"

Just kidding, here you go:



What the OP quoted, not a real argument or statement on anything, just a self-satisfied sound bite, basically.

Malcolm wrote:
As well as another racist white guy making a racist argument that there is no racism.

Johnny Dangerous said:
Well McWhorter is black, the OP idk about.

Anyway, I feel like "racism doesn't exist" type arguments are so silly they aren't really even worth refuting. Ironically, they are usually based on a "religious" adherence to an idea of American that doesn't exist now, and never has.

Malcolm wrote:
Gillespie…

The OP made the claim a few days ago that anti-racism was racist. He still has not demonstrated his religious claim.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 9:31 AM
Title: Re: Anti-racism as new, intolerant religion
Content:
Queequeg said:
For some reason the tweet is blocked for me. Could someone post the text?

Johnny Dangerous said:
"America is not racist, nothing to see here"

Just kidding, here you go:

John McWhorter said:
"'White privilege' is original sin...The idea that 'we're waiting for America to come to terms with racism' doesn't mean anything...It's The Rapture, that business of End of Days, Judgement Day." @JohnHMcWhorter
on anti-racism as new, intolerant religion.

Johnny Dangerous said:
What the OP quoted, not a real argument or statement on anything, just a self-satisfied sound bite, basically.

Malcolm wrote:
As well as another racist white guy making a racist argument that there is no racism.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 6:39 AM
Title: Re: Love has Won
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Sorry if it upset you, Malcolm.

Malcolm wrote:
Didn't upset me at all. I liked the touch with the christmas lights, that was very novel. The gouged-out eyes thing, though, that is pretty creepy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 6:38 AM
Title: Re: Anti-racism as new, intolerant religion
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that some people will go to to pretend that America isn't not a racist country, when  I would say that it is equally "religious"...

Malcolm wrote:
Especially since racism and slavery in America have been justified principally on the basis of religion since...well...1492 and 1617.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 6:37 AM
Title: Re: Anti-racism as new, intolerant religion
Content:


tkp67 said:
The propaganda comes in when a white man cherry picks a black specialist in language instead of a black expert in social/psychological  effects of racism on minorities in America.

Malcolm wrote:
You're batting a 1000 so far.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 6:35 AM
Title: Re: Anti-racism as new, intolerant religion
Content:


Archie2009 said:
McWhorter does all the talking. Nice try.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes I understand, but libertarianism is a morally bankrupt doctrine no matter whose mouth is comes out of.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 4:32 AM
Title: Re: Anti-racism as new, intolerant religion
Content:
tkp67 said:
Seems like white privilege propaganda



Malcolm wrote:
Gillespie is a typical libertarian bullshit artist. Of course, modern libertarianism has its roots in the defense of slavery, particularly in the writings of John C. Calhoun.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 4:22 AM
Title: Love has Won
Content:




Malcolm wrote:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/us/colorado-amy-carlson-love-has-won.html?action=click&algo=bandit-all-surfaces-uh-nclicks-alpha-03&block=more_in_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=828422766&impression_id=fea7e6c0-aea7-11eb-a26a-9f6ab2b9b865&index=0&pgtype=Article&pool=pool%2F6f6007c7-e76e-4ea2-b6a9-8e533e17975a&region=footer&req_id=9914260&surface=more-in-us-news&variant=2_bandit-all-surfaces-uh-nclicks-alpha-03:
7 Arrested After Police Find Mummified Body in Colorado Home
A man told the police the body belonged to the leader of Love Has Won, a group that former members have called a cult centered on a woman named Amy Carlson.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 4:14 AM
Title: Re: Rushen in Bon and Nyingma
Content:


Passing By said:
Then from Dzogchen POV, what actually happens in the bardo to deity yoga practitioners who nevertheless, have not done any thogal? Where do they wind up?

Malcolm wrote:
This is called sambhogakāya phowa, it indirectly means the same thing as liberation in the bardo of dharmatā.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 3:37 AM
Title: Re: Input on my altar/prayer space please
Content:
jamesL said:
Thank you for the kind reply.  It seems theres endless variations.  I just want to make sure I get the core layout correct.

Könchok Thrinley said:
Whatever layout speaks to you is the correct layout.

If you have a master oyu might want to emulate a bit the layout of his altar or how altars are in that lineage. Etc.

To be honest with you, the space you have for the altar is incredible! Really perfect.



jamesL said:
Thank you!  I had read that certain things are supposed to be higher, or behind others, etc.  Ill just keep things simple for now.

Malcolm wrote:
The three thigns you are supposed to have on a shrine are representations of Buddha's body, speech, and mind. You only have body. You also need a book, a sutra like heart sutra, etc., and a small stupa, for speech and mind respectively.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 3:25 AM
Title: Re: Indian Buddhist music
Content:
mabw said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charyapada#Melodies

Apparently there are melodies here. Are these chanted or sung in the ancient melodies today? Like in Tibet?

Malcolm wrote:
The Carya songs of the siddhas are still sung by the Bauls of Bengal. Completely different than Tibetan music or sensibility.

https://geographical.co.uk/people/cultures/item/3548-baul

Also Newar Bajracarya music is likely an authentic holdover from Buddhist musical traditions of the late classical Buddhist period 10-12th centuries.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, May 7th, 2021 at 2:56 AM
Title: Re: Buddhist Prayer in Los Angeles for anti-Asian hate
Content:



Queequeg said:
Yep. Middle of the group pic

Malcolm wrote:
Then there is the weird white dude with the fasci haircut in a white button down and shades.

Bristollad said:
Maybe he just wanted his photo taken with monastics?  Or he's from the local SGI chapter or something wanting to show solidarity?

Malcolm wrote:
he just looks a little out of place...elf on a shelf style.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 6th, 2021 at 8:20 PM
Title: Re: Rushen in Bon and Nyingma
Content:


Passing By said:
And trekcho's success depends whether one can hold it when they fall unconscious the moment they die yes?

Malcolm wrote:
You mean liberation?

Passing By said:
While kyerim/dzogrim depends on if they remember the lights are yidam's display (or is that thogal only while the result of two stages is something else?)

Malcolm wrote:
I don't know how Bonpos explain the two stages in relation to the process of death.

As for the bardo of dharmatā, one should recognize sounds, lights, and rays.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 6th, 2021 at 7:20 PM
Title: Re: Rushen in Bon and Nyingma
Content:
Passing By said:
Interesting, so technically, if one has not done rushans in Nyingthik but has been doing semzins and trekcho, they could still return to the 6 lokas instead of the minimum nirmanakaya pure land? Even though trekcho is theoretically instantaneous seeing of the fruit and realization at time of death before the lights appear in the dharmata bardo?

Malcolm wrote:
Rushans are also not a guarantee unless you have received signs of accomplishment.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 6th, 2021 at 6:06 PM
Title: Re: Rushen in Bon and Nyingma
Content:
Passing By said:
I see thanks,

Then in Nyingthig, do the semzins for discovering trekcho also accomplish the closing of doors to the 6 realms of samsara or is that purely a rushen thing only?

Malcolm wrote:
No.Yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 6th, 2021 at 3:34 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:



illarraza said:
Just as deletions, inversions, translocations, additions, and mutations within chromasomes lead to various congenital defects or other diseases such as cancer...

Malcolm wrote:
They don't necessarily lead to congenital defects. Sometimes they lead to bipedalism, opposable thumbs, etc.

illarraza said:
"They will tear off the first part of the Sutra and stick it on the end, tear off the end and put it at the beginning, put the end and the beginning in the middle, and the beginning at the middle or end". This is analogous to inversions and translocations of the Law.

Malcolm wrote:
Considering that the Saddharmapundarika Sūtra was already subject to emendations and alterations long before the time of Nichiren...It is not like the text never underwent evolution, expansion and so on, both in India and in China. The text we have now and that Nichiren had before him is not Kumarajiva's original translation.

Textual originalism is faulty method of jurisprudence, and it is also faulty method of religious exegesis.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 6th, 2021 at 12:20 AM
Title: Re: Monk rules...
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Thank you, Malcolm. Can you explain in further detail why ordination is a śrāvakayāna rite? And why it entails the śrāvakayāna Vehicle?

Malcolm wrote:
It has to do with the fact that each level of vow has its own rite of bestowal; its own set of vows; its own method of maintaining those vows; and its own method of repairing those vows if they are broken.

Pratimokṣa vows, the vows of personal liberation come from the śrāvaka schools and are detailed in Vinaya. The Tibetans follow the Mulasarvastivadins; Buddhists in Shri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos follow the Theravada. East Asian countries such as China, Korea, and Japan, follow the Dharmaguptaka sect.

Then we have the bodhisattva vows. In the Tibean tradition there are two main traditions: Madhyamaka and Yogacāra. They are not different in meaning, but they are different in method of bestowal and the number of vows, etc. one is expected to follow. In China and Japan, the bodhisattva vows are derived from a sūtra that seems to not have an Indian source, the Brahamajala Sūtra. In the Theravada countries there is no rite at all for conferring bodhisattva vows.

Finally, secret mantras vows come from receiving empowerments in the Yoga Tantra and Anuttarayoga tantra.

So there are three kinds of vows, and they each have their own rite, and so on. This is why there is no "Vajrayāna" ordination per se. You should get Buddhist Ethics by Jamgon Kongtrul where the three vows are explained in detail.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 6th, 2021 at 12:12 AM
Title: Re: Rushen in Bon and Nyingma
Content:
Passing By said:
Are there any differences in rushens between Bon and Nyingma, with respect to method and result? In the former the main component are exercises designed to give yourself direct introduction to the nature of mind until one is familiar enough to proceed to trekchod. Is Nyingma rushen goal the same or are they not "crossable" so to speak (ie, doing Bon rushen does not give the same result as Nyingma one)?

Malcolm wrote:
In the Nyingthig tradition, rushans are the preliminary practice for thogal and enhancement practices for trekcho. For discovering trekcho, the Nyinthig tradition primarily recommends the use of semzins, like the Song of the Vajra and so on.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, May 6th, 2021 at 12:03 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
tkp67 said:
When have I failed to provide for a promise that I have made to you?

Malcolm wrote:
Like Peter said, often. But as usual, you always turn these conversations into being about you, rather than the subject at hand.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 11:10 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
PeterC said:
You follow a Japanese monk who thought that repeating the title of one sutra was enough, whose life’s work was to make the dharma accessible to people of very limited understanding and resources.  What would he say to you about your idea that the new age crowd aren’t ready for the Dharma of Sakyamuni?  He would tell you that you are prolonging their suffering.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, lets keep in mind that Nichiren also was quite critical of other movements to do precisely the same thing, that is, he was highly critical of Pure Land and Zen. This just makes tkp's admonishments all the more silly.

tkp67 said:
You are speaking ignorantly about a tradition you have zero intimation of and it is completely off topic.

Malcolm wrote:
Nichiren's criticism of other traditions are on full display in his writings. You can't just wish them away. The point is that you are taking exception to criticisms of non-buddhist new age fabrications for this and that reason; but the founder of your own tradition criticized other, valid Buddhist traditions, for this and that reason. That fact makes your admonishments look ridiculous.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 11:00 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:



tkp67 said:
No Malcolm pure bullshit is thinking someone with a capacity for addition should be expected to understand calculus. Expecting people of lesser capacity and resource to have a deeper "spiritual" development is also grossly apathetic.

Malcolm wrote:
But we are not talking about people. We are talking about books and ideas which are barren.

tkp67 said:
They are only barren to someone who sees them a pure delusion. They aren't pure delusion to everyone.

Malcolm wrote:
They are pure delusion to anyone who has studied Buddhadharma properly.


tkp67 said:
Are they Buddhist teachings as practiced here? No.

Are they objectively understandable from the perspective of a non buddhist as a means? Yes.

Malcolm wrote:
They are a means to nowhere.

tkp67 said:
Nothing is hodgepodge or random. Everything is compound.

Malcolm wrote:
The compounded nature of phenomena does not contradict the attraction of crows to shiny objects that they find at random in their forays into the world. The new age hodgepodge of ideas is like a crow's nest.

tkp67 said:
Sure shed the extraneous teachings but why condemn virtue along with it.

Malcolm wrote:
No one is doing that.

tkp67 said:
From the perspective of skillful means virtue can be developed from any starting point.

Malcolm wrote:
There are two kinds of virtue: mundane and liberative. The vows of a jesuit priest are not conducive to liberation. The feel-good affirmations of Stuart Smiley are not conducive to liberation. The pratimokṣa vows of a Buddhist, however, are conducive to liberation. While it is good that worldly people are virtuous to the extent they can be, that virtue only guarantees birth in higher realms, not liberation.

tkp67 said:
Non buddhist often identify as their spirituality as if they combine the teaching with their own inherent value.

Malcolm wrote:
Not our problem.

tkp67 said:
What are skillful means in the degenerate age supposed to look like?

Malcolm wrote:
Dharma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 10:48 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
PeterC said:
You follow a Japanese monk who thought that repeating the title of one sutra was enough, whose life’s work was to make the dharma accessible to people of very limited understanding and resources.  What would he say to you about your idea that the new age crowd aren’t ready for the Dharma of Sakyamuni?  He would tell you that you are prolonging their suffering.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, lets keep in mind that Nichiren also was quite critical of other movements to do precisely the same thing, that is, he was highly critical of Pure Land and Zen. This just makes tkp's admonishments all the more silly.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 10:22 PM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
tkp67 said:
There is no blemish that exists in Shakyamnui's enlightenment...

Malcolm wrote:
There are no blemishes in the awakening of any buddha. The awakening of all buddhas is just the same.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 10:21 PM
Title: Re: How difference between Chan and Zen.
Content:


KiwiNFLFan said:
So it seems to me that Western Zen centres have taken the meditation aspect of Zen and placed it front and center, unlike how it is in East Asia (but then, this is from my limited experience).

Malcolm wrote:
Differing client populations need different things.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 10:19 PM
Title: Re: Monk rules...
Content:


Könchok Chödrak said:
Doesn’t this apply to a possible Vajrayana ordination some day in the Drikung Kagyu Lineage, which is a Vajrayana Tibetan Tradition?

Malcolm wrote:
No. Ordination, pravrajita, going forth, is strictly a śrāvakayāna rite. There are no Vajrayāna ordination rites. There are Vajrayāna monks because in addition to receiving monastic ordination, they also receive bodhisattva vows and secret mantra samayas, and the latter two sets of vows supersede the former monastic ordination. You've already received bodhisattva vows and samayas. So you are a Vajrayāna upāsika (lay person), since you receive pratimoṣka vows when you took refuge with Garchen Rinpoche.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 10:13 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


tkp67 said:
Actually since everything is born of the mind regardless of what you pray to the same mind is processing it so if there isn't a realization it has nothing to do with that expedient but that mind's inability to use it skillfully.

Malcolm wrote:
You do understand the distinction between a proper and an improper refuge and why that distinction exists? Because if you don't, you really need to learn Buddhism from the ground up.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 10:11 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


tkp67 said:
I do not consider anything that is generated by the sapient mind to be bs but rather relative to cause, condition and capacity.

Malcolm wrote:
So you are saying as along as there is a cause, condition, and a capacity, there is no bullshit? That's pure bullshit, sorry.

tkp67 said:
No Malcolm pure bullshit is thinking someone with a capacity for addition should be expected to understand calculus. Expecting people of lesser capacity and resource to have a deeper "spiritual" development is also grossly apathetic.

Malcolm wrote:
But we are not talking about people. We are talking about books and ideas which are barren.

tkp67 said:
the inability for people to show compassion for those of lesser capacity is the anti thesis of shakyamuni's Buddhism but more importantly it is fundamentally bereft any benefit as it does not eliminate ignorance but reinforces it.

Malcolm wrote:
We are not invading new age forums, Christian forums, etc., informing people they are following mistaken systems of belief. So your charge of absence of compassion is devoid of value in this case.


tkp67 said:
The fact that people need a teaching to build metta for the purpose of developing compassion...

Malcolm wrote:
What makes you think the hodgepodge of random beliefs and tropes in the New Age movement lends itself to kindness and compassion? Some authors might be focused on that, other authors may be more interested in the imagined ability of [insert crystal here] to help them communicate telepathically with aliens from Rigel 4.


tkp67 said:
Metta isn't meant to be conditioned or conditional is it?

Malcolm wrote:
It is quite possible to be kind and loving, as well as critical, all at the same time. The new age movement is complete bullshit from top to bottom. Nothing in it leads to liberation. There are no skillful means there. It is unkind to not criticize it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 8:54 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


tkp67 said:
Would you like me to explain why the mindset against new age is categorically unreasonable from my personal perspective as derived from the Lotus Sutra?

In light of the LS it is an ego centric perspective lacking compassion with a great investment in doubt.

Malcolm wrote:
I would like to see a citation from the Lotus Sūtra which supports this. Come on. You can do it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 8:52 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
PeterC said:
No amount of praying to...the Green Goddess or whatever leads to realIzation.

Malcolm wrote:
There is no chance that praying to salad dressing will lead to realization, unless it is Kraft:


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 8:50 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


tkp67 said:
I do not consider anything that is generated by the sapient mind to be bs but rather relative to cause, condition and capacity.

Malcolm wrote:
So you are saying as along as there is a cause, condition, and a capacity, there is no bullshit? That's pure bullshit, sorry.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 2:56 AM
Title: Re: sleep in full lotus;is this advice reliable?(city of 10 000 buddhas)
Content:
SonamTashi said:
City of 10,000 Buddhas was established by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hsuan_Hua It is associated with the
At least in the Tibetan traditions, it is common for practitioners to sleep in a sitting position while they're on retreat.

Malcolm wrote:
With their knees up, and this is not universal.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 at 12:28 AM
Title: Re: H.H. Vs. H.E.
Content:


KonchogUrgyenNyima said:
Is it safe to say that official heads of a lineage/sect might have the H.H. title and lineage holders who are not the official head might have H.E.?

Malcolm wrote:
Seems like every terton gets HH. In Sakya, lineage holders like Sakya Trizin get HH; everyone else, HE.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 4th, 2021 at 11:06 PM
Title: Re: Monk rules...
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Though I am sure the vinaya is well meant, and no offense to it, I seem to want to know what this specific line means.

PeterC said:
Why?  Are you planning on ordaining?

Könchok Chödrak said:
I have seriously been considering doing it in the future for at least some amount of time. I would Love to ordain in the Tibetan tradition, either in the Vajrayana...

Malcolm wrote:
One cannot ordain in the Vajrayāna. Pratimokṣa vows belong to śrāvakayāna.

Könchok Chödrak said:
or another Tibetan tradition, such as under the Karmapa or the Dalai Lama’s school. I have wanted to be a monk since I was 16, I’m in my 30’s now, and it’s really a primary determination of mine, so I know in some life I will do it. May as well be this one.

Malcolm wrote:
All Tibetan tradition are Vajrayāna.

Unless you are independently wealthy, do not become a monk. No one will support you.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, May 4th, 2021 at 10:54 PM
Title: Re: Monk rules...
Content:
tellyontellyon said:
Hi,
What is the entire list of rules/precepts that a Tibetan monk takes?

Thank you.

Malcolm wrote:
Look in Buddhist Ethics by Kongtrul. They are all listed there.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 3rd, 2021 at 2:43 AM
Title: Re: Devas - What are their roles?
Content:
Padmist said:
Are we merely to recognize that they are real and they can exist?

We are not to worship/revere them? Can we pray or talk to them?

What can they do? Can they talk to us or do something for us if asked?

Malcolm wrote:
Depends on which type of devas. Some devas are hostile to Dharma, some are not. But they are all worldly beings and not objects of refuge.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 3rd, 2021 at 2:27 AM
Title: Re: Ryogen's thought on plants and their acquired Buddhahood
Content:
cjdevries said:
I live with a really skilled professional gardener/garden designer and she will say that "the plants talk to me", "they tell me when they need more water" etc.  Different plants have different personalities.  Others who I have talked to who are really into caring for plants have said that it is clear that plants have their own spirits and energy.

Malcolm wrote:
The idea that spirits such as yakṣas etc, inhabit trees, etc., is found in Buddhism. The idea that plants themselves are sentient is not found in Budhdism, apart from some East Asian divergences from the standard POV.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 3rd, 2021 at 1:57 AM
Title: Re: Faith & Reason
Content:
Queequeg said:
In the commentary on the Prajnaparamita Sutra attributed to Nagarjuna, he states the gateway to Buddhahood is faith.

When we start out, categorically, we lack the knowledge of a Buddha and yet we proceed on the assurance that the path leads to Buddhahood. I don't know how anyone gets around the linchpin of faith there.

Canki Sutta lays out what I consider one of the best explanations of how to practice faith.

Analysis and reason is frontal cortex stuff. As I see it, derivative of faith, even when the logician insists there is none.

two cents.

Malcolm wrote:
One important thing to understand that is that śraddha is defined as a mental factor that brings clarity to the mind. It is not like "faith" in the western, Christian sense.

However, the word ultimately descends from *bheidh-, the proto-Indo-European root meaning "to trust, confide, persuade."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, May 3rd, 2021 at 1:43 AM
Title: Re: H.H. Vs. H.E.
Content:
KonchogUrgyenNyima said:
Hey all,

Didn’t know where to post this, so i posted here because i practice nyingma.

I’m just wondering if there’s any rhyme or reason for the different honorifics in tibetan buddhism? What qualifies a lama as H.H. Rather than H.E.? Are there any hard and fast rules about it?

Malcolm wrote:
It comes from the time when in trying to figure out how to address HHDL, the UN borrowed the titles used for catholics, HH for the pope, HE for cardinals and so on.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 2021 at 9:37 PM
Title: Re: Titus Lucretius Carus: Of the Nature of Things
Content:
Aemilius said:
Titus Lucretius Carus ( c. 99 – c. 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem De rerum natura, a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into English as On the Nature of Things.
Lucretius Carus seems to be describing how on the other side of the Earth there are beings, who must be living upside down and who experience night when we experience the day:

"The ponderous bodies which be under earth
Do all press upwards and do come to rest
Upon the earth, in some way upside down,
Like to those images of things we see
At present through the waters. They contend,
With like procedure, that all breathing things
Head downward roam about, and yet cannot
Tumble from earth to realms of sky below,
No more than these our bodies wing away
Spontaneously to vaults of sky above;
That, when those creatures look upon the sun,
We view the constellations of the night;
And that with us the seasons of the sky
They thus alternately divide, and thus
Do pass the night coequal to our days,"

This is only a short passage of a long poem, in its chapter the Infinity of the  Universe

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, a famous atheist. Very influential on the founders of the US, an exponent of Epicurus’ hedonism. One of my favorite classical pieces.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 2021 at 8:08 PM
Title: Re: Faith & Reason
Content:



Nemo said:
Faith can be scary. Trying to understand reality must include skepticism or you can get into trouble.

Malcolm wrote:
Reason can also be skewed, just as easily as faith, actually.

What is required is right view.

Nemo said:
So both are of dubious reliability without spiritual grace over which you have no control.

Malcolm wrote:
No grace needed, just good karma to connect with a right path as opposed to a wrong path.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 2021 at 10:02 AM
Title: Re: Faith & Reason
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
YOW! That is some ka-ray-zee shit right there.

Nemo said:
Faith can be scary. Trying to understand reality must include skepticism or you can get into trouble.

Malcolm wrote:
Reason can also be skewed, just as easily as faith, actually.

What is required is right view.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 2021 at 9:49 AM
Title: Re: Thangka Retinue Identification?
Content:
Bristollad said:
I believe Malcolm is correct, Himalayan Art Resources has a page featuring that very thangka
see
https://www.himalayanart.org/items/35652

zerwe said:
Probably splitting hairs, but date should be more like 1900-

Shaun

Malcolm wrote:
Actually, 1940-


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 2021 at 2:16 AM
Title: Re: Kakushi Nenbutsu: Forbidden underground heterodox Pure Land
Content:
FiveSkandhas said:
It was this the Jodo Shinshu authorities saw as the decisive seal of heresy -- for of course, the Kakushi was not relying on Amida-sama for shinjin, but rather relying on his own head-banging self-effort and reliance in the Zen-Chishiki, hardly a worthy substitute for reliance in Amida Buddha.

Malcolm wrote:
It is always in the interest of an inquisition to misrepresent the beliefs of those judged heretics.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 2021 at 2:10 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
FiveSkandhas said:
The unanswered questions (Skt. avyākṛta-vastu; P. avyākata-vastu; T. lung du ma bstan pa), or indeterminate questions, refer to a set of metaphysical questions that Buddha refused to answer. These questions are referred to as avyākṛta (P. avyākata), meaning "indeterminate", "unacertainable", "unaswered", etc.
https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/The_unanswered_questions


There appear to be various lists of them. Among one such list are the following:

A Realized One exists after death?
A Realized One doesn’t exist after death?
A Realized One both exists and doesn’t exist after death?
A Realized One neither exists nor doesn’t exist after death?

So if we grant this authority, it seems like exactly what goes on in Nirvana/Paranirvana is none of our business.

Malcolm wrote:
Actually, when something has ceased, attributions of existence or nonexistence to that are inappropriate, since as the Buddha points out:

One who has reached the end
	has no criterion
by which anyone would say that —
	for him it doesn't exist.
When all phenomena are done away with,
	all means of speaking
	are done away with as well.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.5.06.than.html


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 11:48 PM
Title: Re: Thangka Retinue Identification?
Content:
Tenma said:
https://spectator.com.au/2020/10/sex-and-corpses/

Does anyone know who the protector at the bottom left is? I cannot find any information about this figure.

Malcolm wrote:
Possibly the secret form of he who is not be named, since it is a gelug thangkha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 11:24 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Shotenzenjin said:
If memory serves the final episode of lost revealed to they we're all ready dead. Everyone on the island was dead.

Malcolm wrote:
Right, a very shitty bardo experience.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 10:32 PM
Title: Re: Living buddhist tradition/school that focuses on the Mahaparinirvana sutra?
Content:
Aemilius said:
I think that Dr Tony Page constitutes a Nirvana sutra based school of Buddhism.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 9:45 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


PeterC said:
So few shows actually know when to stop.

Malcolm wrote:
They are getting better, actually. Limited series are quite frequent now.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 8:20 PM
Title: Re: Dennis Hirota on Shinjin
Content:
Zhen Li said:
Amitābha's Dharma Body...

Malcolm wrote:
Otherwise known as Samantabhadra. The dharmakāya of all buddhas is the same. The name does not matter much.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 10:10 AM
Title: Re: Dennis Hirota on Shinjin
Content:
taleen said:
Not eight. Just 4 as per mn36.
Formless are not jhana in the sutta.

Malcolm wrote:
Accounts vary about this in the shravakayana.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 5:38 AM
Title: Re: Dennis Hirota on Shinjin
Content:



steveb1 said:
When speaking of the third watch of the night of His enlightenment, He indicates His release from "fermentations" and relief from stress, which new condition He counts as enlightened knowledge -

[WIth my mind] attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. I discerned, as it had come to be, that 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress... These are fermentations... This is the origination of fermentations... This is the cessation of fermentations... This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.' My heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, was released from the fermentation of sensuality, released from the fermentation of becoming, released from the fermentation of ignorance. With release, there was the knowledge, 'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/buddha.html#awakening

Blessed release; blessed relief. No more attachment to the struggle(s) of becoming. No more bubbling, seething inner fermentation. There is nothing further for this world.

Malcolm wrote:
That's a stretch to go from mokṣa, release, usually rendered "liberation," to "giving up personal effort" on the path.

steveb1 said:
Okay - thanks for your input. It may, as you said, be a stretch, I don't know, but it seems to me that letting go of all those "fermentations" has to imply stopping struggling with some of the major causes of samsaric suffering. Maybe the Buddha, in the moment of enlightenment, simply realized that he himself had reached the point of "no-struggle" - as part and parcel of liberation. That is, once enlightened, the struggle for attaining it ceases forever. But for the unenlightened, even His own disciples, He said to practice "diligently" unless and until they also reached enlightenment.

A related question, if you don't mind - when the Buddha(s) went into meditative states post-enlightenment, was it for the pure joy of the experience...? Obviously, they would no longer need to be struggling to attain a state which they had already reached.

Malcolm wrote:
The term “fermentation” is also translated “canker” or “outflow”. It refers to having an afflicted relationship with phenomena. Through understanding the four noble truths, the Buddha abandoned his afflicted relationship to the three realms.

Buddha enjoyed shamatha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 5:32 AM
Title: Re: Dennis Hirota on Shinjin
Content:



steveb1 said:
When speaking of the third watch of the night of His enlightenment, He indicates His release from "fermentations" and relief from stress, which new condition He counts as enlightened knowledge -

[WIth my mind] attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. I discerned, as it had come to be, that 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress... These are fermentations... This is the origination of fermentations... This is the cessation of fermentations... This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.' My heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, was released from the fermentation of sensuality, released from the fermentation of becoming, released from the fermentation of ignorance. With release, there was the knowledge, 'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/buddha.html#awakening

Blessed release; blessed relief. No more attachment to the struggle(s) of becoming. No more bubbling, seething inner fermentation. There is nothing further for this world.

Malcolm wrote:
That's a stretch to go from mokṣa, release, usually rendered "liberation," to "giving up personal effort" on the path.

steveb1 said:
Okay - thanks for your input. It may, as you said, be a stretch, I don't know, but it seems to me that letting go of all those "fermentations" has to imply stopping struggling with some of the major causes of samsaric suffering. Maybe the Buddha, in the moment of enlightenment, simply realized that he himself had reached the point of "no-struggle" - as part and parcel of liberation. That is, once enlightened, the struggle for attaining it ceases forever. But for the unenlightened, even His own disciples, He said to practice "diligently" unless and until they also reached enlightenment.

A related question, if you don't mind - when the Buddha(s) went into meditative states post-enlightenment, was it for the pure joy of the experience...? Obviously, they would no longer need to be struggling to attain a state which they had already reached.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, the Buddha placed himself in the eight dhyanas, and abandoned his traces for birth in those states by recognizing the four noble truths in relation to each of them through his own insight, if you are going to go by the Pali canon accounts of his buddhahood.

Mahayana accounts of his Buddhahood are varied.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 3:33 AM
Title: Re: Dennis Hirota on Shinjin
Content:
steveb1 said:
Even Shakyamuni Buddha, after years of exhaustive self-effort, said that enlightenment came upon him only after He relaxed and gave up his self-effort.

Malcolm wrote:
Where?

steveb1 said:
When speaking of the third watch of the night of His enlightenment, He indicates His release from "fermentations" and relief from stress, which new condition He counts as enlightened knowledge -

[WIth my mind] attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. I discerned, as it had come to be, that 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress... These are fermentations... This is the origination of fermentations... This is the cessation of fermentations... This is the way leading to the cessation of fermentations.' My heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, was released from the fermentation of sensuality, released from the fermentation of becoming, released from the fermentation of ignorance. With release, there was the knowledge, 'Released.' I discerned that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/buddha.html#awakening

Blessed release; blessed relief. No more attachment to the struggle(s) of becoming. No more bubbling, seething inner fermentation. There is nothing further for this world.

Malcolm wrote:
That's a stretch to go from mokṣa, release, usually rendered "liberation," to "giving up personal effort" on the path.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 2:22 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
PeterC said:
Many things from the 60s aren’t quite the same without the drugs


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 1:20 AM
Title: Re: Dennis Hirota on Shinjin
Content:
steveb1 said:
Even Shakyamuni Buddha, after years of exhaustive self-effort, said that enlightenment came upon him only after He relaxed and gave up his self-effort.

Malcolm wrote:
Where?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 1:06 AM
Title: Re: Ryogen's thought on plants and their acquired Buddhahood
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
In Tibetan Buddhism it merits no discussion whatsoever.

FiveSkandhas said:
That's why I put it in the Tendai forum.

I couldn't find a single specific Indian-language text cited as direct evidence.

Malcolm wrote:
There is discussion of this issue in Indian sources, Schmithausen discusses it here:

https://ia802904.us.archive.org/31/items/earlyproblemofsentienceofplantsinearliestbuddhismlambertschmithausenseebuddhismandnature_130_l/Early%2C%20Problem%20of%20Sentience%20of%20Plants%20in%20Earliest%20Buddhism%20Lambert%20Schmithausen%20%28See%20Buddhism%20and%20Nature%29.pdf


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, May 1st, 2021 at 1:02 AM
Title: Re: Faith & Reason
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
The Zen master, Bodhidharma, stated that there are two doors to Buddhist practice: faith and reason (I only mention this to introduce this topic).

Malcolm wrote:
There are dharma followers (dharmānusārins) and faith followers (sraddhānusārins). In Mahāyāna, we mostly begin as the first, and gradually become the second.

FiveSkandhas said:
Interesting. Out of curiosity could you give me a source? I'm guessing it's one of the famous Abhidharma texts I should have read but never did.

I seem to recall seeing a longish list of different "[prefix-]nusārins" somewhere once, but I have no idea if that has any bearing on the topic whatsoever.

Malcolm wrote:
There is a discussion of these two types of practitioners in Abhidharma, but in a Mahāyāna context, pretty much everyone who generates bodhicitta on the path of accumulation begins as a faith follower.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 11:27 PM
Title: Re: Ryogen's thought on plants and their acquired Buddhahood
Content:


FiveSkandhas said:
All this may seem like slim evidence to many, and indeed the arguments raged for centuries.

Malcolm wrote:
There is no evidence to suggest that Indian Buddhists ever even entertained the idea that plants were sentient beings (sattva). The idea that plants might be sentient seems to be a strictly EA Buddhist concern. In Tibetan Buddhism it merits no discussion whatsoever.

This does not mean the discussion is invalid, but the argument for plant sentience cannot be successfully made on the basis of ̄sūtra or tantra.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 10:59 PM
Title: Re: Faith & Reason
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
The Zen master, Bodhidharma, stated that there are two doors to Buddhist practice: faith and reason (I only mention this to introduce this topic).

Malcolm wrote:
There are dharma followers (dharmānusārins) and faith followers (sraddhānusārins). In Mahāyāna, we mostly begin as the first, and gradually become the second.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 10:36 PM
Title: Re: Abhidharma
Content:
reiun said:
Note: first edition, 2012

Malcolm wrote:
Correct. Generally speaking, people find this translation of Vallée Pouissin easier to digest than Pruden's. But neither are wholly translated out of French. They both make use of the Sanskrit manuscript as well as the Chinese and Tibetan.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 10:14 PM
Title: Re: Ryogen's thought on plants and their acquired Buddhahood
Content:
FiveSkandhas said:
Are plants simply part of the "supporting framework" of reality..

Malcolm wrote:
According to the Buddha, part of the container, not the contents.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 7:47 PM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
One needs to rely on newer translations, if one is not inclined to learn languages.

reiun said:
Well, certainly, you must be very proud of your linguistic accomplishments. I'm not sure if you understand, though, how such advice comes off.

Malcolm wrote:
The beings of the six realms all see water differently, some as nectar, some as boiling metal.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 7:38 PM
Title: Re: Difficult passages
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
The purpose of Buddhism isn’t to become a Buddhist.

Malcolm wrote:
But it’s a good start.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 10:42 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
reiun said:
Good to know that nonwestern=non-scholarly.

Malcolm wrote:
That’s not what I said, despite whatever conclusion you may have drawn. The point is that the term this thread is predicated upon is mistranslated when it is rendered “extinction.”


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 9:44 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
reiun said:
In fact, an academic, insofar as holding a degree in his field, and having published. What to make of this

Malcolm wrote:
No, I am not an academic. I have a nonwestern, traditional education, not an academic education in a Western University, other than a couple of years of random courses at an extension school, into which I never matriculated for a degree,


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 9:01 AM
Title: Re: Human birth
Content:
PrideTheStudent said:
Why, is it that humans birth are the only capable being of reaching enlightenment. When the deities are already enlightened, have spiritual powers which make it easier to cultivate, and gain powers humans have no powers at all and are born suffering

Malcolm wrote:
Humans have right amount of pleasure and pain to make awakening a viable option.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 8:20 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:



Malcolm wrote:
Yes.

Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
From 2/8/2020:

https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=32880&start=80

Malcolm wrote:
Mahayanis agree with Sauntantra that cessations are pure absence of causes. They disagree with the consequence of such a cessation, and criticize the Sautranta school for asserting cessation to be nonexistence.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 5:36 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:


Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
….in Mahayana.

Malcolm wrote:
In all schools.

Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
Sautantrikas?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 5:04 AM
Title: Re: Abhidharma
Content:
reiun said:
*Kindle, bc 4 vol set $1002

Malcolm wrote:
$80


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 4:34 AM
Title: Re: Abhidharma
Content:
reiun said:
References to recommended translations or accurate academic papers, etc., of or concerning The Abhidharmakośakārikā or Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma, by Vasubandhu, would be appreciated, if such exist.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 4:30 AM
Title: Re: Insects Rebirth
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
I assume these ants on the anthills, for so long, have some Buddhas among them.

Malcolm wrote:
Maybe, but one still has to attain a precious human birth with the eighteen freedoms and endowments in order to attain buddhahood.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 4:28 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
reiun said:
Don't worry Malcolm, we can deal with delusions. After all, we are Buddhists!
(I guess, with an orientation and commitment to practice, I was lucky to sidestep this academic quagmire . . .)

Malcolm wrote:
I am not an academic; but for example, relying on deficient translations, the Dharma becomes like the telephone game...and you know how that always ends.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 4:27 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
reiun said:
The fact that mistranslations are reported to be so widespread is a on what many unwittingly believe or have been taught. If a student is mainly academic-oriented, this is a major problem of which he or she may be unaware. How to figure where to put trust?

Malcolm wrote:
One needs to rely on newer translations, if one is not inclined to learn languages.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 3:40 AM
Title: Re: Insects Rebirth
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Whatever provisional or Upayic Enlightenments Buddhas come to in any of their lives after full Enlightenment are for the benefit of sentient beings to come to Buddhahood themselves.

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhas don't come to provisional awakening after buddhahood. Buddhas are buddhas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 3:36 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:


reiun said:
I'm sure sources like these, which seem to be somewhat wider spread than thought, will soon get the corrections in the mail.

Personally, I am grateful for the chance to explore different viewpoints on topics like these, which, I must admit, I have not studied, and only have had a passing academic interest in, which doesn't amount to much. For me,

Malcolm wrote:
Many of the terminological equivalents of Buddhist terms in use today were made by people who were not practitioners, who were philologist and linguists, who made their translations with old, nonspecialist dictionaries. Even dictionaries like Edgerton's Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit dictionary have many errors of understanding, it was after all first published in 1953.

I understand this poses problems for people who do not have at their disposal a primary Buddhist language with which to investigate these issues, but as a practitioner-translator who is fluent in Tibetan and acquainted  with Sanskrit, I can assure you that the greater percentage of the translations of Buddhist texts made prior to 1990, whether out of Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, or Tibetan, made largely by people with no skin in the game other than an academic position, are riddled with errors practitioners would not make, like translating kṣaya as "destruction" rather than "exhaustion." Another example of a bogus translation is rendering dharmakāya as "Law Body" usually seen in East Asian translations prior to a certain period of time. But like New Age ideas, many bad translations of Buddhist terms never die, and get recycled again and again by people who, lacking education and expertise, cannot discern that they are erroneous.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 3:25 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
Well technically, annihilation or total extinguishing of the kleshas is accurate.

Malcolm wrote:
Technically, it is not. For āryas, afflictions no longer cause action, and so suffering ceases. In general, in Abhidharma, where we find the most detailed description of afflictions and so, they are abandoned, exhausted, etc, not annihilated or extinguished.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 2:29 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
reiun said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_%28Buddhism%29

Malcolm wrote:
I guess I trust Abhidharma and Sūtra more than Wiki, where nirvana is described as a cessation, nirodha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 2:00 AM
Title: Re: Insects Rebirth
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
The traveling between the end of a lifespan and a new life generates an innocence that gives one a great capacity to become a Buddha anew,

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhahood only occurs once. No one becomes a buddha anew. Once a buddha, always a buddha. There is no repetition of buddhahood.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 1:58 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:


Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
Nirvana is a cessation, an absence of a cause for further arising. It is not an annihilation, an extinction, nor an extinguishing….
….in Mahayana.

Malcolm wrote:
In all schools.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 1:49 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
reiun said:
Extinction is synonymous with extinguishing.
https://thesaurus.yourdictionary.com/extinguishing

Könchok Chödrak said:
Yes that makes full sense. Annihilation is also a word I see used quite often.

Malcolm wrote:
Nirvana is a cessation, an absence of a cause for further arising. It is not an annihilation, an extinction, nor an extinguishing.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 30th, 2021 at 12:15 AM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:


Könchok Chödrak said:
I don’t think it’s the wrong word.

Malcolm wrote:
Ok, I defer to your superior knowledge and mastery of primary Buddhist languages and tenet systems.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 10:57 PM
Title: Re: The Relationship between Nirvana and Buddhahood: what constitutes a true extinction?
Content:
LastLegend said:
Still talking about extinction...what goes into extinction?

Könchok Chödrak said:
First off, what becomes extinct?

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Malcolm wrote:
Extinction is the wrong word. Nirvana means to go out. What goes out? The fire of suffering. Why? Its fuel, affliction, is no longer available. Pretty straightforward.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 10:02 AM
Title: Re: Traditonal title for a novice nun?
Content:
Giovanni said:
If I can quote Situ Rinpoche again.

“ Some monks are Sangha Jewel. Some monks are just... Mr Monk” .

Malcolm wrote:
In Mahāyāna, we do not go for refuge to the śrāvaka sangha, only the ārya bodhisattva sangha.

SilenceMonkey said:
Wait a minute, yes we do. We take refuge in the sixteen arhats.

Malcolm wrote:
They are all bodhisattvas in shravaka form.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 9:35 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


tkp67 said:
So rightly Nichiren sought to fulfill Shakyamuni's request to open the door of buddhism to all beings.

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhism was already open to all beings. Nichiren, whatever his virtues may have been, certainly was not the sole purveyor of Buddhism, in his age or in any other age. This digression is off topic for the thread.

tkp67 said:
No it isn't but let me explain the tie in.

The OP is considering learning new age rhetoric for the benefit of helping non Buddhists. I often repeat the same message in this case compassion for the lowest common denominator. I often remind that it is a Buddhist mantra. Of course I contextualize to my tradition out of veneration.

The difficulty that many here have with mindsets that are not like their own is palpable. I understand and respect this. I am not Mary Poppins contrary to popular belief. However I am very intimate with the mind and inherent bias. I am not judgemental even though I observe it.

If the OP feels it necessary to learn things outside his wheelhouse and personality then it is necessary to consider how to address bias against new age mentality. IMHO the best way to over come stuff like this is Buddhist practice.

I don't have many typical biases. Sure I am still tethered but I upgraded them to being biased against biases.

As so the wheels turn.

Malcolm wrote:
You sure talk about yourself a lot.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 8:52 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
Queequeg said:
Fully agree with Malcolm on this point. The LS is very clear about this.

I'll go a step a step further and maybe upset those who insist Shakyamuni was an ordinary being who awoke and that suffering is really real... It's all a play. Your life with all the suffering and joys and everything else is also a play. If you're not a Buddha then that just means this is the part of the play where Shakyamuni was struggling in a past life.

tkp67 said:
A bird is genetically coded for flight before it even leaves the egg. It doesn't attempt flight until the causes, conditions and capacities are met.

Throw that bird out of the nest as an egg and it doesn't fly.

Inherent nature works like this. Causes, conditions and capacities are an inseparable facet of existence. The play is one's expedients. One's expedients are not a matter of mere willful choice.

Malcolm wrote:
There are no inherent natures at all. The idea that there is a bird in an egg, or a tree in a seed, etc., is a specifically nonBuddhist perspective of the Samkhya school.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 8:52 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:



tkp67 said:
That is a provisional perspective.

Malcolm wrote:
If you want to believe the Buddha was born an ordinary person, and so on, as they do in Theravada, that’s fine with me, but that is not the Mahayana narrative.

tkp67 said:
Nichiren's buddhism does not deny any one aspect of Shakyamuni's enlightenment but recognizes the total cause and effect end to end. There is a picture on the wiki damma that encapsulates this concept.

In the Lotus Sutra Shakyamuni explains why he taught the way he did and the implications. Nichiren fused this into a single precept practice that propagates the great vehicle. It isn't provisional so one can't expect to describe the vehicle from any specific perspective. The whole of his enlightenment end to end has no bounds or distinctions.

Malcolm wrote:
Empty rhetoric., which does not address my point at all.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 4:04 AM
Title: Re: Traditonal title for a novice nun?
Content:
Giovanni said:
If I can quote Situ Rinpoche again.

“ Some monks are Sangha Jewel. Some monks are just... Mr Monk” .

Malcolm wrote:
In Mahāyāna, we do not go for refuge to the śrāvaka sangha, only the ārya bodhisattva sangha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 3:00 AM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:
Genjo Conan said:
I'll acknowledge up front that I'm splitting hairs, but: as a Soto Zen practitioner, there's only one person who I would consider "my teacher," and if I came to consider someone else "my teacher," it would mean changing my relationship with my current teacher.  That said, I'll happily attend talks and classes, read texts, etc. from teachers both within and outside of my own tradition, and feel that I've learned a lot from them.  And there are teachers, apart from my current teacher, with whom I have a meaningful ongoing relationship.  But there's still only one who I'd consider "my teacher."  Like I said, it's probably hair splitting.

Malcolm wrote:
I hear you. But it is just not that way in Tibetan Buddhism at all.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 1:51 AM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:
SilenceMonkey said:
To me a bigger question is whether Tibetan traditions can coexist with East Asian traditions or Theravada.

Malcolm wrote:
I know a lot of people who started in EA or SEA Buddhism, and moved to Tibetan Buddhism. I don't really know that many folks who went the other way. But then I don't spend any time in EA or SEA Buddhist circles, so I would be unlikely to know such folks.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 1:42 AM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:
reiun said:
My only argument has been that having one teacher is not a limitation, as you stated.

Malcolm wrote:
You argued:
Unless, of course, you have an honest and thorough commitment with one teacher. Then it is one teacher only, one-at-a-time only.
This is the limitation I mentioned. One can have an honest and thorough commitment with more than one teacher at a time. YMMV. But you stated this as an absolute. It may be the case in your tradition, but you cannot generalize to other traditions, as you have done here, inadvertently or not.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 12:14 AM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:


reiun said:
Well, I fit the "ordinary" classification, but it was certainly crystal clear to me, especially at a certain point, what my teacher's ability was, which was tied to his realization.

Malcolm wrote:
There is no objective standard by which such attributions of realization can be measured. It's is all just hearsay. What you just engaged in was hearsay. In other words, you decided, based on criteria you are not sharing, that your teacher was a realized person (which you have not defined). Now, you have shared your opinion and I read that your statement. This is exactly what hearsay is. There is no proof, nor can there be. Thus, all such claims are rumor, etc, as I have mentioned. If I claim, for example, that my guru is a realized person, you have no way to check this and no reason to believe me.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 11:24 PM
Title: Re: Why does Lama Zopa Rinpoche sway?
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
I've observed that some Lamas have hip trouble from sitting so long.

n8pee said:
Glenn Mullin once pointed this out about the late Denma Locho Rinpoche that long-time meditators tend to walk like ducks.

Malcolm wrote:
Tibetans in general tend to waddle.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 11:22 PM
Title: Re: Why does Lama Zopa Rinpoche sway?
Content:
Hazel said:
I noticed that Lama Zopa Rinpoche sways as he walks and appears to need help/stabilization at times. Is this related to the stroke he suffered?

Malcolm wrote:
Probably.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 11:21 PM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:


reiun said:
But I would nonetheless disagree here. Quantity doesn't guarantee quality.

Malcolm wrote:
Neither does picking only one teacher to work with. It is impossible for an ordinary person to judge the realization or lack thereof, of anyone else, let alone this or that given teacher. Even of one imagines one is picking a teacher who is equal in realization to the Buddha himself, this is only the opinion of an ordinary person and nothing more.

People accept teachers entirely based on rumor, hearsay, fame, accolades, in other words, based on reputation alone. Confirmation bias is a strong factor here.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 8:23 PM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:


reiun said:
So perhaps it is not uncommon in Tibetan tradition for a student to have several teacher relationships simultaneously? Please say more about that.

Malcolm wrote:
In Tibetan Buddhism, it is very common to have many teachers simultaneously.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 9:04 AM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:
LastLegend said:
I was practicing Pure Land...for a little bit. I couldn’t focus on recitation for too long. It was a hard practice man. Then I aspired to follow a quick path to enlightenment because I was suffering. Then Chan came along. I now understand recitation in the subtle way. It depends on individual’s aspiration that’s what leads them. If you follow Tibetan, and you want the quickest path, they have their direct lineages.
So yes, you can practice both.

reiun said:
Unless, of course, you have an honest and thorough commitment with one teacher. Then it is one teacher only, one-at-a-time only.

Malcolm wrote:
No, this is an unnecessary limitation.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 2:40 AM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:


Giovanni said:
The word I most notice here is practice. Can we practice for example Guru Yoga and Shin during the same period?
This is not to say one is superior. Just what is possible in one day or one week.

Malcolm wrote:
That depends on you, not on a tradition.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 2:39 AM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:
Aemilius said:
"This being, that is;
from the arising of this, that arises;
this not being, that is not;
from the cessation of this, that ceases." (Bodhi Sutta: The Bodhi Tree)

That equals: If A then B; if not A then not B.

Buddha first expresses a general form of conditionality or causation. Then follows the special case of applying it to becoming and the cessation of becoming, i.e. the 12 nidanas and their cessation.

In Sutras and the Abhidharma there are also six causes (hetu) and four conditions (pratyaya). They overlap and describe the same phenomenon of how things or beings arise and cease.

Charles Darwin showed how species arise dependent on causes and conditions. They also cease  and become extinct, like mammoths, dinosaurs, sabretooth tigers etc.. have done.

Malcolm wrote:
The point is liberation from afflictions, not describing the inner workings of a nuclear reactor.

There is no explanation outside of Dharma for liberation via dependent origination:

Dwelling at Savatthi... Then Ven. Kaccayana Gotta approached the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: "Lord, 'Right view, right view,' it is said. To what extent is there right view?"

"By & large, Kaccayana, this world is supported by (takes as its object) a polarity, that of existence & non-existence. But when one sees the origination of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'non-existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. When one sees the cessation of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one.

"By & large, Kaccayana, this world is in bondage to attachments, clingings (sustenances), & biases. But one such as this does not get involved with or cling to these attachments, clingings, fixations of awareness, biases, or obsessions; nor is he resolved on 'my self.' He has no uncertainty or doubt that just stress, when arising, is arising; stress, when passing away, is passing away. In this, his knowledge is independent of others. It's to this extent, Kaccayana, that there is right view.

"'Everything exists': That is one extreme. 'Everything doesn't exist': That is a second extreme. Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma via the middle: From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications. From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form. From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling. From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving. From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance. From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering.

"Now from the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form. From the cessation of name-&-form comes the cessation of the six sense media. From the cessation of the six sense media comes the cessation of contact. From the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling. From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving. From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance. From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress & suffering."
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.015.than.html


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 2:07 AM
Title: Re: His Holiness says that one can follow a book, not a teacher
Content:


Volan said:
This statement is somewhat revolutionary to the Tibetan Buddhism - traditionally one is supposed to receive oral
transmissions and commentaries.

Malcolm wrote:
Not really. Vajrayāna topics yes, sūtrayāna, not so much.

Volan said:
The result of this is that in Tengyur one can find lots of Indian commentaries and
Tibetans themselves don`t know anything about them - if asked, they will answer that they don`t have a
transmission, it`s not a part of their curriculum...

Malcolm wrote:
Most of the Tengyur has no reading transmission.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 1:39 AM
Title: Re: Via positiva, via negativa
Content:
Rick said:
The Lurchy Middle Way ... ?

Actually it's more like a hybrid than a transcendence of extremes. A drawing from different traditions: So many beautiful flowers! It's not a particularly efficient path, assuming the goal is to end suffering. But it seems to be the only path that I could ever take.

I will say that finding the underlying connection between groundedness and groundlessness is a challenge!

Malcolm wrote:
There is no underlying connection...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 1:19 AM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:
Sādhaka said:
I think it was Longchenpa who said to be like a bee at first,

Malcolm wrote:
This is actually from the 17 tantras.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 1:18 AM
Title: Re: One Path Or Two?
Content:



Giovanni said:
What do you think?

Malcolm wrote:
It is a very limited point of view. We all only practice one path, no matter if we move from this tradition to that tradition, etc. It's all Dharma, it's all good.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 12:55 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


neander said:
I have a quick OT question then will not hijack the tread after the reply: Does all Mahayana including Zen  considers Buddha this cosmic Extraordinary Buddha? thx

Malcolm wrote:
Yes. You could say that it is baked in.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 at 12:36 AM
Title: Re: Via positiva, via negativa
Content:
Rick said:
Good article.

Reading it helped me realize I'm forging <however awkwardly> my own middle path between emptiness-groundlessness and groundedness-brahman ... with some Krishnamurti thrown in just to keep me on my toes.

Malcolm wrote:
Nah, you are just lurching from one extreme to the other: being, nonbeing, being, nonbeing, because you have confused emptiness as an ultimate principle, like brahmin.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 11:28 PM
Title: Re: Traditonal title for a novice nun?
Content:


Archie2009 said:
And what about the racism of intersectional anti-racism?

Malcolm wrote:
Sorry, that's just not a thing, other than a Tucker Carlson-style misrepresentation.

Archie2009 said:
I respect your knowledge of Dharma, but I think you'd have to be as blindly partisan to the 'progressive' left as Tucker is to his side to believe that.

Malcolm wrote:
So, now you have to prove it is a "thing" beyond TC style nitwittery. Because frankly, I don't see how antiracism can be racist.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 10:19 PM
Title: Re: Traditonal title for a novice nun?
Content:


Archie2009 said:
And what about the racism of intersectional anti-racism?

Malcolm wrote:
Sorry, that's just not a thing, other than a Tucker Carlson-style misrepresentation.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 9:00 PM
Title: Re: Traditonal title for a novice nun?
Content:
Giovanni said:
Yes, we see this a lot. Always.
To be more accurate perhaps, I hope that the influx of westerners does not result in introducing status games that the Tibetans hadn’t thought of, to do with the politics of identity.

Malcolm wrote:
Identity politics are not the problem, racism and sexism are the problem.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 7:17 PM
Title: Re: Traditonal title for a novice nun?
Content:


Giovanni said:
I hope that the entry of recent westerners into the Tibetan sangha will not result in a need for status and political activity.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure, the Tibetans already jostle for status and manipulate the Dharma for political and financial ends.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 7:14 PM
Title: Re: Yangti Nagpo Question
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
... The issue is the all the deity yoga practices and so on, these were the later additions to which i was referring...

yagmort said:
Malcolm, doest it make earlier/original Yangti Nagpo more along the lines with Vima Nyingtig?
another question is it known who and when made the later additions and why?
and yet another question is it transmitted in its original form nowadays at all?

Malcolm wrote:
We do know who supplemented the treasure cycle, though the name escapes me at the moment. I am not privy to motivations of tertons, so I cannot ascertain why. Chogyal Namkhai Norbu used to give the transmission for the essential dark retreat scrolls, which also form part of his Longsal cycle.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 7:10 PM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
I think to say when the Gautama Siddhartha, before He left His father’s kingdom, put His hands under a wheel of a cart to help a peasant remove it from a pothole, and when that cart crushed His fingers (I saw this on a TV show about His Life), that was not a “play”, He felt real pain then, and it was a mirror of what Samsara does and the struggles of our pain in it. It is insincere to call the World-Honored One’s troubled a play. For example, in the Lotus Sutra the Bodhisattvas ask the World-Honored One if His troubles have been few, whether the beings in delusion are receptive to His Teachings, and how His Life is going. These are not questions regarding a “play” but a real Buddha Life. The Buddha’s Life is real, and although it is coming from a place higher than the Saha world, and isn’t part of the Saha world, we must still respect that He is also a person, that is why even she rejected the idea of being called a God, because that is how He wanted to be seen, He wanted people to see Him as a real person. And it does not seem the Scriptures refer to His life as a “play”, but perhaps removed from Samsara, as He provides the Dharma for those caught in the Saha world, while Himself outside of it, to help them in His Compassion.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Malcolm wrote:
So, when the Buddha steeped on an Acacia thorn, the Sambhogakaya felt it?

By definition, a Buddha is incapable of experiencing any negative or painful sensations.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 5:56 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
Do you realize how little sense that makes?
It's one of the possible perspectives on Sakyamuni's life that has bee put forward by some. It's not accepted by many traditions. Feel free to reject or ignore it.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, it was put forward by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra, which was cited by Maitreya specifically in the Mahāyānottaratantra, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 5:16 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


Sādhaka said:
It might be the quote Malcolm mentioned some years ago; about the Buddha saying that anything well-spoken could be considered to be the word of the Buddha.

Malcolm wrote:
It was the opinion of Vasubandhu.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 5:13 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


clyde said:
Do you realize how little sense that makes?

Malcolm wrote:
For you it does not make sense. For millions of Buddhists over the past two millennia, it made perfect sense, and still does.

clyde said:
If the Buddha was awakened eons ago and merely pretended to suffer, and lied when he told of his “Noble Search” (See: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html ), and then pretended to awaken under the Bodhi Tree; how is that supposed to encourage us to follow the Dharma?

Malcolm wrote:
As the Lotus Sūtra states:

“Noble ones,” he continued, “in the same way, although I attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood countless, innumerable hundreds of thousands of quintillions of eons ago, I sometimes teach as a skillful method such as this in order to guide beings. In this matter, I am not in any way a liar.”

https://read.84000.co/translation/toh113.html

The Buddha manifested the twelve deeds in order to encourage the śrāvakas, he manifested the bodhisattva path over three incalculable eons to inspire courageous bodhisattvas, and so on.

clyde said:
For me, that the Buddha was an ordinary human being, subject to the sufferings of common people, and that he sought and found liberation - that is encouraging!

Malcolm wrote:
Perhaps, but this is not the normative Mahāyāna narrative. Even if you follow the śrāvaka narrative, the Bodhisattva was no ordinary human being.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 4:17 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:



Minobu said:
so there is no suffering so these are not really 4 truths according to you guys

Malcolm wrote:
After the Buddha attained awakening eons ago, for him there was no further suffering, even if he appeared to undergo the bodhisattva path as portrayed in the Jatakas, spent six years of austerity after leaving home, and so on, in reality, this was a show, an illusion, and display, to encourage sentient beings to follow the Dharma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 4:00 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


Minobu said:
Guess it's hard to admit when you are wrong eh malcolm..

Malcolm wrote:
You are still taking my analogy out of context. To restate it for you, in an illusion, it may appear that people are suffering and being killed, but no one is actually suffering and being killed, likewise, even though it appears that the Buddha takes birth in Lumbini, leaves home, attains awakening, and so on, in reality it is an illusion, the Buddha is not actually takingin birth, leaving home, attaining awakening and so on. Otherwise, the consequence is that the Buddha would have attained liberation twice, once, eons ago, and then again in Bodhgaya.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 at 12:12 AM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
In some respects, I think the Theravadins have an advantage here.

Malcolm wrote:
They've defined buddhahood as arhatship. So, only afflictions need to be eradicated. For the most part they have no interest in the bodhisattva path, precisely because (outside of Vajrayāna) it takes too long.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 11:08 PM
Title: Re: Buddhism and depression
Content:
Ardha said:
I've heard teachers recommend a therapist and other professionals for such matters, fully accepting that for such issues you should go to them instead of Buddhist teachers. For "lighter" depression it can help, but for serious and deep depression you need a specialist.

Tata1 said:
Depends on your familiarity with practice. But if you have not build up a foundation before you get the depression it seems difficult to deal with it with buddhism alone

Bristollad said:
I disagree.  I had been a Buddhist for more than thirty years with a strong foundation and practice - it didn't innoculate me from depression nor was it enough on its own.  That's why I agreed with Crazy Wisdom: you have to use as many tools as possible - medication, counselling, walks in nature, "fun" and following the advice of your teachers.  Depression is pernicious and can be deadly.

Malcolm wrote:
Most depression is physically-based, "mind tricks" don't help, but as noted, proper exercise, diet, massage, if necessary, counseling, etc., should all be used.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 11:06 PM
Title: Re: Traditonal title for a novice nun?
Content:



Tilopa said:
Not 'Ani' as many western nuns think it's a disrespectful term. Ask what her ordination name is and use that but if you insist on being be more formal add Venerable...as in Venerable Pema... or whatever her new name is.

Cinnabar said:
Exactly. Every monk is a “venerable”— and so should every nun.

heart said:
So please, just do that then. Who knows, you might start a revolution.

/magnus

Malcolm wrote:
Karma Lekshe Tsomo yelled at me for calling her Ani-la. So there are some western nuns who are not pleased with being called "aunti."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 10:37 PM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


Minobu said:
If one believes that Nichiren is The Eternal Buddha of course they are not able to understand what you are exposing to tkp.

By the way I owe you. Thanks. It was you who basically said the primordial or Eternal Buddha is Dharmakaya.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, fundamentally, there are countless buddhas in countless universes, but there is only one dharmakāya, which is to say, only one realization in which all buddhas partake.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 10:33 PM
Title: Re: Yangti Nagpo Question
Content:


mutsuk said:
Obviously not.

Malcolm wrote:
If you say so...

mutsuk said:
Depending on the editions (and not taking into account later additions), it has a root-tantra, a history (lo-rgyus), a karchag, some ngöndros, etc.

Malcolm wrote:
Ok, I agree. The issue is the all the deity yoga practices and so on, these were the later additions to which i was referring.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 9:13 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


tkp67 said:
So rightly Nichiren sought to fulfill Shakyamuni's request to open the door of buddhism to all beings.

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhism was already open to all beings. Nichiren, whatever his virtues may have been, certainly was not the sole purveyor of Buddhism, in his age or in any other age. This digression is off topic for the thread.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 9:09 PM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


Minobu said:
I was more concerned with this totally Nihilistic comment that screams indifference.

No buddhist teaching teaches this.
this is where one goes wrong.


Malcolm wrote:
Context, Minobu. In an illusory battle, like Mortal Kombat, it seems people are being killed, but no one is; likewise, it seems that Siddhartha was conceived, led a sheltered palace life, attained full awakening under a tree, etc., but in reality it was all a drama, a play, a show, a movie for those to be tamed.

tkp67 said:
That is a provisional perspective.

Malcolm wrote:
If you want to believe the Buddha was born an ordinary person, and so on, as they do in Theravada, that’s fine with me, but that is not the Mahayana narrative.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 8:43 PM
Title: Re: Yangti Nagpo Question
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
... was only ...

mutsuk said:
Obviously not.

Malcolm wrote:
If you say so...


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 7:38 PM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


Minobu said:
I was more concerned with this totally Nihilistic comment that screams indifference.

No buddhist teaching teaches this.
this is where one goes wrong.
Though it seems like people are suffering and being killed, in reality no one suffers or is killed

Malcolm wrote:
Context, Minobu. In an illusory battle, like Mortal Kombat, it seems people are being killed, but no one is; likewise, it seems that Siddhartha was conceived, led a sheltered palace life, attained full awakening under a tree, etc., but in reality it was all a drama, a play, a show, a movie for those to be tamed.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 7:30 PM
Title: Re: Yangti Nagpo Question
Content:
KonchogUrgyenNyima said:
Hello,

My question is about the YN ngondro. It must have it’s own ngondro correct? What is this called?

Malcolm wrote:
Dungso Repa’s original transmission was only a zhitro empowerment and practice along with the 7 week instruction. A large amount of ancillary material was added in the 19th century.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 7:42 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
tkp67 said:
None of that indicates whether he fell out of the womb fully aware of his own buddhahood and pretending to strive for enlightenment as a show entirely for others.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, actually it does.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 2:43 AM
Title: Re: Awareness and mind
Content:



SilenceMonkey said:
I find the cittamatra approach much more accessible than madhyamaka. That's what I've been taught, anyway. That it is easier to understand Cittamatra experientially than it is to understand Madhyamaka, which is more subtle.

Malcolm wrote:
You've been mislead. Yogacāra is much more complicated than Madhyamaka. Longchenpa also places Yogacāra below Madhymaka, like later tenet systems presentations in Thuken, Changkya, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 2:41 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


tkp67 said:
Yet the body of the historical buddha was subject to life and death all the same.

Malcolm wrote:
Not really. It was just a show for our benefit.

tkp67 said:
I would like a citation from the writings of Nichiren or the Lotus Sutra please since those the tools of the Nichiren traditions.

Otherwise argumentative ascertains in a tradition you denounce and put no effort in to learn is inappropriate.

Malcolm wrote:
This is already pointed out in the Saddharmapundarika Sūtra, you should read it sometime:

“Noble ones, the world with its devas, humans, and asuras thinks and believes, ‘Bhagavān Śākyamuni departed from his Śākya clan into mendicancy, went to the preeminent, supreme Bodhimaṇḍa, and attained the highest, complete enlightenment of buddhahood by the city of Gayā.’ [F.118.b] However, noble ones, I attained the highest, complete enlightenment of buddhahood many hundreds of thousands of quintillions of eons ago.

And:

“Noble ones, the Tathāgata says to beings with various aspirations, few roots of merit, and many kleśas, ‘Bhikṣus, I am young; I renounced my family and it has not been long, bhikṣus, since I have attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.’

And:

“Noble ones, whatever the Tathāgata has to do, that is what the Tathāgata does. The Tathāgata, who has attained perfect buddhahood a long time ago, has an immeasurable lifespan. [F.120.a] He always remains and does not pass into nirvāṇa, but creates the appearance of passing into nirvāṇa in order to benefit his students.

And:

“Noble ones,” he continued, “in the same way, although I attained the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood countless, innumerable hundreds of thousands of quintillions of eons ago, I sometimes teach as a skillful method such as this in order to guide beings. In this matter, I am not in any way a liar.”

https://read.84000.co/translation/toh113.html

If you assert the Buddha experiences the sufferings and torments of ordinary sentient beings, you contradict your own basic sūtra.

The twelve deeds are only for show. The future buddha, Maitreya, makes the same point of the Mahāyānottaratantra, citing the Lotus Sūtra to this effect.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 2:22 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


tkp67 said:
Yet the body of the historical buddha was subject to life and death all the same.

Malcolm wrote:
Not really. It was just a show for our benefit.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 2:21 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
tkp67 said:
That doesn't mean the experience wasn't genuine for the man named Guatama at the same time.

Malcolm wrote:
The Buddha's twelve deeds are like an illusionist's trick which shows a battle between two armies. Though it seems like people are suffering and being killed, in reality no one suffers or is killed. The Buddha's twelve deeds are exactly like that. You think you see the lady sawed in half, but there isn't even a lady, let alone a saw, etc. It's all just a show.

tkp67 said:
This still doesn't discount that in that existence his development in and out the palace up until enlightenment appeared the same.

Malcolm wrote:
As I said, it was just play, like a magic show. The Buddha exhibited his twelve deeds for our benefit, he did not exhibit them for his own benefit.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 1:49 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
tkp67 said:
That doesn't mean the experience wasn't genuine for the man named Guatama at the same time.

Malcolm wrote:
The Buddha's twelve deeds are like an illusionist's trick which shows a battle between two armies. Though it seems like people are suffering and being killed, in reality no one suffers or is killed. The Buddha's twelve deeds are exactly like that. You think you see the lady sawed in half, but there isn't even a lady, let alone a saw, etc. It's all just a show.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 1:46 AM
Title: Re: Awareness and mind
Content:



SilenceMonkey said:
According to Cittamatra, all that we  perceive and experience is a reflection of what is stored in the Alaya consciousness.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, and there are myriad problems with that understanding, which is why cittamatra is below madhyamaka.

SilenceMonkey said:
Haha, fair. It's debatable but fair enough. I don't understand enough to get into that debate at the moment.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, you could try reading Asanga's Mahāyānasaṃgraha. Then you can read Candrakīrti's rebuttal in the Madhyamaka-avatāra. Or, you could read any number of texts on tenet systems, such as those by Changkya, Thuken, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 1:44 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
tkp67 said:
Both the negative and positive aspects of the human condition are expressed in the various gradients on the developmental spectrum.

Malcolm wrote:
You are a master of the obvious.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 1:43 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


tkp67 said:
There is in intrinsic self in the phenomenon of human development and the impetus used to facilitate it.

Malcolm wrote:
There is no intrinsic self in the phenomenon of human development, or any other phenomena.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 1:29 AM
Title: Re: Awareness and mind
Content:



SilenceMonkey said:
Both are mind.

Malcolm wrote:
A mirror cannot reflect itself, just as a sword cannot cut itself.

SilenceMonkey said:
According to Cittamatra, all that we  perceive and experience is a reflection of what is stored in the Alaya consciousness.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, and there are myriad problems with that understanding, which is why cittamatra is below madhyamaka.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 1:16 AM
Title: Re: Awareness and mind
Content:



SilenceMonkey said:
Well... if everything is mind, everything we experience is mind.

(cittamatra)

Volan said:
That is taking reflections in the mirror for the mirror itself.

SilenceMonkey said:
Both are mind.

Malcolm wrote:
A mirror cannot reflect itself, just as a sword cannot cut itself.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 12:43 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
I do not believe it is a mistake...to incorporate certain New Age Teachings into a Buddhist’s life...

Malcolm wrote:
This is called, “corrupting the Dharma.”

Könchok Chödrak said:
Well please continue to keep the Dharma Pure, as Mappo is progressing. We should all work on that and help each other do that.

Malcolm wrote:
"Though blinded by ignorance, even the tīrthikas 
possess some slight truths, 
resembling letters carved by worms, 
but one should place no confidence in them."
-- Maitreya, Mahāyānottaratantra.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 12:21 AM
Title: Re: Follow a school over a teacher?
Content:
Dharmalight889 said:
I am hoping some here can shine some light on an issue I have been having. As a newer practitioner, I see a lot of debates and disagreements on philosophical views between different schools. For example, I have seen some people say that the Gelug view is incorrect and then provides reasons for it, I have seen some say the Jonang view is incorrect and provide reasons for it, and so on. As someone new to Tibetan Buddhism, it is hard to tell what someone should follow. If one enjoys a teacher from a certain lineage, but others who are more educated say that school has wrong views what should be done?? Having some trouble with this so hoping others can help

Malcolm wrote:
If you are a Vajrayāna practitioner, such academic questions are somewhat irrelevant. In Vajrayāna, the view is experiential and based on empowerment, rather than intellectual analysis.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 26th, 2021 at 12:17 AM
Title: Re: Genealogies of Mahāyāna Buddhism: Emptiness, Power and the Question of Origin
Content:



neander said:
Out  of curiosity where does he say this ? I thank you in advance if you provide the actual paper, paragraph or book where he comes to the above conclusion (and I won't hijack this thread later on to a karma discussion as there is already enough material on this forum...).

I read his paper " Did the Buddha Believe in Karma and Rebirth? " published in 1998 and overall I enjoyed it (very interesting the fact that also Vetter dismisses the 4 noble truths as a core early Buddhist principle)  and I found the paper very well done.

Malcolm wrote:
Bronkhorst agrees the Buddha indeed taught both rebirth and karma in that paper.

neander said:
Exactly, but it was not the karma of Vedic and Jaina scriptures because that would have been a duplicate says the paper, it was more based on intentions and desires more than physical activities...

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, that is correct. It is also obvious to anyone who has studied the doctrines of rebirth and karma outside of Buddhadharma, so not new news.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 25th, 2021 at 11:38 PM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:


tkp67 said:
As Nichiren taught it, Gautama himself needed to understand the nature of provision and true within his own existence in order to teach it. If he knew this clearly out of the womb would he have begrudged those earlier years in the palace pretending not to know there was suffering outside the gates?

Malcolm wrote:
There is no doubt that the Mahayana perspective is that the Buddha’s life was a mere display to inspire  us to practice a path. So, yes, the Buddha was a buddha from infancy, and for eons beforehand.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 25th, 2021 at 11:33 PM
Title: Re: Genealogies of Mahāyāna Buddhism: Emptiness, Power and the Question of Origin
Content:


Aemilius said:
Why should we take seriously someone like Bronkhorst who says that "rebirth  and karma were invented" (by some foolish Indian cranks presumably) ?

neander said:
Out  of curiosity where does he say this ? I thank you in advance if you provide the actual paper, paragraph or book where he comes to the above conclusion (and I won't hijack this thread later on to a karma discussion as there is already enough material on this forum...).

I read his paper " Did the Buddha Believe in Karma and Rebirth? " published in 1998 and overall I enjoyed it (very interesting the fact that also Vetter dismisses the 4 noble truths as a core early Buddhist principle)  and I found the paper very well done.

Malcolm wrote:
Bronkhorst agrees the Buddha indeed taught both rebirth and karma in that paper.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 25th, 2021 at 9:04 PM
Title: Re: Bee Keeping
Content:
tingdzin said:
Talk to some keepers. Aside from bears, the ones where I used to live have a big problem with die-off caused by environmental factors. On the other hand, go for it, we need all the honey we can get.

Kim O'Hara said:
...and all the bees we can get. No pollinators, no plants. No plants, no people.


Kim

Malcolm wrote:
If one lives in North America, native pollinators such as mason bees are more effective pollinators than honey bees. So make make many homes for them. White faced hornets are also good, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 25th, 2021 at 8:56 PM
Title: Re: Six session guru yoga
Content:
conebeckham said:
....though other lineages maintain guru yoga practices that compare in many ways.  The Four Session Guru Yoga of Karmapa Mikyo Dorje, for instance.

Empty Cloud said:
Thank you. But where did the injunction to take refuge at least six times a day come from? Is it injunction common to all schools, apart of the Gelug-specific six-session yoga?
Additionally, where did the convention of six times a day come from? How do Tibetan partition a day for practice? I've also heard of a six-time book....

Malcolm wrote:
It comes from various exhortations in the tantras to make offerings three times a day and three times at night. Only the Geluks turned it into a guru yoga practice by that name.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 25th, 2021 at 7:23 PM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Well you answered all my questions very clearly. I would like to ask: what was Gautama’s mind like throughout it all? Before Gaya and after Gaya? Why did there have to be a change through that powerful Meditation under the Bodhi tree? Why couldn’t He just fully expound the Buddhist doctrine before He sat down and attained an already attained Enlightenment? Could He have actually? I’m sure He could have, but chose to drive those Expedient Means forward in a push to show others how to come to Enlightenment.

Malcolm wrote:
Just a show for those tired of samsara.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 25th, 2021 at 6:46 AM
Title: Re: The Life Span of the Tathagata: Before and after Gaya.
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
So here is my question. What is the difference before and after Gaya for Buddha, if He was already Enlightened, and what are the next steps after Gaya?

Malcolm wrote:
The twelve deeds of the Buddha, including his conception, leaving home, attaining buddhahood, and parinirvana, were all just a display to benefit sentient beings. Not only this, but his career as a bodhisattva likewise was merely a display to benefit sentient beings.

The Buddha had attained buddhahood countless myriads of eons beforehand.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 24th, 2021 at 10:32 PM
Title: Re: Six session guru yoga
Content:
Empty Cloud said:
Dear all,
Is the six-session guru yoga mainly a gelug practice and not practised in other traditions? Thank you for any informative responses.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 24th, 2021 at 10:02 PM
Title: Re: Which Bodhisattvic Bhumis are associated with the stage of no regression?
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Thank you very much Malcolm. Can you direct me to a resource, or provide any information about how Bodhisattvas can possibly regress before that?

Thank you.

Om.

Malcolm wrote:
There are various stages of nonretrogression, if you want a comprehensive overview, you should read Mahayana Sutra Alamkara.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 24th, 2021 at 9:30 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:
Sādhaka said:
Actually, I saw something recently in a text that implied that Asuras have the possibility to attain Buddhahood as well. Unlikely that many would, I’d imagine, but the implication of the possibility was there. Now if I could just remember where I’d read it.... It was only like a month or so ago.

Also, aren’t there stories in Sutras and so on about Devas having the possibility to attain Buddhahood too?

Malcolm wrote:
The Suhṛllekha states:
Birth as one holding wrong views, as animals, pretas, and hell beings,
as one without the teaching of the victor, or in a border country,
birth as a barbarian, as one stupid and dumb,
or birth as any of the long-lived gods
are the eight faults of lacking freedom.
Having acquired the freedom that is liberated from those states.
one must make effort in order to avoid them.
Asuras here are included among the devas.

Passing By said:
You'd think, going by the number of times Indra and other major non-Buddhist deities have appeared in the tantras as retinues of the featured mandala or Buddha, that they'd be the ones who practise dharma the most though.

Not to mention most of the retinue of mandala yidams aren't human anyway


Or do those not count as devas?

Malcolm wrote:
Figures in a mandala are symbols, not sentient beings.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 24th, 2021 at 8:08 PM
Title: Re: Which Bodhisattvic Bhumis are associated with the stage of no regression?
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
I have a question. Is there a certain Bhumi that the stage of no regression (or stage of no retrogression) is most associated with for Bodhisattvas? Is a certain one definitely it? Can all of them be reached and then non-regressed from, in a stage of no retrogression, according to Buddhist Teachings, individually? Here are the Ten Bhumis of the Bodhisattvas:
1. Extremely Joyful (rabtu dga’ba)
2. Stainless (drima medpa)
3. Luminous (’odbyed)
4. Blazing Light (’od ’phroba)
5. Challenged to Purify (sbyang dka’ba)
6. Actualizing (mngondu byedpa)
7. Going Far (ringdu songba)
8. Unshakable (mig yo ba)
9. Perfect Intelligence (legspa’i blogros)
10. Dharma Cloud (choskyi sprinpa)
(Full Article.)
https://www.padmasambhava.org/2019/06/ten-bhumis-of-the-bodhisattvas/

After the Tenth Bhumi one enters into Buddhahood from what I read in this article. So let me know, from the standpoint of Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrayana or Mahayana, what are the takes on this subject, as well as anything else you have learned from the Ekayana on it as well. It is important to the world of Buddhism.

Thank you.

Könchok.

Malcolm wrote:
The eighth, where one attains power over birth.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 24th, 2021 at 8:07 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
I do not believe it is a mistake...to incorporate certain New Age Teachings into a Buddhist’s life...

Malcolm wrote:
This is called, “corrupting the Dharma.”


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 24th, 2021 at 8:04 PM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:


Aemilius said:
The ideas of causation were not unheard of in various part of the ancient world. Though not necessarily similar to the Buddhist explanations of causation. Explanations where phenomena were not caused by a divinity or several divinities have certainly existed outside of India.

Malcolm wrote:
Those explanations do not avoid falling into extremes. So, not dependent origination. Early Samkhya also does not depend on a creator, but it’s views directly contradict dependent origination, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 23rd, 2021 at 7:05 PM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:


Aemilius said:
"He who understands the dependent origination see Buddha, the enlightened state", Buddha Shakyamuni in Arya Salistamba sutra.

Malcolm wrote:
Dependent origination is solely a teaching of the Buddha. It is taught in no other tradition, exoteric or esoteric, apart from Bon. And they borrowed the doctrine from Buddhists.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 23rd, 2021 at 12:58 AM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:
Aemilius said:
Buddha says it in a circular fashion that "where there is the noble eight-fold path there are also Aryas, and where there are Aryas there is found the Noble eight fold path".
In the Perfection of Wisdom literature it is said that the Dharma will first go to the direction of West (from India).

The teaching of reincarnation was widely accepted in Europe during the first 500 years of the Common Era:
"The early Christian church accepted the teaching of reincarnation, which was expounded by the Gnostics and by numerous church fathers, including Clement of Alexandria, the celebrated Origen (both 3rd century), and St. Jerome (5th century). Of the three, Origen was the greatest proponent of reincarnation among the early Christian teachers and theologians, and he had the greatest impact." (Reverend Dennis Shipman)

According to Ajahn Brahm the Roman Emperor put a Pope in prison for one year, because he refused to cancel the teaching of reincarnation. After spending a year in prison the Pope agreed to take away this teaching.

All in all, we can say that Edward Conze was a good buddhist.

Malcolm wrote:
All this is irrelevant to the historical fact that the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras had zero impact on Gnosticism.

And:

Now in this Dhamma and Discipline, Subhadda, is found the Noble Eightfold Path; and in it alone are also found true ascetics of the first, second, third, and fourth degrees of saintliness. Devoid of true ascetics are the systems of other teachers.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.1-6.vaji.html

This statement is found repeated in many sutras.

Aemilius said:
Caused by compassion the manifestations of Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya (Buddhas and Bodhisattvas) will appear where ever there are people who are willing to know and hear the Dharma. You can read for example  in the Lotus sutra and the Shurangama sutra how Avalokiteshvara sends diverse emanations into the world to help and guide beings. This really happens, it is not merely "metaphorical".

Malcolm wrote:
Perhaps, but "guiding sentient beings" does not render Christianity and so on (assuming they are really teachings of bodhisattvas, which I do not beleive for a second) liberative paths. They are mundane paths, and do not lead to liberation. The Buddha was extremely clear about the distinction between his path and the paths taught by tīrthikas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 at 8:11 PM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:
Aemilius said:
According to Edward Conze the Gnostic sects in Europe, Middle East, Persia etc..  were  likely connected to the Perfection of Wisdom teachings of the Lord Buddha.

Malcolm wrote:
Conze was a perennialist, not a Buddhist.

There is zero evidence for his speculation.

In any case, the Buddha states clearly that outside his Dharma and Vinaya, there are no Aryas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 at 10:45 AM
Title: Re: The relationship between going for refuge and the five vows
Content:
Bristollad said:
I came across this interesting teaching on the two traditions of the bodhisattva vows, given by HH the Karmapa:
https://kagyuoffice.org/the-gyalwang-karmapa-teaches-on-two-traditions-of-taking-bodhisattva-vows-and-how-we-actually-receive-them/

There is a short précis at the top of the page and then a small gap and a more complete transcription.

Malcolm wrote:
One point, the reason the Sakyapas prefer the Madhyamaka tradition is they do consider it superior to the Yogacara tradition.

FiveSkandhas said:
By the way, do most Tibetan Buddhists feel so? That was sort of my impression.

I know in Japan the Yogacara school (法相宗) was generally seen as superior to the Madhyamaka school (三論宗). Part of the reason is that the Yogacarins brought in more texts and translations and kind of outclassed the Madhyamaka thinkers (who were from an older, smaller, and less textually rich sect) in the Annual Court-Sponsored Doctrinal debates.

But I suspect the real reason is that the Yogacara school was headquartered in a very large and wealthy temple that was connected to House Fujiwara, second only to the Imperial House Yamato in power at the time.

Malcolm wrote:
During the middle period of transmission of Mahayana from India to China, the period from 400 CE and 600 CE, Yogacara was at the very height of its popularity in India. But Madhyamaka made a resurgence in India during the period from 600 to 800, which accounts for the unequivocal adoption of Madhyamaka as the officially sanctioned view of Mahayana in Tibet.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 at 8:45 AM
Title: Re: The relationship between going for refuge and the five vows
Content:
Bristollad said:
I came across this interesting teaching on the two traditions of the bodhisattva vows, given by HH the Karmapa:
https://kagyuoffice.org/the-gyalwang-karmapa-teaches-on-two-traditions-of-taking-bodhisattva-vows-and-how-we-actually-receive-them/

There is a short précis at the top of the page and then a small gap and a more complete transcription.

Malcolm wrote:
One point, the reason the Sakyapas prefer the Madhyamaka tradition is they do consider it superior to the Yogacara tradition.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 at 2:29 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


SilenceMonkey said:
but not much seems to be sinking in.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, he did change his name from Brahma to Konchok.

FiveSkandhas said:
Now now, Brahma has a high and esteemed position as one of the greatest Devas, a mighty Dharmapala protector, and master of the lofty Brahmaloka realm. Great 梵天 has impeccable Buddhist credentials.

Malcolm wrote:
There are a lot of brahmas, not only one. And Mahābrahma, you will recall, also is a great deceiver of sentient beings, kind of the Trump of devas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 at 1:13 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


SilenceMonkey said:
but not much seems to be sinking in.

Malcolm wrote:
Well, he did change his name from Brahma to Konchok.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 11:00 PM
Title: Re: The relationship between going for refuge and the five vows
Content:



FiveSkandhas said:
Thanks so very much for your clear and helpful answer. Cuts through a lot of the noise indeed.

Malcolm wrote:
Then of course, in Dzoghen teachings, there are really no vows to follow, in general. However, they are mentioned in various Dzogchen tantras because they are useful guidelines for unrealized people to follow. In general, if someone reaches the path of seeing, they are beyond all vows anyway.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 10:48 PM
Title: Re: Yuthok nyingthig ngondro text?
Content:


FiveSkandhas said:
The nexus between medicine and esoteric Buddhism is a deep topic and one shrouded in particular secrecy. I wish you luck in fathoming those depths.

Malcolm wrote:
It is pretty open in Tibetan Buddhism.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 10:45 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
So the point is, is that we can produce Buddha fruit in everyone and everything,

Malcolm wrote:
No, we can’t. It’s totally naive to think otherwise.

Könchok Chödrak said:
If a beggar is receptive of the Dharma, then yes, if a beggar is not, then until that beggar becomes receptive, then fruit will not be produced. But it will always be possible to produce the fruit of the Dharma for that beggar, by the beggar’s own volition from within.

Malcolm wrote:
The best one can do is create a positive connection. Otherwise, not really possible.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 10:44 PM
Title: Re: The relationship between going for refuge and the five vows
Content:


FiveSkandhas said:
However, leaving aside the more arcane details of the Precepts, as well as our esteemed Theravadin cousins, for moment, it seems to me that on the simple, basic matter of refuge and the five lay vows there should be some kind of pan-Mahayana/Vajrayana ur-consensus.

Malcolm wrote:
No, there cannot be, for the simple reason that Sino-Japanese Buddhists have a completely different vinaya, Dharmaguptaka, that Tibetan Buddhists, who follow Mulasarvastivada.Also, the bodhisattva vow tradition is completely different, based either on the Madhyamaka tradition (Sakya, Nyingma) or the Yogācara tradition, (Kadampa, Geluk).


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 10:14 PM
Title: Re: The relationship between going for refuge and the five vows
Content:
FiveSkandhas said:
For years I assumed that when one goes for refuge in the triple jewel as a committed lay practitioner, one also soon thereafter would need to take the five lay vows as well.

Most sources sort of imply this without necessarily stating it directly.

Malcolm wrote:
The most comprehensive presentation of which vows an upasāka follows is found in the fourth chapter of the Abhdharmakośabhaṣyaṃ. You receive all the vows merely by goingfor refuge to the Three Jewels. However, one can elect to only follow those vows one feels capable of, beginning with refraining from taking life.

FiveSkandhas said:
Other sources I have been digging into, however, suggest that one need not in fact take any of the five vows.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, there are one vow, two vow, three, vow and full-vow upasākas. This is taught by the Buddha.

FiveSkandhas said:
What, exactly? Or are the vows truly "optional" for Upāsaka and Upāsikā status?

Malcolm wrote:
At minimum, one holds the commitments of refuge and the vow against killing (which really refers to killing humans, but it widely interpreted to cover all creatures).

This is complicated by taking bodhisattva vows. Since bodhisattva vows supersede pratimokṣa vows, whenever the former contradict the latter, the former should be followed and not the latter in order to avoid a bodhisattva downfall. The same applies to Vajrayāna vows.

Buddhist Ethics by Kongtrul has the most detailed presentation.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 8:36 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
So the point is, is that we can produce Buddha fruit in everyone and everything,

Malcolm wrote:
No, we can’t. It’s totally naive to think otherwise.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 8:33 PM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:



Aemilius said:
That is the official truth or a half truth, which is caused by the official or public history and the divided nature of the European culture. The actual truth is different, there have always been esoteric knowledge and the esoteric traditions in Europe from the Roman times onwards. The esoteric traditions have produced  persons with higher consciousness, i.e.  knowledge of reality that is in many ways similar to the Buddhist enlightenment. This has directly and indirectly influenced what is called Scientific knowledge, from its very beginnings.

You can look for example into the life and works of Giordano Bruno, in him spiritual knowledge and science are blended, they are seen as aspects of one reality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno

Malcolm wrote:
These esoteric traditions are mundane, and do not lead to liberation.

Aemilius said:
On what basis do you say that? Do You claim to possess the Five eyes and the Six abhijñas? Or is it based on prejudice and ignorance about the esoteric traditions on the continent of Europe?

Malcolm wrote:
It’s based on several remarks made by the Buddha, and the fact that I have read Bruno, Ficino, Dee, Agrippa, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 1:44 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


FiveSkandhas said:
We have to kill that vanity, stop acting like ole mom and dad are always leaning over our shoulders, and find full compassion for that crystal-gazing Tahoe-hottubbing priceless sentient being.

Malcolm wrote:
Compassion is one thing, respecting inanity is quite another.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 12:20 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Yes, we must Love everyone equally, I think that ripens one into Buddhahood. That is why Thich Nhat Hanh is talking about true Love. As for romantic Love, in true Love, “desire”? Well, the longing, the missing of someone, the abstractions, they can all still be there but without attachment or craving, with the skhandas emptied, and a joyous state fulfilled. For example I was once noticing two Buddhist Lovers in a difficult place, but their Love was pure and healing, and it is beyond words to describe here. But the concepts of the Dharma do not fall apart in deep Buddhist romantic Love, they become realized. Buddha laid out a Way for householders to become Enlightened, and it is a wonderful Path.

Malcolm wrote:
I am sorry, but there is no such thing as what you are talking about. There is no happiness in samsara, not even as much as a pinhead. Your Romantic Buddhist Love is just a fantasy you have generated. It has no basis in the teachings of the Buddha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 10:58 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
I suggest you reorient yourself from love to compassion.

Könchok Chödrak said:
I get what you are saying.

Malcolm wrote:
No,  I don’t think you do. But that’s fine.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 7:03 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
The Dharmasaṃgīti Mahāyāna Sūtra states:

Bodhisattva Avaloikiteśvara said the following to the Bhagavān: "Bhagavān, a bodhisattva should not train in very many Dharmas. Bhagavān, if one is to uphold and fully realize a single Dharma, Bhagavān, all the Dharmas of the Buddha will be placed in their palm. If it is asked which single Dharma, it is great compassion."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 6:30 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


Könchok Chödrak said:
You make a very good point. But I have a question. Why don’t you sense that Love as it is in itself has the quality of Anatta, views of impermanence, and Sunyata? Can you remember being in Love with someone before opening up your Buddhist mind, and seeing these things present there? To me, real true Love is a Vehicle that is by far a guide and is always Buddhist.

Malcolm wrote:
Maitri is love only in the sense that one wishes for another person to be happy. That's all maitri means, just as compassion means that one wishes for another person to be free of suffering. But the Buddha never identified love as a cause of awakening. With respect to compassion, on the other hand, the Buddha instructed Avalokitesvara that all that is needed for full awakening is great compassion.

I suggest you reorient yourself from love to compassion.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 5:31 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Hazel said:
patchouli

Malcolm wrote:
Is a crime.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 2:55 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Matt J said:
I don't really see much difference between New Age culture and modern U.S. Buddhist culture in many instances, especially in the Tibetan vein. In the one, people collect "modalities," in the other they collect empowerments, practices, and items. In both, people spend a lot of time assigning blame to planets and stars, and suggesting various healing modalities to one another. In both, people like to dress in non-Western clothes. There is quite a bit of overlap even in the people.

Malcolm wrote:
There are definitely intersections.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 1:47 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:


SilenceMonkey said:
They don’t come with an empty cup, they think they already know something about spirituality. And they project that stuff onto Buddhism. Often their assumptions aren’t really the Buddhist view, and they need some help understanding the differences in view and approach.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, we see this a bit around here, in some posters.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021 at 12:39 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
SilenceMonkey said:
They just make sh*t up and pass it off as authentic.

Malcolm wrote:
And the number of new agers who fall hook, line, and sinker for Qanon, antivaxx, 5G conspiracies, shows they have very little critical thinking.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 10:51 PM
Title: Re: An intersubjective experience in Yogacara
Content:
Supramundane said:
Early buddhism is contrasted with contemporary materialist Indian schools that believed in man having one life terminated by death.

It also avoided positing an atman and becoming a votary of reincarnation; the buddha thus opted for rebirth.

You are right that the salvation element was specific to buddhism, which prescribed an escape from the vortex of an illusory self.

In the Maha-nidana sutra, by shunning the ephemeral world of nama-rupa, consciousness can escape the vortex to fall instead upon nirvana. Theravada later seemed to have strayed from this initial idea by instead favoring "cessation".

Malcolm wrote:
Bronkhorst recently uploaded a couple of interesting papers on Charvakas an Academia.edu:

https://www.academia.edu/46040997/Who_were_the_C%C4%81rv%C4%81kas
https://www.academia.edu/46041000/Correcting_the_Text_of_the_Sarvadar%C5%9Banasa%E1%B9%83graha
https://www.academia.edu/46040958/%C4%80j%C4%ABvika_Doctrine_Reconsidered


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 10:45 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Supramundane said:
I will admit to reading a few pages of True Hallucinations (McKenna?). The writer is something of a futurist hippy. I think it is available free online if you want some laughs.

Some of his discourses are on youtube. It is appealing to teenagers: seems edgy, rebelious. Obviously, a bad path to take as a life choice...

Malcolm wrote:
I used to work in a Buddhist/New Age Bookstore on Newbury Street (1987-1990) in Boston, right at the time of the "Harmonic Convergence." So, in order to sell books I had to become somewhat conversant with all these silly New Age books and trends. I also ran the crystal and jewelry counter. It was during this period that the Castaneda fraud exploded into the fake shaman trend, with authors like Lynn V. Andrews and other plastic medicine people taking up bookshelf space. And yes, Terrance McKenna, RAW's Illuminati Trilogy was popular, its all part of parcel of the same trend.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 10:32 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Kim O'Hara said:
and it's a fair way from Theosophy. Rather,

Malcolm wrote:
Not really for example, the seven cakra system is basically a Theosophical invention. The only difference between the modern new age and Theosophy and its offspring is the blatant cultural appropriation of indigenous traditions as "shamanism."

Channeling, crystals, racism (i.e. cloaked in a theory of spiritual evolution), ascended masters, faux yoga, etc., all of it but for the shamanic business, goes back to Blavatsky and co.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 10:28 PM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Not to say that someone in the New Age movement couldn’t reach the same goal.

Malcolm wrote:
They cannot. Most new age people are closeted theists.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 10:18 PM
Title: Re: Video on Gompopa and Buddha Nature.
Content:


Crazywisdom said:
Lankavatara cannot be a final word on Tathatagarbha.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure it can, and it is.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 10:14 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


tkp67 said:
Your preference doesn't equate to the accepted defined meaning of the word for which I gave you ample reference.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure it does, that’s why fruit processed with heat and pectin, and stored in sterile jar are called “preserves.”

tkp67 said:
Living beings who are “enlightened” have no fear abortion since they have no further karma to ripen and they are free of birth abd death.
Well if they honor Shakyamuni's enlightenment then they understand the value of sentient life and the connection and debt they have to the unenlightened.

Malcolm wrote:
Nonreferential compassion is not born out of a sense of debt. Buddhas have no concept of “value, “sentient life”, or “ unenlightened.”  Buddhas are totally beyond such concepts.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 8:21 PM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:
tkp67 said:
Science and dharma are already are blended come from the same human mind.

Malcolm wrote:
Science is a product of the experimentally tested empirical observations made by ordinary people.

Dharma is the product of the awakened mind of a buddha.

So, not the same human mind.

Aemilius said:
That is the official truth or a half truth, which is caused by the official or public history and the divided nature of the European culture. The actual truth is different, there have always been esoteric knowledge and the esoteric traditions in Europe from the Roman times onwards. The esoteric traditions have produced  persons with higher consciousness, i.e.  knowledge of reality that is in many ways similar to the Buddhist enlightenment. This has directly and indirectly influenced what is called Scientific knowledge, from its very beginnings.

You can look for example into the life and works of Giordano Bruno, in him spiritual knowledge and science are blended, they are seen as aspects of one reality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno

Malcolm wrote:
These esoteric traditions are mundane, and do not lead to liberation.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 10:45 AM
Title: Re: Contextualizing, dealing with the New Age movement
Content:
tkp67 said:
The new age movement is simply a means to communicate "psycho spirituality" outside the normally conditioned context using words that have little existing culturally corrupted psychological or spiritual meaning.

Malcolm wrote:
Umm, no, the New Age is a pastiche, a mishmash, a naive appropriation that has its root in Theosophy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 10:39 AM
Title: Re: Teachers in Dharmasala
Content:
Unknown said:
U.S. will boost 'Do Not Travel' advisories to 80% of world
The U.S. State Department said on Monday it will boost its \"Do Not Travel\" guidance to about 80% of countries worldwide, citing \"unprecedented risk to travelers\" from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read in Reuters: https://apple.news/AdMJtIavVQAmbL0xzkjKu4A


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 9:42 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


tkp67 said:
In a conversation based on aborting life arguing that dharma does not preserve life is tantamount to saying dharma does not have an interest in preserving life.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, correct. Dharma is concerned only with the cessation of suffering.

The reason we practice ahimsa is not to preserve life, but rather, is not to consciously cause suffering.

Anyway, one cannot abort life, one can only abort a life. But since there is rebirth, the loss of life does not mean that sentient being whose fetal development was interrupted will not take another rebirth. And, further, being aborted is a ripening of karma. In Buddhadharma, there are no innocents.

tkp67 said:
Impermanence is not in question so preserve denotes original/existing state. That is, what remains after liberation is the original state.

pre·serve
/prəˈzərv/
"maintain (something) in its original or existing state."

If the state of enlightenment is boundless and immeasurable so is the value of life that experiences such a thing, regardless of how impermanent that particular existence.

What was the value of Shakyamuni's existence?

Malcolm wrote:
“To preserve” means to worry about degeneration, and thus impermanence. Something which never degenerates does not require any preservation at all.

Living beings who are “enlightened” have no fear abortion since they have no further karma to ripen and they are free of birth abd death.

As for Shakyamuni, the value of his existence depends on who you ask.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 7:24 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Giovanni said:
Important. As Malcolm says there are things necessary for actions to cause unmixed negative Vipaka. They have to be intentional, and the person needs to be satisfied with the result of their actions.
Unmixed negative karma is not created just because of actions we do not like or approve of. It’s a bit more complicated.
Most karma is mixed because of mixed intentions and remorse at result of action.

Malcolm wrote:
Indeed, in Mahayana, it is possible have an abortion out of compassion, but most people tend to cite the “old testament” when discussing ethics.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 2:29 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
But since there is rebirth, the loss of life does not mean that sentient being whose fetal development was interrupted will not take another rebirth. And, further, being aborted is a ripening of karma. In Buddhadharma, there are no innocents.


Sādhaka said:
Samsara is an vicious cycle. One being pays karma by getting inflicted upon by another the sentient being, then the being doing the said infliction creates more karma for themselves.

Malcolm wrote:
Considering that fetuses have no sense perceptions until the 19th week, the amount suffering inflicted on a fetus is nil, until it finds itself in the bardo again.

Sādhaka said:
I’m open minded to there being rare cases where abortion wouldn’t create negative karma regarding the sentient beings involved in it; but in most cases I’m going with it being an cause for more negative karma than not.

Malcolm wrote:
Most people are not Buddhists and don't believe in karma.


Sādhaka said:
People have the option of things like Yoga, pranayama, fasting etc. to gain some control of their sexual impulses, instead of getting addicted to things like masturbation, porn, casual sex etc. Easier said than done though for many, admittedly; as many people have circumstances where they work all the time and live in a residence with others where they have little privacy & leisure time to set aside for such practices....

Malcolm wrote:
People like to f**k. Sometimes, women get pregnant when it is not convenient for whatever reason. In order for a karma to be perfect there has to be satisfaction with the outcome, "I did good." Never met a women yet who has happy to have had an abortion. I prefer secular ethics to religious ethics, because the latter are too narrow and require someone to follow beliefs they may not actually hold.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 2:19 AM
Title: Re: ChNN Medicine Buddha practices
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
http://shangshung.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=74_75&products_id=756

Do these require certain specific lungs, or did we receive it with the Medicine Buddha lungs that ChNN put at the end of his webcasts?

Malcolm wrote:
You received it with the lung. He did give the empowerment a couple of times, but the lung is sufficient.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 1:44 AM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:


tkp67 said:
In a conversation based on aborting life arguing that dharma does not preserve life is tantamount to saying dharma does not have an interest in preserving life.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, correct. Dharma is concerned only with the cessation of suffering.

The reason we practice ahimsa is not to preserve life, but rather, is not to consciously cause suffering.

Anyway, one cannot abort life, one can only abort a life. But since there is rebirth, the loss of life does not mean that sentient being whose fetal development was interrupted will not take another rebirth. And, further, being aborted is a ripening of karma. In Buddhadharma, there are no innocents.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 11:39 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:
Sādhaka said:
Actually, I saw something recently in a text that implied that Asuras have the possibility to attain Buddhahood as well. Unlikely that many would, I’d imagine, but the implication of the possibility was there. Now if I could just remember where I’d read it.... It was only like a month or so ago.

Also, aren’t there stories in Sutras and so on about Devas having the possibility to attain Buddhahood too?

Malcolm wrote:
The Suhṛllekha states:
Birth as one holding wrong views, as animals, pretas, and hell beings,
as one without the teaching of the victor, or in a border country,
birth as a barbarian, as one stupid and dumb,
or birth as any of the long-lived gods
are the eight faults of lacking freedom.
Having acquired the freedom that is liberated from those states.
one must make effort in order to avoid them.
Asuras here are included among the devas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 9:14 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
The problem in today’s world is that people act like it’s a choice people make to make things better, instead, losing a child is a tragic loss, and that is what happens in abortion.

Malcolm wrote:
Ever hear of rebirth?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 9:12 PM
Title: Re: The Great Abortion Debate
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
In the same way abortion can be avoided with family planning, care, counseling, support, financial services, Spiritual and Community help, social programs, rehabilitation services, and a compassionate heart that would benefit from all of these things.

Malcolm wrote:
Another man telling women what to do with their bodies.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 9:10 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:


Aemilius said:
I don't buy that, in terms of Buddhism or in terms of modern knowledge of animal consciousness. All beings in the five or six lokas have all the members of the 12 Nidanas (of Conditioned arising) governing their existence, not only humans. Why would the Buddhist tradition say "all beings", if it didn't mean it?

Malcolm wrote:
So, hell beings and pretas can attain buddhahood in their respective lokas? No, the Buddha clearly states that only human beings can practice a path and attain buddhahood. This why human birth in a central country etc., is desirable.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 9:06 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:



Aemilius said:
Here the text says "sentient beings", what would this world be like, if the snakes, rats and parrots became awakened?
I mentioned only such animals that are mentioned in the Jatakas or Birth stories as possessing  mind and volitions and thus being capable of creating good and bad karma, and also becoming awakened in some future life, if not in their present animal body. I think that some kind of insects are mentioned in the Karandavyuha sutra as objects of Avalokiteshvara's bodhisattva deeds, i.e. releasing them from the realm samsaric rebirth.
Could it be said:
"Ants and spiders and rats and snakes are buddhas,
though obscured by adventitious defilements.
When those are removed, they are buddhas."

Malcolm wrote:
Animals, etc., the beings of the five lokas apart from humans, generally, cannot practice a path.

karmanyingpo said:
Am I correct in interpreting the "generally" as meaning that there are sometimes exceptions?

What would those exceptions be?

KN

Malcolm wrote:
Nagas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 10:53 AM
Title: Re: An intersubjective experience in Yogacara
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
No, as in "No, modern schools of Mahayana Buddhism do not adhere to the opinion that external objects do not exist."

Queequeg said:
Malcolm in his laconic manner has not mentioned the rest of the tetralemma...

Malcolm wrote:
I didn’t intend to, since that’s not what I meant to do [engage in ultimate analysis].


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 2:14 AM
Title: Re: An intersubjective experience in Yogacara
Content:


RonBucker said:
Does this mean that the modern schools of Mahayana Buddhism do not adhere to the opinion that external objects do not exist?

Malcolm wrote:
Generally, speaking, no.

RonBucker said:
that is, they don't believe in external objects? Then I didn't understand anything. Does everyone imagine their own world?

Malcolm wrote:
No, as in "No, modern schools of Mahayana Buddhism do not adhere to the opinion that external objects do not exist."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 2:11 AM
Title: Re: Video on Gompopa and Buddha Nature.
Content:
Crazywisdom said:
But correct me if I am misrepresenting your view. Are you saying that Tathatagarbha Sutras are a subsumed within Prajnaparamita and Madhyamaka and are a sort of palliative, also not offering any further substantial teaching?

Malcolm wrote:
I am saying that the tathāgatgarbha sūtras can be understood to be definitive if they are correctly understood (tathātagarbha as the luminous, original nature of the mind), and if understood incorrectly, provisional in meaning at best (and at worst, an atmanavāda). As they stand, tathāgatgarbha sūtras require interpretation, unlike Madhyamaka and the PP Sūtras.

I am saying that the Lanka and Candrakīrti offer the final word on the subject. The Uttaratantra itself defines tathāgatagarbha as a provisional teaching, in the chapter one, the fourth vajra topic, towards the end, verses 156-160:

Having stated that all knowable things are empty in every aspect, like clouds, dreams, and illusions,
here, the buddhas have stated that the buddha element (buddhadhātu) exists in all sentient beings. 
They have stated this for the purpose of having [sentient beings] abandon five faults: timidity, contempt for inferior sentient beings,
grasping the impure, deriding pure phenomena, and excess attachment to themselves.

While the limit of reality (bhūtakoṭi) is devoid of all compounded aspects, 
the meaning of affliction, karma, and ripening are said to be like clouds, and so on. 
Afflictions are like clouds, karma is like an experience in a dream, 
and ripening of karma and afflictions, the aggregates, are like an illusory emanation. 

Having presented this above, this ancillary or supplemental tantra repeats 
the explanation "the dhātu exists" in order to abandon five faults.

The Uttaratantra's actual goal is to explicate luminosity aka clear light, and its realization.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 1:13 AM
Title: Re: An intersubjective experience in Yogacara
Content:



RonBucker said:
Thank you. Are you saying that in order to be a Buddhist, you cannot be a materialist and you can not believe in a naive objective reality?

As far as I understand, the only difference is that everything in our world does not have an independent existence and consists of a constant stream of factors that we given names, and the essence of awakening is learning how to look at the world without names, associations and concepts?
Or am I wrong?

Malcolm wrote:
There are three concepts that distinguish Buddhist thought from the materialist: 1) mind is a nonphysical continuum that interacts with matter; and thus Buddhists accept 2) rebirth and 3) karma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 19th, 2021 at 1:09 AM
Title: Re: An intersubjective experience in Yogacara
Content:


RonBucker said:
Does this mean that the modern schools of Mahayana Buddhism do not adhere to the opinion that external objects do not exist?

Malcolm wrote:
Generally, speaking, no.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 18th, 2021 at 8:28 PM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Kim O'Hara said:
BTW, friends discourage friends from reading or (especially) trusting breitbart.

Malcolm wrote:
Friends don't let friends read Briettbart or RT, for that matter.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 18th, 2021 at 8:26 PM
Title: Re: Video on Gompopa and Buddha Nature.
Content:
Crazywisdom said:
But Tathatagarbha Sutras are essential. Buddha taught them for a reason.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, as he says in the Lanka, he taught tathāgatagarbha for those who were terrified of the doctrine of anatma.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 18th, 2021 at 3:00 AM
Title: Re: How do modern Buddhist schools explain compassion?
Content:
RonBucker said:
How exactly should I show compassion to other people? I should compassion to people in words, or it can be material help? Should I sympathize with people only when they feel sad and lonely, or even when they feel happy? How about animals, how to sympathize with them? They, like us, feel emotions, how I should show compassion to them?

PadmaVonSamba said:
Kindness, patience, generosity.
It doesn’t matter what’s going on in the minds of other beings or whether they are human or not.

RonBucker said:
Thank you. So it doesn't matter if other people feel happy or upset, compassion should be constant?

Malcolm wrote:
Compassion is, simply put, the wish that others be free from suffering. That's it.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 18th, 2021 at 2:30 AM
Title: Re: Video on Gompopa and Buddha Nature.
Content:
sherabpa said:
What is probably true however is that Tsongkhapa was very influential in 'demoting' the lineage of Maitreya/Asanga below that of Nagarjuna/Madhyamaka, whereas more traditionally these two lineages were seen as equal.

Malcolm wrote:
This is definitely not so.  For example, Sapan, whom you mention above, considered only the Abhisamayālaṃkāra to be definitive. Also Tsongkhapa followed suit.

For example, the Hevajra Tantra explicitly places Yogācara below Madhyamaka, and so on.

First explain Vaibhāṣika,
likewise, Sautrantika,
after that, Yogācara, 
and likewise, Madhyamaka.

Also Sapan held the view that Uttaratantra itself viewed tathāgatagarbha as a provisional doctrine. Not only this, but the scholars of the Imperial Period held that Yogacāra was below Madhyamaka, since they were all students, directly or indirectly, of Santarakṣita.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 18th, 2021 at 1:15 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Nemo said:
The technical ability to fix things has been around since the 80s.

Malcolm wrote:
That ship sailed. It is beyond "fixing." It can't even be mitigated at this point. It can't even be cleaned up. Micro-plastics rain from the sky, largely from automobile tire fibers; there is more plastic in the ocean than fish. We have addressed superficial issues, the pollution we can see, while filling the earth's uninhabited places with plastic., etc. It will take us several human lifetimes to repair the damage we have done to our planet. I have doubts that will happen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 11:45 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:


Malcolm wrote:
Three things: The Lankāvatara should be taken as the definitive sutra on this topic for three reasons: 1) It defines tathāgatagarbha as cittaprakṛtiprabhāsvara aka the natural luminosity of the mind. 2) It defines all sentient beings as tathāgatagarbha and tathāgatagarbha as all sentient beings. 3. It is the sūtra identified by Candrakīrti as the final word on the subject.

FiveSkandhas said:
Bodhidharma also considered the Laṅkāvatāra of supreme importance. He gave it to his chosen sucessor, Dazu Huike, as a sign of his attainmnent. Bodhidharma said:
[The Laṅkāvatāra Sutra] contains the essential teaching concerning the mind-ground of the Tathagata, by means of which you lead all sentient beings to the truth of Buddhism.

In fact the text was held in such high esteem by his lineage that the early Chan school was sometimes called "The Lanka School" by doxologists in the first few centuries.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, this is true. It’s also one of those main reasons vegetarianism is stressed in Chan.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 11:40 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:


PadmaVonSamba said:
The only difference between a Buddha and an ordinary, sentient being, is that the ordinary person doesn’t realize they are Buddha.

Malcolm wrote:
No, the difference between a buddha and and sentient beings is the presence or absence of adventitious afflictions, as the Buddha states in the Hevajra tantra:

Sentient beings are buddhas,
though obscured by adventitious afflictions.
When those are removed, they are buddhas.

Aemilius said:
Here the text says "sentient beings", what would this world be like, if the snakes, rats and parrots became awakened?
I mentioned only such animals that are mentioned in the Jatakas or Birth stories as possessing  mind and volitions and thus being capable of creating good and bad karma, and also becoming awakened in some future life, if not in their present animal body. I think that some kind of insects are mentioned in the Karandavyuha sutra as objects of Avalokiteshvara's bodhisattva deeds, i.e. releasing them from the realm samsaric rebirth.
Could it be said:
"Ants and spiders and rats and snakes are buddhas,
though obscured by adventitious defilements.
When those are removed, they are buddhas."

Malcolm wrote:
Animals, etc., the beings of the five lokas apart from humans, generally, cannot practice a path.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 11:20 PM
Title: Re: Prayer or a Polemic on Guns
Content:
pemachophel said:
I remember reading a Tibetan prayer or polemic against firearms but now I can't find it. It may have been by Khyentse Wangpo. Does anyone here know what I'm talking about and have a link to this?

Malcolm wrote:
Nyala Pema Duddul.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 9:30 PM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Kim O'Hara said:
If you mean it's being pushed on to us via retailers, yes. Here at least, customers are refusing over-packaged goods, especially in supermarkets, and the supermarkets are responding quite well ... social licence and all that.

There's still a long way to go, however.


Kim

Malcolm wrote:
It’s also pushed on the retailers by the manufacturers.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 9:31 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:


Kim O'Hara said:
At a personal level, I find it's a war of attrition - noticing one kind of plastic waste I generate and working out how to avoid it (best) or recycle it (second-best) rather than trash it (worst).

Malcolm wrote:
The problem is the supply side, not the demand side.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 5:20 AM
Title: Re: Bodhisattva appearing as a Buddha
Content:
Queequeg said:
Great bodhisattvas are said to be able to appear as buddhas in order to approach and teach beings.

What is the difference between a bona fide buddha and a bodhisattva who appears as a buddha? Is there any difference?

Malcolm wrote:
I assume by great bodhisattvas we are talking about tenth stage bodhisattvas, in which case the difference is quite minimal. The Abhisamayālaṃkāra states that tenth stagers are on a stage of buddhahood.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 5:09 AM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:



PadmaVonSamba said:
1. Not already enlightened.

Being Enlightened means you realize it. It’s like walking into a dark room and turning on the lights (hence the term, “enlightened”).

Malcolm wrote:
The term "enlightened" does not exist in any Buddhist text in Sanskrit, Pali, or Tibetan. The term "bodhi" means to awaken.

PadmaVonSamba said:
Yeah, that’s true. It’s an abstract concept borrowed from Western Europe.
Within the context of the question, it refers to realization of original mind itself, and not some notion of “enlightened mind” or buddhahood specifically.

Malcolm wrote:
The term is not a good one for Buddhists to use.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 5:08 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Nemo said:
They will stall in this way until they can say yes it is real but it's too late.

Malcolm wrote:
They did and it is.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 5:07 AM
Title: Re: How to decarbonize your life.
Content:


tkp67 said:
That is why it is of prime importance not to doubt that their inherent buddha nature can be realized (acknowledge for the purpose of manifestation) in the current lifetime.

Malcolm wrote:
I do doubt it. There is no evidence at all whatsoever that buddhanature has any agentive effect.

tkp67 said:
The darker things become the more this nature will manifest out of necessity.

Malcolm wrote:
Tiny lights seem very bright in total darkness.

tkp67 said:
I found I can still love and advocate for her benefit and the benefit of life that has been nurtured by her presence.

Malcolm wrote:
Life isn't going away, unless we turn the planet into a lifeless rock.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 2:29 AM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:
RonBucker said:
So, all people in our world are already enlightened, they just need to practice to realize it? What will happen to people who have realized their enlightenment, what will they feel, what will they do next?

PadmaVonSamba said:
1. Not already enlightened.

Being Enlightened means you realize it. It’s like walking into a dark room and turning on the lights (hence the term, “enlightened”).

Malcolm wrote:
The term "enlightened" does not exist in any Buddhist text in Sanskrit, Pali, or Tibetan. The term "bodhi" means to awaken.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 17th, 2021 at 1:42 AM
Title: Re: Why do monks reside in temples
Content:


neander said:
Many Buddhist have a negative attitude towards the scholars because they are somehow detached from the subject.

Malcolm wrote:
Most Buddhists could care less what Schopen and co. think. The project of the latter is completely disconnected from the Dharma, since their modus operandi is strictly forensic.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 16th, 2021 at 11:46 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:
LastLegend said:
Alaya is simply a recall of memories.

Malcolm wrote:
No, the ālaya has no cognitive operations. It is just a repository of traces. It does not remember anything. Memory is an operation of the sixth consciousness.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 16th, 2021 at 10:26 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:


PadmaVonSamba said:
The only difference between a Buddha and an ordinary, sentient being, is that the ordinary person doesn’t realize they are Buddha.

Malcolm wrote:
No, the difference between a buddha and and sentient beings is the presence or absence of adventitious afflictions, as the Buddha states in the Hevajra tantra:

Sentient beings are buddhas,
though obscured by adventitious afflictions.
When those are removed, they are buddhas.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 16th, 2021 at 10:21 PM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:
Supramundane said:
Tathagatagarbha --- womb or embryo?

It is disputed whether buddha-nature is identical to Tathagatagarbha. Perhaps they both describe the same thing from different angles?

Tathāgatagarbha needs no cultivation... only uncovering, as it is already present and perfect in each being.

(Remember the Sutra about the poor man who in advanced old age found a jewel sewn into his smock. With Incredible surprise, he observed: 'I have been a rich man all this time and I never knew it!')

This points not to a womb (potential) but to an embryo (innate buddha-nature).

Perhaps tathagatagarbha and buddha-nature are different --- but refer to the same thing.
So they are different but not-different:)


Epilogue
Buddhist Sutras teaching Buddha Nature

--- Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra

--- Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra

--- Anunatva Apurnatva Nirdeśa

--- Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra

--- Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra

--- Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra


Malcolm wrote:
Three things: The Lankāvatara should be taken as the definitive sutra on this topic for three reasons: 1) It defines tathāgatagarbha as cittaprakṛtiprabhāsvara aka the natural luminosity of the mind. 2) It defines all sentient beings as tathāgatagarbha and tathāgatagarbha as all sentient beings. 3. It is the sūtra identified by Candrakīrti as the final word on the subject.

As for original enlightenment, all I have to say is to quote from Jetsun Drakpa Gyalsten, "Of what use is primordial buddhahood when at present our adventitious afflictions are not mitigated at all?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 16th, 2021 at 10:04 AM
Title: Re: Can all people in our world come to enlightenment?
Content:
RonBucker said:
A good teacher can lead any person to enlightenment, or are there people whom he cannot help?

Malcolm wrote:
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink. Buddhanature is irrelevant.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 16th, 2021 at 9:15 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming - Science and Politics (split from: Reversing Global Warming -Prayers and Aspirations")
Content:
Virgo said:
Anthropogenic Climate Change has already slowed global agriculture productivity growth by 21%:

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, when it it is all reduced to raw physics, it’s all very predictable.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 16th, 2021 at 1:19 AM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:
steveb1 said:
The universe simply does not look, or behave, as if it is the ordered product of a compassionate divine mind.


Sādhaka said:
It appears to be so to some deluded sentient beings though.

To other deluded sentient beings it appears to be an sadistic demiurgic/archontic construct.

To other deluded sentient beings still, it is 100% random and everything 100% coincidental (Murthugpas), probably the least coherent explanation of all; the context of—shall we say—‘the appearance-side of Kadak’ aside....


Malcolm wrote:
Nope, it looks like the random outcomes of myriad sentient beings acting each in their own way.


Sādhaka said:
“Random” though?

Within karma-vipaka & dependent-origination there’s no randomness per-sé is there?

To be fair, you did say “it looks like”....

Malcolm wrote:
Random, because we cannot predict the actions of sentient beings, and therefore, we cannot predict the outcomes of those actions. Also dependent origination does not exclude randomness at all, unless by "random" you mean "causeless."But the word random does not mean causeless, it means a: lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern or b: made, done, or chosen at random. I think we can say that most actions of sentient beings fit definition a.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 15th, 2021 at 10:52 PM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:
tkp67 said:
Science and dharma are already are blended come from the same human mind.

Malcolm wrote:
Science is a product of the experimentally tested empirical observations made by ordinary people.

Virgo said:
Hopefully.

Virgo

Malcolm wrote:
If it is not a product of the experimentally tested empirical observations made by ordinary people, it isn't science, by definition.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 15th, 2021 at 9:14 PM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:
tkp67 said:
Science and dharma are already are blended come from the same human mind.

Malcolm wrote:
Science is a product of the experimentally tested empirical observations made by ordinary people.

Dharma is the product of the awakened mind of a buddha.

So, not the same human mind.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 15th, 2021 at 8:30 PM
Title: Re: How to decarbonize your life.
Content:
tkp67 said:
If malfeasance outweighed benevolence, the human population would not be burgeoning. The expense of our ecosystems and environments is born out of ego driven ignorance.

Malcolm wrote:
The population is burgeoning because of energy inputs into biological systems, which turned up in the hickey stick shape after the wide spread use of oil. Without the present level of energy inputs from any source, world population growth cannot be sustained, leading to resource wars, and eventually the collapse of world civilization.

This process is driven by the three poisons, unfortunately, most people are not Dharma practitioners, so they are not even aware of why they act the way the do.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 15th, 2021 at 8:47 AM
Title: Re: How to decarbonize your life.
Content:
Kim O'Hara said:
But yes, the transition has to be managed.
Fast, though.


Kim

Malcolm wrote:
I am a realist. Things have never gotten better collectively even though some individuals thrive.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 15th, 2021 at 6:29 AM
Title: Re: This odd quote by Master Hsuan Hua
Content:



joshua said:
What do you all make of this?  On the surface, this is all sorts of wrong view and nonsense.  What is the Master saying here?  I'm having trouble believing one should be taking these words at face value.

Malcolm wrote:
It has been discussed here at quite some length. It is a wrong view, all the way down.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 15th, 2021 at 12:55 AM
Title: Re: Anthropic principle
Content:
steveb1 said:
The universe simply does not look, or behave, as if it is the ordered product of a compassionate divine mind.

Malcolm wrote:
Nope, it looks like the random outcomes of myriad sentient beings acting each in their own way.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 15th, 2021 at 12:07 AM
Title: Re: The Avalokiteshvara Cult in the Tenth Century Dunhuang and the Mani mantra
Content:


Danny said:
Don’t forget the creation myth....

Malcolm wrote:
There is more than one Tibetan creation myth.

Danny said:
Indeed, but in context of Tibetan power

Malcolm wrote:
You were not that specific.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 12:45 PM
Title: Re: Is Buddhism necessary?
Content:



SilenceMonkey said:
Not necessary for society, maybe...

As Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche often says, from a mundane perspective, Buddhadharma is completely useless.


Malcolm wrote:
True, millions of dollars are spent on the trappings of piety that would be better served funding schools and hospitals.

SilenceMonkey said:
I don't think that's what he meant, but it's a good point.

And then there's all that money being poured into translating the Buddhist canon, and into funding PhD's and post-docs. Not saying we shouldn't translate the kangyur, but when I saw the numbers...

Malcolm wrote:
Books are better than bricks.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 11:35 AM
Title: Re: The Avalokiteshvara Cult in the Tenth Century Dunhuang and the Mani mantra
Content:


Danny said:
Don’t forget the creation myth....

Malcolm wrote:
There is more than one Tibetan creation myth.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 11:33 AM
Title: Re: Is Buddhism necessary?
Content:
neander said:
Buddhism is not for everybody and is still a minority group so it is not necessary.

The two  most powerful men on this planet controlling together 10000 ICBM are not Buddhist..

SilenceMonkey said:
Not necessary for society, maybe...

As Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche often says, from a mundane perspective, Buddhadharma is completely useless.


Malcolm wrote:
True, millions of dollars are spent on the trappings of piety that would be better served funding schools and hospitals.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 10:40 AM
Title: Re: Lack of Media Coverage on Burn Pits
Content:
amanitamusc said:
Fox news no less.


Malcolm wrote:
The world is our burn pit.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 5:44 AM
Title: Re: Practicing without empowerment
Content:



Tenma said:
What exactly is the point of Vajrasattva, Akshobhya, the 35 Buddhas, and other confessional practices if "misdeeds cannot be washed away with water"? (Yes, I get that the Buddha cannot give you enlightenment and you have to do that but what about these practices?)

Malcolm wrote:
They are based on the idea in posadha, where you twice monthly confess your broken vows in front of the Sangha. They are methods of restoring one's vows.

Tenma said:
But it doesn't purify or get rid of negative karma as some say? What's the point of the sutric phrase "eons of negative karma will disappear" for reading a sutra or reciting a dharani/mantra if misdeeds cannot actually be pacified or as the following quote says, "washed away with water?"

By the way, could you please provide the source of your quote? Thank you!

Malcolm wrote:
Hundreds of Aeons of karma is very tiny blip when consider how long one has been transmigrating in samsara.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 3:27 AM
Title: Re: Practicing without empowerment
Content:


Tenma said:
Isn't there a saying that goes that just as there are infinite sentient beings, there are infinite myriads of tathagatas (and possibly bodhisattvas)? If one has been eliminated of knowledge obscuration, can control birth alongside help sentient beings, how is it that suffering still exists in the world?

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhas and bodhisattvas can only truly help beings through teaching the Dharma and entering them into the Dharma.

As the Buddha said:

Misdeeds cannot be washed away with water, 
I cannot remove suffering with my hand, 
nor can I hand out liberation, 
but I can show the path.

Tenma said:
What exactly is the point of Vajrasattva, Akshobhya, the 35 Buddhas, and other confessional practices if "misdeeds cannot be washed away with water"? (Yes, I get that the Buddha cannot give you enlightenment and you have to do that but what about these practices?)

Malcolm wrote:
They are based on the idea in posadha, where you twice monthly confess your broken vows in front of the Sangha. They are methods of restoring one's vows.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 1:59 AM
Title: Re: Practicing without empowerment
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
but those who feel they are not ready need a provisional Vehicle stemming from the Ekayana (Single Vehicle) to continue their practice...

Malcolm wrote:
What are you defining as a provisional vehicle?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 1:57 AM
Title: Re: Practicing without empowerment
Content:


Tenma said:
Isn't there a saying that goes that just as there are infinite sentient beings, there are infinite myriads of tathagatas (and possibly bodhisattvas)? If one has been eliminated of knowledge obscuration, can control birth alongside help sentient beings, how is it that suffering still exists in the world?

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhas and bodhisattvas can only truly help beings through teaching the Dharma and entering them into the Dharma.

As the Buddha said:

Misdeeds cannot be washed away with water, 
I cannot remove suffering with my hand, 
nor can I hand out liberation, 
but I can show the path.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 1:54 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:



Queequeg said:
The best shot we've got at this is for widespread vaccination and diligent contact tracing.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, and quarantining the infected once the goal of widespread vaccination has been reached. I get my first jab on Thursday.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 at 8:20 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
If the knower were the same as the known, it would have to have parts in order to change. It would have to transform into all the different objects it knows, meaning it is not a self, has parts and components. This is the rebuttal to the Hindu idea you bring up below. You might object, well, what is mind is substance like gold, which can be shaped into ashtray or a statue. You then have to explain to us how this transformation of shape, if you will, occurs.

fckw said:
That's exactly why I find actually both positions equally dissatisfying.

If the knower has "parts and components" then we have not explained where the distinction between one part and another comes from. Remember that we were discussing before exactly this point, i.e. where the capacity to "distinguish" actually comes from, and we certainly don't want to end up in a circular argument stating that the "knower distinguishes its components by its capacity to distinguish its components".

But the other option that you suggest is equally dissatisfactory. Mind made of a substance like gold continuously transforming into other appearances yet never losing its substance - well, this does in no way explain how this process of transformation takes place. Is it a capacity of the mind? Is it same as mind? Is it different?

My personal conclusion here is that neither system actually really properly describes things. Formal logic, that's my conclusion, is not suited to properly address these questions. It can take you far, but not to the end.

Malcolm wrote:
The mind is a composite phenomena. That’s just how it is.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 at 7:18 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Crazywisdom said:
All this madhyamaka discussion is off topic. The buddhanature is not fully elaborated in the Sutras.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure it is. The Lanka states that tathāgatgarbha is the natural luminosity of the mind. What more does one need to know?

Crazywisdom said:
There is the nonmaterial appearance of wisdom.

Malcolm wrote:
That's beyond the scope of Karl B's talk.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 at 5:18 AM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


Queequeg said:
I don't see places like NYC going into intermittent quarantines indefinitely.

Malcolm wrote:
Think buildings, not blocks.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 at 2:50 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Crazywisdom said:
All this madhyamaka discussion is off topic. The buddhanature is not fully elaborated in the Sutras.

Malcolm wrote:
Sure it is. The Lanka states that tathāgatgarbha is the natural luminosity of the mind. What more does one need to know?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 at 2:49 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
The argument that a knower is a self has already been advanced and dismantled in Buddhist texts. If a knower can have many cognitions, it already has many parts and cannot be a unitary or an integral entity. We are therefore not operating here at a position prior to recognizing discrete entities, the very fact that our minds (citta) are variegated (citra) proves the mind is not an integral entity, proves it is made of parts, and since those cognitions happen sequentially, this proves the mind is also impermanent, momentary, and dependent. So, it is impossible for a conventional knower to be a self.

fckw said:
Well, if you ask me, this is not logical at all: If a knower can have many cognitions, it already has many parts
We have not clarified whether the "knower" here is same or different from the "known" (i.e. its cognitions).

Malcolm wrote:
If the knower were the same as the known, it would have to have parts in order to change. It would have to transform into all the different objects it knows, meaning it is not a self, has parts and components. This is the rebuttal to the Hindu idea you bring up below. You might object, well, what is mind is substance like gold, which can be shaped into ashtray or a statue. You then have to explain to us how this transformation of shape, if you will, occurs.


fckw said:
Besides above point, there's another one I'd like to address briefly, but it's not the main argument on my side. the very fact that our minds (citta) are variegated (citra)
As I'm not a Sanskritist I am not sure I undestand what "variegated/citra" here actually means. There are at least two interpretations, and I am not sure which one you are referring to: Either to state that there are "many minds" in the sense "each individual has its own mind", or to state that "a single mind has many mind events" that are "distinct" from each other. I take it you mean the latter. If that is the case then I am pretty sure there are some 'hindu' school of thoughts arguing that there are in fact no "distinct mind events", but that they are a single stream of "mind stuff continuously morphing into something else".
As far as I'm informed that's actually the position taken in the Patanjali's Yogasutras. It's, by the way, also what you experience if you practice those Patanjali Yogasutra meditations, i.e. the subjective experience along the path is quite different from both Therevada Vipassana as well as Mahamudra/Dzogchen style meditation. But that's just a side note.

Malcolm wrote:
You are talking about Samkhya philosophy which is utilized in the Yogasūtras. The line you are think of yogaḥcittavṛttinirodhaha, "Yoga is the cessation of the transformations of consciousness."

The difference here of course is that in the citta in this case is actually different than the knower (jñā). The knower is termed puruśa, is a passive consumer, and is utterly different than praḳrti, which is where the transformations are occurring. The knower itself never changes, but merely witnesses the transformations of prakṛti. But none of this is what I am talking about.

in Buddhism, it is axiomatically assumed that there are many independent mind streams; this is proven by Dharmakirti in Saṃtānāntarasiddhi, "Proof of Other's Minds."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 at 2:14 AM
Title: Re: Tibetan Medicine primer - especially for pyschological states
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
Hoping Malcolm or someone else might be able to help here.

I'm taking a class essentially on "alternative" frameworks to pyschotherapy. Half of it is good, some information on Ayurveda and a little on TCM. The other half is almost unbearable new age nonsense, seriously it's bad.

I'm wondering if a kind of primer of Tibetan Medical theory exists that would be helpful - specifically with Tibetan Medical views of psychological states and conditions.

Malcolm wrote:
Diamond Healing is an old book, which has a lot of this sort of issue.

The Complete Book of Tibetan Medicine is good, as is Birth, Life, and Death by CHNN.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 10:53 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


Queequeg said:
I'm not a doctor so pardon my malapropism.

Malcolm wrote:
No worries, I just thought you might have been fed some fake news.

Queequeg said:
The point is, I might still get sick.

Malcolm wrote:
Very unlikely. Viral infections depend on viral load. The reason it hit many ambulance drivers, nurses, and doctors so hard was repeated exposure in a closed environment to many patients over an extended period of time. The weight of the viral load you are exposed to, along with other factors, is the major determinant in whether one becomes significantly ill. When we have vaccinated 90+ percent of the population, the likelihood of becoming ill from covid or even variants will drop precipitously, but I wouldn't travel in countries will low vax rates. Until then, follow CDC guidelines, now that they are under competent management:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html

Queequeg said:
I might still pass the virus on, without showing symptoms. Pre-Covid normal is not coming back, though a lot of people are acting like it. I expect COVID to have as profound an impact on the way we live as HIV had on sex.

Malcolm wrote:
The new normal will be more masking up during flu season. Otherwise, it is not going to be like HIV. Please look at Australia and NZ for how things are going to be. If you visited these countries today, you would never know there was a major pandemic. When there is a breakout, it is tracked, everyone is quarantined, tested, and treated if necessary. Otherwise, everyone goes about their business with out masks, etc. Their response has been excellent and professionally managed, without politics interfering with science.

I really want those criminals in the Trump Administration to go jail for mass murder.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 10:29 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:



Queequeg said:
But, I'm still apprehensive. There's no proof these shots actually grant immunity..

Malcolm wrote:
???

Queequeg said:
Its not clear the vaccines actually make us immune.

Malcolm wrote:
I am not sure what you mean by "immunity." By this https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immunity, these vaccines absolutely grant immunity to covid 19:

a condition of being able to resist a particular disease especially through preventing development of a pathogenic microorganism or by counteracting the effects of its products


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 10:05 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:


PeterC said:
You're right, it may well be nothing.  But...it doesn't feel like nothing, from the anecdotal accounts floating around.  And the evidence on cardiovascular damage is pretty compelling.  At this point, the people dismissing covid as 'a bad case of flu' aren't realizing that it's actually something a lot more serious.

Malcolm wrote:
A third of all covid patients have serious neurological issues, regardless of how ill they initially were from the infection.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 10:04 PM
Title: Re: What are you doing about the coronavirus?
Content:



Queequeg said:
But, I'm still apprehensive. There's no proof these shots actually grant immunity..

Malcolm wrote:
???


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 10:00 PM
Title: Re: Practicing without empowerment
Content:



Johnny Dangerous said:
A Buddha doesn't get reborn once they are a Buddha...

Könchok Chödrak said:
Not in the literal sense. But they appear to be reborn, don’t they? There is the Theravadin view by some that Gautama isn’t coming back at all, but the Mahayana view from what the Lotus Sutra (The White Lotus of the Good Dharma in Tibetan) has stated is that Buddha, even after Enlightenment, has been in this world for eons. He attained Enlightenment, which it is said in that Sutra, asamkhyas of kalpas ago as Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. The Buddha is in a true extinction, but He Emanates into this entire world from place to place, from time to time, to help guide sentient beings. He is not “born” neither does He “die”, but it appears that way, and often it is written about in such a way in the Suttas, Sutras, and commentaries and books. But what you have stated is correct. He is well gone. And we must do everything we can so that the Buddha will rest in Tranquility. Om. Namaste.

Tenma said:
Hang on, what?
Everytime I learn something about this or that, I fail to understand what on earth Buddhism's purpose is. I thought enlightenment was to cease suffering and rebirth, am I wrong?

Malcolm wrote:
Correct, you are not wrong.



Tenma said:
So if a person enters enlightenment, is it just mere "tranquil rest" or helping others?

Malcolm wrote:
Full awakening in Mahāyāna means eliminating the afflictive obscuration, which causes rebirth in the three realms, and eliminating the knowledge obscuration, which prevents one from knowing all paths.

Because of eliminating the first obscuration, one has power over birth, and can appear in any place to help sentient beings; because one has the eliminated the knowledge obscuration, one knows how to lead any sentient being with the appropriate path.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 2:25 AM
Title: Re: Practicing without empowerment
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Is there a Teaching about the various Bodhisattva Vows carrying over?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, the bodhisattva vows are the only vows that one carries from one life to the next.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 2:24 AM
Title: Re: Why drugs are bad for meditators?
Content:
↑ said:
Actually, as a lay person, one has a choice to follow it or not. In the Tibetan tradition we purify all vows  with the practice of Vajrasattva. Also, bodhisattva and Vajrayana vows take precedence.

FiveSkandhas said:
This is fascinating to me because it is not the way it is generally presented to laymen in most of East Asia if they wish to become an upasaka/upasika. Japan as noted is a bit of a special case.

Malcolm wrote:
This is explicitly outlined by Vasubandhu in his commentary on the Abhidharmakośa, so it is a principle that will not be unknown to educated East Asian Buddhists.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 12:28 AM
Title: Re: Why drugs are bad for meditators?
Content:
FiveSkandhas said:
Lord Guatama Buddha designated refraining from intoxicants as one of the five vows for laymen, and thus a core vinaya vow for monks as well. It's one of the most basic parts of being Buddhist.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it’s not a core vinaya vow. It’s one of the 90 or minor Vinaya vows. The core vows are the four defeats. There is no fifth defeat.

Of the five basic prātimokṣa for lay people, it is the only one that is a prohibition through declaration, rather than a natural nonvirtue. This means that intoxication is not a natural misdeed. It’s prohibited because it can lead to natural misdeeds, murder, rape, theft, and lying.

FiveSkandhas said:
Interesting. But it's so basic to practice for millions of lay buddhists who never make that distinction.

So if you break it as a layman, versus breaking one of the other four lay vows, are there any practical differences in how you would repent, etc? Because personally I've never heard of such a distinction.

Malcolm wrote:
Actually, as a lay person, one has a choice to follow it or not. In the Tibetan tradition we purify all vows  with the practice of Vajrasattva. Also, bodhisattva and Vajrayana vows take precedence.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 12th, 2021 at 12:14 AM
Title: Re: Why drugs are bad for meditators?
Content:
FiveSkandhas said:
Lord Guatama Buddha designated refraining from intoxicants as one of the five vows for laymen, and thus a core vinaya vow for monks as well. It's one of the most basic parts of being Buddhist.

Malcolm wrote:
No, it’s not a core vinaya vow. It’s one of the 90 or minor Vinaya vows. The core vows are the four defeats. There is no fifth defeat.

Of the five basic prātimokṣa for lay people, it is the only one that is a prohibition through declaration, rather than a natural nonvirtue. This means that intoxication is not a natural misdeed. It’s prohibited because it can lead to natural misdeeds, murder, rape, theft, and lying.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 11:56 PM
Title: Re: Why drugs are bad for meditators?
Content:
Sunrise said:
I met someone who was interested in developing a meditation practice, and who also had interest in taking psychedelics. I wanted to warn her not to take drugs because I believe it could not only be harmful to her physical health, but also impede her meditation practice. Does anyone know how drugs harm our ability to meditate? I think it has something to do with a disruption of our subtle energies, but I'm not knowledgeable about this.

Malcolm wrote:
Can disrupt our vata/lung/energy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 11:32 PM
Title: Re: Practicing without empowerment
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Is there an official Teaching for how Empowerments from past lives carry over?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, the official teaching is that they do not.

Könchok Thrinley said:
I have always wondered, how is it possible then that just barely keeping samayas pure leads to liberation within 16 lifetimes?

Malcolm wrote:
One needs to keep them in order to meet Vajrayana teachings again in each of those lifetimes. Hence, the aspirations to meet the guru again and again.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 10:23 PM
Title: Re: Practicing without empowerment
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Is there an official Teaching for how Empowerments from past lives carry over?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, the official teaching is that they do not.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 10:11 PM
Title: Re: To account for the cause of this decline in the fortunes of Bön in both Zhang-zhung and Tibet.
Content:
gelukman said:
Generally stated it would be unfathomable if Guru Rinpoche, Vairochana and the King would have something against their own doctrines aka
Kuntuzangpo. Yungdrung Bon is very Kuntuzangpo.

Malcolm wrote:
In general, these accounts are all from at least three centuries after the stated events. It is very clear that the Bonpos altered their own historical records in the Zhang Zhung Snyan brgyud to revise the time of assassination of Ligmincha from the mid-7th century at the hands of Srongtsen Gampo to the mid-8th century during the reign of Trisrong De'utsen.

Passing By said:
I heard it both ways from Bon teachers before actually. The timeline of Bon is obviously quite unclear but there were two wars against Zhang Zhung by both kings with Trisong Deutsan finally completing the annexation of that region no?

Malcolm wrote:
No, According to the Tang chronicles, Zhang Zhung was annexed in 645 AD. There was an uprising against Tibetan rule in 677, but Zhang Zhung was swiftly brought heel.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 10:04 PM
Title: Re: Video on Mipam R and Buddha Nature.
Content:



treehuggingoctopus said:
Doubly weird, since Duckworth knows and appreciates the piece and its author in general. I will try to re-read MoBN when I find some time, and see how he deals with the problem.

Malcolm wrote:
It is extremely clear that the term refers to a gnosis that one realizes for oneself without depending on another. It is the same category of terms like translating rig pa as awareness.

Dharmasagara said:
Malcom, would you please offer your own rendering of the term so sor rang gyis rig pa'i ye shes?

Thanx in advance

Malcolm wrote:
Kapstien’s equivalent is sound, “personally intuited gnosis.”


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 10:03 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Astus said:
I did not equate conventions with just words.

Malcolm wrote:
I wasn’t sure, that’s why I asked you, which comes first, an appearance or it’s label.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 10:35 AM
Title: Re: Via positiva, via negativa
Content:
Norwegian said:
The Buddha stated that outside of his teachings, there is no liberation.

Rick said:
I didn't know that! I'd always taken the 84,000 paths as a touchstone, assuming these paths could be nontrivially different.

Well that's a game changer for me. Gonna have to realign my Buddhism-as-path-to-truth dominoes.

Thanks, Norwegian.

Malcolm wrote:
The 84k gates mean different things, but never included nonBuddhist paths.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 10:31 AM
Title: Re: Via positiva, via negativa
Content:
Rick said:
Different paths and different views don't necessarily mean different 'destinations' right? I thought enlightenment/nirvana/moksha transcended all paths and views?

Malcolm wrote:
Different basis, different path, different result.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 10:30 AM
Title: Re: How to decarbonize your life.
Content:
kirtu said:
We are working to save the planet.

Malcolm wrote:
The planet will be fine, no matter what we do to it in the short term.

Kim O'Hara said:
Yes, although I'm not at all sure I would like another human birth in the next 50 - 100 years.


Kim

Malcolm wrote:
We will adapt. We will have to.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:



SilenceMonkey said:
Why would Geluks say that?

Also, by "convention" are we talking about names and language (མིང་ ming)?

Malcolm wrote:
You should read Gorampa. He explains it very clearly.

SilenceMonkey said:
One day. Mipham first!

Malcolm wrote:
Mipham depends quite heavily on Gorampa.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 9:20 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
The argument takes aim at the Geluk idea that appearances are derived from conventions themselves.

SilenceMonkey said:
Why would Geluks say that?

Also, by "convention" are we talking about names and language (མིང་ ming)?

Malcolm wrote:
You should read Gorampa. He explains it very clearly.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 9:14 AM
Title: Re: How to decarbonize your life.
Content:
kirtu said:
We are working to save the planet.

Malcolm wrote:
The planet will be fine, no matter what we do to it in the short term.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 5:17 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Satyadvayavibhaṅgavṛitti states:

“Mundane conventional designations are engagements of the mundane, that is to say, having the characteristics of cognitions and objects of cognition, but do not have the characteristic of verbalizations because of being described subsequent to those [cognitions].”

Gorampa adds:

Therefore all those objects and everything defined on those from the perspective of appearing to a mundane mind is said to be the meaning of defining the relative through the perspective of convention.

Astus said:
How does that support the claim that first there are appearances and only then conventions? Appearances are conventional according to Jnanakirti, he simply makes a distinction there between cognition and verbalisation.

Malcolm wrote:
because of being described subsequent to those [cognitions]. The argument takes aim at the Geluk idea that appearances are derived from conventions themselves.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 4:14 AM
Title: Re: How to decarbonize your life.
Content:


kirtu said:
Fossil fuel use has to be completely ended as soon as possible.  And this can only actually happen by restructuring all of energy production and consumption for all nations...

Malcolm wrote:
This is not going to happen in our lifetime, since it would plunge billions of people into starvation and set off resource wars the likes of which we have never seen.

kirtu said:
Restructuring energy production and consumption is EXACTLY what we are doing.

Malcolm wrote:
Fossil fuel use will not end in our lifetime. I am 59. I'll be lucky to live to 80. Somehow, I don't foresee a major shift away from fossil fuels worldwide in the next 21 years:

Consumption of oil and other forms of liquid petroleum will fall modestly over the next 24 years, from 33 percent of total marketed energy consumption in 2012 to 30 percent in 2040. Oil will continue to be a primary fuel for the transport sector, as well as a key fuel for industrial uses in emerging countries.

But experts cautioned against the idea that fossil fuels will become 20th-century energy anachronisms by the middle of the 21st century. In fact, fossil fuels will still account for 78 percent of global energy use in 2040, even as the growth in non-fossil fuels exceeds that of oil, coal and gas.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fossil-fuels-may-not-dwindle-anytime-soon/

As you can see, transport is reflected in your graph above, in agreement with this article from 2016.

And, as you know, it is not merely science that counts; it is the markets, investments, policy, etc. that are driving continued use of fossil fuels, especially in the transport sector.

We simply cannot pull the plug on fossil fuels. It would be too disruptive.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 4:07 AM
Title: Re: To account for the cause of this decline in the fortunes of Bön in both Zhang-zhung and Tibet.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
...to revise the time of assassination of Ligmincha from the mid-7th century at the hands of Srongtsen Gampo to the mid-8th century during the reign of Trisrong De'utsen.


Sādhaka said:
If this is true, then what may be the reason(s) for doing so?

Malcolm wrote:
It is true, ChNN might have been the first person to point this out, in fact.

As for the reason, its fits better with the Bon narrative of being exiled by Trisrong De'utsen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 4:04 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
In brief, conventions do not generate appearances, for example, calling the appearance of sand “water” does not change that appearance into water. First there an appearance, then there is a conventional designation.

Astus said:
How is that not like the Abhidharma view that takes dharmas as paramartha, and how is it consolidated with statements like this one:

'Since the Buddhas have stated
That the world is conditioned by ignorance,
So why is it not reasonable [to assert]
That this world is [a result of] conceptualization?'
(Yuktisastika 37, tr Geshe Thupten Jinpa; cf. Yuktisastika 33-34; Acintyastava 6, 35, 44; Lokatitastava 19)

Malcolm wrote:
Satyadvayavibhaṅgavṛitti states:

“Mundane conventional designations are engagements of the mundane, that is to say, having the characteristics of cognitions and objects of cognition, but do not have the characteristic of verbalizations because of being described subsequent to those [cognitions].”

Gorampa adds:

Therefore all those objects and everything defined on those from the perspective of appearing to a mundane mind is said to be the meaning of defining the relative through the perspective of convention.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 2:04 AM
Title: Re: The Tree of World Religions
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Like Thich Nhat Hanh says, Buddhism is made up of non-Buddhist elements...

Malcolm wrote:
No it isn't. Buddha explicitly denies that it was.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 1:58 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:


fckw said:
This implies: We don't know whether the "observer/knower/knowing capacity" is actually "one" or "many", because it is at the root of making such discretions. In the absence of this knowledge someone might actually argue that this knowing capacity is exactly same as "self". And what position could anyone take to refute it (or to confirm it, for that matter)? We are operating here at a position prior to the discretization function we posited before.

Malcolm wrote:
The argument that a knower is a self has already been advanced and dismantled in Buddhist texts. If a knower can have many cognitions, it already has many parts and cannot be a unitary or an integral entity. We are therefore not operating here at a position prior to recognizing discrete entities, the very fact that our minds (citta) are variegated (citra) proves the mind is not an integral entity, proves it is made of parts, and since those cognitions happen sequentially, this proves the mind is also impermanent, momentary, and dependent. So, it is impossible for a conventional knower to be a self.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 1:49 AM
Title: Re: To account for the cause of this decline in the fortunes of Bön in both Zhang-zhung and Tibet.
Content:
gelukman said:
Generally stated it would be unfathomable if Guru Rinpoche, Vairochana and the King would have something against their own doctrines aka
Kuntuzangpo. Yungdrung Bon is very Kuntuzangpo.

Malcolm wrote:
In general, these accounts are all from at least three centuries after the stated events. It is very clear that the Bonpos altered their own historical records in the Zhang Zhung Snyan brgyud to revise the time of assassination of Ligmincha from the mid-7th century at the hands of Srongtsen Gampo to the mid-8th century during the reign of Trisrong De'utsen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 1:02 AM
Title: Re: Via positiva, via negativa
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
The only way to the ultimate truth (emptiness) is through the relative truth (dependent origination), so if one’s understanding of relative truth is flawed, as is the case with all traditions outside of Buddhadharma, and even many within it, there is no possibility that ultimate truth can be understood and realized.

Rick said:
Good, thanks.

Does the Madhyamakan view differentiate between nominal ultimate truth (understanding) and non-nominal ultimate truth (realization)?

If it does, is it possible that the non-nominal Buddhist realization (enlightenment, I guess?) and 'highest' Vedanta realization (moksha?) are essentially the same? At this 'ultimately ultimate' level of realization, every conceptual edifice, including dependent origination and emptiness, is absent. Yes?

Malcolm wrote:
Well, you know what the MMK says:

Without relying on conventional truth, the ultimate truth will not be understood;
without realizing the ultimate truth, nirvana will not be attained.

In other words, paths within or without Buddhism that do not present the conventional correctly cannot properly present the ultimate. If they cannot properly present the ultimate, it cannot be realized, and nirvana cannot be attained.

It is axiomatic that Advaita has an incorrect presentation of the relative. The only correct presentation of the relative is dependent origination. Nāgārjuna wrote the MMK to correct incorrect Buddhist understandings of dependent origination so emptiness could be understood and nirvana realized. As Aryadeva states, "Liberation depends on view."


Author: Malcolm
Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021 at 12:05 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:


fckw said:
Nobody addressed this.

It never made much sense to me how Buddhism apparently finds it totally acceptable to assume the definition of "individual minds" while going on and negating the existence of any such thing as jiva, atman and the like.

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhism does not define “individual minds” as such, but rather discrete, momentary continuums which arise from their own causes and conditions.

fckw said:
This still does not define where the "discretion" comes from or where it resides in. The continua might not have individuality in the sense of the vedic position, that's true, but they are still "particulars" or "discrete" or however we want to call them, i.e. distinct from each other. Hence, there's a "discretization process" at work which remains unexplained.

Malcolm wrote:
Things appear to be discrete, so we label them “discrete.” If things appear to be nondiscrete, we are not able to label them as discrete. For example, from a distance a mountain does not appear to be composed of discrete parts, so we label that appearance “mountain.” When we get closer, we see there are many parts, and what was formally labeled a mountain gets redefined into slopes, peaks, ravines, and so on. When we meet someone, we label that person a self, a person, a living being, but these labels attached to appearances will not bear analysis. It’s the same with mental continuum’s, even the notion of mental continuum will not bear ultimate analysis, but since the cause and result of karma, etc., appear to be discrete, mind streams are, conventionally speaking, discrete, because there is an observable function.. If we wish to aggregate minds, we refer to all consciousnesses as the dhatu of consciousness, just as we refer to aggregated elements as the space dhatu, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 11:43 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
[Mod note: edit] We say “we all have Buddha Nature”. What is this ”we”? After we erase the “I” are we going to erase the “we”? Eventually it must be understood that there are Real Transcendental activities for the individual after liberation, and that there still is an individual, even after many lifetimes of self-negation.

fckw said:
Nobody addressed this.

It never made much sense to me how Buddhism apparently finds it totally acceptable to assume the definition of "individual minds" while going on and negating the existence of any such thing as jiva, atman and the like.

Malcolm wrote:
Buddhism does not define “individual minds” as such, but rather discrete, momentary continuums which arise from their own causes and conditions. In short, jivas, pudgalas, atmans, etc., do not function as defined by their proponents, so they are negated.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 11:25 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
SilenceMonkey said:
Is it like this?

Authentic relative truth: direct perception of appearances
Confused relative truth: deluded perception of appearances, adding all sorts of conceptual elaborations (ie. conventions)

Malcolm wrote:
Functionality is how conventions are defined. Example, though no car can be found in the appearance  that is the basis of conventional designation of a car, in its parts, one of its parts, or separate from them, that appearance is a car if it functions like a car.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 11:07 PM
Title: Re: Via positiva, via negativa
Content:
Rick said:
Hi Malcolm!

What is the relationship between the four possibilities of production (causeless, from causes, from themselves, or from both self and other) and dependent arising? The MMK refutes production, but not dependent arising?

Also, isn't dependent arising, along with every other conceptual construct, a provisional teaching that is meaningless at the 'absolute' ultimate level?

Malcolm wrote:
MMK refutes any kind of production other than dependent origination. It is through dependent origination that emptiness is correctly discerned. Without the view of dependent origination, emptiness cannot be correctly perceived, let alone realized. The MMK rejects production from self, other, both, and causeless production, but not dependent origination.  The MMK also praises the teaching of dependent origination as the pacifier of proliferation in the mangalam. The last chapter of MMK is on dependent origination. The MMK nowhere rejects dependent origination, it is in fact a defense of the proper way to understand it. The only way to the ultimate truth (emptiness) is through the relative truth (dependent origination), so if one’s understanding of relative truth is flawed, as is the case with all traditions outside of Buddhadharma, and even many within it, there is no possibility that ultimate truth can be understood and realized.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 10:20 PM
Title: Re: How to decarbonize your life.
Content:


kirtu said:
Fossil fuel use has to be completely ended as soon as possible.  And this can only actually happen by restructuring all of energy production and consumption for all nations...

Malcolm wrote:
This is not going to happen in our lifetime, since it would plunge billions of people into starvation and set off resource wars the likes of which we have never seen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 10:08 PM
Title: Re: Via positiva, via negativa
Content:
Rick said:
(Note that I come in peace, waving a white flag, not trying to stir things up.)

Could it be that Advaita/brahman is the via positiva ... and Buddhism/emptiness the via negativa way of pointing to the same (non-)thing?

Malcolm wrote:
Nope. Advaitans reject dependent origination.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 10:05 PM
Title: Re: The Tree of World Religions
Content:
Queequeg said:
Jokes aside, I agree with you.

On one hand, we all follow the voice in our heads. Monotheism covers this over with a single pole social structure, as you point out, which can tend to authoritarianism. I actually argued something along these lines over Passover with a group of not particularly theistic Jews. This system has its faults and I suggested this gift the Jews gave to the world has not been particularly good. My argument was not rejected. That said, it's also a very effective social structure for maintaining social cohesion. Exhibit A: the Jewish diaspora. I think Jews have dealt with the weakness in this system by making study and argumentation a part of the tradition - pole a group of rabbis about any particular issues and you're likely to find a variety of answers. But, they also have something deeper binding them in the shared history, even as there are divisions.

Christianity and Islam take the same monotheism and, perhaps because its adherents are not bound to each other by blood, the emphasis ends up on the authority. In that case, disagreements can only end in subjugation or schism.

The specifics of this chart are one thing. The concept it illustrates is more compelling.

Malcolm wrote:
We can thank the Zoroastrians for Monotheism, that’s who the Hebrew people learned monotheism from during the Babylonian exile.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 9:25 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Wrong answer.

Astus said:
Which appearance isn't a convention? Which convention isn't an appearance?

Malcolm wrote:
This point is explained correctly by Gorampa. In brief, conventions do not generate appearances, for example, calling the appearance of sand “water” does not change that appearance into water. First there an appearance, then there is a conventional designation.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 6:59 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Do appearances arise from conventional designations, or are conventional designations made on the basis of appearances?

Astus said:
Without further specifications they are practically synonyms, so one preceding the other is not an option.

Malcolm wrote:
Wrong answer.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 5:20 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
So which comes first, appearance or convention?

Astus said:
First for what?

Malcolm wrote:
Do appearances arise from conventional designations, or are conventional designations made on the basis of appearances?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 4:27 AM
Title: Re: lockdowns on Nichiren site .
Content:
tkp67 said:
The lack of ability to maintain decorum is a compound phenomenon.

Malcolm wrote:
So is the ability to maintain decorum.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 4:22 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Astus said:
I'd rather put it as: whatever can be called existent is just a convention, a conceptual fabrication.

Malcolm wrote:
So which comes first, appearance or convention?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 3:59 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:


Könchok Chödrak said:
Some leather in America comes from bad places, such as factory farms, and humans are not different from an animals in their desire not to suffer. And they are more innocent than us.

Malcolm wrote:
Leather does not suffer. So we should just waste all that material? Let them die for nothing?


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 1:58 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
climb-up said:
The karmapa knows about his vows and the rituals he performs and still does not want meet at his ganapujas.

Malcolm wrote:
He also wants to keep his myriad Chinese disciples around.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 1:56 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:



climb-up said:
How come?

Malcolm wrote:
Because they represent the union of means and wisdom.

climb-up said:
I think I understand (maybe).
Does having achieved puberty, and therefore being biologically an adult, then represent...
...I thought I had it, but it kind of fell apart.

Or is it a tsa, lung and tigle thing?

Malcolm wrote:
More of a thigle thing.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 1:21 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
If they dont reject the samaya substances, then they are by definition not vegans.

Cinnabar said:
I’d consider a veg/vegan who takes the samaya substances but otherwise eats/lives veg/vegan— to be veg/vegan.

I know such people actually.

Malcolm wrote:
Ok, that's you.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2021 at 1:19 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Jangchup Donden said:
and made from the bones of a child who died by a lightning strike

Malcolm wrote:
To be specific, the skull of a boy 16 and a girl, 12, who have reached puberty. Using the skulls of prepubescent children is inappropriate.

climb-up said:
How come?

Malcolm wrote:
Because they represent the union of means and wisdom.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 11:38 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Matt J said:
It sounds to me like Astus is following the Gelug view of stating that things exist conventionally.

Malcolm wrote:
Equally bad:

Exist:

!a: to have real being whether material or spiritual

b : to have being in a specified place or with respect to understood limitations or conditions


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 11:34 PM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Jangchup Donden said:
and made from the bones of a child who died by a lightning strike

Malcolm wrote:
To be specific, the skull of a boy 16 and a girl, 12, who have reached puberty. Using the skulls of prepubescent children is inappropriate.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 11:31 PM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Jangchup Donden said:
I've been practicing at home due to covid, and for the last retreat over zoom I used a didgeridoo instead of a rag-dung.

Malcolm wrote:
Tibetan instruments are never mentioned in the tantras. So it does not matter which one you use.

But when it comes to vajras and bells, and vases, and so on, the production of all these things are very precisely described in lower tantras.

As far as damarus are concerned, they are described in higher tantras. There are two kinds described therein: skull damarus and wood damarus. Generally, it is considered that wrathful rites require the former, while peaceful rites require the latter.

Further, we should understand they are not appropriate to use in rites of the lower tantras, and only should be used in higher tantric rites.

However, there are differences between different schools. Nyingmapas tend to favor skull damarus, Gelugpas wooden ones. Wooden damarus should be made out of sandalwood, red sandalwood, catechu wood, or other non-poisonous woods. There are also precise sizes described for damarus.

As for the drum head, nothing other than skins are prescribed for either kind of damaru.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 10:51 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
To say something is real, in English, means to have objective, independent existence. Thus, one cannot say conditions are real.

Astus said:
I see. I try to keep that in mind. Still, if I look at the definition from https://www.lexico.com/definition/real as 'Actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed.'; or from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/real as 'existing in fact and not imaginary', then it doesn't have to have such a connotation, but rather something's factual nature is what makes it real, that it can be perceived as occurring or happening, that it is a factor. Anyhow, do you have perhaps some better words to use then?

Malcolm wrote:
Merriam Webster is the preferred dictionary of editors in North America. In any case, your two definitions above support Merriam Webster's definition.

It's just better to avoid the world "real" in Buddhist parlance. Anything that cannot bear analysis cannot be construed as real in any meaningful sense. Since not even nirvana or the three kāyas can withstand analysis, in the final analysis, Buddhism finds that everything is dependent on conditions, which are also unreal. Hence, everything is unreal, and not real. This is what it means to say everything is empty. To say something is not empty is to say that it is real; to say that something is empty is to say that it is not real.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 10:41 PM
Title: Re: The Tree of World Religions
Content:
Dragpo said:
Interesting Idea with some errors but a huge project

Created by by Dzvenislava Novakіvska and her team at Funk & Consulting "The Tree of World Religions" is a stunning chart that maps the ramifications of an incredible number of religions over the last 3,000 years.

https://000024.org/religions_tree/religions_tree_8.html

Malcolm wrote:
Missing all Indigenous Religions, African Religions, as well as Bon. So, a little myopic.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 10:31 PM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Cinnabar said:
I guess I’m curious about my veg/vegan dharma siblings who don’t reject animal products as samaya substances.

They still consider themselves veg/vegan. I guess their veg/vegan peers might disagree.

Since they don’t reject samaya substances, can they practice vajrayana properly? Or are there other deficits?

Malcolm wrote:
If they dont reject the samaya substances, then they are by definition not vegans.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 10:26 PM
Title: Re: Yangzab Konchok Chidu Empowerment
Content:
Cinnabar said:
It’s not from the Yangzab.

It’s the Konchog Chidu of Jatson Nyingpo.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, it is not from the Drigung Yang zab,the dam chos dgongs pa yang zab,  but the title is correct: bka' rdzogs pa chen po yang zab kon mchog spyi 'dus, for example:

'ja' tshon snying po . "bka' rdzogs pa chen po yang zab dkon mchog spyi 'dus las:_yang zab le'u brgyad pa:." In 'ja' tshon pod drug. TBRC W1KG3655. 1: 13 - 22. majnu-ka-tilla, delhi: konchhog lhadrepa, [n.d.].


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 10:01 PM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:



Cinnabar said:
Yes. A lama taught here. Then we did a ganachakra at the end. A nice one. These three vegan peeps flipped the frak out. They kept the lid on it. Then they got preachy and left. Lama just laughed the whole time. The rest of us just watched.

Stranger things have happened at public teachings.

Norwegian said:
Really sad. Such a gathering of vajra family together with ones guru should be a moment of profound joy.

karmanyingpo said:
Ah.... Sad indeed..
Out of curiosity, did the people who flipped out get preachy on just vegan grounds or did they also try to use Buddhism as justification?


KN

Malcolm wrote:
Veganism is not just about diet. It's about ethical treatment of animals, and is based not only on diet, but that it is unethical to use any animal products for any reason, including honey, wool, and so on. It is perfectly fine to be a Buddhist vegan, but veganism is not Buddhism. It's a separate ethical tradition closer in spirit to Jainism.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 9:21 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
You used the word “real”.

Astus said:
Yes, but "real in the sense of " functional, conditioned, causally relevant, and not as "real in the sense of existing in and of themselves".

Malcolm wrote:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/real

“ 1a : having objective independent existence...”

To say something is real, in English, means to have objective, independent existence. Thus, one cannot say conditions are real.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 8:49 PM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:



Cinnabar said:
I have seen vegetarians and vegans deal with this in different ways. When I was a vegetarian I ate the samaya substances. Meat at ganapuja, whatever goes into blessing pills. I have seen others do this as well.

I think all would still consider themselves veg/vegan despite this partaking of samaya substances.

Of course I have seen the opposite. At one ganapuja there was a fight and nastiness over the presence of meat and alcohol.

Malcolm wrote:
Vegans also reject lower tantra substances, such as milk and the other five products of a cow, honey, etc.

Hazel said:
Can people who have taken refuge vows not to engage in intoxicants not partake in tantra then if alcohol is a samaya substance?


Malcolm wrote:
Higher vows are to be followed where they contradict the lower vow.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 8:26 PM
Title: Re: Self Defense
Content:
jewel123 said:
Hello! I am very concerned regarding the increased attacks on Asian American community. I keep thinking what should be my immediate response when  I will be attacked verbally or physically.  I am saying "when" because it is only the matter of time at this point. If I fight back verbally or physically does that mean I dishonor the Teachings and Bodhisattva vows? If I don't, then does it make it "ok" for the attacker to attack someone again?

Malcolm wrote:
It’s a bodhisattva’s obligation to defend themselves.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 7:43 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Conventional truths are derived from observing functional appearances. Falsehoods are derived from observing nonfunctional appearances. Example, lake vs. mirage.

Astus said:
And by functional do you mean causally effective? If so, what's wrong with saying that phenomena are conditional?

Malcolm wrote:
You used the word “real”.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 7:39 PM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
One cannot reject samaya substances. You may consult Sakya Pandita on this point.

Cinnabar said:
I have seen vegetarians and vegans deal with this in different ways. When I was a vegetarian I ate the samaya substances. Meat at ganapuja, whatever goes into blessing pills. I have seen others do this as well.

I think all would still consider themselves veg/vegan despite this partaking of samaya substances.

Of course I have seen the opposite. At one ganapuja there was a fight and nastiness over the presence of meat and alcohol.

Malcolm wrote:
Vegans also reject lower tantra substances, such as milk and the other five products of a cow, honey, etc.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 7:33 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
That question is incoherent, it assumes that conditions can bear analysis. They can't. They are just relative appearances upon which designations are made.

Astus said:
If so, how can any valid statements be made? No difference between ordinary true and false?

Malcolm wrote:
Conventional truths are derived from observing functional appearances. Falsehoods are derived from observing nonfunctional appearances. Example, lake vs. mirage.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 10:12 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:



Nicholas2727 said:
Are you saying that one can not be vegan and practice Vajrayana?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.

Nicholas2727 said:
Would you be able to elaborate on why it is not possible?

Malcolm wrote:
One cannot reject samaya substances. You may consult Sakya Pandita on this point.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 9:57 AM
Title: Re: Buddhism and the question of "cultural appropriation"
Content:
Matt J said:
To lay a charge of cultural appropriation in a Buddhist context, one must first deny rebirth and the karmic habits that have drawn us to Buddhism in the first place. From a Buddhist POV, it is not cultural appropriation because I am not a Westerner--- this is just my current form, and I have likely spent many forms as Tibetan, Chinese, etc. To impose a Western self on me in this fashion is wrong. Ironically, this is actually a denial of the culture that one is claiming to protect.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 9:45 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
peterscott87 said:
Looking for a damaru without leather. My teacher told me no such thing exists, and I've searched everywhere with no luck, but I have hope that maybe someone has more extensive knowledge than me.

Malcolm wrote:
Doesn’t exist. Vajrayana and Veganism are mutually exclusive.

Nicholas2727 said:
Are you saying that one can not be vegan and practice Vajrayana?

Malcolm wrote:
Yes.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 5:47 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
No, because conditions also cannot be found upon analysis, exactly like material and mental appearances, the former are no more real than the latter. They have the same amount of reality, they are unable to bear ultimate analysis.

Astus said:
Do say that conventionally things exist independently?

Malcolm wrote:
That question is incoherent, it assumes that conditions can bear analysis. They can't. They are just relative appearances upon which designations are made.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 5:44 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Cinnabar said:
That doesn't answer my question as to whether I can pracitce vajrayana or not with a damaru with a nonleather skin.

Malcolm wrote:
It does. But there is still no such thing as a vegan damaru, at least, not in any tantra with which I am familiar.

Cinnabar said:
I never said there was a vegan damaru.

My damaru certainly isn’t vegan.

And no. You didn’t answer my sincere question. You were quite oblique.

“People can do what they want” can be taken in myriad ways.

Malcolm wrote:
I did answer it. You just didn't like the answer.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 5:15 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
No, not even that.

Astus said:
No, because there are no appearances, or because they are not dependent, or maybe both?

Malcolm wrote:
No, because conditions also cannot be found upon analysis, exactly like material and mental appearances, the former are no more real than the latter. They have the same amount of reality, they are unable to bear ultimate analysis.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 5:08 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Cinnabar said:
That doesn't answer my question as to whether I can pracitce vajrayana or not with a damaru with a nonleather skin.

Malcolm wrote:
It does. But there is still no such thing as a vegan damaru, at least, not in any tantra with which I am familiar.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 4:35 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Cinnabar said:
So, as I'm taking "vegan damaru" to mean a damaru without a leather skin...

... are you saying I really couldn't use such a beast in my practice?

Malcolm wrote:
People can do whatever they want and they do. But there is no such a thing as a vegan damaru. Damarus are made with skulls and skin.

Cinnabar said:
I am aware they are made of skulls and skin.

But my question stands. If I move to where my partner is, and can not import animal products, does that mean I can't practice vajrayana with a damaru with a nonleather skin?

Malcolm wrote:
I answered your question already.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 3:48 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Cinnabar said:
So, as I'm taking "vegan damaru" to mean a damaru without a leather skin...

... are you saying I really couldn't use such a beast in my practice?

Malcolm wrote:
People can do whatever they want and they do. But there is no such a thing as a vegan damaru. Real damarus are made with skulls and skin.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 3:22 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Astus said:
but real in the sense of conditioned conditions.

Malcolm wrote:
No, not even that.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 2:58 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:


Cinnabar said:
He says he wan'ts a "vegan" damaru. It's his first post and he hasn't followed up.


Malcolm wrote:
No such thing.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 1:57 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
Cinnabar said:
I guess I'm not convinced that people couldn't bring a "vegan" drum into that country and do good practice.

Malcolm wrote:
that's not the point.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Friday, April 9th, 2021 at 1:55 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
As you say, I also find this quote conceptually inconsistent with general buddhist teachings (that ignorant westerners such as myself have been exposed to), but now I put this down to my concepts and lack of experience.
Yes, it is conceptually inconsistent with general buddhist teachings, if by "general" you mean the teachings on everything being self-empty (Madhyamaka, Heart Sutra, etc.). The workaround being the idea it is exempt from Prasangica deconstruction because it cannot become an object of consciousness, which I think is how it is said in an earlier edition.

Malcolm wrote:
This does not make sense. Why? Nonconceptual gnosis arises from a cause, as is very clearly stated in both Madhyamaka AND Yogacāra sources.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 11:14 AM
Title: Re: Not getting results - what to do !
Content:
The_Wonderer said:
Hi All,

I having chanting for almost 7 years now. But despite chanting for many hours in a day, doing study and following as suggested by seniors, I am not getting the desired results/goals.

This is leading to a lot of confusion:

1. What wrong I am doing?
2. Is this practice really for me?
3. What next steps I can take.

I am now at that stage in life, where hope/wish is slowly turning to desperation.
Kindly Suggest and Guide

Thanks

Malcolm wrote:
Has your practice caused you to become a nicer person? If not, there is something missing from your practice.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 9:20 AM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:


FiveSkandhas said:
Nevertheless, I can't help but feel people really beat their heads against the wall needlessly when it comes to Buddha Nature and Tathagatagharba thought. The issue as I see it is that Tathagatagharba texts present so many varied and often seemingly even opposing definitions and lines of argument when it comes to defining these concepts. You really can make well-reasoned arguments drawing on cannonical theory for maybe a dozen different definitions of Buddha Nature.


Malcolm wrote:
According to Candrakirti:

I. tathagatgarbha is merely the innate purity of a given consciousness also termed “luminosity” or “clear light.”

II. The 32 major marks said to abide innately in sentient beings is simply a metaphor for the natural purity of ones mind.

This should be understood as the Prasangika view of tathagatgarbha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 9:03 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
peterscott87 said:
Looking for a damaru without leather. My teacher told me no such thing exists, and I've searched everywhere with no luck, but I have hope that maybe someone has more extensive knowledge than me.

Malcolm wrote:
Doesn’t exist. Vajrayana and Veganism are mutually exclusive.

Hazel said:
How so? I'm not vegan, but am curious.

Malcolm wrote:
One cannot, ultimately, have notions about food purity or the lack thereof. Most people are incapable of this, for this reason such transcendence of limitations is expressed in symbols.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 7:44 AM
Title: Re: Great Vegan Debate
Content:
LastLegend said:
It’s unrealistic to ask people to eat vegetables...even the Buddha did not do that.

Sunrise said:
The Buddha was skillful allowing the Sangha, who were beggars, to eat meat (not intentionally killed for them).

Malcolm wrote:
He also never discussed the diets of lay people.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 7:21 AM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:



Malcolm wrote:
It must means you, the gift, and the recipient lack inherent existence.

PadmaVonSamba said:
Malcolm is correct. If you are asking how to apply the idea of absolute truth in some meaningful or practical way to our everyday life experiences, then even on a purely intellectual or conceptual level, you can use it as a means of letting go of attachment.

If, ultimately, there is no “me” giving money to a poor person, then there’s no “me” waiting around for a “thank you” or expecting anything in return.

Likewise, ultimately, there is no single recipient. You are helping that person by giving money. That person will then spend that money, which in turn helps someone else, and so on.

Although absolute truth/relative truth can be applied to everything, it doesn’t need to be all the time. The whole point of understanding relative/ultimate is as a practice to eliminate attachment by seeing that ultimately nothing can be said to truly exist to which one can attach.

Arnold3000 said:
May I ask again?
I just can't understand:
If you take the river
Conventional truth (what occurs) the river Amazon flows.
The Absolute truth (that which exists) is simply the flow of water across the earth. That is, all rivers should be perceived as just streams of water.
If you take a people
Conventional truth:  Every person is composed of the five aggregates, or skandhas: matter, sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness.
Absolute truth:?
Thanks you!

Malcolm wrote:
Take a course.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 7:21 AM
Title: Re: Does a Vegan Damaru exist anywhere?
Content:
peterscott87 said:
Looking for a damaru without leather. My teacher told me no such thing exists, and I've searched everywhere with no luck, but I have hope that maybe someone has more extensive knowledge than me.

Malcolm wrote:
Doesn’t exist. Vajrayana and Veganism are mutually exclusive.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 12:11 AM
Title: Re: Are there any precedents that allow for 'developments' of Buddhism after the Buddha?
Content:
Queequeg said:
I'll say, its a lot of wasted energy.

Malcolm wrote:
Fortunately, Dzogchen teachings assert they will be the last ones standing, so I don't worry at all.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 11:37 PM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:




Arnold3000 said:
Can you apply this explanation to sentient beings, humans, animals?

PadmaVonSamba said:
it’s universal. It can be applied to everything.

Arnold3000 said:
I just don't know how to figure it out? Conditional truth: For example, if I help poor people who are hungry and give them money for food, they will feel happy, they will think that I am a good person, and they will think how to thank me. But if you look at it from the side of the Absolute Truth:

Malcolm wrote:
It must means you, the gift, and the recipient lack inherent existence.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 10:57 PM
Title: Re: Hello from the other side
Content:


Bazman said:
I have read a few books on buddhism the last ten years.
The latest being why buddhism is true by Robert Wright
Basically I pretty much accept the non self is true.
I just need to work on meditation.
Any other advice?

Malcolm wrote:
Find a teacher.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 10:56 PM
Title: Re: Are there any precedents that allow for 'developments' of Buddhism after the Buddha?
Content:



Aemilius said:
Nichiren Buddhists interpret the prophecy of three time periods to justify that their teaching is a proper practice for the last period of the Law:


Malcolm wrote:
As does the Cakrasamvara Tantra. That, and 5 bucks, will get you coffee.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 10:44 PM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:
LastLegend said:
I don’t think it did. Even Buddha doesn’t exist.

Malcolm wrote:
Even you don't exist, but here you are.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 10:26 PM
Title: Re: I would like to learn more about Rime.
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Does anyone have any Teachers, websites, organizations, or books they can recommend me on the subject of Rime? Or any such things on the subject of Rime.

Also if anyone would like to educate me about Rime in Tibetan Buddhism I would be thankful, just from whatever you can explain to me that you think would be helpful. Om.

Malcolm wrote:
Rime is a name Sakyas and Kagyus use when they are actually Dzogchen practitioners.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 10:24 PM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:
LastLegend said:
I think so...when he raised a flower neither Mahakasyapa or him said a word.

Malcolm wrote:
This event never happened.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 10:09 PM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:



LastLegend said:
So which idiot constructed this conventional truth and ultimate truth?

Malcolm wrote:
The Buddha.

LastLegend said:
Buddha never said a word!

Malcolm wrote:
Well, then someone must have ghostwritten for him, because there are countless volumes of the Buddha's words.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:55 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Schrödinger’s Yidam said:
sentient beings do not partake of Buddha Nature.

Malcolm wrote:
If this is the case, and I doubt it, this would mean that this idea stands in direct contradiction with the main systematized source of the tathāgatgarbha theory, the Uttaratantra.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:52 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Do you or anyone know how Buddha viewed the idea of Jiva and where He stood on that subject?

Malcolm wrote:
He rejected it as well.

Könchok Chödrak said:
Can you explain in more detail about this particular statement of Buddha rejecting the Jiva? Where I can find it in Suttas or Sutras, absolutely anywhere? Or you can tell me off the top of your head. Thank you.

Malcolm wrote:
The Teaching of Akṣayamati:

The sūtras that, with various words, proclaim a self, a being, a life principle, a life-sustaining principle, a spirit, a personality, a human being, a man, a subject that acts, and a subject that feels and those that teach that there is a ruler where there is no ruler are called implicit. The sūtras that teach emptiness, the absence of distinguishing marks, the absence of anything to long for, the unconditioned, the unborn, the unoriginated, the nonexistent, the absence of self, the absence of being, the absence of soul, the absence of person, the absence of spirit, the absence of ruler, and the gates of liberation are called definitive. This is called the reliance on the sūtras of definitive meaning, not on the sūtras of implicit meaning.
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh175.html


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:43 PM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:
Arnold3000 said:
There are Two Truths: Conventional Truth and Absolute Truth. This counts as two sides of the same coin. But I cannot understand how it is possible to simultaneously believe in both conventional and absolute truth? Could we give examples. thanks

Malcolm wrote:
Thorough knowledge of relative truth is ultimate truth; for this reason the two truths are mutually confirming and not in contradiction at all.

Arnold3000 said:
For example, I gave a child candy and he was delighted, this is a conventionally truth. But the absolute truth is that me, the kid, and the candy don't exist, or that the baby won't be happy?

Malcolm wrote:
The ultimate truth is that neither you, the child, nor the candy exist inherently. As QQ pointed out, whatever is dependently originated, that is empty and dependently designated. The two truths are inseparable.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:40 PM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:
Arnold3000 said:
There are Two Truths: Conventional Truth and Absolute Truth. This counts as two sides of the same coin. But I cannot understand how it is possible to simultaneously believe in both conventional and absolute truth? Could we give examples. thanks

LastLegend said:
So which idiot constructed this conventional truth and ultimate truth?

Malcolm wrote:
The Buddha.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:40 PM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:
Queequeg said:
Tr. Kalupahana

Malcolm wrote:
Terrible translation.

Queequeg said:
Which one do you recommend? I've mostly relied on Garfield but have pulled back a little because of criticism I've read here.

Malcolm wrote:
Nagarjuna's Middle Way: Mulamadhyamakakarika (Classics of Indian Buddhism)

Siderits/Katsura


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:08 PM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:
Queequeg said:
Tr. Kalupahana

Malcolm wrote:
Terrible translation.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:06 PM
Title: Kumarajiva BBC program
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09yhj09?fbclid=IwAR2EwaI1P-v8yw3rFs2QjHIhIJBlbe2eDOnY9AdG8RexK0ozuud-qEPIfwA


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 7:13 PM
Title: Re: Brunnhölzl on Buddha Nature as a radical teaching.
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
Do you or anyone know how Buddha viewed the idea of Jiva and where He stood on that subject?

Malcolm wrote:
He rejected it as well.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:44 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming
Content:


Könchok Chödrak said:
Maybe that was their plan all along. Do you remember Nader saying on TV how much environmental support we’ll get once Bush gets elected, because of the backlash against that President’s possible Republican’s environmental policies? I think the Green Party is kind of playing a game.

Malcolm wrote:
Same in 2016, "Electing Trump will provoke a progressive backlash..." but didn't happen either. Plus the Greens like Stein fell for a bunch of Russian propaganda. Stein is a total idiot.

Kim O'Hara said:
That's all quite sad. Is it any different at local council level? State level?


Kim

Malcolm wrote:
Not much. The US system really is a de facto two party system. Successful progressives graduate to Democratic Party or vanish into obscurity.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:13 AM
Title: Re: Two Truths in Mahayana
Content:
Arnold3000 said:
There are Two Truths: Conventional Truth and Absolute Truth. This counts as two sides of the same coin. But I cannot understand how it is possible to simultaneously believe in both conventional and absolute truth? Could we give examples. thanks

Malcolm wrote:
Thorough knowledge of relative truth is ultimate truth; for this reason the two truths are mutually confirming and not in contradiction at all.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 9:11 AM
Title: Re: Buddhism and the question of "cultural appropriation"
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
I just want to naturally know Tibetan. The fact that I don’t is unfair. Something is being unfair to me where I just cannot speak it fluently out of thin air.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 4:13 AM
Title: Re: On Enlightenment - What and who gets there?
Content:



Seeker12 said:
I believe Dudjom Rinpoche said it, though I can't recall for certain. I almost certainly got it from a Vajrayana teacher given that that's all I've read, basically, in the last years. But beyond that, I'm just a messenger, I'm not claiming some clear seeing about it myself really.

Malcolm wrote:
I have never personally encountered such a sentiment myself.

Seeker12 said:
It's here too - http://www.buddhism.org/Sutras/2/Shantideva.htm

"The king’s way of generating bodhicitta is the least courageous of the three, the boatman’s way is more courageous, and the shepherd’s way is the most courageous of all. Practitioners of ordinary capacity, those who follow the way of the king, will reach perfect enlightenment within ‘thirty-three countless aeons’;494 those of mediocre capacity, who follow the way of the boatman, will reach perfect enlightenment within ‘seven countless aeons’;495 while those of highest capacity, who follow the way of the shepherd, will reach perfect enlightenment within ‘three countless aeons’.496"

Here it says, regarding a citation,

Malcolm wrote:
What I was attempting to convey is that I have never seen it asserted that this is the case for a Vajrayāna practitioner, where the king's bodhicitta is the norm. That's why I said it makes no sense from a Vajrayāna perspective.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 3:35 AM
Title: Re: On Enlightenment - What and who gets there?
Content:
Seeker12 said:
If it's of any interest, as perhaps an aside, it is sometimes explained that the shepherd type is by far the fastest, with the king type being by far the slowest when it comes to realizing unsurpassed Buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
That makes no sense from a Vajrayāna point of view.

Seeker12 said:
I believe Dudjom Rinpoche said it, though I can't recall for certain. I almost certainly got it from a Vajrayana teacher given that that's all I've read, basically, in the last years. But beyond that, I'm just a messenger, I'm not claiming some clear seeing about it myself really.

Malcolm wrote:
I have never personally encountered such a sentiment myself.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 3:32 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming
Content:


Könchok Chödrak said:
Maybe that was their plan all along. Do you remember Nader saying on TV how much environmental support we’ll get once Bush gets elected, because of the backlash against that President’s possible Republican’s environmental policies? I think the Green Party is kind of playing a game.

Malcolm wrote:
Same in 2016, "Electing Trump will provoke a progressive backlash..." but didn't happen either. Plus the Greens like Stein fell for a bunch of Russian propaganda. Stein is a total idiot.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 3:30 AM
Title: Re: Video on Mipam R and Buddha Nature.
Content:
treehuggingoctopus said:
So while it is a faulty translation (as you say) it may have no impact whatsoever on his understanding and the argument in general. It is an almost perfectly contentless marker.

Malcolm wrote:
It is arguably one of the most important terms in Buddhism. So, one has to wonder.

treehuggingoctopus said:
Yes, it is interesting that one may write a very well-researched and perfectly coherent book on the topic without specifying what one of the crucial terms actually means. (On the other hand, this is what the rules of the game allow and in a sense encourage: this is exactly what all philosophy, and perhaps all discourse in general, prominently features: we rely on crucial terms, frameworks, etc., without noting what they mean/do, and often without even noticing that they are there -- and we can quarrel and argument till death do us part without minding the situation for a second. Off to the exams now, before it is too late.)

Malcolm wrote:
This is why in end, words are useless for understanding Dzogchen.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 3:06 AM
Title: Re: Video on Mipam R and Buddha Nature.
Content:
treehuggingoctopus said:
So while it is a faulty translation (as you say) it may have no impact whatsoever on his understanding and the argument in general. It is an almost perfectly contentless marker.

Malcolm wrote:
It is arguably one of the most important terms in Buddhism. So, one has to wonder.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 2:11 AM
Title: Re: To account for the cause of this decline in the fortunes of Bön in both Zhang-zhung and Tibet.
Content:


gelukman said:
I found it in facebook bon group. I wanted it to be removed. As I think the story is gossip and a seed of disharmony. But the group admin was of a different opinion.  What do you think?

Malcolm wrote:
I think it is typical Bonpo history, no more slanderous of Buddhism than Buddhist accounts of Bon are slanderous of Bon.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 1:44 AM
Title: Re: On Enlightenment - What and who gets there?
Content:
Seeker12 said:
If it's of any interest, as perhaps an aside, it is sometimes explained that the shepherd type is by far the fastest, with the king type being by far the slowest when it comes to realizing unsurpassed Buddhahood.

Malcolm wrote:
That makes no sense from a Vajrayāna point of view.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 1:16 AM
Title: Re: On Enlightenment - What and who gets there?
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
1. The true nature of the mind is unimpeded awareness.

Malcolm wrote:
No, the nature of mind is inseparable cognizance (rig pa), clarity (gsal ba), and emptiness (stong pa nyid).

PadmaVonSamba said:
Gsal ba and stong pa are both unimpeded la.

Malcolm wrote:
Your definition is not complete.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 1:14 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming
Content:


Kim O'Hara said:
I support my local Greens party...

Malcolm wrote:
Unfortunately, the Green Party in the USA is hopeless. Third parties in the US just cause problems and get Republican Presidents elected, as happened in 2000 and 2016. So the environmental movement has to caucus with the Democratic Party, there is no other choice.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 at 12:53 AM
Title: Re: Video on Mipam R and Buddha Nature.
Content:


treehuggingoctopus said:
Well, sorry to hear this -- but does this influence his argument in "Mipam on Buddha Nature"? Maybe in the context he works with the damage is minimal? (I am genuinely asking -- I have no way of verifying the accuracy of his translations, naturally.)

Malcolm wrote:
It appears that he does not understand or misunderstands the intellectual history of the word "rig pa," which is just shorthand for so sor rang gyis rig pa'i ye shes. See Kapstien's article, "We are all gshan stong pas."

Don't misunderstand, he is a very bright person, but this kind of issue can really skew your view.

treehuggingoctopus said:
Doubly weird, since Duckworth knows and appreciates the piece and its author in general. I will try to re-read MoBN when I find some time, and see how he deals with the problem.

Malcolm wrote:
It is extremely clear that the term refers to a gnosis that one realizes for oneself without depending on another. It is the same category of terms like translating rig pa as awareness.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 11:35 PM
Title: Re: Video on Mipam R and Buddha Nature.
Content:


treehuggingoctopus said:
Well, sorry to hear this -- but does this influence his argument in "Mipam on Buddha Nature"? Maybe in the context he works with the damage is minimal? (I am genuinely asking -- I have no way of verifying the accuracy of his translations, naturally.)

Malcolm wrote:
It appears that he does not understand or misunderstands the intellectual history of the word "rig pa," which is just shorthand for so sor rang gyis rig pa'i ye shes. See Kapstien's article, "We are all gshan stong pas."

Don't misunderstand, he is a very bright person, but this kind of issue can really skew your view.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 11:14 PM
Title: Re: About translations and transliterations
Content:
penalvad_uba said:
Why transliterations, from same Mantras, differs. There are specific methods being applied or it is just the knowledge amd wisdom of the translator ?

E.G.  dudjom tersar transliterations from vajrayana.org and from lotsawahouse differs.

What you thing is better to easy the learning of the Mantra ?

karmanyingpo said:
It is true that you should follow how your teacher PRONOUNCES mantra...

Malcolm wrote:
That's one opinion, not a truth. There are other opinions as well.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 10:37 PM
Title: Re: On Enlightenment - What and who gets there?
Content:




Padmist said:
Thank you for taking a stab at it.

Yes I'm referring to anything outside Tibetan (Zen for instance) and then outside Mahayana as well.

I'm just confused or uncertain on a lot of this because....if Bodhisattva is the goal of Tibetan Buddhist (Mahayanist) then what happened to the belief that tantra is very fast? Are we then 'delaying' or slowing down the path deliberately? Much like driving a Lamborghini in a school zone? Fast but deliberately slowing it down.

Malcolm wrote:
Common Mahāyāna is too slow. That is why we have Vajrayāna.


Padmist said:
I say that because (a) the belief that tantra is so fast but (b) we follow the Bodhisattva path meaning (c) not going directly to Buddhahood. So if A is so fast but you don't aspire for C right away, then that means there is a deliberate slowing down in the B area. Did I get this right?

Malcolm wrote:
No. In Uncommon Mahāyāna Vajrayāna, one wishes to attain buddhahood as rapidly as possible, and eliminate the lengthy time its takes in the common Mahāyāna path.


Padmist said:
Finally, if the above paragraph is correct, it would seem that there are no enlightened beings. (Unless you count Arahant) Because everyone (Tibetan/Mahayanist) are following the Bodhisattva path, using a very fast vehicle (Tantra) but slowing it down so as not to reach Buddhahood fast. That would seem that no Tibetan Buddhist / Mahayanist are enlightened. Or do I get this whole thing completely wrong?

Malcolm wrote:
Yup. completely wrong. Sorry.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 10:34 PM
Title: Re: On Enlightenment - What and who gets there?
Content:
PadmaVonSamba said:
1. The true nature of the mind is unimpeded awareness.

Malcolm wrote:
No, the nature of mind is inseparable cognizance (rig pa), clarity (gsal ba), and emptiness (stong pa nyid).


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 10:10 PM
Title: Re: Video on Mipam R and Buddha Nature.
Content:
amanitamusc said:
Most practitioner's  prefer this level of teaching from a Scholar practitioner or better a Buddha ,rather than just a Scholar.

treehuggingoctopus said:
He is a practitioner.

His books are excellent, and easier to follow than the lecture. This is stuff that gets much more accessible on paper.

Malcolm wrote:
He translates so sor rang gi rig pa'i ye shes incorrectly. Not understanding this one term correctly skews ones whole view. It is not reflexive.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 9:50 AM
Title: Re: Buddhist Rock & Metal
Content:
Könchok Chödrak said:
It’s great because it has very advanced Tibetan chanting

Malcolm wrote:
No, actually it doesn’t, sorry.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 7:50 AM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming
Content:
kirtu said:
"renewables" can include greenhouse gas producing sources.

Malcolm wrote:
Yes, I am aware of everything you mentioned. Nevertheless, I mentioned Scotland specifically because it is an anglophone country.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 5:18 AM
Title: Re: Buddhist Rock & Metal
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Just to add to my general dislike of so called "Dharma music," I think Hindus do a better job of it without cheesing out, since they have the raga thing going for them.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 4:07 AM
Title: Re: Buddhist Rock & Metal
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
The thing with using Dharmic themes in music is that it can get cheezy fast.

Malcolm wrote:
Actually, it is primordially cheesy.

Johnny Dangerous said:
Well ymmv but I find the syrupy, poppy versions of Dharanis and such harder to deal with than this stuff.

Malcolm wrote:
This is more my style:


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 3:35 AM
Title: Re: Buddhist Rock & Metal
Content:
Johnny Dangerous said:
The thing with using Dharmic themes in music is that it can get cheezy fast.

Malcolm wrote:
Actually, it is primordially cheesy.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 3:29 AM
Title: Re: Buddhist Rock & Metal
Content:
Malcolm wrote:
Let's not and say we did.

Astus said:
You don't like the genre?

Malcolm wrote:
You might say that.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 1:10 AM
Title: Re: a question
Content:



master of puppets said:
Just want my mind to be like a mirror.

Malcolm wrote:
It's already like a mirror.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 12:21 AM
Title: Re: Is a shrine important
Content:
Queequeg said:
The insistence on formality and weighing the karma, etc. etc. that's all well and good, but also can have the effect of snuffing all the joy and spontaneity from the practice.

Malcolm wrote:
That's the main purpose of dharmawheel.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 at 12:18 AM
Title: Re: Is a shrine important
Content:


Queequeg said:
Yes. People seem to be stuck on the fact that I used "flesh". I didn't mean it in the literal sense. I meant it in the sense that when something permeates you, its part of you.

Malcolm wrote:
Then there is the proverbial stone in the ocean. No matter how long it is immersed in water, its interior never gets wet.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 5th, 2021 at 10:59 PM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming
Content:


kirtu said:
Many of us live in English dominant countries where climate change was completely denied, even today.

Malcolm wrote:
Scotland seems to ahead of the curve in general:

https://scheerpost.com/2021/04/05/scotland-is-the-first-industrialized-country-to-reach-this-green-landmark/


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 5th, 2021 at 10:46 PM
Title: Re: Buddhist Rock & Metal
Content:
Astus said:
Let's share Buddhist metal, rock, and other modern music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi8HnW-SHf4 - A one of a kind song by the Chinese band Yaksa (夜叉), the lyrics is based on the dharani (Niepan xiangmo zhou 涅槃降魔咒) recited by Manjusri to save Ananda from 64000 billion maras in the last chapter of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra (T374p602/T375p850).

Dharma (達摩樂隊) - Buddhist death metal from Taiwan, they growl mantras
Videos available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi1eseuCuPIozZK6tTcqCzg
Sample song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC6Tc3y1icM

Shamon (沙門) - Futuristic Buddhist Pop (進化系仏教ポップ), a band of Buddhist priests from Japan, they also have some songs in English
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCZm7X9tqCJCeoOIZN0psCQ
Sample English song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-cAgsKQkI

Nam Jazz Experiment (南無ジャズ・エクスペリメント) - Sutra chanting combined with Jazz from Japan
Videos available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAGbI6vuwZg3_FbEMAc7DeA ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijiyBbi8jnQ&list=PLEl752UqQLKWLZrPBCGwuL4T-ivPhzXrW )
Sample song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijiyBbi8jnQ

Malcolm wrote:
Let's not and say we did.


Author: Malcolm
Date: Monday, April 5th, 2021 at 10:41 PM
Title: Re: Reversing Global Warming
Content:


kirtu said:
What tactics do you have to offer?

Malcolm wrote:
Short of descending into authoritarianism, it is going to be slow going, at best. People cannot deal with the extent of it, just like they cannot deal with the extent of the Covid crisis. It's too much for most people to contemplate. For example, you posted this event above. People cannot deal with this. They have (to them) more immediately pressing concerns in their lives, despite the fact that the climate is the most pressing issue in their lives.



And the early flowering of Kyoto's cherry blossoms correspond precisely to the hockey stick, as the thousand year old records of the yearly blossoming show.


