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 (nobody)...and 351 guests Last 5 registered Oplandisks nothingstar N_loop yipe foxtrotromeo Browse members... |
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i thought you could believe anything besides being a buddhist |
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i have experimented with , and quite like buddhism, though there are aspects of it i don't believe. |
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buddhism aitn bad. like it.r |
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I used to be a Vipassana meditator as well. About 4 years ago I went through a time of serious depression/nervous breakdowns and created my own half-assed technique in attempt to become sane again. Then about a year later I forced myself to enroll in a Vipassana class and drove to a monastery in the middle of nowhere. I spent 11 days sitting on the floor with my eyes closed and sleeping in a hut with about 50 other silent strangers. Time became almost nonexistent, I had the most lucid dreams I've ever had in my life, and space and silence became absurdly tangible. During one session I guess I got a brief taste of ego loss, I remember opening my eyes and laughing maniacally at the light filtering through the sunlights. All light took on this holy golden glow that I remembered but hadn't seen since I was a child waking up to watch the cartoons. Sounds gay and is hard to explain, but it made me happy for the first time since I could remember. During another session I felt like I was going crazy, like I was being roasted in my own body and no matter what I did I couldn't escape. Several times you could hear a person suddenly break down crying and run out of the building. It's not always a relaxing endeavor. I practiced diligently for about a year after, two 1 hour sessions a day and reaped the benefits. Then I got lazy and began diluting my soul again. I am currently drinking malt liquor and killing myself with the comp. I need to get back to it I guess. As far as not trusting all of it, I agree. I think too much emphasis is put on becoming enlightened and I don't know what to think about reincarnation, is it worth mentioning? All life IS suffering, I agree, but at the same time that is an very strong covering statement. Also, meditation can be dangerous if you have an addictive personality or are an escapist. I should know, haha. Windbag post for sleeping. |
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excellent post, thanks. i have considered going to one of the 10 day classes, but i've never been able to work out a way to do it, logistically and financially.. i agree about enlightenment. as far as reincarnation, try to find a book called by thich nhat hanh. i borrowed it from the local library. it's the first thing i've read on the subject that didn't seem overly dogmatic, or unbelievable. instead of this narrowly defined death/rebirth karmic cycle, he presents a much larger concept, and does it in ways that don't conflict with my own beliefs in logic and science. in fact, as i was reading it, i was left with this feeling of "why didn't i think of this on my own, it seems so obvious now".. i really recommend it. |
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Thanks for the recommendation, I'm going to have to check "no death, no fear" out. I am very afraid of death unfortunately and these kinds of things really interest me. It's hard to set aside 10 days for the course with work and other responsibilities, but I recommend it to anyone who can. It is free and hardly as cult-like as it sounds. When everyone socialized the last day, I was amazed by how eclectic a group it attracted. The immediate perimeter of my sitting pad consisted of a science prof from UC Berkeley, a French immigrant recovering from meth addiction who played world music, the guy who started Panda Express, and a huge cambodian man who always cried at the end of the night. I guess we were all there for a reason. |
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the one thing that worries me about becoming a monk is the thought of upsetting my family. |
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i now do chi kung next to kung fu |
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Buddhism As A Computer Game Imagine Buddhism as a Computer Game. The first time you play, you might likely not really have got the hang of it, and end up dying quite quickly. So, you return to it. The next time, you're beginning to get to grips with it, and get a little further. And so it progresses. Now, as you continue, you might find that, as you gain in proficiency, you might get drawn into the minor stories in the game. Instead of concentrating on completion, you are sidetracked into non-essentials, aimless drifting; you have the skill, but not the will. Finally, your focus and will come together; you get down to the nitty-gritty, and determinedly concentrate on the task at hand. You complete the game. You may choose to return to the game for the fun of it - you're a master now, after all, and have no need to become embroiled in the humdrum storylines and goals, making money or points. Then, one day, your detachment is complete, and you leave, never to return. The circle turns no more, becomes a triangle, and the three points stretch exquisitely to infinity. Buddha. |
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its been a real eye opener to contemplate the illusion of ownership. to think we dont even own our bodies really makes things look different, it invalidates judgement. |
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unfortuantely it doesnt sell too well because its free :( |
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Ownership is something I've also had a real problem with. I've never been comfortable "owning" things, and will readily give things away to people, not out of altruistic generosity, but because of the relief from materialism it brings. |
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i feel lucky in a way, ive lived without having a lot of stuff for a long time, so im already partly conditioned to not need so much. i live in a mostly bare house with just the essentails, i dont have a car, and i dont have a credit card. i dont think it should distress me to let go of what i do have. but the subject of ownership of the body, as brought up by ajarn brahm, has really got me thinking. in one of his talks he investigated the buddhist view of mental illness, he described people who could have a damaged body or a damaged brain, but have a perfectly trained 'mind' |
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I read some interesting things about how relevant (or otherwise) the brain is in relation to the mind. One particularly interesting part referred to an autopsy of an (apparently) normal male. When they opened up the top of his head, they discovered that his brain was almost an entirely watery mush. Yet the man had not been a deranged freak. I know the brain is quite substantially H20, but this was way beyond the norm. |
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in the same talk ab described cases of people without brains. theres a condition usually restricted to babies where the brain does not develop beyond the stem, and usually they dont survive. however there have been baffling wartime reports of soldiers killed in action found to have hollow heads. science doesnt want to bring these cases up because they go against its foundations. |
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I really don't believe this. |
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Are you havin'a laugh? Is he havin'a laugh? |
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Good to see that show has made it across the Ocean. |
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student; "Master, if you were a tree what kind of tree would you be?" Zen master; "I'd make like a tree and get out of here." |
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I just got a job as a dishwasher and its been wonderful. I get in the zone. Its very meditiative. I love it. Its very humbling too. If I was a millionaire I think I would still do this sort of work a couple times a week. It makes pleasure more pleasurable too |
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I too try to apply myself to my work - though it's usual Buddhistic Kung Fu exercises (No, I'm not busy doing high kicks etc - more the rhythm and the precision). It's great! |
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I don't like buddhism anymore. They're just running away from the potential ups and downs of life. All they obtain in the end is a fucking waste of existence. Some westerners that try to adopt this practice are usually running from their past which is detrimentally harmful to the psyche (granted there are quite a few that just find the concept intriguing). Screw it all. I believe in myself now. That's all a person needs. |
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Amazing grasp of Buddhism you have. |
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I've lost my grasp, or maybe I grasped too hard and squeezed it a bit. Like soap in the shower. I'd go into a big speech starting with "don't get me wrong.." to defend the fact that I'm well read on the religion but what's the point, I like you anyways :) |
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Being well-read on Religion is pretty much meaningless, unless, for instance, you're really interested in Catholic Canonical Law, or how many gods the Hindoos worship etc. |
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Go with the flow. That's my motto |
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Just like Rita from Groundhog Day. |
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ill be seeing the dalai lama in a couple of hours |
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tell him optimus prime says hi. |
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My wife and I are flying to Melbourne tomorrow to see him teach The Eight Verses for Training the Mind over the weekend.......... "Big hitter the Dalai. Long." |
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for the moment i can't agree with the detachment thingy, i can hear what gwely says siddhartha is a great book though (almost done) |
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I have a Buddhist friend, a girl. We work together a lot. Anyway, I keep noticing that she no longer uses normal sentences in common talks. She's non stop blurbing some "The space is the information and you just need to follow."... or "We don't know that. Everything is very bright space..."... It is very confusing. You should read some things written by Lama Ole - pure bullshit. |
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has anyone read the new translation of the tibetan book of the dead? |
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i enjoyed the talk very much. the poor guy actually looked overwhelmed by the 30,000 strong crowd at first, but if you listened hard enough through his thick accent, he made some excellent points. i thought it was a great talk for people new to buddhism. the dalai lama built up his message from a secular foundation, which was something i found interesting. he described how religion has its foundations in secularity, something which i hadnt considered. it was great to see the touring mahayana monks, and the local theravadins, all assembled in the front two rows. ajahn brahm sat in the front row, the camera focused on him every so often, he was giving the dalai lama his full attention. only days before he had challenged the dalai lama on a few points in the weekend newspaper. but there was only an air of respect on this occasion. i would say that attitude has held by the audience as a whole. it was a great place to be. |
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Did they have stands selling Dalai Lama merchandise? T-shirts, books, spoken word LPs etc ;-; |
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they said there were a couple. it was a free talk, so they had those on offer as well as a few hundred donation buckets. |
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I got back yesterday from three days of teachings from the Dalai Lama. He spoke about the nature of mind, emptiness, bodhicitta....... really quite "technical" stuff, in depth analyses of atext by Nagarjuna (sp?) and he barely touched on the Eight Verses for Training the Mind. He came across as a genuinely happy guy, full of joy. |
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What annoys me is, in the Buddhism section of my local bookshop, it's 7/8 books by, or about, the fucking Dalai Lama. Hacks me off. |
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Even-though others might think differently, I think this thread should have been called "The Xltronic Bullshit Society". Just for kicks. |
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Same difference, it's true. |
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