Suthep_Steve
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If you are right Sabaijai and Dakiniyana refers to the Vajrayana practise of following the path of the Dakini (I think it means literally sky goer or sometimes sky dancer) then you might be interested in this book
Guide to Dakini Land by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Also the author is hopefully giving the empowerment of Heruka Vajrayogini which is the basis of Dakini practise in Singapore Oct. 2007.
Interesting, thanks for the reference and link. Controversial, isn't he, devotee of Dorje Shugden, etc?
Well it depends if you find Dorje Shugden practise controversial, I don't. Dorje Shugden is my Dharmapala though
He was the Dharma Protector of all the important Gelug Lamas of the 20th Century, Pabongkha Rinpoche, Trijang Rinpoche and Tsong Rinpoche to name but a few. If you discount those Lamas then there is no Gelug lineage left.
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If you are right Sabaijai and Dakiniyana refers to the Vajrayana practise of following the path of the Dakini (I think it means literally sky goer or sometimes sky dancer) then you might be interested in this book
Guide to Dakini Land by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Also the author is hopefully giving the empowerment of Heruka Vajrayogini which is the basis of Dakini practise in Singapore Oct. 2007.
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Animals have suffering that looks to us like human suffering, but it isn't caused by the delusion of a self.
I would have to strongly disagree with this. Animals perhaps do not generate intellectually formed delusions such as not believing in past and future lives. Therefore they do not become depressed about what will happen to them after death based on this delusion.
However they can suffer from non intellectually formed delusions such as grasping at an inherently existent self. This is a spontaneous experience experienced by all sentient beings in the six realms. This gives rise to in animals case animal suffering. Human suffering is based upon the same base but because karma and the environment experienced by humans there suffering has some unique aspects.
I can't think of any scriptual references off the top of my head but the wheel of Life that Buddha gave to King Bimbasara explains this in pictoral form.
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Pradhan said Vajragiri could have had close cultural contacts with Japan because the highest temple of Japan was the Vajragiri temple (Kongobu-ji) at Kuito, the ancient capital of that country.
This is really screwed up. There is no Vajragiri temple in Japan and Kongobuji is on Mount Koya. The Calcutta Telegraph said: "Pradhan pointed out that the place could have had close cultural links with the Vajragiri temple in Japan’s Kyoto."
I think they mean Toji, in Kyoto, which has the tallest pagoda in Japan and (like Kongobuji) was one of Kukai's Shingon temples. But it's difficult to see how this place could have had cultural links with any place in Japan unless they are talking about Kukai's own links with a Gandharan pandit.
It does seem like a leap. We need more info on Vajragiri to begin with, eg, was it a Vajrayana site? If so than it's not Ashokan era. If not related to Tantric Buddhism/Vajrayana/Mantrayana then there's little chance of a link with any Shingon site in Japan. Not to mention these are from completely different eras (if the Orissan finds are truly Ashokan sites -- then again there could have been successive restorations/rebuilds). A lot more research is needed ...
The whole of Orissa is very important in the Vajrayana. Orissa was where Mahasiddha Gantapa lived. He is hugely important in the development of the Vajrayana. Also from googleing its clear that some of the finds at Vajragiri were Vajrayana in nature. I visited the Archaeological museum in Bhubeneswa a few years ago and it's like walking into a store of ancient Vajrayana statues. However as you say it doesn't rule out the possibility that the Vajrayana link is a later connection.
I always get the impression that the Indians are very keen on a Japanese link because that's where the money is for large scale Buddhist archaeology and who can blame them.
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Has anyone tried the Vitamin B-1( Thiamine Hydrochloride ) trick. Where you take it to slight excess (please be careful) and the body excreates it through the skin. There is an urban myth that mosquitos don't like it. I think it only works for a couple of days before your liver kicks in and you pee it out instead. Oh yes and you will smell a bit like a pharmacy for a few days as well but if your in the forest only the mozzies will mind.
Another one that you find on the net when you google for such things is
"Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil mixed about half and half with alcohol. mix your own: 20 drops Eucalyptus oil 20 drops Cedarwood oil 10 drops Tea Tree oil 10 drops Geranium oil 2 oz. carrier oil ( such as Jojoba ) Mix together in a 4 oz. container. Apply to skin as needed avoiding the eye area. Keep out of reach of children. Test on a small area of skin for sensitivities . Experiment with different percentages of essential oil"
To be honest it's not so bad where I live, I heard that the local guy in charge of spraying in our area is very hard working. Or maybe the pollution is killing them off.
When I had a house in the UK we had a small ant problem. We solved that one by putting out sugar solution in the opposite direction from the house in the garden. But the ant season is very short in the UK as it's generally to cold and wet for them to become a problem.
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Looks like a Fiat 500 to me take a look here of more info:-
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Interesting, looks like part of the 'how to get enlightened while keeping the BMW' school of Buddhism. I've heard a bit about this group, as they have done corporate consulting in Bangkok, and the TAT was keen to push the group's line a couple of years ago when I was asked to write an article on Buddhism for the TAT's website.
one of the mahayana schools?
Hey if you are going to Englightenment would you rather go in a BMW or a Thairung?
The common belief is that you need a raft....not a car.
When your on the path a 'great vehicle' is generally better.
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Interesting, looks like part of the 'how to get enlightened while keeping the BMW' school of Buddhism. I've heard a bit about this group, as they have done corporate consulting in Bangkok, and the TAT was keen to push the group's line a couple of years ago when I was asked to write an article on Buddhism for the TAT's website.
one of the mahayana schools?
Hey if you are going to Englightenment would you rather go in a BMW or a Thairung?
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Was The Buddha Omniscient?
Yes, the Buddha knew all objects of knowledge past present and future and still does, simultaneously.
“There is no recluse or brahmin who knows all, who sees all, simultaneously; that is not possible.”But is the Buddha a recluse or a brahmin? Is what the Buddhas disciples saw before they attained Enlightenment the Buddha? How does the Buddha see himself and is that the same as we or his disciples see him?
Was the Buddha a man or was that the vehicle in which he showed us the path?
If we were to meet an Omniscient Being how would that Being appear to our minds?
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Relics in Tibetan Buddhism tend to come from the ashes of great teaches and meditators. Students look through the ashes and regularly jewel like objects are found. I can't remember off the top of my head the name of these relic jewels. They are usually placed inside stupas and are highly venerated. I've never heard of monks being passed relics during meditation before but I'm not saying it doesn't happen else where as well.
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Three reasons why I bought a Wave instead of a Dream are:
Disk brakes on the front with the Wave.
Much bigger underseat storage on the Wave.
Front faring much more robust on the Wave. Anything of anysize kicks up of the road between your knees and feet on the dream and the protection will fold like cheap plastic, because that's what it is. The Wave is slightly more robust.
Other than that apart from the way they look no major differences.
Having said all that if I was buying again then I would have a more serious look at the CBR150.
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Warnock is going to have to learn to keep his gob shut next season or he will be watching most of the games from the stands next year!!
Warnock learn to keep his gob shut! He already has his spot in the Arnold Laver Stand.
As for all you Leeds fans
Well done Reading for the points total thing and
COME ON YOU MIGHTY BLADES.
Going up, staying up.
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The basic structure of a Chorten consist of a square foundation symbolizing the earth, a dome symbolizing water, and thirteen tapering steps of enlightenment symbolizing the element of fire. These steps lead to a stylized parasol, the symbol of wind, which is topped in the ethereal sphere by the well-known ‘twin-symbol’ uniting sun and moon, which is the shimmering crown of the Chorten.
Taken from http://www.buddhanet.net/stupa.htm which I googled for.
We were always taught that the stupa represented Buddhas mind hence we place a image of Buddhas body, a text of his speach and a stupa on our shrines to represent Lord Buddhas Body Speach and Mind. Although I have come across the more elemental description in certain esoteric Tibetan teachings.
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So which side of the line do you stand... or do you even see the line???
I entered from the philosophical side, moved over to the religious side and now I no longer see the line.
Be careful about discarding ritual and the like there is a lot of good stuff in there. If you approach it with an open philisophical mind.
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Who's going to join them? Watford look the most consistant.
Preston have the best current form. Won their last 3 or 4 games. Marlon King at Watford is a class striker who could do the deed for Watford. Also he is suspended until the playoffs so should be well rested and raring to go.
However as TP says it's a lottery glad we don't have to go through that again.
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Congratulations to Sheffield United
Leeds draw with Reading was enough to send the Blades into the Premeiership.
Well done you Blades...you made it at last...
TP
YYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!
Thanks TP your Reading boys did the job for us today. Watched the Cardiff game last night in Chiang Mai. If we are going to stay up we need to improve a huge amount. Anyway enough of the downside we are up and right now that's all that matters.
Best of luck next year to Reading hopefully we can both miss the drop and build good runs in the premiership.
Up the Blades.
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Congrats to the Royals from a Blade.
Hope to be playing you again next year but we are still not there......
Good luck next year in Premiership, never mind about staying up lets see you in Europe
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Negative phenomena have great meaning for example if I'm in Severn Eleven at the counter waiting to buy the milk for my breakfast and I put my hand in my pocket and experience an absence of money, it has great meaning. Not least of which is the fact that there will be an absences of breakfast for me!
Sorry to butt in and ruin your parable, but ... - You are definitely experiencing an absence of money, and that absence of money means you will not be able to buy any milk. But this does not mean absence of breakfast - you could be treated to breakfast by a stranger behind you in the queue who sees you have no money - or you could go home and get some money if it is there, and then your breakfast would only be delayed, not absent.... right?
Wrong as your hypothosis clearly breaks Sods Law
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Also emptiness is a negative phenomena (in my tradition we describe it as a lack of inherent existence) therefore to gain Nirvana you have to become familiar with negative phenomena.
What tradition is that? How can emptiness be negative? Surely it is 'empty' of any quality.
Q1. What tradition is that?
NKT an offshoot of the Gelug tradition in Tibetan Buddhism.
Q2. How can emptiness be negative? Surely it is 'empty' of any quality.
Emptiness is a negative because it is known by what it is not, or to put it another way by an abscence of something. From your definition you could say emptiness is minus 'any quality' or negative 'any quality.'
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I think it was a fantastic achievement, touring in India is not easy. The whole country gets in your face 24 hours a day. I know because as Max Boyce says "I was there." If you haven't sat in a test crowd in India you can't imagine the insanity of it all. It's so intense you can't sit in the cheap seats and have to blagg your way into the posh areas just to survive.
The players must be virtual prisoners in there hotel rooms. If they step outside they will be mobbed by huge crowds instantly no matter where they go. It's very easy for negative minds and unrest to set in when your touring India. To hold the team together was huge I thought Flintoff was imense in the tests, particularly his Captaincy and batting.
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The British to give back looted material, not very likely. The British Musuem would be empty if we did, Elgin Marbles, Star of India etc. etc.
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We define permanence as not subject to momentary change. Therefore many things are permanent, such as emptiness and the absence of a Thai lady in my bedroom. (Classical example is an elephant in the room)
I never understood this example myself. It seems conceptual rather than experiential. The concept of 'elephant' may not be present in the room but all the potential qualities associated with the experience of an elephant are; there are only 54 consciousness moments (citta) and they can arise in connection with virtually any naming (nama) or forms (rupa), whether a coffeepot or an elephant. Yet none of these are permanent, they arise moment to moment (in Theravada at least) The non-presence of an elephant can hardly be called eternal or permanent from an experiential level. From a conceptual level you can debate endlessly about the existence of nonexistent objects (a friend of mine wrote an entire book on this topic) but is there a practical aim to it?
Yes the subjective mind experiencing negative phenomena is itself subject to momentary change. However the objective negative phenomena is permanent. The lack of an elephant in the room doesn't exist, cease and act as a cause from moment to moment, just the mind that experiences that lack.
Negative phenomena have great meaning for example if I'm in Severn Eleven at the counter waiting to buy the milk for my breakfast and I put my hand in my pocket and experience an absence of money, it has great meaning. Not least of which is the fact that there will be an absences of breakfast for me!
Also emptiness is a negative phenomena (in my tradition we describe it as a lack of inherent existence) therefore to gain Nirvana you have to become familiar with negative phenomena.
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I notice Sabaijai used eternal and impermanence as opposites. We don't do this in the Mahayana at least not in my tradition as the use of western words to describe Buddhist ideas is far from standardised.
We define permanence as not subject to momentary change. Therefore many things are permanant, such as emptiness and the absence of a Thai lady in my bedroom. (Classical example is an elephant in the room)
From one way of looking at it a Buddhas mind is not permanant but like the rest of us it is eternal. I.E. it does under go momentary change but the stream of cause and effect has no end or begining.
I think I talked a little bit about Kalpas and the birth of universes in the post mentioned by robitusson above.
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I gave up because I found it was taking me a couple of days after a beer before I could meditate as clearly as when I was off it and that includes just the odd pint as well. Been off the booze for 14 years now and never regretted it. Still like to go to pubs and bars with mates or to watch the sport and have as good a time as I always did. I think the secret is to give up the booze but not having a good time. If you need booze to have a good time then that's a problem that needs addressing.
However to contradict myself. I once had a friend in the Dharma who was shall we say, a little serious. We visited a Lama together and his advice to my friend was "Go out get drunk and find yourself a good woman." He was a very serious student and took the Lamas advice very seriously much to everyones amusement. He's now married and much more relaxed
The Lama did point out the advice was for my friend and not for me
Signs Of Early Dakiniyana Buddhism
in Buddhism
Posted
That's a very good question and to be honest I don't really know. Perhaps only his Holyness fully understands. My guess is that it has to do with creating more stability within the Tibetan comunity in exile as a whole. Budhhism and politics is very tightly interwoven in Tibetan culture.
To be honest I am more interested in the Buddhism than Tibetan politics (although I am of course sympothetic to the Free Tibet cause) which may be the root of the problem. Dorje Shugden practise has been touted as divisive in some sections of the Tibetan community. Therefore for political reasons it has gone out of favour. However some Gelugs and Kadampas wish to put religious considerations above political ones and follow the practises of the last generation of Gelug lineage holders such as Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche the Dalai Lama's Tutor.
I try and ignore the political side of it and for the last few years the issue has really been closed both sides agreeing to disagree. That is much better than the situation we had a few years back.
Anyway for anyone interested in the practise of Dakini yoga I can totally recomend both the book and the Empowerment in Singapore. This is the first time in quite a few years that Geshe Kelsang has given these teachings and it may well be the last time he does so.