Search found 3416 matches
- Sun Jul 12, 2020 3:59 am
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Why is it correct not to believe in a soul?
- Replies: 38
- Views: 5560
Re: Buddhism vs Hinduism
I am pleased to read that quote from the Dalai Lama. It is a realistic attitude. After all incarnations of lamas are sometimes identified because they recognise possessions from a previous life. So it makes no sense to say there is no continuity of identity. What Buddhism denies is an unchanging ent...
- Sat Jul 11, 2020 2:17 am
- Forum: Zen
- Topic: The Role of Criticism in Zen
- Replies: 1
- Views: 1289
Re: The Role of Criticism in Zen
Greetings and Salutations
Excellent post, and glad to see you posting at DharmaWheel. I used to enjoy your posts on Zen Forum International.
Excellent post, and glad to see you posting at DharmaWheel. I used to enjoy your posts on Zen Forum International.
- Sat Jul 04, 2020 12:12 am
- Forum: Zen
- Topic: Are Zen teachers awakened?
- Replies: 245
- Views: 41067
Re: Are Zen teachers awakened?
There was a great show on television here in Australia last night, Monty Don's Japanese Gardens . It was a tour of various gardens in Tokyo and Kyoto and included visits to several Zen monasteries and interviews with one of the head monks about the symbolic significance of the gardens. Very beautifu...
- Fri Jul 03, 2020 8:07 am
- Forum: Zen
- Topic: Are Zen teachers awakened?
- Replies: 245
- Views: 41067
Re: Are Zen teachers awakened?
What I observed in the West is, that if people like a certain teacher then they do believe he has some special quality or wisdom or is enlightened etc. but once they stop to like the teacher, then exactly the same person is told to be unenlightened and in possession of bad qualities. So if you ask ...
- Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:03 am
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Soto Zen
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2118
- Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:07 am
- Forum: Zen
- Topic: Are Zen teachers awakened?
- Replies: 245
- Views: 41067
Re: Are Zen teachers awakened?
RIght - I see what you’re getting at. And I think the answer is, if you’re a Zen student, then you’d better believe that your teacher is awakened. When it comes to idly contemplating whether this or that individual personality is ‘an enlightened being’ - then that’s something else again. But if you ...
- Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:35 am
- Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
- Topic: Words, characters, syllables & liberation
- Replies: 14
- Views: 2479
Re: Words, characters, syllables & liberation
The problem starts at the very definition of such a term [i.e. 'true nature']. Most seem to skip that problem by delegating the definition to the realm of the mystical and relying on a mythical lineage of transmission of the ineffable, thus all authority on deciding whether one has "seen the n...
- Sun Jun 28, 2020 6:03 am
- Forum: Zen
- Topic: Are Zen teachers awakened?
- Replies: 245
- Views: 41067
Re: Are Zen teachers awakened?
'Strictly speaking, there are no enlightened people, only enlightened activities' ~ Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.
- Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:48 pm
- Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
- Topic: Consciousness question
- Replies: 42
- Views: 7058
Re: Consciousness question
Look at the Kotthita Sutta
- Sun Jun 21, 2020 4:35 am
- Forum: Shingon
- Topic: Nestorian stele replica at Mt koysan
- Replies: 21
- Views: 14561
Re: Nestorian stele replica at Mt koysan
I think it’s a fertile topic for popularisation. There must be a huge amount of unpublished archival material, all the Aurel Stein discoveries, and so on. As I said, would make a great documentary, it’s full of intrigue plus the romance of the Silk Road.
- Sun Jun 21, 2020 4:19 am
- Forum: Shingon
- Topic: Nestorian stele replica at Mt koysan
- Replies: 21
- Views: 14561
Re: Nestorian stele replica at Mt koysan
Are there good translations? Any alternatives?
- Sun Jun 21, 2020 3:43 am
- Forum: Shingon
- Topic: Nestorian stele replica at Mt koysan
- Replies: 21
- Views: 14561
Re: Nestorian stele replica at Mt koysan
I don’t know any specifics, but I have always found the story of the Nestorian Christian’s exile and subsequent trek to China very poignant. It also gave rise to many beautiful manuscripts known as the Issa Sutras, (where ‘Issa’ was the sinisized name for Jesus) which re-tell the story of Jesus life...
- Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:53 pm
- Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- Topic: Giving Up Masturbation
- Replies: 184
- Views: 61300
Re: Giving Up Masturbation
OK I won’t terminate my account, I’ll always end up coming back. There are many adverse consequences from exposure to pornography - a well-known one is that young males (in particular) loose interest in relationships with women and often the capacity to have sexual relationships at all due, to a con...
- Sat Jun 20, 2020 10:56 pm
- Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- Topic: Giving Up Masturbation
- Replies: 184
- Views: 61300
Re: Giving Up Masturbation
So just like that, you ignore the entire existence of Vajrayana and its tradition, which is long-lasting. A lot longer lasting than the prudish views of Victorian society. And a lot longer lasting than whatever views are adopted by people today, of whatever strand. I have never claimed to be an ini...
- Sat Jun 20, 2020 1:18 pm
- Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- Topic: Giving Up Masturbation
- Replies: 184
- Views: 61300
Re: Giving Up Masturbation
Yes, why indeed? Why do some people think like that? Presumably, they’re ‘VIctorian’.
- Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:57 pm
- Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- Topic: Giving Up Masturbation
- Replies: 184
- Views: 61300
Re: Giving Up Masturbation
Struggling with it, because I believe it’s morally wrong, for the reasons I’ve given. In an ideal world, nobody would ever do anything they thought they ought not to do, but that is not the world that the Buddha taught in. If you struggle with porn addiction, that is another issue entirely. Addictio...
- Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:22 pm
- Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- Topic: Giving Up Masturbation
- Replies: 184
- Views: 61300
Re: Giving Up Masturbation
'Struggling with it' is precisely not being able to 'stop consuming it'. If anyone really has the strength of will just to walk away, or has no interest in it, then, for sure, it's not a problem for them. But if everyone were like that, then it would hardly exist, but as it is, it's probably the ver...
- Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:14 pm
- Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- Topic: Giving Up Masturbation
- Replies: 184
- Views: 61300
Re: Giving Up Masturbation
Well, obviously I'm in the wrong forum. I too struggle with porn, it draws me in, and I hate myself for doing it. Probably I'm too fraught with guilt to be able to benefit from the higher teachings which are obviously being disseminated here, so I guess I should sign out for a while. I must have mis...
- Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:01 pm
- Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- Topic: Giving Up Masturbation
- Replies: 184
- Views: 61300
Re: Giving Up Masturbation
Who’s the Buddhist in that frieze, do you think?
- Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:38 am
- Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
- Topic: Giving Up Masturbation
- Replies: 184
- Views: 61300
Re: Giving Up Masturbation
Victorian, yeah. If you're not hip then you're an antique.