Search found 129 matches

by Ramon1920
Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:54 am
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: Swaying during studying, praying, listening
Replies: 24
Views: 12116

Re: Swaying during studying, praying, listening

Green, that brings back memories for me. When I was a youth and memorizing some texts establishing some rhythm would help. For me, memorizing in English from translations it was a little harder. The Tibetans however have written their texts in a poetic and timed verses and the rhythm helps with the ...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 10, 2013 11:27 pm
Forum: Tibetan Buddhism
Topic: Your teacher(s)?
Replies: 15
Views: 4158

Re: Your teacher(s)?

Dragon, previously you asked me for a teacher suggestion on another thread and I did not respond because I did not want to distract from the topic. You also wrote about some people you have been associating with so I know some background information. My suggestion is that firstly: you cut off ties c...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:18 pm
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: Swaying during studying, praying, listening
Replies: 24
Views: 12116

Re: Swaying during studying, praying, listening

Johnny, there are a lot of lamas that do a lot of things. Some lamas are skilled at this, some at that, some are good, some are bad, some are mostly good, some are mostly bad, some are evenly good and bad. That's why there is a focus on sutras, tantras, and valid commentaries and why the personal id...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:31 pm
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: Swaying during studying, praying, listening
Replies: 24
Views: 12116

Re: Swaying during studying, praying, listening

It is prohibited by texts like the Nga(g) Rim (a general text on tantra) and other teaching cycles like the Grounds and Paths of Tantra. The basis of the prohibition is that the swaying does something to the winds in the body and makes the mantra recitation less efficacious if I remember correctly. ...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:27 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Everyone wants to feel good!
Replies: 11
Views: 3734

Re: Everyone wants to feel good!

Muni, what you've written about inconsistencies reminds me of Shantideva's description of infantile people. (12) They're envious of superiors, competitive with equals, Arrogant toward inferiors, conceited when praised, And hateful when told what they don't want to hear: When is there benefit from in...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:07 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Everyone wants to feel good!
Replies: 11
Views: 3734

Re: Everyone wants to feel good!

There are a lot of good points. Good writing often needs to go through stages of organizing ideas so they can be put together in a really easy to understand and readable way. One statement at the end says, "as soon as we start to see people for who they really are". I have never been able ...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 10, 2013 11:47 am
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Purification of karma
Replies: 14
Views: 7909

Re: Purification of karma

Purification of karma by just seeing something, that is an incongruous with the Buddha's other teachings. Must be a teaching to be interpreted or simply a bogus sutra. When I was young, decades ago, I used to plaster mantras and special symbols, including the later of those, all over my apartments a...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 10, 2013 5:25 am
Forum: Suggestion Box
Topic: TOS #2
Replies: 18
Views: 7392

Re: TOS #2

There is no general need to mention a particular teacher when you can point out the activity or philosophical dis-congruity with the Buddha's teaching I believe. Talking about the actual issue, which may be a personal issue if a student is on the forum inquiring about it, seems adequate in general. ...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 10, 2013 3:46 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: mental illness and Buddhism
Replies: 73
Views: 17319

Re: mental illness and Buddhism

I would divide mental illness into 2 groups that do not include purely neurological malfunctions like blindness(which does not perceive clearly) or strokes(that render the speech and comprehension of things retarded): faulty senses (like hallucinations) and faulty proliferation of views. In the case...
by Ramon1920
Mon Aug 05, 2013 3:06 am
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10768

Re: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles

My guess is that the logs would be public because people can use a notebook privately.
So the purpose is to inform other people of how much you're meditating?
by Ramon1920
Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:26 am
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10768

Re: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles

The idea of this is that you want to post instructions online for all these activities or create a venue for random people online to give instructions on these things as advice and support?
by Ramon1920
Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:23 am
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Condensed Summarization of Buddhism?
Replies: 32
Views: 8235

Re: Condensed Summarization of Buddhism?

The question is benign, but I've come to regret answering it. If you condense the teachings too much they loose their content and instead you get some weird ambiguous statement like, "Buddhism is making yourself happy". Seeing them go on and repeat what you've said is heartbreaking. When t...
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:29 pm
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Mara
Replies: 27
Views: 6846

Re: Mara

Just like the teachings talk about external thieves and internal thieves(the defilements), the texts also talk about an external Mara and internal maras. Every practitioner deals with internal maras. That is fair portion of the Buddhist path. Probably not every practitioner deals with Mara directly....
by Ramon1920
Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:33 am
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Songs stuck in head.
Replies: 14
Views: 4617

Re: Songs stuck in head.

Sense restraint should work very well. No music for a week and see if it works.
by Ramon1920
Fri Aug 02, 2013 6:37 am
Forum: Creative Writing
Topic: K̶u̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶u̶ Buddhist culture in America
Replies: 15
Views: 5081

Re: K̶u̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶u̶ Buddhist culture in America

Good examples of Western teachers that can be looked up online are Thubten Chodron, Alex Berzin, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, and Bodhi Bhikkhu. There's no, "Look at me. I'm special." that I've seen about them. They are respectful of the teachings. They take the teachings seriously and avoid misrep...
by Ramon1920
Fri Aug 02, 2013 6:22 am
Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
Topic: Stabilizing the blood
Replies: 8
Views: 4043

Re: Stabilizing the blood

It looks like Monsoon has found what exactly it is!
by Ramon1920
Thu Aug 01, 2013 12:19 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Sam Harris on Buddhism
Replies: 112
Views: 26723

Re: Sam Harris on Buddhism

A very long time ago I had some interest in what Western(and Asian) philosophies had to say. I spent a lot of time debating with other people with a similar philosophical interest, trying to hash out the details of God, freewill, the soul, morality, and reality at large with convoluted dialogues tha...
by Ramon1920
Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:08 pm
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: How often should we reread important texts?
Replies: 7
Views: 2231

Re: How often should we reread important texts?

My TianTai teacher says that we should pick a sutra that we like and try to read it at least 1000 times. He says at that point the deep teachings of the sutra really start to sink in. His specialty is the Lotus Sutra, he reads/recites a chapter a day, makes it through the entire sutra once a month,...
by Ramon1920
Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:03 pm
Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
Topic: Stabilizing the blood
Replies: 8
Views: 4043

Re: Stabilizing the blood

It is somewhere in the range of 45 seconds. It comes back almost immediately after it goes. It is almost the same feeling as when you're very anxious and you sigh and the blood feels like it's leaving the digestive area. If I listen to my heart, it is beating regularly. So I think this is a vascular...
by Ramon1920
Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:45 pm
Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
Topic: Stabilizing the blood
Replies: 8
Views: 4043

Stabilizing the blood

Usually my heart works fine, but if I don't get a full night's sleep the next day I feel my blood pressure changing in regions of my body in an irregular and unpleasant way. What it feels like is happening is the pressure in parts of the body is fine but in the chest and stomach regions the pressure...

Go to advanced search