|
“ | The amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it. |
” |
— Alberto Brandolini [9] |
“ | Self-restraint
[note 8] and benefiting others With a compassionate mind is the Dharma |
” |
— Nagarjuna [note 9] |
“ | The main thing is to develop a good heart | ” |
— Gen Lamrimpa [note 10] |
“ | Merit consists in doing good to others, sin in doing harm to others. | ” |
— Tukaram |
“ | A good man is a wise man | ” |
— Krishnamurti [note 12] |
“ | Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens | ” |
— Jimi Hendrix [note 13] |
“ | Being less reactive and more wisely responsive in any situation, you become a light in the world, contributing to less suffering and more happiness and well being for others and yourself. |
” |
— Richard Shankman [14] |
“ | Don’t be cruel. Elvis said it, and it’s true. | ” |
— Garrison Keillor [15] |
“ | God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. | ” |
— 1 John 4:16 |
“ | having nothing—nothing—to do with fame or profit in any shape or form | ” |
— Hakuin [16] [note 14] [16] |
“ | Compassion is the crown of dharma. | ” |
— Nícaldās, The Ocean of Inquiry [17] |
“ | Neem het leven niet te serieus, je overleeft het toch niet. | ” |
— Armand |
“ | Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. | ” |
— Elbert Hubbard |
“ | I think that the gist is that the Wikipedian is essentially unfree. Here we are not free to write what we please. Those who thrive upon Wikipedia have long understood that they are not here to serve themselves or their own ideological/religious preferences [...] I don't see my role as a Wikipedian as promoting my own personal preferences. I am not here to proselytize or evangelize. I serve the propagation of academic learning, since this is the main purpose of Wikipedia. | ” |
— Tgeorgescu [18] |
Hallo,
My main interest is in Buddhism, but I'm also trying to understand other Indian religions, especially Advaita Vedanta and related traditions of "nondualism".
Contrary to most people interested in spirituality, I don't believe that there exists any "transcendental reality," be it God, Buddha-nature, Brahman or The Truth. Religion is inherent to our cognitive make-up, and triggered and modified by socially constructed practices and institutions. This world and life is the "transcendental reality" we're looking for; all the transcendental rest is constructed by ourselves.
Approaches like social constructionism and Madhyamaka offer an alternative to both essentialism and relativism, showing the innate magic of a world which is not frozen in absolute and timeless truths, but is ever-changing and "ingraspable." Yet, Zen, Dzogchen and Shentong also point to groundless awareness, in which this amazing reality appears. [note 18] But... who or what creates this self-awareness of groundlessness?... "Mind" itself creates this awareness of emptiness, just as it creates the notion of "I." Thus, this luminous, self-aware "nature of mind" is just as empty as this "I"... [note 19] Karuna and agape, "horizontal transcendence," are the accompanying stance in life, which make life meaningfull. It's a magical world!
With respect to its having a name, the various names that are applied to it are inconceivable (in their numbers).
Some call it "the nature of the mind" [note 16] or "mind itself."
Some Tirthikas call it by the name Atman or "the Self."
The Sravakas call it the doctrine of Anatman or "the absence of a self."
The Chittamatrins call it by the name Chitta or "the Mind."
Some call it the Prajnaparamita or "the Perfection of Wisdom."
Some call it the name Tathagata-garbha or "the embryo of Buddhahood."
Some call it by the name Mahamudra or "the Great Symbol."
Some call it by the name "the Unique Sphere." [note 17]
Some call it by the name Dharmadhatu or "the dimension of Reality."
Some call it by the name Alaya or "the basis of everything."
And some simply call it by the name "ordinary awareness."
Nyoshul Lungtok, who later became one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of recent times, followed his teacher Patrul Rinpoche for about eighteen years. During all that time, they were almost inseparable. Nyoshul Lungtok studied and practiced extremely diligently, and accumulated a wealth of purification, merit, and practice; he was ready to recognize the Rigpa, but had not yet had the final introduction. Then, one famous evening, Patrul Rinpoche gave him the introduction. It happened when they were staying together in one of the hermitages high up in the mountains above Dzogchen Monastery. It was a very beautiful night. The dark blue sky was clear and the stars shone brilliantly. The sound of their solitude was heightened by the distant barking of a dog from the monastery below. Patrul Rinpoche was lying stretched out on the ground, doing a special Dzogchen practice. He called Nyoshul Lungtok over to him, saying: "Did you say you do not know the essence of Mind?" Nyoshul Lungtok guessed from his tone that this was a special moment and nodded expectantly.
"There's nothing to it really," Patrul Rinpoche said casually, and added, "My son, come and lie down over here: be like your old father." Nyoshul Lungtok stretched out by his side. Then Patrul Rinpoche asked him, "Do you see the stars up there in the sky?"
"Yes."
"Do you hear the dogs barking in Dzogchen Monastery?"
"Yes."
"Do you hear what I'm saying to you?"
"Yes."
"Well, the nature of Dzogchen is this: simply this."
Nyoshul Lungtok tells us what happened then: "At that instant, I arrived at a certainty of realization from within. I had been liberated from the fetters of 'it is' and 'it is not.' I had realized the primordial wisdom, the naked union of emptiness and intrinsic awareness. I was introduced to this realization by his blessing, as the great Indian master Saraha said: He in whose heart the words of the master have entered, Sees the truth like a treasure in his own palm." [20]
|
“ | The amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it. |
” |
— Alberto Brandolini [9] |
“ | Self-restraint
[note 8] and benefiting others With a compassionate mind is the Dharma |
” |
— Nagarjuna [note 9] |
“ | The main thing is to develop a good heart | ” |
— Gen Lamrimpa [note 10] |
“ | Merit consists in doing good to others, sin in doing harm to others. | ” |
— Tukaram |
“ | A good man is a wise man | ” |
— Krishnamurti [note 12] |
“ | Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens | ” |
— Jimi Hendrix [note 13] |
“ | Being less reactive and more wisely responsive in any situation, you become a light in the world, contributing to less suffering and more happiness and well being for others and yourself. |
” |
— Richard Shankman [14] |
“ | Don’t be cruel. Elvis said it, and it’s true. | ” |
— Garrison Keillor [15] |
“ | God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. | ” |
— 1 John 4:16 |
“ | having nothing—nothing—to do with fame or profit in any shape or form | ” |
— Hakuin [16] [note 14] [16] |
“ | Compassion is the crown of dharma. | ” |
— Nícaldās, The Ocean of Inquiry [17] |
“ | Neem het leven niet te serieus, je overleeft het toch niet. | ” |
— Armand |
“ | Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. | ” |
— Elbert Hubbard |
“ | I think that the gist is that the Wikipedian is essentially unfree. Here we are not free to write what we please. Those who thrive upon Wikipedia have long understood that they are not here to serve themselves or their own ideological/religious preferences [...] I don't see my role as a Wikipedian as promoting my own personal preferences. I am not here to proselytize or evangelize. I serve the propagation of academic learning, since this is the main purpose of Wikipedia. | ” |
— Tgeorgescu [18] |
Hallo,
My main interest is in Buddhism, but I'm also trying to understand other Indian religions, especially Advaita Vedanta and related traditions of "nondualism".
Contrary to most people interested in spirituality, I don't believe that there exists any "transcendental reality," be it God, Buddha-nature, Brahman or The Truth. Religion is inherent to our cognitive make-up, and triggered and modified by socially constructed practices and institutions. This world and life is the "transcendental reality" we're looking for; all the transcendental rest is constructed by ourselves.
Approaches like social constructionism and Madhyamaka offer an alternative to both essentialism and relativism, showing the innate magic of a world which is not frozen in absolute and timeless truths, but is ever-changing and "ingraspable." Yet, Zen, Dzogchen and Shentong also point to groundless awareness, in which this amazing reality appears. [note 18] But... who or what creates this self-awareness of groundlessness?... "Mind" itself creates this awareness of emptiness, just as it creates the notion of "I." Thus, this luminous, self-aware "nature of mind" is just as empty as this "I"... [note 19] Karuna and agape, "horizontal transcendence," are the accompanying stance in life, which make life meaningfull. It's a magical world!
With respect to its having a name, the various names that are applied to it are inconceivable (in their numbers).
Some call it "the nature of the mind" [note 16] or "mind itself."
Some Tirthikas call it by the name Atman or "the Self."
The Sravakas call it the doctrine of Anatman or "the absence of a self."
The Chittamatrins call it by the name Chitta or "the Mind."
Some call it the Prajnaparamita or "the Perfection of Wisdom."
Some call it the name Tathagata-garbha or "the embryo of Buddhahood."
Some call it by the name Mahamudra or "the Great Symbol."
Some call it by the name "the Unique Sphere." [note 17]
Some call it by the name Dharmadhatu or "the dimension of Reality."
Some call it by the name Alaya or "the basis of everything."
And some simply call it by the name "ordinary awareness."
Nyoshul Lungtok, who later became one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of recent times, followed his teacher Patrul Rinpoche for about eighteen years. During all that time, they were almost inseparable. Nyoshul Lungtok studied and practiced extremely diligently, and accumulated a wealth of purification, merit, and practice; he was ready to recognize the Rigpa, but had not yet had the final introduction. Then, one famous evening, Patrul Rinpoche gave him the introduction. It happened when they were staying together in one of the hermitages high up in the mountains above Dzogchen Monastery. It was a very beautiful night. The dark blue sky was clear and the stars shone brilliantly. The sound of their solitude was heightened by the distant barking of a dog from the monastery below. Patrul Rinpoche was lying stretched out on the ground, doing a special Dzogchen practice. He called Nyoshul Lungtok over to him, saying: "Did you say you do not know the essence of Mind?" Nyoshul Lungtok guessed from his tone that this was a special moment and nodded expectantly.
"There's nothing to it really," Patrul Rinpoche said casually, and added, "My son, come and lie down over here: be like your old father." Nyoshul Lungtok stretched out by his side. Then Patrul Rinpoche asked him, "Do you see the stars up there in the sky?"
"Yes."
"Do you hear the dogs barking in Dzogchen Monastery?"
"Yes."
"Do you hear what I'm saying to you?"
"Yes."
"Well, the nature of Dzogchen is this: simply this."
Nyoshul Lungtok tells us what happened then: "At that instant, I arrived at a certainty of realization from within. I had been liberated from the fetters of 'it is' and 'it is not.' I had realized the primordial wisdom, the naked union of emptiness and intrinsic awareness. I was introduced to this realization by his blessing, as the great Indian master Saraha said: He in whose heart the words of the master have entered, Sees the truth like a treasure in his own palm." [20]