To all or none,

All of us make discoveries that we would like to share with someone,these discoveries are not long enough to make a new topic.So I thought,why not make a place where new findings in
buddhism are made and shared.

1- We suffer because we do not have enough compassion.
2-The moment we have a lot of compassion ,there is no suffering anymore.
3-Kshanti Paramita( perfections) is the capacity of enbracing everyone,everything,you do not exclude anyone.
4-We have to use our free will to organise our life.
5- Living Mindfully, helping to build brotherhood/sisterhood,
becomes a refuge for others,this brings you a lot of Joy,a lot of happiness.That is it for today.

What a great idea Loong. For myself, I would add on to #2 to say that compassion and self-compassion go together. As we develop compassion for others, we also develop compassion for ourselves. Whatever we cannot feel compassion for in others, is usually something in ourselves that we also have difficulty accepting. So accepting ourselves and accepting others go hand in hand, and compassion for ourselves and compassion for others do too. This is something I have come back to over and over in my own lessons on the path.

To all or none,
7- Lisa's comment
8-How many holy words you say,how many acts you speak of .
They are worthless if you do not act on them.
9-Renounce violence and practice Compassion.
10- The 4 elements of true love are: Maitri/Metta/loving kindness
Karuna Compassion.Mudita/Joy,and upekshm-Equanimity.
11- If you are inhabited by the energy of Mindfulness You are
acting like a Buddha, you are speaking like a Buddha,you are
thinking like a Buddha.
That is Buddhahood inside of you ,that is something you can
experience.IT IS not a theory.

12_During the forthy-five years of his ministry'the Bhuddha always tried to help other
people to wake up'to be mindful.

He always thaught,that the path to of Mindfulness'concentation,and insight is
the path of liberation'the path to Happiness.

To all or none'

this is my first post with my tablet!
Great.

That's great about your tablet Loong. Sorry I have not been here, we had guests this weekend. I wanted to comment on your statement about Buddhahood being inside of us, not a theory. To me this is one of the most important insights, that I return to over and over to on my path. There are so many Buddhist sutras, teachings, books, and practices. We can easily get caught up in the intellectual debate of them. And I actually love to discuss and write about Buddhist teaching and ideas. But in the end, the path is about our own realization of truth, and what aids that. That is all that matters.

To all or none.

Never,never ,been happy,joyfull,blissfull than right now,I wish

you all the same and more.

loongdragon

Loong, you wrote;
1- We suffer because we do not have enough compassion.
2-The moment we have a lot of compassion ,there is no suffering anymore.
3-Kshanti Paramita( perfections) is the capacity of enbracing everyone,everything,you do not exclude anyone.
4-We have to use our free will to organise our life.
5- Living Mindfully, helping to build brotherhood/sisterhood,
becomes a refuge for others,this brings you a lot of Joy,a lot of happiness.That is it for today.

Loong, I don't believe that any within my family, with the exception of myself, have ever had any dealings with the teachings of Buddhism. When I look at yours and Lisas writings however I find a such similarities between us that it makes me wonder if somehow they came from the same origin. I know that we were very familiar with ancient Egyptian mysticism and the Druidic cultures but not anything from the orient. Maybe you or Lisa could shed some light on this???? dave

To Ancientflaxman,

Dear Dave,I know nothing of the ancient Egyptian culture and spirituality.I hope you beleive in re-birth.In re-bith .many hundred lives could have been passed on to the Orient,where
Sages ,Sadhus,Buddhists etc from their past karmas could have been inspired by the Egyptians.Nothing is gained ,nothing is lost.

Also,South American Mayans wore the same hats as the Tibetans.

How many thousands of miles apart is that?

I am simply a buddhist ,a very simple one.What I wrote ,is the only way or connection I can see.

With deep Respect
_/\_
loongdragon

Loong, I believe totally in rebirth, also in the continual rejuvenation of the mind. We have never believed in death other than to say that the end of a thing is simply a beginning.

My very good friend is a Buddhist Shaolin Kungfu instructor who one time saved my life. After the rest of my elders had moved on I felt very isolated. He showed me an acceptance and kindness that helped to restore my life at a time when I was very vulnerable.

I appreciate your teaching abilities Loong. They are a vehicle for healing. Thank you! _/\_ dave

AncientFlaxman, Some do believe that teachings of enlightenment passed through several different cultures, passing orally down from generation to generation, and then getting named different 'isms' depending on who the root teacher was. Certainly that is likely, based on how human history works in general. But I think it's also true that different people throughout history have simply come upon the same truths in vastly different cultures and times. Certain things are simply part of our common human experience and essence, and when we dig deep - as the great seekers everywhere have always done- we discover them. And these transcend 'isms.'

Lisa, for that I am more than grateful!! Does it matter how we get what we need as long as we get it despite the origin or ism?????? dave

To all or none,

21-With the energy of mindfulness,our feet become the Buddha's feet.To generate the energy of mindfulness is not difficult.The practice of mindful breathing generates the energy of mindfulness.And with that power,that energy of mindfulness,we empower our feet,and our feet become the Buddha's feet.When you walk with the feet of the Buddha,the place you walk is the
Buddha Land.


this is a text by TNH Mahayana style.

22- The Buddha loved walking.In his era there were no busses cars etc.Buddha walked for 45 years visiting 14 to 15 countries
while walkingin ancient India and Nepal.Of course the Buddha enjoyed sitting meditation,but he also enjoyed walking meditation.

23- today received another book by Thich Nhat Hanh.Title is :
The Miracle Of Mindfulness.

24- Today ,I realised.that every moment that I live,I am living it,intertwined with the rest of the Universe,we age together,some suffer others live ablissful life,some die some are born.Re-birth happens all around the world at every moment.
Already all that I wrote ,is gone and relived differently.I am maybe 5 minutes older,and I wish wiser.

25- to all or none,remember that Lisa theBuddhism editor,wrote a
great e-book that you can buy for,hold on to your hats: 0.99cents
I dowmloaded it printed it,and read it ,It is now in my library
with books from other great thinkers.Don't miss it.....

26- to our visitors,if you have questions,however simple they may be,this is the place to ask them.

27- Today,I lived something I had lived once before.Sitting at
McDonald's where I go every day to see friends,but before I
listen to Mantras and read about buddhism.I was listening at the Oneness mantra,eyes closed,volume high,and all of a sudden ,
I felt myself ,like going,almost falling off my chair.When I opened my eyes,everything in front of me was so clear.I resisted,I do not know what would have happened.This mantra brings me to another level,when I listen to it.Like right now.
28-The practice of mindfulness helps us to become a Buddha in the
here and the Now.

29 - We are all connected to each other and everything beyond words.
This is something I rediscover over and over for myself, both in relationship to others (through my emotions) and in meditation or mindfulness, when we have these moments of clarity and open to feeling connected, rather than separated from our surroundings and each other. Such a beautiful thing. And related to that...
30 - We are each born and die every moment. We are always arising and fading away, arising and fading away, like the surf, or each of our thoughts...

31-Vap Poya day is the full-moon of October. This holy day celebrates theend of the Bhikkhu's three months rains retreat and marks the Kathinamonth of robes , where lay people donate a set of robes to the Sangha. This also celebrates the day that Buddha began to teach the Abhidhamma!(Theravada)
32-loved your #30.

33-Equality,compassion,loving kindness.

34-Truth the great Liberator ,exist only in the Now,of each person's thoughts.What is my truth might not be your truth in this instant,but eventually ,the real truth shall prevail.Truth is also the capacity to think,say act,in Mindfulness in a Now.
Not everyone can do that. It depends on the spiritual evolution of said individual.

35-Sentient beings,can be carriers of karmas,so that is why,I live in the country,and all we see is dead deers inpick-ups.That is why,i cannot even see a domestic dog or cat.All sentient beings should live their lives free.A golden cage is still a cage
a withdrawal of the primary right of all living beings.FREEDOM.
I will not make friends with this comment.I understand people that are lonely and have pets.Still all these sentient beings,
should be free,to suffer or be happy in nature,where the Universe
intended them to be.

36-I have so much "stuff" to share,but I do not want to invade the Buddhism section.What Lisa and I ,(speaking for her), here,
is to let the visitors ,members to digest what is actually existing.The second book I bought by TNH,is much simpler in it's writing.It is a book that I recommend to people that have a basic knowledge on Buddhism.Just a suggestion,Lisa is the Editor,
myself just one of her students.
The name of the Book is The Miracle of Mindfulness.

37-just received this from my Bhikkhu in Sri-Lanka;
The five ways of removing irritating annoyance:
Bhikkhus, there are these five ways of removing annoyance, by which any
irritation can be entirely removed by a Bhikkhu, when it arises in him.
What are these five ways?
1: Friendliness can be maintained towards an irritating person or state..
2: Understanding can be undertaken towards an irritating person or state..
3: On-looking Equanimity can be kept towards an irritating person or state..
4: One can forget and ignore the irritating person, mental or physical state..
5: Ownership of Kamma of the irritating person can be reflected upon thus:
This good person is owner of his actions, inherit the result his actions, is
indeed born of his actions and only he is responsible for his actions be they
good or bad. This too is how annoyance with the irksome can be instantly
removed. These are the five ways of removing annoyance, and by which any
irritation can be entirely removed in a friend, exactly when it arises...
Anguttara Nikāya V 161

38-Buddhas are all those countless persons who have obtained enlightenment,then many have sat on the very spot I sit on nowTNH
Sitting on the same spot as a Buddha gives rise to happiness and sitting in mindfulness means itself to have become a Buddha.The poet Ngu-yen Cong Tru experienced the same thing when he sat dowm on a certain spot,and suddenly saw others had sat on the same spot countless ages ago,and how in ages to come others would also come to sit there:

On the same spot I sit today
Others came,in ages past,to sit.
One thousand years ,still others will come.
Who is the singer ,who is the listener?
That spot and the minutes he spent there became a link in eternal reality.


loong's humble comment:never forget that our presence on this blue planet ,is just the continuation of hundreds,thousands,
that came before us,and after us.We just are a continuum of Karmas
all intertwined in the universe,each one part of the other,like the grains of sand on a beach

39-Never but never forget that inside of each human and sentient being is a Buddha waiting to appear.Take care of your body and Mind,also show infinite love to all sentient beings.

Hear, hear!!

40-Mindfulness is the Miracle,by which,we master,and restore ourselves.

WHenever your Mind becomes scattered,use your breath as the means to take hold
On your mind again

41-ONLY this actual moment is life.

42-Concentration power is the strength which comes from practicing Mindfulness.

43-Every object of the mind is itself mind.ln Buddhism,we call the objects of mind
theDharmas.Dharmas are usually grouped into 5categories.
1-bodily and physical forms
2-feelings
3-perceptions
4mental functionnings
5-consciousness

These 5 cathegories are called the :The five aggregates.

Loong

I think 43 has so many levels to it, and is where our practice really deepens. At first when we begin to practice mindfulness, we tend to judge our thoughts and emotions as 'good' and 'bad' - the ones we think we should change or get rid of and the ones we accept. As we continue on the path we begin to deepen our view to realize ALL our thoughts and emotions are objects of the mind, and that even includes our ideas about enlightenment and spirituality itself. Then we can really settle into a new kind of openness that allows us to experience reality directly. Before that, we are blocking it in some way, even if it's with 'positive' thoughts.

45- The words quoted were from TNH book called The Miracle of
Mindfulness

46-I see that if one does not know how to die,one can hardly,know how to live-because death,is a part of life...

47- Just read that some people died ,not wanting to leave behind their pets.If one wants to attain Nirvana,no fetters or attachments must remain.

I for myself ,love animals more than humans.Imagine the attachment of the dead people for an animal .One chooses to die
with it's pet!

48-In The Meditation on Compassion,it is written,

Perfect in all merits,beholding all sentient beings with Compassionate eyes,making the ocean of blessings limitless.Before this one ,we should incline.Practice looking at all beings with the eyes of compassion: This is called The Meditation on compassion.

Loong's comment: Compassion and fetters are total opposites.One
can love a sentient being ,but without the
attachment,attachment creates craving ,craving
creates suffering.So people are so attached that they die with their pets!Which in reality was a source of some happiness and also suffering

Choose.

49-When your mind is liberatedyour heart floodswith Compassion:Compassion
For yourself,for having undergone countless sufferings because you were not yet able
to releive yourself of false views,hatred,ignorance,and anger;and compassion for others because they do not yet see and so are still imprisoned by false views,hatred,ignorance and continue to create suffering for themselves and for others.

Text by TNH.

Loong,s comment.Compassion when compassion becomes part of your way of
living,compassion for others does so also.Those that have not yet attained such a
distance on their path,will suffer for not being able to share such compassion with others.

50-From my sri-lankan Bhikkhu
Friends:Thought solidifies into kammically effective behaviour!The thought manifests as the word. The word manifests into acted out behaviour!
The deed develops into habit, which hardens into deep-grown stubborn character!
So watch the thought and its ways with care and let it spring from infinite friendliness;
Born out of kindness for all sentient beings. Ignorance leads to ego, Ego leads selfishness,
Selfishness leads to aversion, Aversion leads to anger,
Anger leads to hatred, Hatred leads to Suffering� The creator of man was greed, For countless lives this was his drive.
With Ignorance at its helm, it grows! No end for it until he knows...Therefore: Watch the Thought Manifestation!

51- Hate, resentment,are tools from Mara.
Love,comprehension,compassion are tools from Buddha.
One must choose what he puts in his tool-box!

52- Everyone,whomever he/she may be is a teacher put on your path
to learn.Just spoke with someone from Amazon,he was so happy to speak to me.He had never met a Buddhist,and he had just finished
reading his first book on Dharma.What surprised him is the calmness in my voice, the way I answered his questions.The non-agressiveness of my tone.I bought a book and due to the seller's
way of doing business I shall not have it Before one or two months.I usually buy my Buddhist books in england at the same shipping price but get them within 5 days.Compassion,comprehension,lack of madness.is part of what the dharma shows us.

53-I thought about the garden tended by a monk living in Mindfulness.His flowers are
Always fresh and green ,nourished by the peace and joy which flow from his mindfulness.One of the anciants said,


When a great Master is born,the water in the river turns clearer and the plants grow
Greener.

54- Half smile ,through whatever you are living ,in the Now,and the next Now and the next.....

55-Know that to become a Buddha and save all beings.can only be realized on the foundation of the pure peace of the Present moment.

56- For those taken by hate or resentment,meditate until every approach and hatred disappears,and compassion and love rise like a well of fresh water within you.Vow to work for awareness and reconciliation by the most silent and unpretentious means possible.

57 - We are all of us special, and none of us.

58- In the Spirituality section a thread on the colour Green is
on.In Buddhism,the color Green is also important in the Mahayana
lineage."The Green Tara" whom by the way is Lisa Erikson"s Avatar
This Goddess ,is the mother of all Buddha's.

59-The Four Noble Truths are ,I believe,the core of Buddhism.
Humans suffer......This is the first truth.
Out of compassion,Ihave been sitting in a restaurant for hours,listening to a woman
Who is in human suffering right now.

Iam so glad to have learned Compassion.Compassion has no limit.It also helps developping Metta.Humans suffer,it is their fault.
Ithank Buddhism for such gifts.

Loong

60- Started reading a book recommanded by lisa Erickson'

Old path white clouds,6oo pages.Iam in the third chapter and already been flaffergasped.What a book.Bought it 2nd hand for $3.84 on amazon.

Thanks lisa

61- Idle chatter.one of the vows pronounced by monks.I beleive applies to everyone.The text that follows was sent to me by Bhikkhu Samahita from sri-lanka:

Friends:Empty Gossip & Void Babble Infects & Spoil any Social Sphere!

Once in Savatthi the Blessed Buddha said this:
What, householder friends, is the Dhamma explanation befitting for oneself?
Here, householder friends, any Noble Disciple reflects thus: If someone were to
to address me with gossip, idle chatter, empty babble, hearsay, and void prattle,
that would neither be pleasing nor agreeable to me. Similarly, if I were to address
another with gossip, idle chatter, empty babble, hearsay, and void prattle, that
would neither be pleasing, nor agreeable, nor acceptable to that other being either!
What is displeasing and disagreeable to me, is also displeasing and disagreeable
to any other being too. How can I disturb & bore another being with what provoke
annoy and exasperate myself? Having reflected repeatedly thus, then gradually:
1: He/she will carefully avoid all gossip, idle chatter, empty babble, & void hearsay...
2: He/she will persuade others also to avoid all pointless good-for-nothing speech...
3: He/she will praise speaking well formulated reasoned facts worth remembering...
In this very way, is this advantageous verbal behaviour purified in 3 aspects!

Loong's comment:If this was applied in everyday living.by anyone
living by any government.PEACEat last.

See how hard it is to go through a day without infringing the 3
rules?

With loving kindness

62- In buddhism for the leities there are 5 precepts .One is to
never lie.


TRUTH always TRIUMPHS!
from Bhikkhu Samahita PLUS 2 days ago
Truthful Honesty is the 7th Mental Perfection. Like the moon remains in its fixed orbit around the earth, even so should one stay and stick with the truth, thereby insisting on honesty. This guarantee induces trust, confidence and assured certainty in the mind, as well as in the society. You can play with your drama, but not with your karma..

Enjoy

63 - This from the documentary I just reviewed, "The Buddhist has to free himself of his Buddhist self, the Christian has to free himself of his Christian self, to the extent these are constructs of the mind."

We must drop even the constructs of mind that our spiritual practice rests upon in order to move deeper. These constructs are temporary - like training wheels on a bike. Eventually we do not need them any more.

64-Friends:How to reach the Certainty of Final Knowledge?

The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, there are these 4 Foundations of Awareness.
What four? The ever calmly self-reminding awareness of:1: Body is just a mass of disgusting impurities...
2: Feelings are only a repeating emotional noise...
3: Mind is simply a conditioned set of weird moods...
4: Phenomena are mentally baked and faked appearances...While always acutely alert and clearly comprehending, thereby removing all lust,
desire, envy, jealousy, frustration, & any kind of discontent rooted in this world...
When, Bhikkhus, these 4 Foundations of Awareness have been developed, trained
& well established, one of two fruits may be expected: Either Final Knowledge in
this very life, or if there is residual clinging, the exalted state of Non-Return...!by BS/loong

65- regarding Lisa's last post,read the same text,somewhere.
However I do beleive that before removing my training wheels,
sufficient knowledge ,must be acquired,just like before removing training wheels enough practice with them on is necessary.

66-Mindfulness is striving to live in the present,the now,the reality of that moment.

67-JOY,by B.S.


Friends:

Unselfish Joy! How to Rejoice in Other's Success:

Mutual Joy (Muditā) is developed by seeing that:
If only happy at one's own success, such egoistic Joy is rare and limited!
If happy at all other's success also, this Joy is more frequent & even infinite!
By observing that:
It starts with basic sympathy, develops into acceptance, genuine approval,
& appreciation. It culminates in rejoicing altruistic gladness by directing
mind to initiation, much cultivation and boundless expansion of Mutual Joy!
By knowing that:
Mutual Joy is the proximate cause of sweet, fully satisfied contentment!
Lack of mutual joy is therefore the proximate cause of discontentment!
Mutual Joy instantly eliminates acidic jealousy, grudge and green envy!
Mutual Joy is an infinite, truly divine, elevating and sublime mental state!
Mutual Joy is 1 of the 4 mental states of the Brahma-devas (Brahmavihāra)

The Blessed Buddha pointed out:
If it were impossible to cultivate this Good, I would not tell you to do so!

Let there be Happiness. Let there be open Freedom.
Let there be Peace. Let there be Bliss from cultivating this.
Let there be Understanding of this mental state of Mutual Joy!

Words of Buddha.

68- again

69-The Reality of your entire life is contained in this instant.

69-Not having lived christmas for more than 30 years, even if you do not want to
Take part of it,Everything everywhere is crammed with the event?

This false sense of love and generosity,could be transformed into REAL

love,generosity,loving kindness, compassion all year round.

For that to happen.One has to take a fork in his path of life.


Think less of money,power,more of your children.

There is a Zen saying that wether you have a 500,000 house or a 100,000

It is not the walls you live in but the empty space!

I lived 22 years in a plywood shack,where I live,we get -30. Degrees sometimes

-40 .That is where I discovered myself ,oh I forgot,7 winters the water froze.oo
Total happiness.Remember not much is needed to be happy.Just learn to live in the now.

70-Openmindness,to all ,what you read in the Buddhism section.
may at first sound strange,weird.Meditate on it or throw it away.

You see with my openmindness with Lisa Moderator of Buddhism,I have learned more in 6 months than ,in 10 years before by myself.Let
your mind open like a Lotus to be filled with bits and pieces of
love,compassion,comprehension of yourself and others.

71-Nelson Mendella 94,of of 20 th century's greatest man just
left hospital,in the last few days.He is o.k.What kept him alive for so long? Has to be love for his countrymen,his determination
for peace.May you be well Mr Mandella.for few more NOWS.

72-Text by Banthe
Compassion is the Good Core of Buddhism!
Overcome the angry by friendliness,
overcome the wicked by goodness,
overcome the miser by generosity,
overcome the liar by truth...
Dhammapada 223

He who neither punishes, nor makes others punish,
He who neither steals, nor makes others steal,
who in friendly goodwill shares with all that lives,
such kind gentle one meets no enmity anywhere...
Itivuttaka 27

Train yourself in doing only what is good,
that will last and bring great happiness!
Cultivate generosity, a peaceful living,
and a mentality of infinite friendliness...
Itivuttaka 16

loong the messanger

73- The secret life of trees [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brWOsbcmFlw&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs[url]

Enjoy

74- Never forget that trees are sentient beings too.Sentient means can sense.Where I live there are trees that give us their sap every spring.If this is not a living being,I wonder what is.

By the way ,what i 'love' the most on this planet is Trees,especially The Wheeping White Birch.

75-The Last Relinquishment:

When ignorance of the 4 Noble Truths finally fully evaporates,
One no longer clings to any sense pleasure, any views, or any rules and rituals!
One no longer clings to any idea of a self, I, Me, Ego, Soul or Identity at all...
When one does not cling, one is not agitated! One remains imperturbable...
When one is not perturbable, one attains the state of Nibbāna right there!
One then understands: Rebirth is ended, this Noble life has been completed,
What had to be done is done, there is no more relapsing into any state of being
text by Banthe
loong the messanger.

76-To those who do not know I suffer from severe brain damage,due
to,you will not beleive this.

36 years ago I quit drinking and mixing it with valium.5 years ago ,I started having memory episodes.Had all the scans available taken.Verdict ,atheriosclorosis of the brain accompanied by part of my brain deatroyed ,black neurons ,grey neurons.

So imagine it appeared 36 years after.So be careful with what you you shove down your throat or your arms.It will get you
eventually. My brain has been reduced by at least 50 % memory wise. My main loss is cognitive,i almost do not remember my past.
So be good to yourself'

77- Text by Banthe.
Gracious is Gratitude:

The Blessed One, is sympathetic, is seeking our well-being, teaches us this
Dhamma out of sympathy, then you should train yourself in being in harmony,
cordial, and without conflict and train in yourselves cultivation of all the 37
fine mental qualities: The 4_Foundations_of_Awareness, the 4 right efforts,
the 4_Feet_of_Force, the 5 Abilities, 5 powers, the 7 Links to Awakening,
& the Noble_8-Fold_Way. Majjhima Nikāya 103

A Tathagata is worshipped, honoured, respected, thanked & shown gratitude
by any follower, who keeps practicing the Dhamma in accordance with true
Dhamma, who keeps practicing masterfully, who lives in and by the Dhamma!
Digha Nikāya 16

loong

To all or none
The word Thatagata is the word used by the Buddha (Theravada)when he refers to
Himself

Loong

79- words by Banthe:
When a Bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of generosity, he becomes
ever more intent on generosity, his favourite becomes non-greedy charity,
he acts with kind, noble, & loving liberality, and he gains a fine lion-heart.
He enjoys much happiness and gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he
is at least headed for a happy destiny.

For those who do not know the sense of the word Bhikkhu,it means:
An ordained monk over 20 years old.

80-In Tibetan the word for body is,lu~ which means "something you leave behing .!

81- Deception has nothing to do with comprehension!

82- Text By Banthe,

Simple core 1,2,3 steps =>Success!The Blessed Buddha once said:
Sabbapāpassa akaranam,
kusalassa upasampadā,
sacittapariyodapanak -
etam buddhāna sāsanam.

1: Harmless, 2: Good and 3: Pure:
1: Avoiding all Harm
2: Doing only Good
3: Purifying own Mind
So all Buddhas teach!
Dhammapada 183

83-Textby Banthe:


Friends:

Imperturbable Calm!

The Blessed Buddha once said:
Knowing that the other person is angry,
The one who remains just aware and calm
acts in and for his own best interest,
and for the others' interest, too!
Samyutta Nikāya I, 162

Exalted in mind, just open, and clearly aware,
Is the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:
One who is such, calmed and ever mindful,
He has no sorrows!
Udana IV,

Calm is his mind.
Calm is his speech.
Calm is his behaviour.
So is the tranquillity of one
freed by the insight of right
understanding...
Dhammapada 96

Loong the messanger

84-Craving leads to stress,stress leads to suffering

85- This was created hoping visitors or members would put their comments on a page.Were it for or against what was written.Never
happened except for Lisa,the Editor of the Buddhism section

Too bad

With respect for those who reads this thread.

loong

86-Text by Banthe---Mutual Joy cures all vicious Envy & Jealousy!



The dear companion can be the proximate cause for Mutual Joy, where one
rejoices in another being's success... One thus rejoicing in others fortune
is called a 'boon companion', for he is constantly glad: He laughs first and
speaks afterward! So he should be the first to be pervaded with gladness.
Or on seeing a dear person being happy, cheerful and glad, mutual joy can
be aroused thus: 'See this being is indeed glad! How good, how excellent!'
Just as one would be glad at seeing a dear and beloved person very happy,
exactly so does one pervade all other beings in all directions with mutual joy...
Rejoicing mutual joy can also be aroused by remembering other's happiness
in the past and recollecting the elated joy aspect in this way: 'In the past he
had great wealth, a great following and he was always glad'. Or mutual joy
can be aroused by apprehending the future glad aspect of his in this way:
'In the future he will again enjoy similar success and will go about in gold
palanquins, on the backs of elephants or on horseback'. Having thus aroused
mutual joy regarding a dear person, one can then direct the very same feeling
successively towards a neutral one, and gradually towards any hostile person.
Vbh 274, Vism I 316

loong

87 - The Buddhist path is walked from the inside out, not the outside in. It is not about following rules and ethical guidelines and getting rewarded for good behavior. It is about transforming our own hearts and minds, through the practices of compassion and inquiry. It is about the state of our awareness on a moment-by-moment basis. Sometimes, some 'rules' for living may help us in this transformation. Other times, they are not needed. We have to be honest enough with ourselves to know when we need them and when we do not.

88-To all or none,

This post is to apologise,for the errors ,i may do in spelling and especially,mames,like,Bodhidarma or others'.

Isuffer from cognitive memory dammage.So if you see an error
in one of my posts,pardon me.

I will start a list of usual words well written that I will keep
close to my computor.Again I apologise.

89-This is a Theravadin text,you do not have to be in accord,as always

Friends:

Breakthrough to the Truths Safeguards Against Downfall Rebirth!


The Blessed Gotama Buddha once explained:
Bhikkhus and friends, see this little bit of dust, I have taken up upon the nail of my
little-finger? What do you think is most: This tiny bit of dust or this great Planet Earth?
The Bhikkhus then responded: Venerable Sir, this great Planet Earth is much, much more,
incomparably more. This speck of dust is trifling, microscopic, & negligible in comparison.

The Blessed Gotama Buddha then pointed out:
Similarly & exactly so too, Bhikkhus, those who are reborn among human beings are few
and quite rare, beings reborn elsewhere, lower, as non-humans are much more numerous
and common. Why is it so? Because, Bhikkhus, they have not seen the 4 Noble Truths!
What four?
1: This is Suffering;
2: Craving is the Cause of Suffering;
3: No Craving is the End of Suffering;
4: The Noble 8-fold Way Ends all Suffering.
Therefore, Bhikkhus and friends, exertion should be made right Now to understand:
All This is Suffering; This Greedy Craving is the sole Cause of all Suffering; No Craving is
the End of Suffering; The Noble 8-fold Way Ends all Suffering. Therefore should effort
to fathom these 4 Noble Truths be made right NOW!

Comments:
Animals are much more common than humans (trillions of billions of insects and fish),
since this rebirth at this level is much more common! Similarly with ghosts, demons,
and hell beings. Downfall to these states are common, because evil and immoral actions
such as Killing, Stealing, Lying, Sexually Abusing, Drinking and Drugging are common!
Ethics is thus the core factor of creation and conditioning of any future being...
Banthe,

loong messanger

90- one million chinese children practicing Buddhist meditation

[url]http://youtu.be/jn_DSQ2HXCk[url]

91-Equanimity,by Banthe:Comments:
Non-involved and even Equanimity is a subtle form of happiness... By stabilization
it perfects and consummates all the other six links to awakening: Awareness,
Investigation, Energy, Joy, Tranquillity and Concentration. Equanimity is proximate
cause for knowing and seeing it, as it really is. Equanimity quenches any agitation!
When seeing and noting: 'All this is constructed, conditioned, coarse and transient!
But this state of serene equanimity is indeed exquisitely peaceful...', then instantly
ceases any arisen agreeable or nasty feeling, when Equanimity takes its stance...!

Loong's comment:To me Equanimity is the capacity of seeing things as they REALLY ARE.

92- Sometimes,old habits die hard.Detachment of these necessitates more work than others.Mara is a conning ennemy.

93 - "Only with the heart [can one] see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
This is not from a Buddhist text, but from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. I was reminded recently how true this is, and how the path of opening the heart is never done. We can always be surprised by the forces in us that rise up to try and stop it, out of fear or self-righteousness. Letting go and opening the heart is truly the path.

94= At 11.15 where I live it is outside -33 degrees not counting the chill factor.No suntan needed for tomorrow supposed to be much warmer -28......

95- Signs of the times.

minus 33 degrees outside,and a couple are doing all the recycling
bins for empty cans.I was looking outside the man was coming out of the uncyclable container stealing a bag .

96-The only thing we really have is nowness,is now.

97- Met an ex work friend yesterday.He is a complete atheist.
I was not trying to sell him any ideas.He kept coming up with citations from other atheists.So at one point ,I cut the conversation monologue and left him.
I found myself lucky to live what I am living now.
Yesterday on the "Bones" show,there were people preparing a person to die The Tibetan way.The researcher did not do his job well.The man in charge kept saying :Oh my god:
Bones,said if she died would like her body dismembered and left
on top of a mountain,for the birds and animals to feed.That is sometimes done in the Tibetan region.

98-My favorite words in Buddhism,are;Mind,Mindfulness,Impermanence,Samsara,a little more exotic ,Equanimity,--Then there is rebirth attachment,cravings,fetters,mara,Noble eighfold path,Enlightenment.If you know what each of these words mean you know what buddhism is about.

99 - And compassion.

100- Metta

101=In my case the hardest part and still is ,is to live in the now.Living in the Now,shall bring me more Mindfulness,and less dukkha,suffering.Just saying

102-
One day ,iwas searching for peace,Isat,and It sat on my knees.
Origin Zen mantra

103- in each test,do not look for the ennemy,but for the teacher
Origin Zen Mantra

104-just was in another part of Bellaonline,where a woman was surprised of having
episodes,of a form of beatitude,when she was in prayer ,deep contact with her God.
The more a human being,comes one with himself the more these episodes happen.
Buddha and Jesus had the same message, give,give,without expecting anything in return .However Jesus said give in the name of my father and you will be given tenfold.Buddha in his own way promised the same thing.That every giving seed will one day ,bloom, karma.
Namaste
Loong

105-This is perhaps the darkest and most disturbing aspect of modern civilisation-

Its ignorance and repression of who we really are.Sogyal Rinpoche

106-2 days ago, I get a phone call from an old friend.He wants to meet me.

However he is in a hurry.So we meet at my office,MCDonald's.
He just came back from a 2 months trip to Thailand,Laos,Myannmar.
He said in thailand ,you cannot feel any agressiveness,nor anger,smiles,everywhere smiles.He said you feel Zen even if you don't want to.Someone told him go up that road ,to the end.All there was ,was a shack with no modern facilities .At first heplanned to camp there3 days, Finally stayed 11days,

He said that when he was there he saw good monks and bad monks.The temples were incredible,specially the ones in the mountains.

He brought back for me,aBuddha,looks from laos or Thai
He travelled many thousand

miles ,and when he gives it to me ,breaks the tip of the
head.The little pieces were there,so I kind of glued them ,and brought it to a girlfriend that will restore it.That used to be my type of work ,but do not have the tools anymore.Also got a tin page separater from Laos.
Life is full of surprises.
Loong

107-Comments: Be realistic!
If one cannot be in company with one-self, then something must be wrong!
Any form of company will dissolve, since all meetings end in separation...
The ever socializing parrot-like personality cannot ever end suffering!
Only dead fish float with the stream!
Text by Banthe

Loongs comment:This e-mail I received by Banthe when printed takes 7 pages.He always has pictures or Illustations that I do not Know why ,I can't print.There were t least 6 short interventions like the one I chose.I am making a little book .with the 7 pages.Living alone.
loong

108- in another section of Bellaonline,someone,without knowing ,made me
a fantastic compliment.The person said ,not necessarely in these words:
We were talking about what we were attached to,the person said ,with loong
It does not count HE IS NOT ATTACHED TO ANYTHING.
This person doe not know ,how proud I was to read that.Proud being a big word.
My goal ,as a buddhist is to detach from everyting that could create craving,creating
Suffering,,and taking me away backwords towards my reaching enlightenmen

Thank you to that person

109- Many people ,believe that Confusius,was a great man.
He in his great wisdom,made classes in China and depending on your money ,you would have a certain rank.
Of the poors he said they were dogs and pigs.His worst doing,I have an exemple in front of me.A40 year old woman that can barely walk because her feet are atrophied,to meet the standard that Confusius had set,for woman.let us ay he set the lenght of the foot not to exceed a size 5.
All shoes in china wre made maximumsize 5.
So there have been since hundreds of million women ,walking with their toes under their feet to fit a size 5.
This is the first time ,I have seen a women that young with these feet.
She must have been born on a farm where modern ideas had not reached that region yet.
Oh the Vanity of one man .

That's interesting Loong, I did not know Confucious was responsible for bound feet. I think of it as much more of a Japanese tradition. That was a truly awful tradition. Although I don't blame Confucious entirely, even if he advocated it. Everyone is bound by their historical time period. Many great teachers and philosophers that have put forward great ideas that have helped advance the world in one way, have also supported ideas from their time period that were accepted that no seem appalling to us. For example, the founders of America that were slave-owners, or the antiquated attitudes towards women that Gandhi held. So it seems even visionaries can sometimes only see outside their time in one way, and may be limited in another way. We are all the product of our own historical time period to some extent.

Dear Lisa,

Through times the japanese,always copied the chinese.The writing,medecine,martial arts,
.The only unknown part of the japanese that science still does not know the origin is
their language.Japan was closed to outside civilisations for over a 1000 years.
They were many tribes speaking various dialect.
What is zen? You are the expert but,around 600 a.c.,a Daoist japanese monk met a chinese monk in China of the name of Chan.What ,I have been thaught,the mixing of the phylosophies gave Zen.
When a neophite like me studie Zen ,he sees quite a difference,from Zen to let us say Tibetan Buddhism's way of thinking.
Dear teacher,if I am wrong,please set me straight.

With respect
Loong the learner

To Lisa and all,

I did some more research on confusious.Lao Tsu and Buddhists ,were
not fond of his way of living.warring etc.

listen to this the size of the chinese woman foot was ....2 3/4 inch long.However I retract myself of him inventing this rule.
Loong

To Lisa and all ,

I was at the hospital all nite,because of a enflamed part of
my gut. They gave me pills to remove the pain ,and since I am allergig to Iodine,had to wait for an hour and a half ,so the pills given would neutralize the allergy to Iodine.I always wear a Mala and for the first time I did a mantra of 108 beads .
My mantra was simple,Buddha and the Universe.Also did Metta meditation as promised to Burt,Jilly and Lori.

People have no idea of the power of Buddhism. The hour and a half just zipped through.
I was never impatient,always smiling.

Thanks to Buddha and the Universe.
loong

I'm sorry to hear about your hospital visit Loong, but glad that the it affirmed the power of metta and mala practice for you. I hope you are feeling better. Is this a chronic condition?

As for Confucious and Lao Tzu, yes the conflict of some aspects of their two philosophies fueled a lot of Chinese history. And I knew Chinese and Japanese customs were very entwined, but had forgotten about the Chinese feet binding. Now that I think of it though, I remember all the Chinese Empresses and their ladies did it too.

The history of Zen is very interesting. Chan (the Chinese version of Zen) developed in China as Buddhism and Taoism mixed, and then as it travelled to Japan it mixed with Shinto, the native religion there are the time, and Zen developed. There are several schools of Zen, two main ones, and they differ from each other in practice just as the 4 schools of Tibetan Buddhism do.

And you are right, Zen and Tibetan Buddhism are very different in some ways, particularly their rituals and aestehtics - Tibetan Buddhism tends to be very elaborate while Zen is very sparse. But they are both classified as Mahayana schools, because they are both grounded in the Lotus Sutra, and its teachings of mind, rather than philosophy. The idea of direct realization, and the centrality of the teacher-student relationship in bringing this about, and that this direct knowledge is the most important thing, and that anyone can achieve this, are all shared by both traditions and are Mahayana ideas. And of course the idea of the boddhisattva too.

Dear Lisa,

I have been playing you for awhile with my choices of texts expressing my desire for you to be MY teacher.I hope you will reconsider your previous decision.
I have listened to your radio interview.Liked it.
What I want or more wish for is a generally Mahayana teacher,Not necessarely just Tibetan or any lineage.One that has seen me grow,understands me.I am down on one knee now .If you rather answer through an e-mail it's ok with me.

My feminine side is well developped,does not always show,That is Why I would prefer A Woman Teacher.

Bowing to you
an humble loong

Hi Loong, your request has touched my heart. I will contemplate and respond by email later this week. As you know though, my decline of this in the past was simply because I know that your intentions are very strong and I want to make sure you are with the best possible teacher for your own dharma. I take this role very seriously, and have high standards for it. It is possible to relay information and even energy and states of awareness through email and teleseminars and the like, and I have embraced them in my other teaching, but to truly work with someone the way a spiritual teacher should, I am not sure it can be done remotely. So I had hoped you would find someone locally who could fill that role for you.

To all or none.

Just to show the power of the Mind,just by saying ,I am loosing 10 pounds while rubbing by ex belly.
I have lost 17 pounds .withouth changing my eating habits.

This available to everyone, that really wants to loose weight.

This within 3 weeks to a month.

The Mind (rigpa) is to my beleif the main control of this living corpse.

Loong

To all or none
Do not confuse the Sem mind,with the Rigpa mind .I have written posts on this ,i beleive ,in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

loong
just a learner

To all or none,

For afew days ,a week,I will be in reflexion,regarding the path
I am presently walking.



_/\_

To all or none,
On the first of the month ,I wrote,that ,I would take a few days off.Afew days to try to calm the turmoil in my Mind (rigpa).
As I am reading on bardos,one definition of bardo , is when alive,turmoil sets in.

Since everything is impermanent,so will the turmoil be.!
I slowly am making order in what fits me and what does not fit me.

One of my friends in another group,told me why he disrobed after 2years as a Forest monk.I am using for now his method of making orderin my rigpa because it seems that sem is presently having fun.
Loong

To all or none,
In Mahayana Buddism,exists,Mantras.AMantra is the essence of sound,and the embodiment of the truth in the form of sound.Each syllable is impregnated with spiritual power,condenses a spiritual truth,and vibrates with the blessing of the
Speech of the buddhas.It is also said that the mind rides on the subtle energy of the breath,the PRANA which moves through and purifies the subtle channels of the body.So when you chant a mantra,you are charging your breath and energy with the energy
of the mantra,and so working directly on your mind and subtle body.

Definition by S.Rinpoche

I made a test once .I took my blood pressure ,then listened to a mantra..In only 5 to6 minutes,my artery pressure had gone down 11points,my vein pressure had gone gown by 7 points and my hearthbeat by 11 points.

So as you can see it really it ,,or they work.

Loong
Mahayana

tO ALL OR NONE.
Today was the most beautiful day of my life.

To all or none,

Walking a path ,I thought I was ready for,has brought me to an unexpected place.Part of Mind (sem) has set in.Like I read in The Tibetan Book...... Sem is like a flame burning,and you put that flame in an open window.That is where I am in this instant.
There is a thing I call (Spiritual Pride),that is where I have been for quite awhile.
Trying to impress the gallery.Pushing myself too much.What has
perturbed me the most was the incapacity to understand The Heart
Sutra.I created this section ,for me and others to express what
is going on in their Buddhist Path.

loong

Loong, I so admire your honesty and willingness to share. It is an inspiration.

To all or none'

I go out of my seclusion ,once about every 2 to 3 weeks.
I go to a niteclub.I do not consume alcool or drugs,just coffee.
Tonite ,met a barmaid that was into Buddhism ,and spirituality.
We had great little discussions.She said that her living in the Now,people would not appreciate her willing to work on herself.
Same thing for me ,in my village .I am a weirdo.So it was great
meeting someone who understood me ,and she was glad too for the same reason.
Great evening.

loong

To all or none,

As warned by my Master/Teacher,There are so many lineages,with their own view on a subject You or I may be looking for.
Please do not do like me and PANIC,if at first glance you do not seem to comprehend,what you read.Settle down,meditate a bit,
light should appear.
In my case,wanting to know the basics of each Great Lineage,so as to share with you,and help me choose what path to walk.Made me
fall in many holes on my path.For the times I have panicked ,I apologize to you.

loong

To my Teacher,

After meditating a bit, I realized,that the subjects of bardos,
dzochen and others,are all from the Tibetan lineage.
I was not attracted to these subject,at that time,I knew nothing of The Tibetan Buddhism.When I started reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying,a total new world opened to me.
I had just ,for awhile,finished the world of Thich Nhat Hanh.
I am a learner, Thera,Mahayana,Vajrayana 3 worlds together and at the same time ,different.
Thank you for your patience with my ignorance.

Your student
loong

To all or none,

The Stilling of Craving Ceases all Suffering!



The Blessed Buddha once said:
What, Ānanda, is the experience of Ceasing?
When a Bhikkhu retires to the forest, to the root of a tree, or an empty hut
& thinks thus: This is Peace, this is sublime, namely, the stilling of all mental
construction, the ending of all kammic formation, the evaporation of all fuel
for becoming, the ceasing of all craving, the relinquishing of all by detachment,
cessation, Nibbāna Then this very reflection itself is the experience of Ceasing ...

Some Simple Comments:
Ceasing means complete ending of & total absence of all greed, hate & ignorance!
Cultivating reflection on ceasing reduces all desire for initiation, and origination..

Simile:
Greed, lust, & desire fades away slowly like the colours of cloth hanging in the sun!

Text By Banthe sri-lankan Bhikkhu

loong the messenger

To all or none,

My way of seeing progress in my Buddhism.is getting more and more detached of everything,everyone.I have worked hard ,lots left to be done ,but I feel more and more the Emptiness of attachments cravings ,fetters.They are leaving ,being only creations of my Mind,sem.If they were created ,they can be destroyed,by my Mind (rigpa) The real mind to me.

The only craving that remains present,is not necessarely rapture,
but the presence of woman around me.

Humbly
loong

Hi Loong, are you happier? In a deep way? That is the best measurement of progress. If your greater detachment is leading to a deeper connection to your own innate happiness and peace, than that is progress.

I mention this only because renunciation can be a trap - the trap the Buddha fell into himself (when he was still Siddhartha) before he discovered the middle way. Then he realized he was denying himself and his body too much, and it was in fact self-punishing.

I don't think you are doing this, I am just mentioning it as something to keep in mind, and for any other readers that may be out there.

Dear Teacher,
I am not here speaking of ascetism.I eat in restaurants sometimes 3 times in a day .
I still buy clothes ,that I like .For home ,I buy what I fee like eating.

What I worked on,,is detachment of every material possession,mental beliefs.
Ilive a life that is blissfull,happiness is not a word strong enough.

Openmindedness regarding new knowledge,I do not believe a sign of a Mind closed.

Loong

Dear Teacher,


Thank you

loong

To all or not,

Just read this article on Buddhanet on craving:

If we stop wanting altogether, we would never achieve anything.

True. But what the Buddha says is that when our desires, our craving, our constant discontent with what we have and our continual longing for more and more does cause us suffering,then we should stop doing it. He asks us to make a difference between what we need and what we want and to strive for our needs and modify our wants. He tells us that our needs can be fulfilled but that our wants are endless - a bottomless pit. There are needs that are essential, fundamental and can be obtained and this we should work towards. Desires beyond this should be gradually lessened. After all, what is the purpose of life? To get or be content and happy.

Loong

To all or none,
A great text of Theravada origin by Banthe Of Sri-Lanka
Friends:

Energy Boosts Advantageous Right Effort!



By energy, one strives and struggles, thus is it enthusiastic effort.
Any advantageous exertion of endeavour is a right effort.
By Energy, one works in the right direction, thus is it right effort.
Energy is Right, because it eliminates all the ugly and evil mentalities!
Energy is Effort, because it brings progress of well-being and bliss!
Thus is it Right Effort... It is a name for Energy... Viriya!
Energetic Right Effort achieves these four functions:
1: Elimination of already arisen detrimental mental states!
2: Preventing the arising of detrimental states, that have not yet arisen!
3: Initiation of advantageous mental states, that have not yet arisen!
4: Maintenance & expansion of already arisen advantageous mental states!
Thus is it fourfold. That is why it is called the 4 right efforts...

Loong's comment:to those who do not know,Right Effort is the first of The Noble Eighfull Path,to Enlightenment.

To all or none,

In Yahoo news this morning:Three suspected rhino poachers shot dead in S. Africa
The 1st precept in Buddhism is "One shall not kill wether it be
a human being or a sentient being.Instant karma.
I know some of you will say ,these people are poor.Being poor is not a reason not to respect the 1 st and 3 rd precept.Do not forget,the meat is not eaten .The horn or horns and the preproductive part are taken.Since everything in the universe is interrelated,the meat that is let there to rot,will not.All kinds of animals will be able to eat,chacals,buzzard and others.Nothing is gained ,nothing
is lost.

Loong

Dear Teacher,

In your e-book,,that anybody can buy for a whopping 99 cents,,on page 9 in personal
Exploration#2,you mention :Have you ever gone to extremes in the name of belief?
My answer is :Yes:
You also write :Can you relate to the Buddha,s discovery of a :MIDDLE WAY:based on
Neither extreme pleasure ,nor pain:?
As you know me ,I do not think so.

Partly yes ,partly no.
Loong

The middle way is not so much about giving up experiences that bring us pain or pleasure, but about our relationship to that pain or pleasure. We are trying to escape the cycle of living solely from a constant sense of craving or aversion. To know that who we are, and deep happiness, does not come solely from achieving pleasure or avoiding pain.

You have lived a very monastic type life for some time. This is one end of the spectrum - like the phase of Buddha's life where he tried many different denial-based practices. Now you are experimenting more with life experiences, with pleasure. This is all part of the process of discovering your own middle way. You will get there.

To all or none,

Read this morning an article ,regarding the shooting ,by James Holmes.
The prosecutor will ask for the death penalty.

There are many ways to look at this title.

In Buddhism ,this does not exist it goes againt precept #1 Thou shall not kill.
If IT were a Taliban ,he would have been dead a long time ago.(just citing their way of
Seing things).
Some Christians are pro death penalty.What about all sins were paid for by the death of JESUS.
Will killing in cold blood this man bring back the victims ,vengeance part of JESUS,S teaching,Ibeleive not.JESUS was pro-life.He beleived in forgiveness,compassion,

If you read this ,please question yourself,deeply,with your beliefs,faith.

Loong

Full of love

To all or none,

Following my last post,I asked a friend that is into Angels,Jesus
love for others says she is a christian.
The word came out of her mouth about 100 miles per hour,yes,he deserves it.So I asked her would JESUSand her Angels,ask for death penalty?She hesitated then changed her answer ,he should have life imprisonment without parole.

Scan your mind,deeply before answering my question.

loong

To all or none,

Today bought a gift for a woman that her birthday is on the 4th.
She told me she never receives any gift.
Went to the Drug store ,spoke with the cosmetic lady.She prepared ,it's a little box with fake leopard skin on the front,
then she went to her counter and filled it with samples of expensive perfumes,2 of the samples were worth $5.00 each.She just put them in,then put the gift in a beautiful bag with all the wrappings.
Knowing ,that this woman will be happy thursday nite,made me feel great all day.
Instead of living dark clouds:living a little rough patch:
The preparations of giving made my day a Sunny day.

I know ,I am not living in the Now,but like Buddha said,and I often repeat that,give ,give,give.I already have my reward.

So as The Great One,said GIVE ,GIVE,without expecting anything in return.

Spread Joy and Love around you
loong
just a learner

To all or none,

On my way to my office(sic). Saw a young man in his late 20's,
Carrying his total Universe,in 2 back packs. Solitude,Buddha said ,is a must for
organizing one,s path.
Was it ,no it is ,he is reorganizing his NOW, more that we can say for most humans.

May this wanderer,find peace in his Mind!

With Metta ,loving kindness,to this human searching.May he find ,what is already
In his Rigpa,and may he step in Buddha's footsteps,in his journey

Loong
His brother through the Universe.

Dear Teacher,

In your e-book ,boy am I resourcing myself on page 7 in Personal explooratioon#1

You mention:Do you feel that any aspects of your life have become a distraction from what you truly want?

Loong's answer:A few weeks ago,I would have said yes.But thanks to your wisdom
and encouragements, I am restarting my love for the Dharma.
You know ,I have memory problems,and already ,things learned ,were going away.
Thanks to your book ,You, I am back on the saddle,for Normand Joly,for loong after
And to all or none afterwords.

Loong

Dear Teacher,

In your e-book ,boy am I resourcing myself on page 7 in Personal explooratioon#1

You mention:Do you feel that any aspects of your life have become a distraction from what you truly want?

Loong's answer:A few weeks ago,I would have said yes.But thanks to your wisdom
and encouragements, I am restarting my love for the Dharma.
You know ,I have memory problems,and already ,things learned ,were going away.
Thanks to your book ,You, I am back on the saddle,for Normand Joly,for loong after
And to all or none afterwords.

Loong

to all or none,
again ,I apologise,for my typing errors.


Loong.

To my Master,

As I just wrote in What my Buddhism is about,for Now ,I am back.In mansworld what i see is ill chatter, talk of money sex.
Honor ,seems to have disappeared from the planet.It has been replaced by Saving face ,like a country ,I will not name ,but
send Compassion thoughts to this country ,that seems to be living global karma.Forgot the worst POWER.

May the Bodhisattvas spread their love onto humanity and sentient beings.I hope they will not forget me .

Humbly
loong the learner

To all or none

TODAY just BE .

loong

To all or none,

TODAY use your MIND(rigpa) to create an unending suite of great
NOWS.
loong

To my teacher,
In Mahayana Buddhism, we speak of Bodhisattvas.

You being a beleiver in Mahayana Buddhism, Do you possess names of such.
Personnages?

Loong
The learner

Hi Loong, I am not sure I understand your question - do you mean what are the names of my favorite historical boddhisattvas?

To Lisa,

The Bodhisattvas are so important in Mahayana,does a list of some kind ,that name these?
loong

To all or none,

Lately,I have been living situations,happy ones,that show me the power one achives,in living/learning the Dhamma.
Bliss,wanting to share this power with others.I am short of words to tell you ,what i am feeling in this now.
May you discover living the Dhamma.

Lost for words

loong

To all or none,
Today ,I am with a great friend , who ,will be moving to the nearest big city in june.
I cannot say it saddens me.
It is karma,mine and hers.
As I write about her moving I am
definitly not in the NOW?

Her move should not in any way affect my happiness,because as written before,it is simply ......KARMA.......Never forget that Mind (RIGPA) does not know distances.

With compassion
Loong the learner

Dear Teacher,
I know you are heavily into meditation,as a teacher and practitionner.
I jusr wrote an article ,in The TibetanBook..........
In which the mentionning of Mantras ,is one way of meditating.
These words made very happy ,you know how it it difficult to enroll me in meditation practice
Just read the detailed description by Sogyal Rinpoche.For the purpose of others knowledge,I will write,his description.

Mantra is the essence of sound,and the embodiment of the Truth in the form of sound.Each syllable is impregnated with spiritual power,condenses a spiritual truth
And vibrates with the blessing of the speech of the of the Buddhas.It is also said that the mind rides on the subtle energy of the breath,the prana,which moves through and purifies the subtle channels of the body .So when you chant a mantra,you are charging your breath and energy with the energy of the Mantra,and so working directly on your mind and subtle body
Words by S,Rinpoche
Delivered by
Loong
The messenger.

That is such a wonderful description of mantra meditation. I also like mantra practice.

To all or none,

I am saddened by the events of today ,in Boston.The 3 dead children's karma of such young trip in this life.However these
angels will be rebirthed.
Global karma or A country karma does exist.Too bad that those
experiencing this karma,are not the ones that should live it.
But it is like that.
How many innocent victims died in the Middle East.
If one plants a seed of suffering,suffering will come,that is karma.

Loong
the learner.

To all or none

Today read ,inthe newspaper that torture had restarted,in Guantanamo Bay,hell hole.Seeds being buried that will come out.

loong

To My Teacher,

Last nite a woman friend ,i have, told me she might have some
problems In her organs.The kind of love I have for that woman
is comparable to the type of love ,I have for Lisa Erikson,my teacher.It is a love beyond earthly feelings. I never spoke of this love and respect ,Lisa has for human beings.Me included.

Last nite and this morning ,I prayed the Universe for her well-
being ,also let go of the attachment ,I have for her,to let her live her Karma.I wish people could discover this pure form of Love.

To these 2 woman ,I bowe ,very deeply hands together.

_/\_
loong the learner

To all or none
In my post #816743,I wrote that 3 children had died.For that ,Iam sorry
Just one ,butone too many.
I often speak of seeds.Below is a list of seeds.
Korean war
Vietnam
Melay village,
Contreras,
Afghanistan
Iraq
Guantanamo Bay.

Some of you will not be inaccord with me.That is your prerogative.
Millions of seeds of destruction buried through the years.
The blooming season has started.

Loong

To all or none,

This morning on page 1 of our biggest city ,there is the picture of the young child
killed in the explosion in Boston.

Two flowers ,like ,I like to call them , I forgot to send them to that boy and they are
COMPASSION AND LOVING KINDNESS,
We must not forget also all other victims.

Loong the learner

Insight #110 (this thread was originally started was a way to share ongoing insights as they occur along the path - anyone can join in):

There are so many layers of our mind, that entirely shape how we perceive reality. In meditation and mindfulness practice, we go deeper and deeper into these levels, unraveling all that has defined the world for us, so that we can experience existence directly.

This was really brought home to me when re-reading the bigoraphy of Tenzin Palmo, Cave in the Snow, which is so excellent. Tenzin Palmo is the senior-most Western-born Tibetan Buddhist nun (she is originally British), and spent 12 years living in a cave, often meditating 12 hours a day while there. Her insights on meditation in this book are truly wonderful and inspiring. Meditation is about so much more than destressing (although it's wonderful that it starts out as that for so many people.)

To all or none,

I am coming back !I have a lot of stuff to write about.

Loong

To all or none.

From A Bhikkhu in Sri=lanka on NIRVANA

Friends:

How is the Unconditioned State?

The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, the absence of all greed, all hate, and all ignorance:
This, friends, is called the Uncreated, the Unconditioned, the Uninclined,
the Unattracted, the Unmanifested, the Infinite, the absolute Freedom,
the Further Shore, the Subtle, the Inconceivable, the Ageless, the Unity,
the Permanent, the Beyond of all diversity, the Peaceful, the Deathless...,
the Sublime Sameness, the Wonderful, the Sweet Safety, the Fantastic,
the Sorrowless, the Refuge, the Unoppressed, the Detached, the Release,
the Island..., the Shelter..., the Final State..., the Highest Bliss: Nibbāna...
Samyutta Nikāya. 43:12-44

Loong the messenger

I don't remember seeing this one before, I love it - each word in the list comes at it a different way, so that your mind cannot grasp onto just one description and limit it.

To all or none,
Another text from my bhykkhu in Sri-Lanka.




Friends:

What does Perfectly Self-Enlightened Mean?




The Blessed Buddha once said this:

Those who do not understand Suffering
Who do not know how Suffering comes into being,
Nor where Suffering ceases without remaining trace!
Who do not know this Noble Way & unique Method,
Which leads straight to stilling of all Suffering!
They are indeed lacking all mental release;
They are neither released through understanding;
Thus Incapable of making an end, stranded, helpless,
They tumble on in birth, aging and eternal decay...
But those who do understand this Suffering,
Who also know Craving as The Cause of Suffering,
And where Suffering ceases completely,
Who understand This Noble Way and Method,
Which leads straight to The End of all Suffering!
They are endowed both with mental release;
And also released through understanding!
Being thus ready and able of making an end,
They stop tumbling on in birth, aging & decay...




It is because one all alone has fully awakened to these 4 Noble Truths as
they really & actually are, that the Tathagata is called a worthy Arahat,
is called a Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, is called a SammāSamBuddha...


Friends:

What does Perfectly Self-Enlightened Mean?




The Blessed Buddha once said this:

Those who do not understand Suffering
Who do not know how Suffering comes into being,
Nor where Suffering ceases without remaining trace!
Who do not know this Noble Way & unique Method,
Which leads straight to stilling of all Suffering!
They are indeed lacking all mental release;
They are neither released through understanding;
Thus Incapable of making an end, stranded, helpless,
They tumble on in birth, aging and eternal decay...
But those who do understand this Suffering,
Who also know Craving as The Cause of Suffering,
And where Suffering ceases completely,
Who understand This Noble Way and Method,
Which leads straight to The End of all Suffering!
They are endowed both with mental release;
And also released through understanding!
Being thus ready and able of making an end,
They stop tumbling on in birth, aging & decay...




It is because one all alone has fully awakened to these 4 Noble Truths as
they really & actually are, that the Tathagata is called a worthy Arahat,
is called a Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, is called a SammāSamBuddha...
Therefore, Bhikkhus, an effort should be dedicated to really understand:
All this is Suffering! An effort should be made much of to truly comprehend:
Craving is the Cause of Suffering! An effort should be cultivated to realize:
No Craving is the End of Suffering! Effort should be made to break through,
reinforce, and develop: This Noble 8-fold Way which Ceases all Suffering...

This text is of the Theravada Lineage.

Just the messenger

loong





Friends:

What does Perfectly Self-Enlightened Mean?




The Blessed Buddha once said this:

Those who do not understand Suffering
Who do not know how Suffering comes into being,
Nor where Suffering ceases without remaining trace!
Who do not know this Noble Way & unique Method,
Which leads straight to stilling of all Suffering!
They are indeed lacking all mental release;
They are neither released through understanding;
Thus Incapable of making an end, stranded, helpless,
They tumble on in birth, aging and eternal decay...
But those who do understand this Suffering,
Who also know Craving as The Cause of Suffering,
And where Suffering ceases completely,
Who understand This Noble Way and Method,
Which leads straight to The End of all Suffering!
They are endowed both with mental release;
And also released through understanding!
Being thus ready and able of making an end,
They stop tumbling on in birth, aging & decay...




It is because one all alone has fully awakened to these 4 Noble Truths as
they really & actually are, that the Tathagata is called a worthy Arahat,
is called a Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, is called a SammāSamBuddha...
Therefore, Bhikkhus, an effort should be dedicated to really understand:
All this is Suffering! An effort should be made much of to truly comprehend:
Craving is the Cause of Suffering! An effort should be cultivated to realize:
No Craving is the End of Suffering! Effort should be made to break through,
reinforce, and develop: This Noble 8-fold Way which Ceases all Suffering...

To all or none,

boo boo on my last post,I apologise

loong

To all or none,

EQUANIMITY makes you imperturbable.

loong

To all or none,

From Banthe in Sri-Lanka :nothingness
The venerable Upasiva once requested the Buddha:
Sir, I am alone, dependent, helpless, I can neither cross the flood of sense desire,
nor the flood of becoming, nor the flood of ignorance, nor the flood of views!
Please, All-Seeing-One, tell me the meditation object by which, I may cross this flood.Aware, direct mind towards Nothingness, replied the Buddha, be helped by relying on the
notion: 'Nothing really is...'! Thus by relinquishing all desires, by stilling all speculative
opinions & by reviewing the elimination of craving day & night, you may cross this flood…!

loong the messenger

To all or none,
From Banthe in Sri-lanka



Friends:

The 8 Advantages of contemplating Dissolution:


When one continually notes the breakup of all constructions, then contemplation
of Dissolution grows strong & habitual! This brings these 8 advantages into being:

1: Elimination of false view of permanence, constancy & eternal (re)becoming.
2: Letting go of attachment to life itself and any form of being in existence!
3: Constant and continuous improving mental release...
4: Victory over both Attraction & Aversion.
5: Purified livelihood and morality.
6: Patience and Gentleness.
7: Freedom from Anxiety!
8: Absence of Fear!


loong the messenger

To all or none,

Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
who has heard the Dhamma & clearly understands.
Cordial non-violence is happiness in this world,
happy is harmlessness towards all living beings.
Udana 10
Banthe
Loong

To all or none,


In front of me is a picture of my deceased older brother.In his life ,he was not awarded a very nice Karma.Suffering mentally,like the 3 brothers we were.He had to raise us ,my mother,always being sick in bed with one of her 3 mental deseases.
To my brother ,MARCEL,I ask the Universe ,to have helped him in his choosing of anew Karma at rebirth.

He was such a good person,not a womanizer like me ,drunk and all.

Hope you are having a better life than the last.

loong
the middle brother

To all or none,

The Buddha says in one of his Tantras;Of all the buddhas who have ever attained enlightenment,NOT a single one accomplished this without relying upon a Master,and of all the thousand Buddhas that will appear in this eon ,none of them will attain enlightenment without relying upon a Master.

Thank you Lisa Erickson,my Master

loong the learner

To all or none

text sent by Banthe

Friends:

The 3 Stigmata are Universal Characteristics!




Any form, materiality or body whatsoever, whether past, future or present,
internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near is only
impermanent, painful and not-self: these are 3 kinds of deep comprehension.
Any feeling whatsoever ... Any perception whatsoever ... Any construction
whatsoever ... Any consciousness whatsoever is impermanent, miserable and
not-self! Any eye, any ear, any nose, any tongue, any body and any mind is
impermanent, suffering and not-self! Any visible form, any sound, any smell,
any taste, any touch and any idea whether past, future or present, internal
or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near remains always
transient, painful and impersonal: These are 3 kinds of real comprehension.
One can understand it in this way: Any object is impermanent in the sense
of destruction, painful in the sense of terror, and not-self in the sense of
having no core: These 3 characteristics can be generalized to all things...
Full comprehension is understanding: Any object whatsoever whether past,
future or present, is impermanent, constructed, dependently arisen, thus
inevitably it will be destroyed, unambiguously it will fade away by decay,
unavoidably it will be lost, inescapably it will all cease, perish and vanish ...
Vism 608

As it was and always shall be the Guru / Chela relationship -- millennia and worlds without end.

To all or none,

Today 3 great news:1-changed my car!!!!!!1
2-have a rendez-vous in 2 days with a shrink
for my terror nitemares
3- Feeling mutch better.
Even in this instant ,I am still excited.It will calm down,nothing is permanent.

Loong

Nothing is permanent until fired in the kiln of spiritual fire.

The terror nightmares are related to the attack or prior to that?

To Lisa ,
I have them for 7 years every nite!

loong

Ok, I am glad you shared them with me in your other message. Just for others that might be reading this I will mention that working with our dreams can be a very powerful form of practice. In this case, when they are traumatic dreams, they can help us access energies and patterns hidden deep in our awareness. Then we can bring them to the surface to work with in meditation - for release, transmutation, and healing. It's important that meditation and mindfulness practice when we are awake never become an escape from these energies. We bring everything into practice!

Dear Teacher,
Met my younger brother yesterday ,for a few hours.His and my souvenirs of our youth ,are not alike at all.Seems ,I mistreated him very badly,In that phase oh my life ,I was a self centered egoistical s.o.b. I attribute my being this way,being caught in
anxiety,depression and all.I was defending myself,i beleive,with
that personnata.
He says ,he has forgiven me for my behavior,but still has resentment against me! The news that I would get sometimes,were all wrong,being distortionned,by the hate for the Joly's,my real name.
One goog thing has come of it.NO TERROR NITEMARE last nite.
He was always the one,in my nitemares,putting me down,hard.
So one nite does not make a life. But it's a start.

Learned that we both saw our family life in totally opposite directions.
I am sure that my Teacher ,will comment on my post.

loong

To all or none,

In my town ,where I live,we are allowed yard sale,twice a year.
Today was one of them.What is great about yard sale,is the friendlyness,loving kindness of the yard sellers.Found beautiful stuff.What it also made me do ,is walking,which is good for my lungs,my overall body,strenghtening my damaged legs,and be in a joyful attitude all day.

May you be joyfull all day.

Loong

To all or none,

While returning a french book on Buddhism,at the library,I fell
on acpy of the Tibetan book of the dead,in english and illustrated.As soon as I find something interesting I will share it with you.

Loong

ok,I hope can see your reading share as soon as possible. by the way,beacuse I am a new comer,could you teach me how to publish posts on bellaonline.thank you in advance.

Dear gn20611,

It's so easy.Look at the bottom line.You go to the following empty square.You type your message.If you want to review your post,you click on preview reply.If it is to your liking,them click on submit,voila your post will appear.This applies to all topics.What I do not understand you are up to 10 already.This is a site of non-argumental style.Lisa the owner of the club is very strict on that.
Always choose your words.Words are like swords or like a dove.

In my case ,I always tell the truth ,I hide nothing .Precept #2 of Buddhism.This site is one of loving kindness,Metta,people come here to share to get help,not to be criticized or ostracised.
If my answer did not help you ,I apologise.

Wishing you luck with us.

loong the learner

To all or none,

No terror nitemare,last nite!!!!!!!!!
I will take it one nite at the time.

loong
calm ,well restedfor once.

To all or none,

Just read the first chapter of the Lotus suttra.wow, now have 13 words to Wikl.

Loong

To all or none,
My downstairs neighbour is slightly handicapped and her only
pleasure is the computer.Hers died.Buddha said give,give.
I found her a restored comp.for $99.00 and a new screen for $5.00

Tonite,I lived Something I have never lived.Some of the tenants were sitting outside,preparing for supper on the b.b.cue.My neighbor,had prepared the supper with me on her mind.Chicken brochettes,fantastic rice,a Queen Elizabeth cake.We had supper outside.I had never lived this in my life.We were 5 people.
The supper lasted about 2 hours.One of the greatest moment of my life.

loong
still flabbergasped.

To all or none,

Wikied for 2 hours to find what the 13 words ment.
here are the words I could not find their meanings:Ginas,
mangughoshas,dharmaparyaya.

i hope Lisa will be able to explain these words.

loong

I am so glad to hear about your dinner, a sense of fellowship is very important, especially when healing.

As for these words, they are hard! I don't know for sure, it might help to provide me the sentences they are used in. Does the book not have a glossary? The Lotus Sutra is very hard to read without guidance on the symbols and metaphors, as a lot of it is not literal.

Here are my best guesses, based on a Sanskrit dictionary that I have. However, without the passages I cannot be sure I am getting the correct definition, as many words have more than one meaning:

Ginas - siddha powers, supernatural powers, said to come with advanced meditation

Mangughoshas - this is a hard one. I believe it is a compound word, mangu + ghoshas. Ghosha as I am familiar with it means loud sound, or sometimes mystical sound. I am not sure about mangu, although mang means perishable or transitory. What is the context?

dharmaparyaya - also compound, dharma + paryaya. Dharma you know - based on the context refers to enlightened teachings or truth. Paryaya often refers to time, a passage of time, or the course of time. I have seen the phrase 'dharma paryaya' used to refer to the recitation of sutras for merit also I think.

To all or none,

If you want a taste of bliss!!Dependent arisigns.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQpPejlkUao[url]

Listen to it a few times in a row ,just relaxing.

loong very relaxed

To all or none.

Iwould like to thank Buddha and the Universe,for what I am living these days . Excited , something .I am not used to.

May you find the Buddhahood in you.

loong

To all or none,

I have been listening to my mansland favorite song.
Brothers in Arms.In one part of the lyrics,He says,There is only one world,yet we all live in different ones.

What is Your world made of?

loong

To all or none,

Great day today.Breakfast at my fav.restaurant.Drove to the nearest bigger city,that is dying because in part by wallmart.
There is a 2nd hand book and cd store.
Found acd containing 3 Tibetan songs,sung by monks ,A Cajun album
and one on silence and relaxation.
The 3 books are
From Thich Nhat Hanh---Anger
Dalai-Lama-The power of Compassion
Samantabhadra -the only one in english.

To finish it off,had dinner at a very good chinese restaurant.
Then to finish my afternoon,waxed and polished my car,talk about
Cardio.
Nice shower and a good nap.

loong
son of the Universe

To all or none,

I rarely speak of the past.

There was this Man-Angel,aSensei in Ai-Kido.Who was killed by A race car while shooting a sport promo.
I have on my wall 3 pictures of him Smiling the smile of an enlightened being.Each time ,I look at the pictures,I smile too.

Is he in Nirvana,or has he come back as a Bodhisattva?I wonder!

loong

To all or none,
The subject today is TRANQUILITY. Sent by Banthe

Friends:Tranquillity is the way to Superhuman Delight!


Tranquillity comes due to insight. As he is sitting, whether by night or by day,
then he experiences neither fatigue, heaviness, rigidity, slowness, nor sickness
in his body, nor in his mind, but rather his body and mind are tranquil, very light,
adaptable, pliable, quite sharp and ultra-clear! With his body and mind aided by
such tranquillity, he experiences a superhuman delight, about which it is said:A Bhikkhu with his mind all quiet...
Retired to a remote & empty place.
There right insight in the Dhamma,
Awards him a superhuman delight!
It is because he really comprehends
The rise and fall of all phenomena
That he relishes in this high happiness:
A silent joy not of this world!
A bliss transcending the human!
And he knows it to be the deathless...
Dhammapada 373-74

loong the messenger

To all or none,

From the book "anger" by Thich Nhat Hanh,I have come to a conclusion that people,who live their lives with anger ,hate,resentment,live their life descecrating Universal love,and the Karma that accompany these sentiments will have to be cleansed, and lived.

loong the learner.

To all or none,

Text By Banthe.

Friends:Doubt is overcome by asking those Who Know!The brahmin Māgandiya once asked the Buddha some subtle questions:

Question: How does quarrels and disputes arise?
Answer: From what is liked and beloved arise quarrels and disputes.Question: How does these likes, longings and hopes emerge?
Answer: Likes, longings and hopes all have desire as their origin.Question: How does this desire come into being?
Answer: Desire arises depending on pleasure and pain.

Question: How does pleasure and pain then appear?
Answer: Pleasure and pain arises depending on contact.

Question: How does this event of contact happen?
Answer: Contact arises dependent upon name and form.

Question: How does such sensed contact completely cease?
Answer: When form has disappeared, contacts cannot make contact....

Question: In which mental state does all forms of form disappear?
Answer: In neither-perception-nor-non-perception does all form disappear!Question: Is this state the supreme mental purity?
Answer: The state of quenching without remaining clinging is the supreme!
The recluse does neither dispute that, nor does he ever prolong any becoming...
Sutta-Nipāta 862-877 Edited excerpt.

loong the messenger

To all or none,

This morning met with a psychologist for my Post traumatic trauma
regarding my stabbing.
Felt ackward,me always helping others,having someone to help me.

loong

To all or none,

Taking Refuge in The Three Jewels

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=226w04QMPzQ&NR=1&feature=endscreen[url]

a good explanation by a few masters.

Loong

To all or none,

Discovered a Master named:Thubten Dhondrub.

His voice is like a ray of sunshine.a quiet pool of water with
lotuses floating.

He seems to written few books ,however What I will try to do is find on you tube the most videos possible ,to share with you.

loong
the learner.

To all or none,

This morning having breakfast at one of my 2 fav. restaurants,I saw something quite unusual.Awoman in her sixties,with her curlers on covered by a net.Have not seen this my childhood.She seemed very well at ease.Good for her.Doing so it made me think of my deceased mother,wearing curlers all week for Sunday mass.

Thank you Madame,

Loong

To all or none

In my last post ,I spoke of a lady wearing her haircurlers in a restaurant.

Today is Sunday ,the same lady had removed her curlers.........

Shades of childhood.

Loong.

To all or none,

I am very often in restaurants,walking on main street to do my exercise,LONELYNESS
is what I see the most.People alone,sipping coffee and reading ,sitting alone,with their thoughts ,trying to find happiness,where ever they can .


Loong the observer
Mahayana

To all or none,
Today saw my psychologist for the second visit.

What I discovered that I still had the Samurai instinct in me.
Ready to die for a cause.That is the first precept of Bushido.
In Buddhism The first precept is thou shall not kill.
Total opposites.2 different realms.
What then is the middle path.?

I know ,I must destroy the Samurai in me.If I do that then ,it's not the middle path!

Help someone,When I enter the Samurai realm ,I get such a rush of adrenaline,ready to die.

loong stuck with a duality.

I hope you can see the irony in this! In wanting to destroy the part of you that seeks to destroy. Consider a different approach. Let go of the idea that there are two sides of you at war with each other. This fighter side of you has been useful to you. You have had to fight hard and through many challenges in your life and this side of you is a survivor. Without it, you probably wouldn't still be here.

So thank this side of you, and consider how and why it developed in you. Show this side of you compassion and gratitude. Instead of battling it, embrace it, integrate it - become friends with yourself. Practice lovingkindness with all parts of yourself.

This is difficult to do, we are so accustomed to thinking in terms of the good and bad sides of ourselves. But it is amazing the transformation that can occur. You do not need to find a middle way by balancing between 2 sides of yourself. If you integrate all parts of yourself openly and lovingly, you will be balancesd, and naturally walking the middle way.

Just my 2 cents:-)

Dear teacher,

Again you come up with the right answer.

_/\_
loong
the learner

To all or none,

As I lay on my back ,listening to the rain fall,I am invaded by
a thought ,I have been having all day.
How ,so much, I would love to live in a Buddhist Realm.Also ,
as soon as I enter the Realm ,Bliss,happiness,softness,invade me.
My Mind is like velvet,silk,may I wish you the same.

Loong

To all or none,

Just reread ,the Eighfold Noble Path ,by my Teacher.

Ohhh so simple .Read them.

Loong
Admirer

To all or none,

For about aweek ,I have been pondering on some of the writings in Buddhism.Meditation will surely help.

loong
in a cloud

To all or none,
Today is a day of thinking.

Just spoke with the attorny about 10seconds ago on the phone.
Read a Quote,that my Teacher told me very recently ,I open the book
Of Buddha Mind Buddha Body, walking towards Enlightenment,by Master
THICH NHAT HANH.A phrase I had written as a comment:

It is better to be ,than to think

I want to thank my TEACHER/MASTER',Lisa Erickson ,for being a fantastic beacon
on my trip on the river we all have to cross to attain Enlightenment.

With deep respect

Loong
A simple buddhist.

To all or none,

Found a nice Zen poem author unknown

I have arrived
I am home
In the here,
in the now.
I am solid .
In the ultimate
I dwell

Loong

To all or none,

Good or bad,both come from the Mind,I have chosen to live in the good.I have chosen deeply to be in Mindfulness,as much as I can.

My world is definitly ,the search to enlightenment.So I must carry in my bag of life,mutch compassion ,loving kindness,forgiveness for those who resent me.

My life is Buddhism.

I'll share something with you!For those who do not know that already,I have 2 brain dammages,and more and more ,I feel the effect.So if my typing or spelling is wrong ,please.

loong
Mahayana Buddhist

No Worries loong !!

I too have had brain damage.

Both inside and out.

Inside with the psychotropics since 1977.

Also, had a bad fight in about 1982 with a 3 inch gash behind my left ear !

I'm a bit dyslexic, mean I see flipped or backwards or read wrong.

It takes a long, long time for me to type short replies... sometimes hours.

-- Burt B.

Here is a shrot 20min video:

http:
//www.ted.com/talks/matthieu_ricard_on_the_habits_of_happiness.html

Dear Burt,

I bought this book about a month ago.Had quite a while ago,started reading the book,and stopped.

What I dislike about Bhikkhu Ricard ,is his tendency to always analyse ,H.H. Dalai-Lama.
This said with all respect,The Bhikkhu should stick more to what is his view of the Buddha-Dharma.Thich Nhat Hanh,always tells how he sees the Dharma.

With Shared friendship

loong
Mahayana Buddhist

Dear Burt,

Just listened to Bhikkhu Ricard's speach on Happiness.
To my liking ,HE spoke of Bhikkhu Ricard's own way of thinking about the Buddha-Dharma.I was quite surprised and enjoyed every moment of it.

Loong

Good !! !!!

I'm glad you enjoyed it

-- Burt B.

To all or none,

I recently bought second hand Buddhist books.One I opened ,I beleive was yesterday is about The Pure Land lineage,that when I read about it ,found it farfetched.My understanding of Buddhism,was not as now.I will read it and comment eventually.

loong the learner

Pure Land is very different. And I have heard very different descriptions of it from practitioners. So if the book does not resonate with you, trust that.

To all or none ,

Pure Land ,Is a lineage ,part of so many lineages.This text thst I will write IS part of
The Bodhisattvas ,vows and practices.There are 10 .

1_Pay hommage and resopect to all Buddhas.
2_Praise the Buddhas.
3_Make abundant offerings.
4_Repent misdeeds and evil karmas(actions)
5_Rejoice in in others merits and virtues.
6_Request the Buddhas to teach.
7_Request the Buddjas to stay in the world.
8_Follow the teachings of the Buddhas at all times.
9_Accommodate and benefit all livivg beinds.
10_Transfer all merits and virtues universally.

As you can see ,the text IS diffeent, ,but Buddha IS still the main subject ,in Pure Land.

Loong

Loong

To all or none,

My real only friend,moved to the city ,to take care of her mother.
She phoned me yesterday.When I would dare put the word Buddhism in our conversation ,she would hush me.

The other nite she watched a reportage on PBS about Siddharta/Bouddha.
She could not believe her ears how Buddhism IS not like a religion.She IS an Agnostic too.She said ,that they never spoke of God ,in the whole 1/12hour.
They spoke of his travelling,his aging and dying.
She said she did not hear one word of the sufferings heard in religions.
She remembered all the names ,places.She was under the spell of Buddha.

Loong

Yes this is the interesting thing, that especially the foundation teachings of Buddhism are absolutely not religious in a traditional sense at all. Buddhism is classified as a religion academically (one of the world's top 5 along with Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism) but it is fundamentally different because there is no supreme deity or higher power. In that sense one could argue it is not a religion.

Dear Teacher,

When I read om Wiki ,the description of Pure Land,I wrote in another post,they do not mention ,karma ,samsara,4 Noble Truths,Eightfold Path,Refuge,Precepts.
They however mention that one of the four lineages in Tibetan Buddhism would be of Pure Land.
You ,being well versed in Tibetan buddhism,does that ring a bell.?
What I could resume is the importance of the Bodisatthva and the
Pure Land.!To them they are the true Mahayanas.....

loong

Dear Teacher,

I wrote to one of my rare friends ,on this site.He mentionned
that my attitude or style is agressive.I will not defend myself,
knowing more and more ,where that agressiveness is coming from.

I remember in another group ,a member being chinese was hard to understand,he was a well versed and knowledged member. We all read his quotes without the judging.

Loong

To all or none,

I have often heard people saying that the feelings they live,come from the heart.

I have seen inside my heart maybe 10 times,never saw space for emotions or an emotion corner.All I ever saw is blood.
The heart is a pump part of the human plumbing system .Nothing else.

An emotion is the result of a thought ,nothing more.
When you open a wather faucet=a thought.
from the water faucet exits water=emotion.Since an emotion affects many organs,it seems to be coming from the heart.
IT IS COMING FROM THE MIND.Change your Idea for a somber one,the emotion will become somber.

Spirituality is from the Mind ,like your health,your present and depending on the seeds that have been planted,so is your future.

loong

Yes, ultimately emotion is from mind, in the way 'mind' is used in Buddhism anyway, to encompass all of our perceptions, sensations, emotions, and thoughts. But it it true that we experience mind through our body, including our brain, and that it is amazing the different chemical shifts that occur in our body related to emotions. This includes our heart, which is also a gland and secretes many hormones and endocrines. The chemical balance of our body is a very subtle thing. And when there is a problem with it, it can wreak havoc with our mind too, to the point where it is difficult to see that our emotions come from mind. I was recently reminded of this when the friend of a friend, who has suffered from depression his entire life, committed suicide. His kind of depression is a from a chemical imbalance that is very difficult to treat.

So I do think sometimes we need many tools on our path, depending on our circumstances. To philosophically recognize that our emotions come from our mind is easy. To in the moment when our emotions strongly grip us be able to see that, is another thing entirely. And if it is complicated by mental illness of any type, it can be even more difficult. So we each need the tools and support that works.

Dear Teacher,

This is where the Mindfulness practices come in.

loong

To all or none,

Mind consciousness,and sense consciousness,like our store consciousness,have the capacity of touching Reality in itself.

Thich Nhat Hanh

loong the messenger

What is Reality?

If not the divine?

Religion is man's poor and sorry attempt to 'bind back' to the divine.

Dear Burt,

May I ask to you what is the Divine.?As for Reality,it is what happens in an instant moment or a now.That instant moment passed reality has already changed.

Tell me can you swim twice in the same river?

loong

To all or none,

There are other things that are appealing but which are not dangerous.For example ,going out to help people. You are motivated by the desire to help,to serve,to recconcile.Maybe there will be some danger,you may even lose your life.But if you have a lot of compassion,if you have the insight that there is no
birth and no death ,you are no longer afraid and go anyway.That kind of desire is wholesome.

That is Volition

Author TNH

loong the messenger.

To all or none,

I wish I could have the part of my Mind called SEM with the
following:Mind your own business ,Norm

loong

To all or none,
Jesus of Nazareth ,said forgive them for that they do not know what they have done:
When an individual makes himself guilty of a crime,and make others suffer,it is because ,he does not measure of his act.Many
young men commit crimes,but they do not understand that that violence has terrible consequences.
Every act of that type, is directed at themselves and the victims.They might think that they are appeasing their anger by
doing so,but this anger will grow.

Traduction ,loong ,author THICH NHAT HANH.

To all or none,
The text that will follow is the Foreward ,of the book Buddha Mind,Buddha Body,Walking Toward Enlightenment.Sylvia Boorstein
wrote this beautiful text.

The compelling summary image for this wonderfully comforting and
inspired book comes in its opening pages.Say you are struggling with a computer problem.Your older brother arrives as you are about to give up and says:move over:I'll take over a little.You are reassured even before the problem is solved.

That Big Brother is the Buddha within each of us,our clearest understanding.And Thich Nhat Hanh with his friendly,patient,steadfast,confident,contemporary and often witty voice,seems,to me, an intermediary big brother.On each page of this book ,he talks directly to us ,saying,:Look Right there within you is the very wisdom that leads to compassion:

This is a small book ,but everything is in it is articulated with poetry,with traditional Buddhist images,with religious vocabulary from western tradition.That it should be about everything ,and presented in universalistic language,is completely consistent with its underlying message:There is nothing at all separate from all that is. Interbeing is all there is.I'ts impossible to read this book without being inspired to redoublr one's efforts on behalf of other people,on behalf of all beings,and on behalf of the planet,knowing these efforts will also lead to our own HAPPINESS

Sylvia Boorstein.

loong's comment:many post you have read in the buddhism section ,came from this book,and more will

loong

To all or none,

The quality of our life
depends on the quality
of the seeds
that lie deep in our consciousnee.

byVasubandu

loong

To all or none,

Text by Banthe

Friends:Any conscious & material moment dies instantly!


Life, personality, pleasure, pain, endures joined in one conscious moment,
that flicks by... Whether such ceased clusters of clinging are those of a
dead or alive does not matter, they are all alike, momentarily gone never
to return... No world is born and appears as manifest, if consciousness is
not produced! Only when consciousness is present, does the world emerge!
When consciousness momentarily dissolves, the world is dead and vanished!
So both the being & the world starts and ends within each conscious moment!
Both are reborn millions of times per second! Not only at conventional death..
This is how death also should be recollected, as the shortness of the moment.
This is the highest sense this concept of conscious existence ever will allow...!
(Source: Visuddhimagga I 238, Nd I 42)

loong's comment: This text really explains one of the great finds I made ,in Buddhism,IMPERMANENCE.
P.S. Today I lived a BLISSFULL day.

To all or none.

Been a while.With all the things happening in my life,Now,may it be ,mansland or spiritland,I discovered that my knowledge is
limited,when one enters ,the depths of Buddhism.Yet I now know my role in the Buddhism world.If you verify ,Pratyekabuddha,his role is to learn.He can share ,but not teach.I have a few people that want to know the basics of buddhism,I am there.I read books for my learning and share my discoveries with you.My Master/Teacher is not one that I can converse with and deepen my understandings of certain subject.Distance and disponibility.

I have come to peace with this role.
I give,give,give,like Buddha said.That is my role.
Today being my birthday,Had to slip this in I want to thank you for accepting the posts ,I have and will be still giving.

If they are quotes from books,I will no more sign the posts.

loong the learner

To all or none,

I once wrote in a post that I would write a book on myself.
Then I found myself arrogant to think this way.
In a book by TNH ,he recommends that one write a book about himself, to share his dharma.

Starting tonight

loong

To all or none,

Equanimity:The capacity to see how things really are.......

Right now my body is giving signs of what condition it really is
in.
I am open minded enough to accept it finally.My false pride always kept me to accept it.However being a survivor ,I still will BE.
Ishould be writing less and less posts,and living my Dharma more.

May your buddhahood be present in your mind.

loong

To all or none,

Text by Banthe and Buddha.



Friends:
Remote & Solitary is Forest Bliss!
The forest bhikkhu pays much attention to the experience of the forest.
He thereby enters even deeper yet unattained depths of concentration.
By living thus remote he is not distracted by any unsuitable phenomena.
He is free from all anxiety and stress. He abandons attachment to life.
He enjoys a taste of the bliss of seclusion, and the silenced mental peace.
He lives secluded and apart. Calm and remote abodes delight his heart.
The hermit that in woods can dwell alone, may gain this sweet bliss as well,
which sublime taste is beyond the royal bliss even in any heavenly paradise.
So does the forest delight any wise man calmed by his fine dwelling's ease.
Sources: MN 121, AN III 343, Vism I 73



ALONE
The one who sits and lives solitary,
& walks alone finds great delight
in the silence of the forest...

Dhammapada story 305
SUCH ONE
The One wearing only 3 robes,
who is thin with veins showing,
who meditates alone in the forest,
such one is a Holy One...
Dhammapada story 395

Thank You loong for such beautiful passages

It has really, really helped me today because I spend so much time alone.

Thank You Dear Friend,

Burt B.

To Burt

You are so very welcomed.

loong,a friend.

To all or none,

Good words come from everywhere.Today at Mc Donalds while preparing tonite's posts,the young chap that cleans the tables,
asked me :How my life had been ? I answered full ,he then said then you had a good life!!!!!!

loong

To all or none,
About an hour ago ,I renounced to my Taking Refuge vows.
I am no longer a Buddhist,but a human being looking for happiness,joy, and working gently on the Noble Eighfold Path ,
not to try to attain enlightenment,but for the betterment of who i am.

Normand/loong

Whatever feels right to you Loong! Funnily enough, at my recent retreat in Colorado, I retook my vows with Lama Tsultrim. However, in her tradition this does not preclude studying other spiritual traditions or practices, or identifying myself as 'Buddhist' to the exclusion of other seeking methods, so there is no conflict for me.

We mark stages in our paths in different ways at different times in our lives.

To all or none

For those who want to watch Oprah interviewing Thich Nhat Hanh

go tr [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PCXeHNL3s8[url]

loong

To all or none,

Preserve yourself from insatiable cravings,they grow like the

Torrent of a mountain river,

Tchouan tseu

To all or none,

Slowly coming back to Buddhism.Tonite I wrote to Banthe a Monk
in Sri-Lanka,begging to send him and his Sangha ,FOOD.
I wrote back that close to my village there is a vietnameese Sangha where they work the fields.

I told him that times have changed.3/4 of the planet is dying of malnutrition.So roll up your sleeves ,stop begging and work ,like everybody else.
Hope to get an answer back.Right now ,I am working on a plan for our town that is supposedly rich,and there is no place for the
hungry.I like to rock & roll sometimes ,so I am scraping all the info I can find and go a town meeting ,and tell them that
instead of buying a 7 th fire truck at $300,000,they could have invested in poverty.

loong
Part of the Universe

To all or none,

In the Mahayana lineage,What always bugged me was the word,
Buddhahood .I have used it once or twice in the many previous
posts I wrote ,in this group.

After meditation, Saying that Buddhahood is inside of me ,is like a Christian saying Jesus lives inside of him or a Muslim saying Allah lives through him.

To me this is making Buddhism a Theist religion.It is bringing
Buddha to the hight of a God ,which he is not ,nor Jesus ,nor Allah.

loong
part of the Oneness

Loong, I don't think this is true at all. 'Buddha' in Mahayana does not refer to Shakyamuni Buddha, it refers to Buddha mind. As you know, there are hundreds of teachers referred to as 'Buddha' - any awakened teacher is called 'a Buddha'. So it is exactly the opposite of what you say - the word
Buddha is not referring back to the historical man, but to the awakened awareness that lies in us all. A Buddha has simply realized this as the essence of his own awareness and lives in it, moment by moment.

Dear Lisa ,
I apologise for this post

loong

Dear lisa ,

I remember ,in my beginnings here ,that you wrote that all
lineages respected the Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold path also
so as to attain enlightenment.What you call Buddhahood.
However in one of your posts you mentionned that enlightenment
can be obtained with mindfulness and Meditation alone.

This is a far cry from my first four lines. What about Arahats then.

loong
part of the Universe.

To all or none,

In Theravada Lineage ,there is one Buddha,and those that have attained enlightenment are called arhats or arahats.
In Mahayana lineage ,there was the first Buddha ,those who attain enlightenment ,are called buddhas ,Pratyeka Buddhas ,
Bodhisattvas.
Why I am not a Buddhist per say anymore ,is all these differences
in the 120 lineages.What I have written is one of millions of differences in Buddhism.

loong
Son of the Universe

To all or none,
Taken from the book :SAMANTABHADRA by Namo Amitabha

This is I understand right ,from the Pure land Lineage,one of the many lineages in Mahayana.

Bodhi Mind(Bodhicitta,Great Mind ) The Spirit of Enlightenment ,
the aspiration to achive it ,the Mind set on Enlightenment.It involves two parallel aspects,1-The determination to achieve Buddhahood and 2- The aspiration to RESCUE ALL SENTIENT BEINGS.


humbly,
a Sentient Beings lover

There is no need to apologize for the post, I just wanted to make sure it was clarified for anyone else reading.

Re: the mindfulness and meditation post, there is no conflict with the Eightfold Noble Path. My point was that true mindfulness and meditation are at the heart of all eight aspects of the path. When we are truly in the flow of dharma, then we naturally have right view, right understanding, etc. and we naturally know right action, right speech.

Of course formal mindfulness and meditation PRACTICE are taught to be under the three Concentration aspects of the path. But the point is for them to become more than practice - for them to become a way of being/living. When they do, the aspects of the Eightfold path just flow, they are not things we have to force through 'practice'. They happen naturally because we are in alignment with dharma. This is what I meant when I said that true mindfulness and meditation are the essence of the path.

Yes, the written teachings of the various lineages of Buddhism do not always match. So if you want to be a historian of Buddhism, that is important to understand. If what you want is to awaken, you take what works from whatever you read. The disagreements do not matter.

To say that a teaching is only true Buddhism if we can prove the Buddha said it or taught is to misunderstand what the Buddha taught. He wanted everyone to awaken, and then to express that awakening in their own words. That is what has happened throughout the history of Buddhism. Different awakened beings have expressed how they awakened differently. That does not make their expressions non-Buddhist. In fact, it proves the power of what the Buddha taught, because so many paths have led others to awakening.

The many lineages of Buddhism are not a weakness, they are a testament to Buddhism's amazing power to spread awakening through many different cultures and time periods.

To see it otherwise is to be trapped in words, in philosophy, instead of engaging in the process of awakening.

To Lisa,

You wrote:The many lineages of Buddhism are not a weakness, they are a testament to Buddhism's amazing power to spread awakening through many different cultures and time periods.

I have a very different opinion regarding Power.Power does not come from division but from unity.This man Siddhartha Gautama,
said words,discourses touching many subject.He did say that if one does not agree with his way of explaining Dharma ,to try his own way.However how can his original words be distorted in so many ways? If one says that the other is wrong,then that person
must in some way think that he/she has the Truth.Truth exists only in one moment.Mind being in constant evolution .

loong
part of the Universe

Hi Loong, I think it's better to work with specific examples. It's true that there are very real philosophical differences between some branches of Buddhism, and there are differences in practices taught, but it is also true that the Buddha taught that there were many different practices for different temperaments. It is rare to for Buddhists to get in antagonistic theological debates for that reason. Most accept that there are multiple lineages with different practices all of which can lead to awakening, depending on the individual.

As I'm sure you know, the Buddha himself taught many different practices, probably hundreds! And said different things at different times, depending on his audience. And he mentioned many times that different things were right for different temperaments. He also emphasized over and over that awakened mind was the goal, not 'belief' in a certain set of dogma.

So I admit to being a little confused about your posts. Perhaps if you could give some passages from different lineages that you feel disagree with each other, that would help - differences that aren't simply differences in practice or approach.

I have to admit that I am quite confused about your post about Power coming from unity. From what I am understanding, you aer saying that the power of Buddhism lies in a set of beliefs that everyone agrees with, and unless everyone agrees on a philosophical level, and practices the same practices, it isn't valid.

The unity I am talking about it is awakened mind. Many different variations in teachings and practices have lead people to discover their natural awakened mind. The words and practices are just the means to that. Buddhism is not a religion in this sense - it is not about professing belief in a certain set of rules.

But I know that you know this already, so this is why I am confused by your posts. I think examples would help. Thanks-

To Lisa,

Today asked a friend :How do you get power,by deviding or by unity,his answer was instantly ,by unity.
I do not beleive that there can be Unity in Buddhism ,because too many thinkers beleive that their lineage is THE lineage.

If poor Siddhartha would have foreseen ,what came after his death,He might have kept silent.
Same goes for Jesus.The difference between you and me ,is the signification of a Buddha.Siddhartha discovered the way to enlightenment,all the others just followed ,in their own way ,
the teachings of Siddhartha.That is why I beleive ,there was one Buddha ,and all others enlightened ,are or were Arahats.

Loong
Still with Buddhism in his Mind.

Hi Loong, Ok, what I meant was, can you give an example of some teaching that is so different between Buddhist sects that you feel it represents the division you are talking about? That is not just a difference in practice?

To me, most lineages of Buddhism are very respectful of others, and simply view them as different variations on the path that the Buddha himself said was necessary. He wanted more awakened beings in the world, not followers. And for those who awakened to share it in their own way, not continue to repeat his own words over and over. He was very clear on that. And for the most part, this is how Buddhist history has progressed. There have been some disagreements between sects of course, but nothing like the wars that have broken out within other religions.

I am not trying to say Buddhism is better as a religion, that is not my goal. I don't view Buddhism as a religion, as you know. It is a pathway to awakening, and I feel the mystic branches of all the world's religions have communicated similar pathways. There are crossovers all over the place.

What I am trying to get to the heart of is your assertion on division within Buddhism, so I would like to work with some specific examples, as I think that will be more helpful and informative for those reading.

Dear Lisa ,
Suppose ,I give you a way to get you to a point ,
others read it,and take different ways ,this is not unity ,this is chaos.
Last Nite while reading texts ,I came upon a lineage that denies the existance of Karma.!
Karma ,is one of the fundamentals of Buddhism.
I will try to find where and who wrote it.

loong

Dear Lisa,
Could not find the article that denies Karma,however one of the many branches of Mahayana is Nichiren that declared he was the new Buddha,Because of the understanding (his) of the Lotus Sutra.
Right after his death ,following are the names of 4 new lineages
that emerged .they are
After the passing of Nichiren differences between the various Nichiren Schools were relatively minor; nevertheless, the following schools formed around Nichiren's disciples:
The Minobu-School by Nikō
The Fuji-School by Nikkō
The Hama-School by Nisshō
The Ikegami-School by Nichirō
The Nakayama-School by Toki Jonin (Stepfather of Nitchō)

So if you say that that having so many divisions in beleifs,are a strenght,sorry,I will not gobble that theory.

loong
That could start his own lineage a mix of everything I have read.

to all or none,

Do not know if I have already posted this wonderful phrase.

The way we live is more important than what we beleive

Gretta Vosper.

To Lisa

Could you give me the difference between Buddha Mind and Bodhi-Mind

Thank you

loong part of oneness

I don't mean that every single lineage that has ever been started is necessarily founded on awakening. I don't know enough about Nichiren to comment on that specifically. Who are we to go through each lineage of Buddhism and declare whether it is valid or not? That is not what I mean.

What I mean is that Buddhism itself is meant to be a vehicle to awakening. That is what the Buddha was trying to create. And as you know, at first he was reluctant to teach - he did not think it could be conveyed. He thought each person had to find it for themselves. But his former mendicant associates begged him to teach, so he did. But he constantly warned throughout his teaching years that it wasn't about worship, it was about awakening, and that it was different for each person.

I do believe there have been many individuals who have awakened through Buddhist practices. And many who have awakened through various branches of other religions too. And within Buddhism, some of these individuals have created new lineages in which they shared their own practices. Of course, how helpful that lineage is several generations later depends on how many other have attained awakening within it. If no one has, then it becomes empty practices and debates. I am sure that has happened a lot. I don't think there is any way we could go through every lineage and say 'this one still has awakening in it, this one is just words'. But that is basically what happens.

But even though that happens, and there are lineages that perhaps are not helping people to awake anymore, it is a wonderful thing that Buddhism is founded on the goal of awakening. It is not about worship or debate. Even in those lineages that include those, they are meant to be tools to awakening. And awakening has nothing to do with intellectual debate or with repeating the words of the Buddha like a parrot.

What the many different lineages of Buddhism represent to me then, is that there are multiple ways to reach awakening, WITHIN the framework of the Eightold path that the Buddha established. Even his own monks did different practices and taught different pathways! He was not interested in having everyone copy or parrot him. That would be pretending to awaken, not awakening itself.

So there is power in the many lineages, because it means there is freedom. It is not about enforcing one way of living - it is not a top-down religion, where everyone is supposed to 'obey' certain rules. Within a lineage that may be the case, if that is part of the discipline of that tradition, but not overall.

It is like democracy - do we say dictatorship is better than democracy because there is unity? In a dictatorship, there is one person saying what everyone has to do and think - is that better? Authoritarian rule is very organized, and the rules are clear - is that the kind of power that you consider unity? Democracy is messy, but there is a power in that messiness, because it is based on freedom, diversity, open debate and public trust.

It is the same with the many lineages of Buddhism. Which again, does not mean every single lineage is teaching awakening, but I do not concern myself with that. I concern myself with my own awakening, and what works for me, and share something when it does. Judging other people's journeys is not my concern.

And yes, if you are awakened, you should start a lineage;-)

Dear Lisa .

Understood very well you posting ,and I am in accord with you that awakening is the goal ,nothing else.My buddhism,right now,
is taking something here something there,always regarding awakening and Karma.I hope we are o.k. with this.

For me there are 2 main lineages,Thera and Mayanara.Tibetan buddhism ,to me sounds like something coming out of a Typical Chinese drama.

With respect
loong part of the Oneness

Hi Loong, you meant Mahayana right? Since you like Thich Nhat Hanh, I wonder if you have read his commentary on the Lotus Sutra, in that he really gives his take on the birth of Mahayana, which of course includes Tibetan Buddhism. I am not sure what you mean by 'Typical Chinese drama', you will have to explain that one more. Chinese Buddhism was the foundation for Zen more than Tibetan Buddhism...

Dear Lisa,

Sorry ,you know my mind plays tricks on me.Of course I meant
Mahayana.
As for a chinese drama.You have never seen a true chinese movie with people flying .and numerous,deities.etc.
As mentionned earlier ,I am taking what suits my path.

loong
part of oneness

Yes, in form - in look and ritual - Tibetan Buddhism evolved from a combination of Indian Buddhist teachings and Bon, the shamanic tradition that already existed in Tibet, and that probably had connections to Chinese legends as well. But in terms of deities etc., Tibetan Buddhism probably shares more with Hinduism than Chinese teachings.

However, the deities and legends in Tibetan Buddhism are teaching stories, with many symbolic layers. And deity or guru meditation is a practice for awakening enlightened energies within ourselves - they are not a form of worship. They may be presented that way to children or beginners on the path, but to anyone truly practicing, they have multiple, symbolic meanings. The idea of 'exoteric' and 'esoteric' understandings of these legends is very important in Tibetan Buddhism.

Dear Lisa ,
you had the chance of having a Tibetab Teacher for many years, not so for everyone.


loong

Dear Lisa,


This I received from Banthe in Sri-Lanka:

How to Meet Buddha Metteyya:

If we are talking pure Buddhism, the future is only illusions.
So how can one predict the Last Buddha in this eon ?

loong

To all or none,
Many masters exists or existed.I will cite 2 different
Thoughts from 2different masters.

1-Do not force yourself to do things you cannot do ,by
THICH NHAT HANH.
2-Man is the sum of his acts.
JEAN PAUL SÀRTRE

LOONG
part of the Oneness.

To all or none,

Buddha in his great wisdom ,gave us the chance of choosing our own personnal Path.
This is what I do.A bit of Thera,a bit of Mahayana,a bit of Tibetan.What is important to me ,is that I am not stuck in Dogmas,rules etc.I walk THE PATH ,I chose.On this day Nov/19 th
time 19.12.Oups it is already past:)

May you find your path.Tonite will be doing research on one word ,
that may change again my steps on the path.Freedom of choice,what a gift,from the Oneness.

loong
simply

To all or none,

Tonite, going to assist in a conference on past lives,in a
nearby hotel.One has to be open minded and not make a conclusion ,before hearing what the speaker will come out with.
I know it will be on rebirthing ,something that was very cool 20 to 25 years ago.
A Mind is like a parachute,it only works when it opens.

loong part of the oneness

To all or none,

In the many lineages in Mahayana,There exist 8 consciousness as previously written
They are
1:Store consciousness,
2-Manas
3-Mind consciousness
4-Sense consciousness that is composed of the 5 senses.

Some other Mahayana lineage speak of only 6 consciousness.

I myself prefer 8.


According to the traditional interpretation, Vasubandhu states that there are eight consciousnesses:

##Five sense-consciousnesses,
##Mind (perception),
##Manas (self-consciousness),[23]
##Storehouse-consciousness.[24]
WHat is written Under my choice is the source of my findigs
on Wiki and Thich Nhat Hanh book Understanding our Mind.

loong
part of oneness
free buddist
nota bene ,I finally found what Manas where.

To all or none,
In the future posts,I will be using ,the word seeds,as preached by TNH. In mansworld these can be compared to programs ,that are captured by the senses 5 The sixth Being Mind itselp .

So we will be speaking how seeds work in Buddhism.

loong
son of the Universe

To all or none,

Craving is the Cause of Suffering! An effort should be aroused to realize:
No Craving is the End of Suffering

Buddha Gautama

loong sharing

Definition of craving,
Source :Wikipédia
Taṇhā

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taṇhā (Pāli; Sanskrit: tṛṣṇā, also trishna) is a Buddhist term that literally means "thirst," and is commonly translated as craving or desire. Within Buddhism, taṇhā is defined as the craving or desire to hold onto pleasurable experiences, to be separated from painful or unpleasant experiences, and for neutral experiences or feelings not to decline. In the first teaching of the Buddha on the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha identified taṇhā as a principal cause in the arising of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction). Taṇhā is also identified as the eighth link in the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination.

Loong
just researching

To all or none,

Too long to explain ,however,I now have a kind of surrugate family.
loong

To all or none,

Last evening ,I let go of a friend ,that I had been helping,for
quite a while.

K.Gibran ,once wrote,if your friendship does not bring anything anymore,get rid of your friend.That's what I did.

loong
part of the oneness

To all or none,

Well , went to the emergency again for angina (3) small but real.Seeds of delusion came out of my store consciousness.

The fear of Death.I always tell people that I do not fear death.
Again last nite ,part of the Dhammapada was lived.Old age it is called.I waited 12 hours there.
When I had my fifth operation last year,I was told that I was good for another 20 years.Wrong diagnostic.

When someone has a heart problem ,he always lives with the seed of fear ,that something could happen.

What in reality ,peaving me ,is that again ,I will have to get another Mibi exam , and go through the whole circus again of exams etc.

There should be no fear,for a supposedly Buddhist living in Mindfulness and Equanimity.

By writing this post ,I am ridding myself of some of those seeds of fear.

loong
son of the Universe

Good luck with it all Loong.

To all or none
Text by Banthe
What is Wrong? The Mind or the World?


Is the world wrong? No the world is just as it is: Always a changing misery!
Are the other people wrong? No there is just greed, hate and ignorance...
Is the society wrong? No, the kammic cause and effect is perfectly just & fair!
Is you yourself wrong? No, since there are just passing mental & material states...

What then is Wrong?
The aversive mind opposing and rejecting some reals, while accepting others is wrong!
This stubbornly defying mind defends a rigid stand & fight against any present reality...
Why is this resisting combat mind wrong? Because however much it clashes with both
the internal and external faults, it cannot ever cure them... Rather they grow stronger!
Opposition simply does not help anything at all! Rather it aggravates the problems...

Bhikkhu Samahita.

To all or none,

I now have a student.Tomorrow is our second cession.About 2hours
each .The first one was on the Gist of Buddhism,a post I made quite a while ago,giving the basic Buddhist path.
It might still be on file,I will try to find the post number

Loong
Mahayana Buddhist 😇

To all or none,

I have found the # of the post ,but does seem to be available it bore # 757495

loong

only a few months worth of posts are kept on the server for space reasons

To all or none,
Text by Banthe ,from Sri-Lanka


Friends:

Dear and Delightful is Dangerous..

Whatsoever dear things in which we delight, that which is pleasant to us,
all these will undergo change and alteration... We will thereby loose what
they were before, and be separated from them, since now they have indeed
become otherwise, and are thus not anymore the same. They have become
something different! Whatsoever is born, became, arisen, emerged, and
having come into being as a compounded and constructed phenomenon;
all that is liable to decay, is prone to fade away, and is bound to vanish...
It is impossible for a thing dependent on supporting conditions not to
disintegrate, break up, fall apart, die, and cease to exist.
Thus renouncing, letting go, leaving behind, forsaking, abandoning and
rejecting all these transient fabrications, is therefore the only true and
safe escape from the sure suffering, misery, frustration and deprivation
inherent in all this repeated & ever recurring loss, decay, demise, deficit,
ageing, sickness and Death...
This unconditional & eternal release from all Pain, Misery & Death is
called Awakening into Enlightenment... The Noble 8-fold Way is the
only real way thereto. There is no other certain, safe & sound exit...
Yes we Can indeed change to the better!
Now is the time to realize that fact ...
Now is the time to initiate that path ...
Now is the time to complete that task ...
May your journey be swift and sweet!!!

to all or none,

I am one of those who beleives in the Oneness with the Universe.

Last nite after receiving MRI's ,I could not find my way into the

hospital.Then one man appears out of nowhere and guides me

through the maze of corricors ,all alike.I had to pay my

parking fee.He helped me without pretention just out of

conpassion.When I finally found how and where to get out,

I told the man:I do not beleive in Angels,but the Universe just

sent me one.

Please never doubt ,the Power of Oneness of the Universe.

loong

To all or none,
Text by THICH NHAT HANH,

Much of the suffering we experience every day comes from OUR FALSE PERCEPTIONS,based on fear and ignorance.Hindus and Muslims
Palestinians and Israelis,have a lot of fear because their images
of one another.Because they are dwelling in the Realm of representations,they continue to make themselves and others suffer.We live day in day out in the realm of representations,
full of errors and discrimination,and we suffer because of it.....

Loong,s comment:I have read a lot of material onbuddhism,on mansland and I do believe that this text explains clearly,
all the problems of the world we live in this instant

_/\_
Just the messenger

To all or none,

I have in my collection of plants,one bamboo that has growned
since I have it,an incredible size.To replant it ,had to buy a glass jar,15 inches high,by six inches in diameter.

A few months ago ,out of the mud and stones, two new stems have
taken over the plant .The 4 original ones are slowly dying.
Since I do not cut live flowers or plants,I am seeing the aging and futher on I will see the dying of the four original stems.

Why ,You may ask,why I write about these things.
I see everyday the cycle of life with this plant,nothing will be lost ,the dead ones will decay ,rott,and used for fertalizing my other plants.Mindfulness ,is I beleive seeing these changes in our environments.

Loong
Mahayana Buddhist

That's a lovely example Loong...yes, nature shows us everything we need to know I think!

To all or none,

One of my biggest ennemy is anger.I have read a book by THICH NHAT HANH,on the subject. Bit my tongue often, had 20 sessions
with a psychologist,where we would always at one point of the meeting discuss ,anger.

Anger is happiness's ennemy.Each moment that I spend on anger
is a moment of loss of happiness and Mindfulness.

loong
still Learning to live the present moment,learning to live Mindfulness.

To all or not,

The other day Lisa My Teacher ,told me to become a Dhamma Warrior.

The only martial art that is not offensive is aikido,founded by
Sensei Morihei Ueshiba.He also wrote the book The Art of Peace
that you can get on the net,under: The Art of Peace"

One of greatest students was Steven Segal.I have found a documentary on Sensei Steven Segal.It lasts an hour.He Is for real.

go to [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVOtlCnm3t0[url]
You will be astonished.

Loong Dhamma Warrior

Hi Loong, I have also had to work through anger a lot in my path, and many of the people I work with are doing so now. It is such a big one for many people in this day and age.

In terms of really getting to the root of it, and uprooting it, I think the most helpful thing is to get to the hurt underneath the anger. The anger is usually a defensive reaction when something has occurred that hurts us emotionally in some way. It is not always easy to see what that is - when we are dealing with deep-seated emotional patterns, we can jump so fast from hurt to anger that it is difficult to catch it when it is still at hurt. So taking time later to feel the hurt that was triggered, before the anger, and inquiring into the roots of this, will help us to uproot it.

If we don't do this, it can get frustrating because we can feel as if we've practiced mindfulness continually, and come to a place where we cannot get angry or can let go of it when it arises, but then something happens that once again hits this hurt, and the old pattern of anger arises again. So in this case, inquiry (whether in therapy on our own) is helpful (or one of the other Buddhist psychological tools for dealing with these feelings.)

To all or none,

I just received a book in french ,called the Interior or Inside
Warrior.I will translate the preface of the book.
.................................................................
Our Fate of being human is to learn,
we go to knowledge as we go to war:
With fear,with respect,(i add Honor) fully awakened,
the fact being is that we risk our lives.

Only a Warrior can survive the path of knowledge,
with a serenity and a self confidence that are absolute.

Because the Art Of Warriorship consists in balancing
the terror of being human with the marvel of being human.

Don Juan Matus

loong
learner and messenger

To all or none,

IN THE NAME OF GOD
..................
Minutes ago ,I was reading my morning paper.A 10 year old Young girl,was arrested for trying in the name of the Talibans,to
blow up a police station.Who sent her ?Her own brother,chief of a
Taliban group.Compassion has to accompany these childrens used to
do suicide missions in the name of Allah .Luckyly the device did not work.

Yes it is their karma!Yes I have to have compassion for everyone on this blue planet.Just Yes.

loong
Mahayana Buddhist

To all or none,

This afternoon ,I asked myself :Why this desire for knowledge?
Is it for false pride, is it to be a better Buddhist?

Buddha said to attain enlightenment ,follow the path,the path of
the Eighfold path and you shall attain Nibbana,so why?

loong

To all or none,
Text by Banthe but are Buddha's words.

Friends:

The inevitable and ever returning problem: Death!

All health ends in sickness, all youth ends in ageing, all life ends in assured death!
All worldly being begins with birth, is haunted by ageing, surprised by sickness,
and struck down by death, often in a state of desperate panic and frantic fear...
As though if huge mountains made of rock so vast that they reach up into the sky,
were to attack from every side, grinding & crunching beneath them all that lives,
so indeed do Ageing and Death roll over all beings, whether gods, kings, warriors,
priests, merchants, craftsmen, poor, or animals, crushing all beings, sparing none!
And neither armies, nor guards, nor medicines, nor spells, or riches, can even delay
this by a single second! (SN I 102). Death should thus be remembered as the ruin
of success by seeing it as the final & unavoidable wrecking of any life's success!
Vism I 232

Loong's comment:I do not see death as the ruin of success.My body
Inside is at least 100 years of suffering.Today renewed my vows
of Taking Refuge and of monks.This act does not make me more successful ,however,i find myself prepared for death at any moment.Death in my case ,will bring me to a new beginning.Why fear Death ,when we started dying when we were born.

Loong
Mahayana Buddhist

To all or none,
Each full moon in the Therevada lineage has a significance attached to it .Text by Banthe


Friends:

How to be a True Buddhist through Observance?

Durutu Poya day is the full-moon of January. This holy day celebrates
the first visit of the Buddha to Sri Lanka. The Buddha visited the very
place, where the present magnificent Mahiyangana Stupa was built to
enshrine the Buddha's hair relics and the collar bone.

To all or none.

I had ,4 or 5 posts reay to type.
However ,when I do my research,I listen to mantras.
The one playing was the one on The Green Tara.

The Green Tara as I can understand ,is or was the first woman Buddhani,and was asked to be transformed into a man .She refused.
Depending on the Mahayana lineage you read,there are 21 various
Tara's.Green,Blue,White,etc,.All having their forces.
The Green Tara ,is often referred as the mother of all Buddhas.
I have read once that ,she has eons of existence.
To some,this may sound far fetched.
What I love of Buddhism ,is you are FREE to believe what you want.
There are no dogmas,no must,no sins,just karma.

This was a plain post,but you see,that is what I felt like talking
to you about.
Loong
a funny Buddhist😇

To all or none.

Following the above post,I beleive in many Realms,Eons,Supra-mondane powers,Time and it's non existence.I beleive,Everyone can become a Buddha or Arahat,in an instant or a thousand lives.
Ask yourself ,how far you beleive?Seriously without any restraint.You may surprise yourself.

loong
Mahayana Buddhist,with a touch of vajrayana.:)

To all or none,

Presently there are 2 music partitions that bring me near Bliss,

Funny none are Buddhist related.The first is Sagnasse ,Thorns have their beauty in honor of Vishnu and Osho,
The second is a Krishna hymn called By your grace.

I find that love ,warmth harmony can be found everywhere.

Loong
Mahayana Buddhist

To all,

In the last 15 years ,this nite was not marred with Terror nitemares.No one can imagine what a glorious morning this is for
me.
I beleive my recent readings,have helped a lot.Also having supper early and no munching in the evening might ,I say might be the reasons for this nite of total nothingness.

loong
Mahayana Buddhist.

To all or none,

A few moments ago as I was typing a text,a hand kind of caressed
My back.Then the person appeared in front of me ,with eyes filled with Joy and Love.He wanted to wish me a happy good year.

I remember this person as ,the first times we met ,was a sufferer.
Dhukka was his bread and butter.He would rarely speak ,in spiritual meetings.
I believe that that listening paid of.He was the image of happiness.
If you are suffering ,do something about it.Read a book on a spiritual subject ,that you think might interest you,
.If you have to change your friends,or make friends.Do it

Loong
Mahayana Buddhist

To all,

Just found a fantastic Mantra by Jampa Gyatso.It is 10 minutes long,but what a 10 minutes

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2J6usJLqS8[url]

enjoy

loong
Definitively a Mahayana Buddhist

To all or none,

I am a very sensitive person.Why do you ask ,is he writing that?

Agora of Buddhism seems the most popular thread,mine ,I mean.
Buddhism is a very simple and at the same time complex
Philosophy/religion,depending on how much knowledge one wants to acquire.
I could say do ,or live the Noble eightfold path,and you shall attain Nibbana.Yet ,in my case,I like to know the mechanics of Buddhism.
Understanding our mind ,is up to know ,what I have found most useful.
Then there is Metta karuna,Samsara,dhukkà,and all.
If you are a bit curious,jump to
Understanding our mind.This commercial is paid for by Loong with love and a desire to share.

N.J.

Hi Loong,

Burt here.

Very Excellent Post !! !!!

Keep them coming... Please.

I just found out that Ted Kaczynski's brother, David is the Executive Director of a Buddhist Monastery in upstate New York.

http:
//www.kagyu.org/ktd/contacts.php

Can you tell me about that type of Buddhism ?

-- Burt B.

Hi Burt, I thought I would start on this one. Kagyu is one of the four main branches of Tibetan Buddhism, you can read a little about each here:

Four Branches of Tibetan Buddhism

They all share the same basic foundation as other forms of Buddhism - they are grounded in The Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. All of Tibetan Buddhism is also part of Mahayana Buddhism, which means (among other things) that bodhicitta, or the generation of a true desire to help all beings attain awakening, is at the heart of practice and the vows that ones takes.

Beyond that, there are many differences in specific meditation practices and rituals between the four schools. These are considered a 'means to an end', not the end itself, so in general schools don't bicker about which practices are better or who knows 'the truth' as is the case between sects in other religions. In fact, many lineages across the four branches have strong partnerships, and a practitioner may take teachers within two lineages. Kagyu and Nyingma are especially connected historically and practically. But all are based on a strong teacher-student relationship, oral transmission, and direct transmission of teachings.

Wow !

That was Way Cool Lisa

Thank You

When did you write that?

Cheers,

Burt B.

To those who might be interested by what I write,I will be taking a rethinking time.

loong
Theravada Buddhist

Hi Burt, I think that article is 3 years old or so...glad it helped:-)

To all or none,

for personnal reasons wanted to start a blog on my Buddism .
Changed my mind.
You will still be reading me in A THEATRE NEAR YOU'Supposed to be a joke.

loong.
feeling better every day.

To all or none,

Today met a man ,I had not seen for a while .He is a jewel artist,suffering from Sclerosis.He has been in a Wheel chair for many years now.When He sat down at his table, I could not but notice the sparkle in his eyes.He meditates ,self learned.
He saw I was walking with a cane,and he said my eyes were sparkling too.
So he invited me to his chair ,and we spoke of Buddhism and peace of mind.
I have just written him back with a passage about letting go of earthly things like anger ,cravings etc.Also sent him a new Mantra that I received today from You Tube
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk6q0zxa4xQ&list=WL5D34BDCFA8738A92[url]

Great moments

loong
Mahayana Buddhist

To all or none,

The more one has an open mind ,that is me ,can't speak in your name :),the more the discoveries are various.I have a page with You Tube,and send me videos that could interest me.In one of my post ,i mentionned a song ,by Krishna Das ,a singer that sings all kinds of religious songs.His master for 20 years was the Mahari-Ji.
The one ,Song, i talk about is the only time in my whole life I saw a picture of Jesus of Nazareth smiling ,almost laughfing.
The words are unbeleivable and could be used for Buddha ,Krishna,
Bahii,any great mentor or god.

loong
mahayana buddhist

To all or none,

Man ,do I dislike this picture.I look like an old drunk.
A nicer one will be substituted shortly.

loong,man......

To all or none,

I am presently with a nice lady ,that did not know about tablette

Loong

To all or none,

May one day some of you Take Refuge in Buddha.

loong
Refuge taken

To all or none,
FAITH

This,is a subject,I rarely touched.I believe ,I never touched
The subject.
What ,I found in various lineages,are the powers given to Bhuddha
As almost as if he was a God.I never got into that.
In my case my Higher Power,is the Oneness in the Universe.
The Universe having had a beginning and one day ,will disappear,
it is to me in accord with the Impermanence preached by Buddhism.

The more my faith grows in the Universe ,mini miracles happen.
This morning got a phone call from a Dr.regarding my damaged shoulder and my 2 knees that ,I have been suffering of for 8,yes 8
Years.(THE KNEES)not the shoulder which is a result of the last
April stabbing ,I suffers.The Dr 's secretary mentioned ,I needed the CD report for the Dr ,to be able to really see what the damages
Are.
So jumped in my car ,beautiful sunny day,put the car on cruise control and drove 45 to50 miles where my MRI,s had been taken.
It took them an hour to prepare the CD,s.cost $6.05.

my rendezvous with the Dr is on March 25 th.
I had received from another hospital a letter mentioning a 2 year wait.

I work with a small tablette.At a dollar store found a rack for $1.50. To you these might not seem like little miracles,I just taught that it would be fantastic to find a support for the tablette,find it the next day,and as for the shoulder and knees
I had said to myself to be Mindful ,and that everything would be fine.It took 3 days.

Loong
Part of the Oneness of the Universe.

To all or none,
Imagination is an illusion of Reality which conceives of reality as an assembly of small pieces of separate entities and selves.In order to break through ,the practitioner meditates on the nature of interdependence or the interrelatedness of phenomena in the
Processes of creation and destruction is a way of contemplation,not the basis of a philosophic doctrine.If one clings merely to a system of concepts,one becomes stuck. Reality is reality.It transcends every concept.There is no concept which can adequately describe it,not even the concept of interdependence.

Text by TNH

Loong
Messenger.

To all or none,

I have spoken before,of a group I taught to for 12years.During these 12years ,I had about 10,000 Seatings.As I got up to stretch ,
been working on my posts for 3hours now,on a 7" tablette,this woman comes up to me and said :That when she saw me she recognized me,
and that I seemed ,Here,Now,She said accomplished.
Still have a lot to learn,but lately,it is as if ,I had climbed another step on the ladder to Nibbana.

With my body ,feeling like a 100years old,my MIND rigpa,has never been better.As I wrote yesterday ,I would die today,without regrets
but for the first time ,I write ,would not mind a few years more.
So much more to learn and live.

May you find this bliss

Loong
A simple monk.

To all or none,
I am going to tell you a Zen story ,that I have always loved.

Every morning,a young monk would pass in front of an old solitary monk,with a rake.Every time ,the old monk ,would see the young
Monk ,he would shake his head from left to right,repeatably.

One day the young monk ,gathered enough courage to address the Master.He knelt and bowed to the Master.He then said:Reverend Master,each day when I pass in front of your house ,you shake your head,may I know why?
Dear young monk,you spend so much time trying to clean the underbrush of the forest,do you not realize the time it took the forest to become like that......

Loong
Buddhist

To all or none,

Today ,I feel like talking about the Green Tara.She is the mother of all Buddhas .There are 21Taras,each one representing something she encompasses.Tara as many colors.She was the first ever Buddhani.Try wiki ,where all her names are given also all her attributes.
Please yourself,this being a woman's group many of you should
Inquire about her.
All the Mantras about her are all very soft.

Loong,fan of Tara.

To all or none,

What Buddhism asks of a Buddhist is to rid himself of cravings,attachment and fetters.

I have found a good text regarding attachments.Listed below

Let us sum up. These four forms of attachment are the only problem that Buddhists or people who wish to know about Buddhism have to understand. The objective of living a holy life (Brahmacariya) in Buddhism is to enable the mind to give up unskillful grasping. You can find this teaching in every discourse in the texts which treats of the attainment of arahantship. The expression used is "the mind freed from attachment." That is the ultimate. When the mind is free from attachment, there is nothing to bind it and make it a slave of the world. There is nothing to keep it spinning on in the cycle of birth and death, so the whole process comes to a stop, or rather, becomes world transcending, free from the world. The giving up of unskillful clinging is, then, the key to Buddhist practice.

Extract from "Handbook for Mankind" by Bhikkhu Buddhadasa.

loong
messenger

To all or none,

Had forgotten to list the 4 attachments.Here they are...

1.sense-pleasure clinging: repeated craving of worldly things.
2.wrong-view clinging: such as eternalism (e.g., "The world and self are eternal") or nihilism.[7]
3.rites-and-rituals clinging: believing that rites alone could directly lead to liberation, typified in the texts by the rites and rituals of "ox practice" and "dog practice."[8]
4.self-doctrine clinging: self-identification with self-less entities (e.g., illustrated by MN 44,[9] and further discussed in the skandha and anatta articles


loong
messenger

To all or none,

How can we live in the present moment?live Right now with people around us,helping to lessen their suffering and making their lives happier.How?The answer is this:WE MUST PRACTICE MINDFULNESS.

Loong
Buddhist.

To all or none,

This is the way to understand a simple truth:THICH NHAT HANH
has mentioned elsewhere:Those who are without compassion cannot see what is seen with the eyes of Compassion."That more inclusive sight makes the small but crucial difference between dispair and hope.

To all or none

What will follow is a post I wrote 4/12 regarding the Gist of
Buddhism.This gist is the basis of Buddhism and accepted by mostly all lineages in Buddhism.It is a simplified way to awakening.1)Buddha
3) The Three Jewels of Buddhism (Buddha,Dharma,Sangha)

4)Here starts the core of the path.
The Four Noble Truths

1) man is on this planet and suffers(dhukka)
2) man suffers because of attachments, cravings,fetters.
3) man must rid himself of these three resons for suffering
4) man if he wants to rid himself of these sufferings,must use:
The Noble Eightfold Path. which are
1)Right View
2)Right Intention
3)Right Speech
4)Right Action
5)Right Livelyhood
6)Right Effort
7)Right Mindfulness
8)Right Concentration.

what accompanies the above are the 5 Precepts for the lay person

One shall not kill,anything
One must not take what was not given to him
One must always tell the truth(not lie)
One must have control over his sexuality
One must not use any intoxicants liquid or solid that may alter his judgement.

Buddha meditated 7 years to come up with this gist.He became awaken
Under a Bodhi Three .He walked 14 to 15 countries to spread his Dharma.He gave between 82 to86,000 messages that are conserved.
in Sri-Lanka in something called the three baskets or Pali Canon.

loong
simple buddhist

To all or none,

Got up at 6.20 am this morning to weatch the Men's hockey finals.
Yes Canada won the Gold Medal.Went to bed right after.
This is not why ,I am writing this post.

This month financially has been hard.I only live with the old age pension.I had to borrow money to someone I know kind of well!
Man ,do I ever have still false pride.Borrowing money to someone not even half your age.She was more than happy to. She lent me twice I asked her.
In some say two things comes out of it.Spend my money differently
and still am a member of mansworld or mansland.
Nope have not attained enlightenment yet.

loong
buddhist and still a long path to walk.

To all or none,

As per certain sources ,the visits we have on the Buddhism section,which ,by the way is visited 1000 times per 2days,with a present total of well over 150,000 visits.They would be by search engines.I was told not to get all excited about that.
Buddha,said to give,and give we do .If one person in the 1000 visits,learns something new,something that may bring him closer to "enlightenment,then our work as Buddhists will be done.

I believe a lot in the Oneness of the Universe.This morning ,I decided that I would stop working with one book,I usually use four,to get all those posts,to sharing and my betterment.
And said ,I have to get a new one.I am at a supermarket,and meet one of my ex employees ,telling me she wrote a book and published it through Amazone.She sold me a copy.
It is titled " My short Story of Enlightenment.".It is a 60 page
book ,I will keep you posted.The next book ,I might be ordering
should be on Compassion,METTA

Keep you posted

Loong
Buddhist son of the Oneness.

To all or none,
In post 857809,the gist of Buddhism ,I wrote about Dhukka being caused by attachments cravings anf fetters.

Every afternoon ,for a few hours I use a tablett(pad) to type my

posts.When I came home,I plugged it to recharge it.Nothing

happened.I tried many times to open it.No way.A tablette
compared to a pc ,has to be emptied at some point.

Tried it again a few minutes ago.No go.

When I found out around supper time that the tablette might be

blown or something ,Dhukka appeared.I am attached to my little piece of Android. If it is kaput ,I will not be able to buy another one.Financially going through rough times.

Now it is time for me to to be Mindfull and live in the Now,just Now.Now is the time to be a true buddhist.

loong
buddhist

To all or none.

Was able to find a way for my tablette to work with an empty
Battery,go figure.
Today received good news and some not expected from my stabbing incident.But with faith and Mindfulness everything just smoothed out.

Loong
simple buddhist

To all or none,

Last evening while searching the definition of the 4 th precect on Access to Insight ,I stumbled on a text, explaining the
event to lead to the schism in Buddhism between Theravada and Mahayana.By respect for all ,I shall not reproduce this text.which is pretty hard.

loong
Learning everyday,simple buddhist

To all or none,

Told you recently everyday ,I meet someone interested in Buddhism.
This time is a gorgeous woman who went to Cambodia,Thailand ,and
Laos.What she did not like is the superficial aspect of her trip.I am to bring her a copy of my Gist of Buddhism
.
Loong
Simple buddhist

To all or none,

As I awoke ,I started being poetic (sic) .One part of the text written by Max Hermann "The Desiderata" that is always in my prayers saying :You are well my son ,like the sun and the trees you are part of the Universe, i started adding ,the snow,the cold ,the Wind my breath .
You see i am so into Oneness with the Universe that is how I woke up ,cheerful ,happy, and...poetic

May every moment of your day be a moment of Oneness with the Universe

loong
son of the Universe

To all or none

The power of prayer,and good breathing.

I get awaken by the phone and I have to run from my room to my computor room.IAM NOT SUPPOSED TO RUN.It is the secretary of a doctor that want's to give me a rendez-vous for my operation in the shoulder and knees.
I am huffing and puffing ,I can't find the file.In it are 2 dvd of my MRI's and original reports of the technician that took the
MRI,s.My heart is pomping ,THEN I start praying the Universe and stopped running around the apt.like a hampster,and I start Deep breaths,to stop me from going to hyperventilation.

I have often spoken of the brain dammages I have,I took Nitro for my heart and breathed deeply again.

I am stopped in the middle of the apt.,and my eyes fall on a nice attachee case ,that someone had given to me.

I had prepared that case with everything concerning my operations
but DID NOT REMEMBER.I see it and it all comes back.Everything is there.
Living with a damaged brain is quite somrthing ,put papers everywhere to remember things.

All and all ,I would have found it eventually but my body and brain would have suffered.
So this mornings lesson for loong is:BREATHING RIGHT and prayers.

Felt like sharing.Just onre physical part BREATHING and one spiritual part PRAying.

I had quite a RUSH for a Wake up call. So remember,BREATHE well
lisa Erickson told me so often .

May your day be a relaxed day.I am still shaking.

loong
getting calmer and one with the Universe

To all or none,

Was I ever surprised lat nite ,when going through english dictionnaries,my incapacity to find the word :

MINDFULNESS
Ifsomeone knows the name of a dictionnary where I ccould find
a definition of the word.Please advise me.
I am doing some translation in french presently and found a
translation in a french dictionnary.

Does a Buddhism dictionnary exist?

loong
simple buddhist

To all or none,

First day with bifocals ,getting seasick

loong

To all or none,

MARA; Subject not often spoken of. However it is in your Mind,
in the liquid you drink ,the smoke you inhale,the meat you eat,the white lie you say,,the candy bar you steal,false déclarations on your income tax,the woman you coveth whom you know is married, hatred ,anger, false speech ,and hundreds of others.

Mara is the name for Evil in Budddhism .

A few hours ago a 30 years old waitress told me she would undress
for me anytime,BUT SHE IS MARRIED.Mara,is also in the search of power ,these are all ennemies of goodness.

One always has the CHOICE to succomb to Mara,
Mara sent his 3 daughters to tempt Siddhartha Gauthama before he became the Buddha,

YOU CHOOSE.To that Young girl ,I did as if she had not spoken to me.The fourth precept,is not something I recite every nite or when I go to sleep,it is a sacred vow to me.

loong
a simple buddhist,taking his buddhism seriously.

To all or none,

Last nite around 1 oclock ,I wrote a few posts about my sufferings,
physical not mental nor spiritual.My body is decaying at an alarming rate.Might have to d
go through 3 new operations .My body ,is tired,tired of the suffering.
Mind, helps me go through everything with almost a smile all the time.
Not complaining ,just saying.

loong
fighter,simple buddhist.

To all or none,

Last nite around 1 oclock ,I wrote a few posts about my sufferings,
physical not mental nor spiritual.My body is decaying at an alarming rate.Might have to d
go through 3 new operations .My body ,is tired,tired of the suffering.
Mind, helps me go through everything with almost a smile all the time.
Not complaining ,just saying.

loong
fighter,simple buddhist.

To all or none,

I often speak of Death as a good friend.Death is part of life ,like Life is part of Death.Every present moment we die a little more .I have a question for all.WHAT would you do if you knew the date or moment of your Death?
Do not forget that as a Buddhist and everyone anyway there is always karma like a shadow of every phenomena you create.

Why I ask this question is very simple ,if you knew the moment of your death ,you would not hesitate anymore on something you have been hesitating so long for,to do,to see,to visitetc etc etc.THEN DO IT NOW!Because you will never know the moment of your death unless you have reached a very high spiritual level.

Don't wish,DO

loong
simple buddhist

to all or none.

I am playing with the idea of writing my own book .
Title would be
"

"What my buddhisn is about"
not for publishing but for getting the data accumulated through thousands of hours of reading,analysing,and especially living my Dharma.

Loong
a simple Buddhist
n.b. This is a project,projects are out of the present moment.
Should for whatever reason not happen,it would still be o.k.
.

To all or none,

I hope Lisa Shea will be comprehensive,for it is not allowed to do double posting.However this one ,is so important to all the peope that live solitude.It is from the Dhammapada ,another thread I write on .

IDEAL SOLITUDE

Avoid going along with fools.Should one fail to find one better or equal as companion then the one should continue this journey
ALONE.There can be no friendship with fools.
From the Dhammapada ,Verse 61 ,source What-Buddha-said.-net.

enjoy

loong
simple buddhist

To all or none,

As I was writing in the Dhammapada section about Bhikkhus taking over a monastary,it made me remember that there are 5 sins in Buddhism.
They are
1-killing a Buddha
2-killing an Arahat
3-killing Father/Mother
4-killing brothres and sisters
5-If a Bhikkhu ,create a schism in a Sangha,

Mind you ,in Buddhism there is no punisment,

However the "punishment" is in the importance of the karna attached to these sins.

loong
simple buddhist.

To all or none,

Still snobish,pis...ne off.Still sometimes comment in my crazy Mind sem.
Fighting with this all my life.I know what iLll do ,stop fighting
let it happen,then erase it with a beautiful thought ,hence no karma.

I am far from perfect,should remember that.

loong
improving

To all or none

Just to show I am still ascetic ,I felt guilty because yesterday I bought muself anew wireless keyboard at awhopping price of $29.95

I must find the Middle way.The other I had ,the letters were worn off on 3 letters.Tried to scotchtape little letters ,until I noticed that all letters had half disapeared . The last of the great spender himself.

loong
simple bit ascetic buddhist.

To all or none,

Just finished watching an action movie ,all in Burma.
Monks,ceremonies costumes incense Buddhas ,temples stupas.

Very good

loong
a so simple buddhist

To all or none

The one that does not plant good seeds shall not sow Happiness

loong
simple buddhist

To all or none.

For Eons mansworld in it's despair,their non confidence in themselves,hav esearched for a Higher Power ,a God to help them,to heel them to bring them happiness.
Thousands of Gods came and went away.
What i like about Buddhism there is no God because of the impermanence of everything ,including the Universe we live in.
I have yet to read sutas or suttras climing Bouddha saying that he was god like.
There remain in Buddhism unanswered questions.That i beleive is one of them.

I remember reading when he was asked about an Eternal God,he mentionned that his path had and was attaining enlightenment by changing ourselves through the The Four Noble Truths,The Noble
Eightfold Path and the precepts.

If someone from any lineage can name.I will be more than happy to read them.
a sutta or sutra ,where Buddha
mentionned HE HAD THE ABILITIES USUALLY GIVEN TO GODS

loong
part of the Oneness

To all or none,

Been trying to find aname for my own blog for over an hour.
Quite an hassle

loong

To all or none,

Just want to say thank you to Buddha to have come up with such a simple phylosophy,when one understands it.Lives it ,m
not only mentally,spiritually but also in every acts,words actions one does.
Again thank you,thank you for the great impermanent moments of happiness and Bliss.

loong
simply

Found an interesting book called Turning the Wheel,by Shambala
publcations .I<ll come back on this soon

loong

To all or none,
Yesterday had a neighbr arguement ,was pushed by a 300 pound lady.
Phoned 911,4 police came ,What I am gladd of is that the old loong
did not come out.

I had advised the proprietor regarding thepeople in a certain apt. He did nothing.Yesterday after months of restraining myself ,I opened the "fight"The woman said we know you re crazy ,look at what yu have on your door!
I have a non-smoking sign ma chinese amulet and a picture of Buddha.Tjis is my Sangha ,my Dragon,s cave.Whomever enters my apt,
must respect the premises I live.

This morning when I left my apt they had torn the chinese amulet and thrown it on the floor.

Just smiled.

loong

To all or none

When one enters a jungle or dense forest without a guide ,it is
proven that one will go in circles.That is what I did for so many years in Buddhism like a lot of the people that try to learn on their own the buddhist way.They buy bundles of books ,these books just being small parts of a complex and yet simple puzzle.

Today made a basic discovery in a book by Shambala Publications
called Turning the wheel of truth ,the author is Ajahn Sucitto.

This writer/Master,will be my reading friend for a while.
by the way opened my own blog called: www.loongdragon-view-on-buddhism.blogspot.ca Nothing much written yet .started a few das ago again without aguide,but would like to say thanks to David Dupras ,for clearing the imbroglio I had put myself in .

loong
BUDDHA is my friend ,for he is part of the Oneness of the Universe,also he lives in me at all the breaths I take.

To all or none

Not doing double posting will be quite a feat,with Bellaonline and my new blog.To lisa Shea ,I will respect this site's rules.

Had a good one but will keep it for my blog.
loong
an ignorant buddhist

To all or none,

Today I have a question for you!

What do you think of a buddhist that has been a buddhist for about
maybe35 years,tells another buddhist(me) Hold On

YOU ARE AN OLD MAN YOU SHOULD STOP .......

I beleive that that buddhist ,has forgotten many basic ideas of
Buddhism.First one ,Loving Kindness,second,never speak against another human being,third who sais this person will live longer than I will.Third that person forgot that one's life is all included in a present moment,and that the body ,corpse,age has nothing to do with it.

Time to me does not exist.All the people that died today,never knew that they would meet Death today.

HAS THIS PERSON FORGOTTEN ,WHAT SHE LEARNED ALL THESE YEARS!I BELEIVE SO.

loong
filled with Compassion and Loving Kindness for that person.

Loong, I am sorry you took my message this way, this is not what I said at all. I said 'are you interested in being a historian or awakening?'

That is a sincere question. Your questions have all been of a historical nature lately, you seem very caught up in this. You and I are not historians, we will never get to the bottom of these historical questions. Buddhist academians who have studied for decades still debate these topics.

Please tell me where in my message I told you to stop? This is a complete misreading of my message. This keeps happening, and I keep asking you if it is a language barrier. You say no, so I continue to respond to your messages, but then I am stunned to see that you read my response this way, and very sorry to hear it. Please re-read it more slowly. If you still feel I am asking you to stop practicing Buddhism, please let me know where.

Also, my message was a true attempt to help you, in response to a question you asked me. There was no upset in it, in fact I was trying to write very clearly, so that it would be helpful. I am not sure why it seems so insulting to you, and am sorry you took it that way.

To lisa,

There is a way of private communication especially for these
questions.I would have prefered you used that.
One thing that I have learnt in buddhism ,some lineage almost promise enlightenment in this life .I know of 2 One branch of Pure Land and the Vajrayana lineage.When someone becomes obcessed with Enlightenment,that becomes an attachment a craving .I read about the danger of wanting desperately to become enlightened.You go back to square one which is attachment
and craving.

In my case I do not give a rat's... of becoming enlightened.
Becoming a better person ,not suffering physically with everything I have (Rigpa),never been happy as this in my own life.Reaching Bliss ,detachment,trying to be the best human being possible through my way of metta meditation and compassion for all those who suffer.When I die,I might have not reached Nirvana ,but the next person that will receive my karma might have a chance to attain such a place.
With all the good I have done in the last 35 years,I am sure erased a good part of the karma I had been given.

May you reach Nibbana if that is your greatest wish,I will be happy for you ,and hope you come back as a Bodhisattva to help those who like me are still ignorant as Buddha has put it.

With understanding ,with compassion with loving kindness ,I wish you a great NOW,is it not all one can do ,live a great now.

loong
son of the Universe,friend with Buddha,as you mentionned if he exists.

TO ALL'

Is this what you call being a buddhist moderator



We have never had any argument except for this. You are an old man with not that much time left.

Oh yes I am the bad guy
Compassion and loving kindness
loong