The Great Questions

[arien]

how do you reconcile the notion of karma and the notion of free will?

its simple, karma brought you to your present, free will takes you to your future

this is free will in the sense of choice, yet each choice now, pays its due later, and that cannot be avoided

we have a choice now, even if it is like we're rafting down the big river of life, and almost helpless to paddle our way at choice, we still have a choice, one that requires effort, no doubt, but still a choice

but once we made it, its not our choice anymore, its pay-back time

this is the (not really that)free will, because restle with the thought as you wish, in the end, there is not even much we can chose about... most of it is already chosen for us, although it was chosen by us


there is another free will, which is free-(from the ego)-will; this is the (really)free will of buddhas, free in the sense they dont will for themselves, and since this is non egotistic will, it generates no bad karma, and so it does not disturb the future

this is what the term free-will should be saved for, and this is not the will that we normally possess

 

[arien]

Dear LiSe, when you say
"Is there a god?
Yes, there is
I made me one"

you mean as you made yourself a god, or as you made yourself into a god(ess)?

Or maybe both?

I think its a very empowering attitude to see ourselves as gods (actually lamdre teachings encourage just that, seeing oneself as avalokitesvara, wrong spell Im sure)

I have blue skin and four fully functional arms, can you beat that?

(incidentally, if you guys dont know about it, there is a very good collection of pdf ebooks at buddhanet that is well worth the visit; Ive been enjoying very much the one on lamdre (lamdre.pdf) and also the eigthfold path for householders (ritepath.pdf), to name a few)

 

[bradford_h]

Hi Pedro-
Candid posted a link to the translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower.
The text I posted was the last line of Laozi's Chapter 1 - the mystery leading to greater mystery is the gate to every mystery. (Go into the darkness).
Of course I'm not upset, neither were you. Good to have you back.
b

 

[bradford_h]

Hi all-
I too am uncomfortable with the word God. It conjures up visions of millions of dead in the Inquisition, myriads more in the Crusades, the last Library of Alexandria up in flames and the complete inability of Christians, Muslims and Jews to comprehend peace. Fellowship with others within the clan - humiliating.
The term Shang Di, used in the Yijing, is often translated by missionaries as God on High. As an existential pantheist mystic I've been much more happy with the more ambiguous "highest divinity", which allows for the sacred to remain unpersonified and not modeled on human beings.
b

 

[Sparhawk]

Like in the Godfather III, "Just when I thought that I was out, they pulled me back in..."

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1>Quote:</FONT>

But did you realize that what you said in spanish translates as "you're a stupid donkey and I want to kick your butt?"... I hope you guys would be more careful with us touchy latinos from now on! (Luis, stand with me on this, we gotta make a statement here)<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE>

Er, Pedro, yes, he called you a donkey and you should watch your butt. (we've got to gang up and sharpen our switchblades)

There is no respect left man!! These gringos! Who do they think they are?!?! That's for the male gringos, of course. For the ladies, like Joey likes to say in "Friends" (insert sexy voice and sultry gaze here): How'd you doing?

Hey Brad, is this how you picture Pedro?

BTW, hi Pedro!!!

Luis (El Zorro)

 

[pedro]

Well Luis, you got the hair colour right, but thats about it. Im much better looking

 

[pedro]

Hey again Brad, thanks for clarifying that. I had reached the text from Candid's link previously, but I havent found it much interesting. I mean, its basically taoist tantra, as far as I can understand, while I am looking for practical stuff, I mean, practice guidelines that I can actually understand

I am in one of those moods when Im looking for something but I dont know what Im looking for. I need something inspiring, or maybe I need nothing at all, I'll know when I find it (or not). Usually when Im like that I search a lot, then give up, decide to just meditate and trust god to give me the answer, and inevitabilly thats what happens. Other times I actually find what I was looking for.

Re: God, or divine principle or whatever we may call it, I dont of curse view god as an entity, but it helps as an abstract notion. I mean I ususally address god him(her?)self when I ask my questions, and I find it a natural thing to do. I also ask god for strength, or guidance and I find that the resulting inspiration makes sense when sent from an existing god. Maybe I cant avoid that from being brought up in a catholic environment, but I find the god idea to be helpful in many ways. I dont find it at odds with buddhism, either, if one doesnt mistake god for an entity, but more of a law

 

[heylise]

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1>Quote:</FONT>

"Is there a god?
Yes, there is
I made me one"
you mean as you made yourself a god, or as you made yourself into a god(ess)?

I have blue skin and four fully functional arms, can you
beat that?<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE>

Both, but not a he/she, maybe an it.

What about bluegreen scales, four legs, wings and spitting fire?
(Dharma please where is that great animation of that dragon. Searched for it, but never found it back)

LiSe

 

[dharma]

<CENTER>here you go LiSe

</CENTER>

 

[arien]

here's a nice therapy (for me at least, didnt get much sleep, and like someone said, my intelligence is still in pajamas):

focus (or unfocus) on the above animation, till it is just like a cloud crossing the sky of your mind, without attaching to any of its aspects, just accepting it as a whole, in its recurrent come burst and go nature

keep pressing the keyboard at random so your boss thinks you're working

 

[heylise]

Thanks Dharma!!

Maybe god as a dragon sounds like a joke, but it isn't.

I grew up in a family where nobody ever talked about religion. I remember only one single thing my mother said, when I asked about it: "when you see the beauty of nature, there must be a god". Not bad, but a bit meagre.

She did send us to a primary "school with-the-bible", as it is called here, because she thought that some knowledge of it might be good for our education. I had spent the first 2 years in a public school, where everybody was fairly healthy and nice. But in this new school everyone looked unhappy. Of course there were nice people around, but they seemed in the minority. The atmosphere was gray. The headmaster slided his hand always too far up on the nude legs of the boys. The girls were lucky: in those days skirts went halfway our calves, and bending over that deep to put his hand underneath would at least have looked peculiar.
Everybody was convinced that their way of thinking was the only good one.

The result was, that I grew a huge dislike of anything religious. The word god was enough for me to leave the room, and one belief being better than another one was for me like comparing mud with mire.

Somewhere between 30 and 35 I "started" again with god, or whatever I could think up as a name. I had the Yi already, and I am a dragon myself, so the image of a dragon was great. I imagined it filling the entire sky, the entire universe, and me too. It gave me a sense of being part of the cosmos which I needed very much then. Now I simply have this feeling (at least my better self does), and I don't need it that much anymore. But the dragon is still around.

LiSe

 

[candid]

Arien, whether they exist or not, what difference does that really make? I'm not a doctor but I imagine our blood pressure, heart and entire neuro-system is affected by fear, enough to send a cold chill through a warm body? Or let?s say the entity, if there is one, really does emit a perceivable energy, which we receive as a cold chill. So? What has that to do with you or I?

 

[jte]

"I mean, if you consider things like talking to trees, feeling mother earth's love, and the whole universe's, then these are the good spiritual "beings" that I do all the experiencing with "

Yes.

Quote from Thoreau was very nice, Rhett.

From Shakespeare -

"... this our life exempt from public haunt
Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones and good in everything."

Something like that.



- Jeff