Search found 38 matches

by Tewi
Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:40 pm
Forum: Tibetan Buddhism
Topic: How did I get here...?
Replies: 23
Views: 4172

Re: How did I get here...?

Many people suppose marriage to be a form of selfish attachment. In my experience, it is the opposite--marriage is like acid dissolving the ego, making us care about others and sacrifice ourselves for their happiness. Ironically, this leads to a deeper and more abiding happiness. But you have to be ...
by Tewi
Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:28 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Maitreya Temple - Taiwan
Replies: 4
Views: 1673

Re: Maitreya Temple - Taiwan

They believe that Maitreya has come back as one of their founders--a Chinese guy who lived about a hundred years ago. They acknowledge Buddhism along with several other religions, but reinterpret them half to death, and see their own tradition (originally received through spiritualist mediumship) as...
by Tewi
Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:19 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: are nirmanakayas, "philosophical zombies"?
Replies: 44
Views: 11759

Re: are nirmanakayas, "philosophical zombies"?

Some reactions: (1) From a Buddhist perspective, maybe WE are the p-zombies! (2) Do we say that our ordinary physical bodies are p-zombies? If not, then why would a nirmanakaya be one? (3) There is a tradition to the effect that Buddhas lack discursive thought, but act spontaneously. Does "cons...
by Tewi
Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:03 am
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: Buddhist Universities/Buddhist Studies
Replies: 58
Views: 17379

Re: Buddhist Universities/Buddhist Studies

Hello Lotwell, and sorry for taking so long to respond. I have the articles in hard-copy form (I get the journal), but have no idea whether it can be read as an e-text. But any good university library should have it. Your plan to build up language skills before joining an MA program sounds like a go...
by Tewi
Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:37 pm
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Cosmic Tantra.
Replies: 23
Views: 6644

Re: Cosmic Tantra.

My apologies.
Define Worship, if you would please?
I'm not sure how. That sounds like a good anthropological question.
by Tewi
Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:48 pm
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Cosmic Tantra.
Replies: 23
Views: 6644

Re: Cosmic Tantra.

Now that I think about it, there is one issue that might have some political relevance. You have to understand that up to a point in the 1990's, a lot of mainstream Gelugpa worshipped a certain deity who is now verboten. (For all I know, I may have done so as well--I honestly don't remember what all...
by Tewi
Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:38 am
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Cosmic Tantra.
Replies: 23
Views: 6644

Re: Cosmic Tantra.

Oh, sorry! I misunderstood. Well, I knew the mind incarnation back in the 1980's, and later heard about their recognition from Zong Rinpoche. I remember that it was some kind of monastery tulku, and that the body incarnation was this gay Mongolian kid from New Jersey. (Bertolucci's film Little Buddh...
by Tewi
Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:17 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: America’s forgotten Buddhist superhero
Replies: 2
Views: 1057

Re: America’s forgotten Buddhist superhero

Not forgotten at all! The Green Lama is one of a number of Golden Age superheroes who are now in the public domain (i.e. neither copyrighted nor trademarked), and has been recently used by Alan Moore (I recall his Golden Age salute, "All-Hitler Comics") as well as Alex Ross (for Dynamite C...
by Tewi
Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:59 pm
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Cosmic Tantra.
Replies: 23
Views: 6644

Re: Cosmic Tantra.

Well, he sure looks like a monk to me as well. And he's obviously open about being a Tsem incarnation--look at the name he posts under.
by Tewi
Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:19 am
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Cosmic Tantra.
Replies: 23
Views: 6644

Re: Cosmic Tantra.

I've seen him on You-Tube before. He's a very charismatic guy with a fascinating personal story. I guess his generation of lamas will have the duty of seeing Tibetan Buddhism through the passing of the last cohort to have been trained in traditional Tibet, and figuring out its new (maybe more global...
by Tewi
Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:07 am
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Gaden Lha Gyama
Replies: 27
Views: 9017

Re: Gaden Lha Gyama

I don't object to it, or to Tzongkhapa (though I see him as one among many equally worthy voices), or to the Gelugpa lineage which arose in his wake. I'd just like to see basic levels of Buddhism concentrate on that which is shared across the different schools, rather than pushing newcomers into ide...
by Tewi
Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:50 am
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Gaden Lha Gyama
Replies: 27
Views: 9017

Re: Gaden Lha Gyama

This is a defining Gelugpa practice, of course. Those who do not define themselves specifically as Gelugpa, would probably find this inappropriate as a regular practice (although it seems not to be restricted). Dharma centers, I've noticed, find it tempting to grab newcomers and give them a sectaria...
by Tewi
Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:04 am
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Jesus, a Buddhist?
Replies: 214
Views: 46074

Re: Jesus, a Buddhist?

High Lama discussing Freemasonry is very strange indeed. That sounds odd to me too (as do many details of the ms itself). F. Max Mu:ller went to investigate, but the abbot of Hemis denied knowing anything about any foreigner answering to Notovitch's description. (Notovitch said he was shown the Iss...
by Tewi
Sat Feb 11, 2012 1:27 am
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Jesus, a Buddhist?
Replies: 214
Views: 46074

Re: Jesus, a Buddhist?

If we are going to consider Jesus as a Buddha, then I will consider my half-farcical theory that JRR Tolkien was a Tertön, The United States has a bona fide treasure-discoverer in the person of Joseph Smith! A mischievous person might even draw parallels between tantra and celestial marriage. Disto...
by Tewi
Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:08 am
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Jesus, a Buddhist?
Replies: 214
Views: 46074

Re: Jesus, a Buddhist?

Yes there are facts, plenty of them. "Buddha taught reincarnation" is a fact, or at least a factual issue. "If you do not believe in reincarnation, then you are not a true Buddhist" is a matter of opinion rather than fact. John Spong : Christianity = Stephen Batchelor : Buddhism....
by Tewi
Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:46 am
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Jesus, a Buddhist?
Replies: 214
Views: 46074

Re: Jesus, a Buddhist?

You are of course free to do that. Just as Christians fret about being undermined from the inside by John Spong, so with Buddhists and Stephen Batchelor! But this would be an expression of religious faith, not of an objective fact about the religion of Buddhism. (Plenty of religious groups think tha...
by Tewi
Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:49 pm
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Jesus, a Buddhist?
Replies: 214
Views: 46074

Re: Jesus, a Buddhist?

The term "Buddhism" can be used normatively or descriptively. Suppose I find someone who calls himself a Buddhist, and yet believes in a Creator God or some such. (No doubt such a person could be produced.) Would you say they are "not really" a Buddhist (i.e., a normative use), o...
by Tewi
Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:26 pm
Forum: Sakya
Topic: Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, and Vajrapani combined
Replies: 1
Views: 1862

Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, and Vajrapani combined

(This is a modified version of a question asked on the Nyingma page.) In Gelugpa circles, Tsongkhapa is said to be the embodiment of three deities: Avalokitshvara, Manjushri, and Vajrapani. I am wondering where this grouping came from, if it was not originally Gelugpa. I am aware of the tradition of...
by Tewi
Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:18 pm
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Jesus, a Buddhist?
Replies: 214
Views: 46074

Re: Jesus, a Buddhist?

Far from being fair, it's a massive oversimplification - repeated so many times (for obvious political reasons) that most people take it to be true without giving it any thought Well, at least we can say with some assurance that Christianity is the majority religion of Europe (and has been for a th...
by Tewi
Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:08 pm
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Jesus, a Buddhist?
Replies: 214
Views: 46074

Re: Jesus, a Buddhist?

Is Buddhism so dogmatic there is no shades of grey or possibilities of grey areas? Any input here? In a way, there is no such thing as "Buddhism"--there are only a great variety of Buddhists. If Buddhism makes you wiser, kinder, and more open-minded, then I guess that's the main thing. (I...

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