Buddhism about spirit guides

[Blue Garuda]

A propos of the historical perspective, I think some may see the names of Crowley, Blavatsky, the Theosophical Society and Golden Dawn and then blow a fuse, but the membership of those organisations included not only many prominent figures, but others who have a good claim to be studied as a part of the growth of Buddhism in the West:

''Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (Sinhala:සෙන්පති හෙන්රි ස්ටීල් ඔල්කට්) (August 2, 1832 – February 17, 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer and the co-founder and first President of the Theosophical Society.
Olcott was the first well-known American of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. His subsequent actions as president of the Theosophical Society helped create a renaissance in the study of Buddhism. Olcott is considered a Buddhist modernist for his efforts in interpreting Buddhism through a Westernized lens.
Olcott was a major revivalist of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and he is still honored in Sri Lanka for these efforts. Olcott has been called by Sri Lankans "one of the heroes in the struggle of our independence and a pioneer of the present religious, national and cultural revival".''

''The Buddhist Catechism, composed by Olcott in 1881, is one of his most enduring contributions to the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and remains in use there today. The text outlines what Olcott saw to be the basic doctrines of Buddhism, including the life of the Buddha, the message of the Dharma, the role of the Sanga. The text also treats how the Buddha’s message correlates with contemporary society. Olcott was considered by South Asians and others as a Buddhist revivalist.[9]''

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Stee ... _Catechism

''Travers Christmas Humphreys, QC (15 February 1901 – 13 April 1983) was a British barrister who prosecuted several controversial cases in the 1940s and 1950s, and later became a judge at the Old Bailey. He was an enthusiastic Shakespeare scholar and proponent of the Oxfordian theory on this subject. Author of numerous works on Mahayana Buddhism, he was in his day the most noted British convert to Buddhism. In 1924 he founded what became the London Buddhist Society, which was to have a seminal influence on the growth of the Buddhist tradition in Britain. His former home in St John's Wood, London, is now a Buddhist temple.''

''Humphreys founded the London Buddhist Lodge, which later changed its name to the Buddhist Society. The impetus for founding the Lodge came from theosophists with whom Humphreys socialised. Both at his home and at the lodge, he played host for eminent spiritual authors such as Nicholas Roerich and Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, and for prominent Theosophists like Alice Bailey and far Eastern Buddhist authorities like D.T. Suzuki. Other regular visitors in the 1930s were the Russian singer Vladimir Rosing and the young Alan Watts.[1] The Buddhist Society of London is one of the oldest Buddhist organisations outside Asia.
In 1945 he drafted the Twelve principles of Buddhism for which he obtained the approval of all the Buddhist sects in Japan (including the Shin Sect which was not associated with Olcott's Common Platform) of the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand and leading Buddhists of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China and Tibet.''

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Humphreys

Ok, it's Wki, but it makes the point. It is also the case that there was a connection between the Golden Dawn and the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society, from which some of its membership was derived.

[Nemo]

I talk to weird disembodied sprits all the time. Most provide useless advice and prattle on about obsessive nonsense. I use a modern Ouija board and talk to spirits all over the planet. I think it's called the internet or something.

Occasionally they have hard won widom. So I still listen.

[dharmagoat]

I talk to weird disembodied sprits all the time. Most provide useless advice and prattle on about obsessive nonsense. I use a modern Ouija board and talk to spirits all over the planet. I think it's called the internet or something.

Occasionally they have hard won wisdom. So I still listen.

I suspect that this is a projection of your own subconscious.

[catmoon]

Sometimes I talk to goats...

[Nemo]

You see the talking goat too?

[Son]

Does Lhug-Pa's mention of 'homosexual acts' and 'racism' connote that these are both negative actions? Maybe he/she/it should understand that for many homophobia is as negative as racism. Prejudice is prejudice.

Lhug-Pa's posts have quite consistently been homophobic for some time.

It's sad that beings are reborn in hell.

[bunny]

*peeks in*

hey

I've been a born medium and (I also have many other spiritual gifts): all my life I see spirits and more, I will go futher into this later). Over the years of my lifetime I have passed on messages from them to others, those that are on this mortal plane. I also have helped them [spirits] move onto where-ever they are meant to go to. I am the same whether it is someone who has passed away or a spirit being (not of this world).

To put "labels" to the above, because some of us mortals like them... I'm clairvoyant, meaning clear sight; clairsentient, meaning clear feeling; clairaudient, meaning clear hearing; clairalient, meaning clear smelling; clairgustant, meaning clear tasting. To put into layman terms I can interact with spirit beings if they were of this mortal plane. Though my interaction with them is more in-depth than with those on the mortal plane.

I am also a witch and a pagan I have on this path for nearly 21 years.

Since occult studies have been brought up, I have also been studying the occult sciences for over 26 years.

[SSJ3Gogeta]

If anyone can teach me how to clairvoyantly see spirits, PM me.

[SSJ3Gogeta]

I have been channelling for many years (at least 15) and I have realized this: You cannot ask someone outside of the New Age context about channelling, for they would colour it with their own beliefs. So, I accept and respect all of the opinions that were posted in this thread, but form the New Age point of view, channelling with the right being can be really rewarding and enlightening. I use this word ‘enlightenment’ with caution here, because Buddhism has another way of seeing things and what enlightenment is. For the New Age that has its roots in Theosophy, enlightenment is about expansion of consciousness and it approaches more the Hindu paradigm of coming closer to the Absolute.

What I mean then with all this is, that yes channelling cannot give you the kind of enlightenment that Buddhism teaches, cause it is based on another dogma and belief.

Gassho....

Even within the New Age movement, channeled spirits were famously revealed to be psychopathic liars in "The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts" by Joe Fischer.

[Son]

*peeks in*

hey

I've been a born medium and (I also have many other spiritual gifts): all my life I see spirits and more, I will go futher into this later). Over the years of my lifetime I have passed on messages from them to others, those that are on this mortal plane. I also have helped them [spirits] move onto where-ever they are meant to go to. I am the same whether it is someone who has passed away or a spirit being (not of this world).

To put "labels" to the above, because some of us mortals like them... I'm clairvoyant, meaning clear sight; clairsentient, meaning clear feeling; clairaudient, meaning clear hearing; clairalient, meaning clear smelling; clairgustant, meaning clear tasting. To put into layman terms I can interact with spirit beings if they were of this mortal plane. Though my interaction with them is more in-depth than with those on the mortal plane.

I am also a witch and a pagan I have on this path for nearly 21 years.

Since occult studies have been brought up, I have also been studying the occult sciences for over 26 years.

Clairvoyance, in Buddhism, really refers to having vision of devas, pretas, etc. and other beings from other realms and dimensions. In that context, it does not really refer to "spirits" as in spirits of the dead and demons, etc. Some people do have the emotional sensitivity and empathy to sense "spirits."

[Tilopa]

Even within the New Age movement, channeled spirits were famously revealed to be psychopathic liars in "The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts" by Joe Fischer.

Some spirits channelled by Tibetan mediums are considered to give reliable advice: Tseringma, Yudolma, Nechung, to name a few and mediums in many cultures channel spirits in order to heal people, often with great success. It's wrong to presume they are all pathological liars.

[Son]

Even within the New Age movement, channeled spirits were famously revealed to be psychopathic liars in "The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts" by Joe Fischer.

Some spirits channelled by Tibetan mediums are considered to give reliable advice: Tseringma, Yudolma, Nechung, to name a few and mediums in many cultures channel spirits in order to heal people, often with great success. It's wrong to presume they are all pathological liars.

whether or not what their channeling is considered to be spirits or actual devas, is yet to be clarified.
But there is a huge difference when you're using the help of a deva, or god, than some sort of "spirit."

[Tilopa]

Clairvoyance, in Buddhism, really refers to having vision of devas, pretas, etc. and other beings from other realms and dimensions......"

Also past and future lives, the karmic causes for present and future circumstances, bardo beings plus many other things as well. And let's not forget the Buddha's omniscient mind. There are degrees of clairvoyance, some much more powerful than others.

[bunny]

Interesting replies Son and Tilopa.

I will clear something up though generally speaking people of my path refer to ALL beings not of this mortal plane as spirits. Whether they once walked this plane, or a higher spirit e.g. a god/goddess.

Also I do not like using the terminology of "Angels or Deamons" as this to most people on the mortal plane see them as "Good or Evil" that is terminology that I do not like. The teachings of my path say that they are higher beings on different levels on different planes &/or dimensions.

[Nemo]

I think many in Tibetan Buddhism experience such things our tradition is to not talk about it.

[bunny]

Ah okay, thank you Nemo.

If I have cause offence it was not my intent.

[Son]

Interesting replies Son and Tilopa.

I will clear something up though generally speaking people of my path refer to ALL beings not of this mortal plane as spirits. Whether they once walked this plane, or a higher spirit e.g. a god/goddess.

Also I do not like using the terminology of "Angels or Deamons" as this to most people on the mortal plane see them as "Good or Evil" that is terminology that I do not like. The teachings of my path say that they are higher beings on different levels on different planes &/or dimensions.

Yes, in the Buddha's teachings those are also mentioned. 31 dimensions, to be precise, several worldly realms with gods, demigods, hungry ghosts, animals, vast celestial realms of mental refinement, and four difficult to conceive of dimensions of the formless sphere (arupaloka).

Having practiced with such traditions, I'm all too familiar with the vernacular of referring to gods, "demons," and animals all simply with the word "spirits." I was merely pointing out that it really does matter in the Buddhistic sense.

[Kaji]

sorry for going so off topic, it probably should go in the lounge, perhaps we could have a forum for Buddhist witches since there are quite a few of us out there really, or a forum for Buddhism and the occult or something. (...)

I'm curious - what is a Buddhist witch?

I use Buddhist magic on a daily basis. I do preta-dana. I recite dharani partly for empowerment. I use mantra for purifying food and water. I sometimes make "holy" water to help people and cleanse places and objects. I am a Pure Land practitioner who seeks to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, which I think is some major magic. Do these make me a Buddhist witch?

[Son]

sorry for going so off topic, it probably should go in the lounge, perhaps we could have a forum for Buddhist witches since there are quite a few of us out there really, or a forum for Buddhism and the occult or something. (...)

I'm curious - what is a Buddhist witch?

I use Buddhist magic on a daily basis. I do preta-dana. I recite dharani partly for empowerment. I use mantra for purifying food and water. I sometimes make "holy" water to help people and cleanse places and objects. I am a Pure Land practitioner who seeks to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, which I think is some major magic. Do these make me a Buddhist witch?

Not really. Those practices are not strictly witchcraft.
Can I ask what mantra you use to purify food and water, please?

[Kaji]

Not really. Those practices are not strictly witchcraft.
Can I ask what mantra you use to purify food and water, please?

For water:

Oṃ, vaśī pra-māṇī svāhā.

This is from the famous sutra where the Buddha spoke about 84,000 bugs in a bowl of water.

When I eat with my family, they often make me eat meat (I really want to be a vegetarian). This is the mantra I use before eating meat:

Tadyathā, ātma-ātma, a-jīvata a-jīvata, nāśa nāśa, dāha dāha, vadha vadha saṃ-kalitāmi svāhā.

(From volume 14th serial No. 468 of the Taisho Tripitaka)
...and also the names of the eight Buddha:

Namo bhagavate ratna-śikhine tathāgatāya.
Namo bhagavate abhayaṃ-karāya tathāgatāya.
Namo bhagavate vipula-gātrāya tathāgatāya.
Namo bhagavate su-rūpāya tathāgatāya.
Namo bhagavate prabhūta-ratnāya tathāgatāya.
Namo bhagavate amṛta-rājāya tathāgatāya.
Namo bhagavate amitābhāya tathāgatāya.
Namo bhagavate loka-vistīrṇa-tejeśvara-prabhāya tathāgatāya.

If I suspect the food to have poison or much toxin, I use the Peacock Vidyā-rāja's mantra:

Oṃ, mayūrā-krānte svāhā.

(From volume 19th serial No. 983A of the Taisho Tripitaka.)

...alternatively I have used this popular mantra previously:

Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ.

Optionally, I also add the Earth Settling mantra:

Namaḥ samanta buddhānām. Oṃ, dhuru dhuru pṛthivīye svāhā.

I always offer my food and water to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and also the Dharma protectors. Optionally I combine this offering with the All-Offering mantra:

Oṃ, gagana saṃ-bhava vajra hoḥ.