robaire on Buddhism & Christianity

[robaire]

a Christian has accepted a certain cultural context.

God has nothing to do with any limitations or contexts, other than vitality.

[robaire]

I'm essentially horrified by 80% of the Buddhist practices today.

the intention seems to be to produce an army of statues.

well, when a pigeon comes along and craps on you, I guess you made it ...

[Jikan]

I'm essentially horrified by 80% of the Buddhist practices today.

the intention seems to be to produce an army of statues.

That's devotional practice for you.

apropos of which...

viewtopic.php?f=77&t=6632&view=unread#p78757

[Mr. G]

I'm essentially horrified by 80% of the Buddhist practices today.

And what do you think you know about Buddhist practices today?

[robaire]

hi mr G.

"what do I know" ..... risks a hubris kind of pronouncement.

I know enough.

when does one know enough?

[Mr. G]

hi mr G.

"what do I know" ..... risks a hubris kind of pronouncement.

I know enough.

when does one know enough?

Yes, I'm sure we can play these word games all day about expressing the inexpressible in our writings here.

[Malcolm]

I know enough.

Not, apparently, about Buddhism.

[robaire]

pesonally, I don't do "labels" ....

[robaire]

I feel rather fine, and in need of defending very little if anything.

[conebeckham]

That's nice.
Why are you here?

[robaire]

hi cone beckham ...................

good question. the internet is quite the phenomenon.

does anyone recall what it was like not 15 years ago, when snail mail was the way?

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what an incredible jump in velocity.

one more reason to pause ....... wow

[conebeckham]

Of course. But I'm not speaking of "why you're here" in regards to the internet, or existentially....you know that. Why are you here, at Dharma Wheel? Can you answer that question?

[mindyourmind]

Sheesh.

Got to love the internet. Or not.

[Paul]

[conebeckham]

Troll or not, he should ask himself the question I posed.....if he's honest with himself, perhaps he'd stop coming back.

[robaire]

I'd really like to turn this into a << Meditation Techniques >> thread.

it's not about finding points of division, rather it's about the common wisdom found in both that might lead to insight and effectiveness in practice.

so on that note, I'm going to touch upon some of the many techniques which are ways, methods, of meditation.
what it starts with is awareness, taking as little as 5 minutes or as long as many years, to simply be aware.

you stop and unplug, and then you become aware of what is going on, and what is really gong on.
the better technique involve breathing awareness. it also includes energy awareness.

yes, there is meditation in Christianity, as there is in Sufism, and Hinduism. Buddhism seems most centered on practice. it is a method, not a means to become important and all knowing. liberation is partly a freedom from the big important ego. it's much more though.

[robaire]

one thing I find right away, is that if I'm going to use words to type something, why not use the best words.

for example, God is a powerful word. it has many connotations. Buddhist like to use words. how many of their words are feeding the pride of intellect ... or how many are feeding something you might call "the Spirit" ?

by Spirit, I'd refer to some point of inspiration, that would enable others to strengthen their practice, rather than to weaken it.

[robaire]

Troll or not, he should ask himself the question I posed.....if he's honest with himself, perhaps he'd stop coming back.

I consider this remark above an image of a great saint Sukhasiddi, to be profanity.

[robaire]

well, a lot of words have been written on the subject of meditation, and hopefully this will not be too many words.
but needing to start somewhere, why not offer that any and all mediation has to feel natural.

it should be, has to be, your own meditation, and not someone else's meditations.
in regards to the choice of practices, there must be several dozen techniques, to form a main category, and of these, there will probably be only a few that feel right ..... to any one individual.

what is the aim? .................. to cohere. to comprehend. to balance.

and to do this, you need a path or means that flows naturally.

certainly when you study under a master or a school you will get that person's own style or practice, and then you will be asked to shoe-horn this into what you might call your own practice.

that is natural. but what you are also going to do as quickly as possible, is to personalize any such practice into something that is yours and is no one else's.

hence, awareness is allowed to be born. room and peace and time is allowed to sprout within your own experiences.

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to a number of members this will be nothing new. but having started there, it gives a good space to move on.

[robaire]

this is a pretty nice treatment .............

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I'm very interested in some of the chinese temple designs, especially the cliffside temples.
these were obviously designed on the most dramatic setting possible,
and I guess it's part of the ambience to make the experience of the monks there deeper.


this one is famous, in datong.

on the west cliff of Jinlong Vallay at the foot of Heng Mountain ......the Hanging Monastery is 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Datong City center ... combines the Confucianism, the Taoism and the Buddhism as one, with the statues of Confucius, Lao-tzu, a Chinese philosopher in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.), and Buddha Sakyamuni placed in the same temple. ... link

an image of the tiger's nest temple (Taktsang Palphug Monastery) in Bhutan .................