Search found 37 matches

by Loving
Sun May 19, 2019 4:41 am
Forum: Dharma in Everyday Life
Topic: Craving
Replies: 5
Views: 1823

Craving

I have felt some clarity about what is so illusory about craving. Feel free to comment on, add or amend something. :smile: There is only now, and when you crave, you become dissatisfied with the now; in that moment you prefer the reality of your idea to your experiential reality, and you suffer from...
by Loving
Tue May 14, 2019 3:24 pm
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Suffering
Replies: 23
Views: 4757

Re: Suffering

The questioner, dolphin_color, also asked about the relation between the first truth of dukkha and emptiness. I would say that emptiness suggests that all ideas are relative to a context or mental frame, and dukkha suggests that we frame things imperfectly. But I am no authority on these things. For...
by Loving
Tue May 14, 2019 2:53 pm
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Suffering
Replies: 23
Views: 4757

Re: Suffering

Your post, PadmaVonSamba, reminded me of a story from the Zhuangzi : When Zhuangzi's wife died and Hui Shi came to convey his condolences, he found Zhuangzi squatting with his knees out, drumming on a pan and singing. ''You lived with her, she raised your children, and you grew old together," H...
by Loving
Mon May 13, 2019 2:10 pm
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Suffering
Replies: 23
Views: 4757

Re: Suffering

Hi Kim. The most interesting and relevant part of the Wikipedia article to me is between the two parts you quoted: The word is commonly explained as a derivation from Aryan terminology for an axle hole, referring to an axle hole which is not in the center and leads to a bumpy, uncomfortable ride. Ac...
by Loving
Sun May 12, 2019 5:17 pm
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Suffering
Replies: 23
Views: 4757

Re: Suffering

'Du-kkha' literally translates as 'Hard-to Bear' or 'Difficult-to Bear'. I find this extremely interesting. Is a search for enlightenment, then, an aim to make life not so hard to bear? Is it to bear life in spite of its hardness? Is it both? Is it, in a sense, neither? :thinking: The problem is Sa...
by Loving
Sun May 12, 2019 2:59 pm
Forum: Gelug
Topic: Suffering
Replies: 23
Views: 4757

Re: Suffering

AJP wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 2:12 pm 'Du-kkha' literally translates as 'Hard-to Bear' or 'Difficult-to Bear'.
I find this extremely interesting. Is a search for enlightenment, then, an aim to make life not so hard to bear? Is it to bear life in spite of its hardness? Is it both? Is it, in a sense, neither? :thinking:
by Loving
Fri May 10, 2019 8:03 am
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

The point of having the right view is to create a container for the actual practice (which doesn't mean just formal practice of course, it subsumes everything), which is the "living" part of Dharma, confusing the container with what it holds is a recipe for continued circling. That was ve...
by Loving
Thu May 09, 2019 4:58 am
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

I'm going to be honest. I don't care whether or not the ancients had it "right", or scientists have it "right". Whether we are a ghost in a machine or all things are centred in the mind, whether we have free will or all is determined or both, whether we inhabit an infinite or a f...
by Loving
Wed May 08, 2019 11:42 am
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

I want to clarify that I am absolutely not saying that Buddhists have a "correct" unconscious belief and this has to supplant the "incorrect" beliefs of other worldviews. I am saying that the whole idea of seeing the world in terms of belief keeps us divided.
by Loving
Wed May 08, 2019 10:30 am
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

I wholeheartedly agree that it is not wise or understanding to create the divisive dichotomy "either secular or Buddhist, but not both". To the extent that we may have done this here, it does not come from bodhicitta. It instead comes from the desire to express a particular concern. This c...
by Loving
Tue May 07, 2019 2:31 pm
Forum: Introductions
Topic: Peace :)
Replies: 7
Views: 2069

Peace :)

Hello to all of the Dharma community :smile:. Having asked a few potentially annoying questions to determine how things work around here, I consider myself quite at home and so I want to introduce myself more formally. My name's Josh, I live in Brisbane, Australia and my background is secular. For m...
by Loving
Tue May 07, 2019 10:30 am
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

I find the words in the posts by PadmaVonSamba and muni extremely nourishing, and I am very grateful to you both for offering them. :smile: As to the necessity of accepting Buddha or specific teachings as true and authentic... there is a sense in which that is completely accurate—see my earlier post...
by Loving
Mon May 06, 2019 8:35 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

There's nothing wrong with the scientific method. The problem lies in the metaphysical assumptions left unchecked that underlie scientific materialism. These run so deep and we adopted them from such an early age that they became invisible. This closes doors you won't imagine when it comes to insig...
by Loving
Mon May 06, 2019 7:02 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and Parapsychology
Replies: 50
Views: 8151

Re: Buddhism and Parapsychology

I'm very grateful for your generous advice! :bow: Since it seems important, I will be more frank. I feel like materialism/physicalism is the refrain mostly of people who expect all truth to be easily accessible to the public domain. When you grow up in a cultural framework that expresses "ultim...
by Loving
Mon May 06, 2019 3:55 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and Parapsychology
Replies: 50
Views: 8151

Re: Buddhism and Parapsychology

I am aware that this is my own perception, by the way. :thinking: :rolling: My situation/temperament is basically this: If you tell me "Look over there, and you may see a path", I will instinctively look, and once I see, I will walk it. But if you give me a claim, "Such and such is tr...
by Loving
Mon May 06, 2019 1:57 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and Parapsychology
Replies: 50
Views: 8151

Re: Buddhism and Parapsychology

Hi Loving! ... You should judge for yourself, but this a a guy I deeply trust. Hi Marcos! :twothumbsup: You need never apologise for going on a rant, as long as it was well-intentioned. :smile: I have absolutely no doubt that Alan Wallace is a superbly knowledgeable teacher and is particularly attu...
by Loving
Mon May 06, 2019 10:56 am
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

You might be interested in Sam Vara's comments, given that he was at the talk: https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=34201 Thanks Mike :D. I also took your cue and listened to a talk by Ajahn Amaro. He has a strong grasp of the cultural dynamics; and he projects a distinct sincerity. Mos...
by Loving
Sun May 05, 2019 5:36 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

Thank you Jerafreyr. You helped a great deal. The link to the Milinda Pañha is particularly appropriate, since I am already reading the popular The Monk and the Philosopher for virtually the same kind of insight. I have a particular tendency to question and disassemble whatever I am reading. For thi...
by Loving
Sun May 05, 2019 12:23 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

On that note, here is a discourse I found illuminating:

by Loving
Sun May 05, 2019 11:44 am
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha
Replies: 48
Views: 8853

Re: Buddhism and the Historical Buddha

Thank you very much for offering this essay and its sources Wayfarer. I have great concern for a well-balanced and inclusive synthesis between East and West, and particularly Buddhism and secularism.

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