Emptiness and appearences

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Vajradhara
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Emptiness and appearences

Post by Vajradhara »

Hello everyone,

In the scriptures is said that water is seen in different ways depending on our karma. If we are human we see water, while god sees nectar, and ghosts will see urine and pus.

This makes me think - Is it possible that the people around us are living in another realm while we see them in a human form?

example: I have a friend whose name is Paul. With his mental continuum, Paul is experiencing himself as a god in a god realm while i perceive him as an ordinary human being. Do you think these things can co-exist in the same way water-pus-nectar are existing for different karmas?

Thank you for your replies. :bow:
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Ayu
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Re: Emptiness and appearences

Post by Ayu »

I meet many westerners who believe they are God or something similar. Especially you can find them online.
Sadly there is nothing to it. It's just a quite common psychic disorder.
As soon as something comes to put stress on them, the heavenly equanimity, love and compassion are gone. I think, God would behave differently.
Most of the time, these are wonderful sweet people. But their realm is not real.
Riju
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Re: Emptiness and appearences

Post by Riju »

Ayu wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:15 pm I meet many westerners who believe they are God or something similar. Especially you can find them online.
Sadly there is nothing to it. It's just a quite common psychic disorder.
As soon as something comes to put stress on them, the heavenly equanimity, love and compassion are gone. I think, God would behave differently.
Most of the time, these are wonderful sweet people. But their realm is not real.
Words like psychic disorder are strong words. If they are sweet people than they are at a place where they are experiencing something which you are missing.
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Emptiness and appearences

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

Vajradhara wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 11:56 am Is it possible that the people around us are living in another realm while we see them in a human form?
This is an interesting question. Does my dog see me as a good-realm being?
No matter how quickly a snail moves, a hummingbird will always see it as a motionless rock.

In Pali texts, more than six realms are described:

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dha ... /loka.html

My understanding is that the realms aren’t as distinct as we think. The famous wheel of samsara images from Tibetan Buddhism, sort if a circular comic strip, is a little misleading that way. The borders are a bit blurrier than what is depicted. Thus, humans and animals share much of the same experiences.

There can also be a lot of misinterpretation. But going along with your question, Someone might think that maybe although we see Donald Trump as a human, that maybe is actually an asura or god-realm being, because he enjoys wealth and power. But considering that his quest for wealth and power is insatiable, perhaps he would really be a hungry ghost that we perceive as human.

So, the question is about how do we perceive other realms, and is it a human-realm characteristic to see other realm beings as humans. I don’t think there’s anything in the texts that suggests this is the case.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
Archie2009
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Re: Emptiness and appearences

Post by Archie2009 »

Riju wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:57 pm
Ayu wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:15 pm I meet many westerners who believe they are God or something similar. Especially you can find them online.
Sadly there is nothing to it. It's just a quite common psychic disorder.
As soon as something comes to put stress on them, the heavenly equanimity, love and compassion are gone. I think, God would behave differently.
Most of the time, these are wonderful sweet people. But their realm is not real.
Words like psychic disorder are strong words. If they are sweet people than they are at a place where they are experiencing something which you are missing.
If they are psychotic and you are not that would still be true, though not in the sense of the missing being a loss.
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Ayu
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Re: Emptiness and appearences

Post by Ayu »

Riju wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:57 pm
Ayu wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:15 pm I meet many westerners who believe they are God or something similar. Especially you can find them online.
Sadly there is nothing to it. It's just a quite common psychic disorder.
As soon as something comes to put stress on them, the heavenly equanimity, love and compassion are gone. I think, God would behave differently.
Most of the time, these are wonderful sweet people. But their realm is not real.
Words like psychic disorder are strong words. If they are sweet people than they are at a place where they are experiencing something which you are missing.
I am sorry, it was not my intention to insult anybody by harsh words.
For me, 'psychic disorder' is just a medical term like 'broken leg'. I wished, nobody would use the term as an insult.

If those gods on earth would be able to stay happy and tuned, I wouldn't call it a desease. But in my observation, those greatest people are standing at the edge of breakdown. It's suffering.
On the other hand, nobody is determined to stay in suffering. Everything is changing inevitably. Being god almighty or coming down to earth again - that all are phases only.
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