Hello.

[Buddhafly]

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=purple]
Hello.
I am new here. I practice a sort of combo of Vajrayana,
Taoism, Pureland, Chinese Buddhism, Zen..
Well it isn't boring! :)

Buddhafly

[Thomas Knierim]

Welcome to the board, Buddhafly!

That's quite a potpourri you mentioned there. What is it that you practice?

Cheers, Thomas

[venom mama]

hello

[Spiny]

Originally posted by Buddhafly@Jan 7 2005, 02:32 AM
[FONT=Arial][COLOR=purple]
Hello.
I am new here. I practice a sort of combo of Vajrayana,
Taoism, Pureland, Chinese Buddhism, Zen..
Well it isn't boring! :)

Buddhafly
"I am new here. I practice a sort of combo of Vajrayana,
Taoism, Pureland, Chinese Buddhism, Zen..
Well it isn't boring! :) "

Don't you find it confusing mixing traditions in this way?

[sonrisa]

confusing? how so?

[sandierox]

I am new as well. I have started to follow this way of life and find that it gives a much more wholesome outlook on everyday activities. Any help is appreciated. Thank you kindly.

[Buddhafly]

Hello all.
Thank you for the welcome. :grouphug:
The tradition I follow incorportates them
all together in one school.
Complicated? Yes it can be.
Especially for someone who is completely new to Buddhism.

I simply keep the Buddhas teaching in mind and practices
and do the formal practices when I am not so lazy. ^_^

[vicente]

I'm a fan of Vajrayana Buddhism myself, and find the essence of all there is to understand to wake-up in Tilopa's 28 verse Mahamudra.

Here is a translation by Tenzin:

1.Is space anywhere supported? Upon what does it rest?
Like space, Mahamudra is dependant upon nothing;
Relax and settle in the continuum of unalloyed purity,
And, your bonds loosening, release is certain.

2.Gazing intently into the empty sky, vision ceases;
Likewise, when mind gazes into mind itself,
The train of discursive and conceptual thought ends
And supreme enlightenment is gained.

3.Like the morning mist that dissolves into thin air,
Going nowhere but ceasing to be,
Waves of conceptualization, all the mind's creation, dissolve,
When you behold your mind's true nature.

4.Pure space has neither colour nor shape
And it cannot be stained either black or white;
So also, mind's essence is beyond both colour and shape
And it cannot be sullied by black or white deeds.

5.The darkness of a thousand aeons is powerless
To dim the crystal clarity of the sun's heart;
And likewise, aeons of samsara have no power
To veil the clear light of the mind's essence.

6.Although space has been designated "empty",
In reality it is inexpressible;
Although the nature of mind is called "clear light",
Its every ascription is baseless verbal fiction.

7.The mind's original nature is like space;
It pervades and embraces all things under the sun.

8.Be still and stay relaxed in genuine ease,
Be quiet and let sound reverberate as an echo,
Keep your mind silent and watch the ending of all worlds.

9.The body is essentially empty like the stem of a reed,
And the mind, like pure space, utterly transcends
the world of thought:
Relax into your intrinsic nature with neither abandon nor control -
Mind with no objective is Mahamudra -
And, with practice perfected, supreme enlightenment is gained.

10..The clear light of Mahamudra cannot be revealed
By the canonical scriptures or metaphysical treatises
Of the Mantravada, the Paramitas or the Tripitaka;
The clear light is veiled by concepts and ideals.

11.By harbouring rigid precepts the true samaya is impaired,
But with cessation of mental activity all fixed notions subside;
When the swell of the ocean is at one with its peaceful depths,
When mind never strays from indeterminate, non-conceptual truth,
The unbroken samaya is a lamp lit in spiritual darkness.

12.Free of intellectual conceits, disavowing dogmatic principles,
The truth of every school and scripture is revealed.
Absorbed in Mahamudra, you are free from the prison of samsara;
Poised in Mahamudra, guilt and negativity are consumed;
And as master of Mahamudra you are the light of the Doctrine.

13.The fool in his ignorance, disdaining Mahamudra,
Knows nothing but struggle in the flood of samsara.
Have compassion for those who suffer constant anxiety!
Sick of unrelenting pain and desiring release, adhere to a master,
For when his blessing touches your heart, the mind is liberated.

14.KYE HO! Listen with joy!
Investment in samsara is futile; it is the cause of every anxiety.
Since worldly involvement is pointless, seek the heart of reality!

15.In the transcending of mind's dualities is Supreme vision;
In a still and silent mind is Supreme Meditation;
In spontaneity is Supreme Activity;
And when all hopes and fears have died, the Goal is reached.

16.Beyond all mental images the mind is naturally clear:
Follow no path to follow the path of the Buddhas;
Employ no technique to gain supreme enlightenment.

17.KYE MA! Listen with sympathy!
With insight into your sorry worldly predicament,
Realising that nothing can last, that all is as dreamlike illusion,
Meaningless illusion provoking frustration, boredom and useless happiness,
Turn around and abandon your mundane pursuits.

18.Cut away involvement with your homeland and friends
And meditate alone in a forest or mountain retreat;
Exist there in a state of non-meditation
And attaining no-attainment, you attain Mahamudra.

19.A tree spreads its branches and puts forth leaves,
But when its root is cut its foliage withers;
So too, when the root of the mind is severed,
The branches of the tree of samsara die.

20.A single lamp dispels the darkness of a thousand aeons;
Likewise, a single flash of the mind's clear light
Erases aeons of karmic conditioning and spiritual blindness.

21.KYE HO! Listen with joy!
The truth beyond mind cannot be grasped by any faculty of mind;
The meaning of non-action cannot be understood in compulsive activity;
To realise the meaning of non-action and beyond mind,
Cut the mind at its root and rest in naked awareness.

22.Allow the muddy waters of mental activity to clear;
Refrain from both positive and negative projection -
leave appearances alone:
The phenomenal world, without addition or subtraction, is Mahamudra.

23.The unborn omnipresent base dissolves your impulsions and delusions:
Do not be conceited or calculating but rest in the unborn essence
And let all conceptions of yourself and the universe melt away.

24.The highest vision opens every gate;
The highest meditation plumbs the infinite depths;
The highest activity is ungoverned yet decisive;
And the highest goal is ordinary being devoid of hope and fear.

25.At first your karma is like a river falling through a gorge;
In mid-course it flows like a gently meandering River Ganga;
And finally, as a river becomes one with the ocean,
It ends in consummation like the meeting of mother and son.

26.If the mind is dull and you are unable to practice these instructions,
Retaining essential breath and expelling the sap of awareness,
Practising fixed gazes - methods of focussing the mind,
Discipline yourself until the state of total awareness abides.

27.When serving a karmamudra, the pure awareness
of bliss and emptiness will arise:
Composed in a blessed union of insight and means,
Slowly send down, retain and draw back up the bodhichitta,
And conducting it to the source, saturate the entire body.
But only if lust and attachment are absent will that awareness arise.

28.Then gaining long-life and eternal youth, waxing like the moon,
Radiant and clear, with the strength of a lion,
You will quickly gain mundane power and suprem enlightenment.
May this pith instruction in Mahamudra
Remain in the hearts of fortunate beings.

:)

[Buddhafly]

Thank you.
That was very beautiful!

[Spiny]

"confusing? how so?"

Each tradition has it's own particular emphasis, these vary widely - it can take a long time to understand this in depth. Mixing traditions can work but we risk "cherry-picking" the bits we feel comfortable with.

[Buddhafly]

When I first went to the temple I was
overwhelmed by the shrine and dieties.
This was so new to me.

The fact that the majority of people belonging to the
school are Asian speaking made learning a lot
more slow.

There is still much that I do not understand
and do not get the logistics of but the main idea's
and main practices I understand well.

In remembering what the Buddha taught as the
basis for all schools, I see what I need to put
emphasis on and what I need not to.

[slowmusketeer]

Hi, I'm new too. I'm not Buddhist, but I like it. But I prefer to be unaffiliated to any belief system. I consider myself an atheist.

[jesupocaplypse]

I consider myself a Being. and sometimes an Earthling.

[slowmusketeer]

Ah, I, too, am a being, and surely an earthling, as I have, sadly, been to no other planets.

[jesupocaplypse]

not in this vessel at least

[NeverMind]

I am an omnivore because I LOVE MEAT and I LOVE SALAD!