Buddhism and Magical Powers

[muffin]

Originally Posted by Rain95

I know you said that in a forum specific context, but it's an interesting statement when applied to human life in general especially applying the central tenet of Buddhism that "life is suffering." The question being, why do some choose incarnations full of suffering? Being born in sick or mentally ill bodies, in war zones, within families where one is abused, in violent cultures and locations?

There are two basic answers, one is we choose that for growth potential, the challenge that comes from that to turn a strong negative into something positive, then another answer is it is chosen for karmic reasons, we choose those horrible experiences to atone for us doing the same kind of thing to others and by experiencing them ourselves, we learn to have compassion and understanding for others in a way we did not have before. By being the victim of abuse instead of the perpetrators of abuse, we come to understand the profound impact our actions can have on others. Thus, the spiritual traits of compassion and empathy are formed. We develop a strong tendency to not harm others as we know what it is to be harmed.

Self caused suffering exists as higher awareness is needed to break free of it. Higher awareness or awareness of the true nature of self or consciousness is the goal of this physical world.

Good afternoon Rain

Did I

Your post is like a tapestry, it weaves within itself and each thread has a life of it own, this is why I don't do long posts.

I'm more into simple stuff, short and sweet

Give you one thing your a smart cookie

Originally Posted by muffin

Good afternoon janielee


In the most part yes, if your unhappy in what your doing, why do it,.

Most people give people advice that they are just giving themselves.

JL

[sentient]

Originally Posted by sentient

There are tales of old Asian-Turkic people of the noble blue wolf clan having moved to Tibet & some of those Turks also claim having invented acupuncture.

Göktürks probably are the link between Siberian Shamanism, Taoism and Tibetan Buddhism:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dH9M4Bsbbk...rk+Eurasia.jpg

https://www.globalsecurity.org/milit...okturk-600.jpg

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A mandala, the symbolic representation of the universe is the drum (traditionally blood red markings on white deer hide even in Saami drums):

http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net...4775383_hr.jpg

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[7luminaries]

Originally Posted by Rain95

I know you said that in a forum specific context, but it's an interesting statement when applied to human life in general especially applying the central tenet of Buddhism that "life is suffering." The question being, why do some choose incarnations full of suffering? Being born in sick or mentally ill bodies, in war zones, within families where one is abused, in violent cultures and locations?

There are two basic answers, one is we choose that for growth potential, the challenge that comes from that to turn a strong negative into something positive, then another answer is it is chosen for karmic reasons, we choose those horrible experiences to atone for us doing the same kind of thing to others and by experiencing them ourselves, we learn to have compassion and understanding for others in a way we did not have before. By being the victim of abuse instead of the perpetrators of abuse, we come to understand the profound impact our actions can have on others. Thus, the spiritual traits of compassion and empathy are formed. We develop a strong tendency to not harm others as we know what it is to be harmed.

Self caused suffering exists as higher awareness is needed to break free of it. Higher awareness or awareness of the true nature of self or consciousness is the goal of this physical world.

Hello Rain. I just wanted to add one thing.

It is far, far more pervasive than the experience of just being born ill or into abusive or war-torn situations, as historically commonplace as all these are.

We don't have to experience anything nearly so dramatic (to our thinking) in order to live a life of suffering, of extreme frailty and vulnerabilitly. To live a life of marginalization and oppression. Of otherness. Of ongoing threat, abuse, and dehumanisation.

These things are part and parcel of our experience whenever we are not a part of those running the show at any level. Whenever we are not on top. Not "in control". Not making the big decisions which impact the day-to-day lives of others.

As human beings, we have all been in a marginalised or despised group at some point. We have all been young or old or sick at times during every lifetime. And we have all been (at some point) women for our entire lives, whether young or old, sick or lame -- where there is no escaping the frailty, the oppression, the extreme vulnerability and attendant abuse at any point. All this is a part of the experience and it is one with the air we breath.

This is the root of compassion. Simply sign on for the fullness of the most basic and foundational aspects of human experience and you will incur it

Peace & blessings
7L

[sentient]

Originally Posted by janielee

In Shamanism, this so called black death - is that something that comes to one through some practices, or by itself?

What I had already said: “In Shamanism the awakening can be very sudden – like the Eternal Blue Sky Tengri with Bells on falling on your head.
If in a shock you totally surrender to that awakened view – at that moment the bird of prey – The Eagle may swallow you up and suspend you somewhere – nowhere inside the blackness within the Eagle’s belly.”

I’ll add to that answer now since I found some images to illustrate:
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/me...e-monument.jpg

Especially this:
http://www.boandbon.com/cover.html

I trust – the Maha Ati or a Shamanic awakening refers to absolute reality.
Once ‘all one’s bodies’ align with the absolute view at the moment of awakening, there is a total surrender of one’s life, and that means surrender of ‘all of one’s bodies’ dual and non-dual to the absolute.

1. the mind body
2. the emotional body
3. the bliss body(joy)
4. the silence body(emptyness)

(Sorry running to use your post about the bodies, hope you don’t mind too much …. )

Hence:

In the mundane sense, Guru Padmasambhava’s activities are called “miraculous,” but from the viewpoint of absolute reality, they are not unusual phenomena. They are the natural, spontaneous activity of the true nature.

Or one could call them ‘choiceless choice’ actions.
So the 'shaman's or guru's' "power" isn't their power ......

In Shamanic cultures (at least in ours), we only have the Thunderbird/Firebird/Eagle and the Central Sun (the Clear Light from the void) – The Eagle Thunderbird being an initiating ‘force field’ between the absolute and the relative.

In Buddhism – it seems - Garuda is a solar symbol:
http://balkhandshambhala.blogspot.co...da-khyung.html

Also depicted as black:
https://www.himalayanart.org/items/616

The void is the blackness …….. Clear Light energy radiates out of the void …..

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[sentient]

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There is also a difference between what a Westerner calls “the self” and how a ‘shamanic person’ understands the word “self”.

For us (traditionally, old ways) "the self” is more akin to one’s ‘energy-field’ – one’s ‘aura’.

When we pass on, the physical body dies, but "the self” i.e. the ‘energy-field’ moves on to different dimensions ……

So for a shamanic person “the self” that surrenders is the totality of their ‘energy field’ .... so to speak.

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Be Lost in the Call

Lord, said David, since you do not need us,
why did you create these two worlds?

Reality replied: O prisoner of time,
I was a secret treasure of kindness and generosity,
and I wished this treasure to be known,
so I created a mirror: its shining face, the heart;
its darkened back, the world;
The back would please you if you've never seen the face.

Has anyone ever produced a mirror out of mud and straw?
Yet clean away the mud and straw,
and a mirror might be revealed.

Until the juice ferments a while in the cask,
it isn't wine. If you wish your heart to be bright,
you must do a little work.

My King addressed the soul of my flesh:
You return just as you left.
Where are the traces of my gifts?

We know that alchemy transforms copper into gold.
This Sun doesn't want a crown or robe from God's grace.
He is a hat to a hundred bald men,
a covering for ten who were naked.

Jesus sat humbly on the back of an ***, my child!
How could a zephyr ride an ***?
Spirit, find your way, in seeking lowness like a stream.
Reason, tread the path of selflessness into eternity.

Remember God so much that you are forgotten.
Let the caller and the called disappear;
be lost in the Call.

"Love is a Stranger", Kabir Helminski
Threshold Books, 1993

[sentient]

Originally Posted by janielee

Be Lost in the Call
Remember God so much that you are forgotten.
Let the caller and the called disappear;
be lost in the Call.

That I trust describes the awakening well, be it Sufi, Buddhist, Shamanic or Christian awakening i.e. when the Absolute or Totality or the Source-Essence or “God” ‘comes calling’.

There is no you nor the bell – there is just ‘ringing’.
The Bells start ringing.
Totally shock alarmed, like “For Whom the Bell Tolls” - type of thing - the realization that the Source-Essence and the sound of the bells and your mind’s essence (space/emptiness) are one - hence there is no place for even an atom in the blade of the grass to hide from that ‘ringing’. It is All-Pervasive.

In Christian tradition the call might be followed by the descent of a “Holy Ghost”- Shamanics call it “Thunderbird/Eagle”.

And by the power of that Spirit’s descent you are transformed into a potential Saint or a Shaman or a Yidam - (Yidam I assume is the Buddhist equivalent?)

And just like in the 'spiritual path' – needing to put the insights into practice – after the call, one needs to do a Saint or a Shaman or a Yidam (?) practice – though for Shamanics that “Yidam?” is a “Power Animal”.

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I relate. Thanks; I don't know much about the Native spirituality - very interesting sharings.

Yidam is a Tibetan word - I appreciate spiritual matters regardless of tradition/context - what I look for is the substantive content/insight - words don't impress me much! (Shania Twain?!)

My belief system is such that many people have experiences - some legitimately powerful/God inducing - and some may be cool - but only the Heart matters. Only the results matter - a fool like me with many experiences is still a fool, and perhaps a worse one at that.



Blessings on your road.

JL

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by sentient

That I trust describes the awakening well, be it Sufi, Buddhist, Shamanic or Christian awakening i.e. when the Absolute or Totality or the Source-Essence or “God” ‘comes calling’.

There is no you nor the bell – there is just ‘ringing’.
The Bells start ringing.
Totally shock alarmed, like “For Whom the Bell Tolls” - type of thing - the realization that the Source-Essence and the sound of the bells and your mind’s essence (space/emptiness) are one - hence there is no place for even an atom in the blade of the grass to hide from that ‘ringing’. It is All-Pervasive.

In Christian tradition the call might be followed by the descent of a “Holy Ghost”- Shamanics call it “Thunderbird/Eagle”.

And by the power of that Spirit’s descent you are transformed into a potential Saint or a Shaman or a Yidam - (Yidam I assume is the Buddhist equivalent?)

And just like in the 'spiritual path' – needing to put the insights into practice – after the call, one needs to do a Saint or a Shaman or a Yidam (?) practice – though for Shamanics that “Yidam?” is a “Power Animal”.

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Hi sentient,

The descent of the Holy Spirit is more of a reference to Grace. In Mystical Christianity energy descends from the top where Yoga it comes from the bottom.

A Yidam is a divine being, a Buddha that one visualizes in great detail to be one with oneself. It is about realizing the pure aspects of that being within ones self.

It is far, far different than a Power Animal in Shamanism.