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Paramemetic posted:literally his office has spies everywhere, etc gonna need some more info about this, diaspora spy networks sounds pretty interesting!
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Apr 11, 2023 00:43
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There isn't a lot to tell. A lot of the diaspora government was established by people close to HHDL and they became de facto leaders of different groups as they spread to other countries. Over time the network of people who know people who work at the office of the Dalai Lama has become pretty close. I'm in the DC area where it's particularly thick but pretty much everyone in the Tibetan diaspora is within two degrees of his office and a lot of weird pressure gets applied. His office also tends to flex a lot especially on other major Tibetan Buddhist leaders, for example scheduling him to show up places at the same time as other leaders and then muscling them out. Basically the man himself is, I believe, very good (though obviously not above awkward faux pas) but his office is often pretty much exactly what you'd expect from the remnants of an imperial court. There's a lot of intrigues, favors dealing, etc. Edit: vague posting to protect the innocent but as a small example I have direct knowledge of a small meditation center in a non-Gelug lineage where a picture of HHDL was not positioned in the most honored place in a room, which was noticed by someone during a losar event, who mentioned it to someone else, and which eventually turned into a Whatsapp mega drama about whether the founder of that center thought he was more important, pressure being applied via monastic back channels and all of the political pressures that go with that. Over a picture that was on the same level as another picture in a living room. Paramemetic fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 00:53
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It's very bad. Keep in mind that at the moment, there is an edited version of the video being circulated that uses jump cuts to imply he was engaging in a deep kiss. In the full video the dalai lama appears to pull back when the boy gets very close to his face, then laughs and slaps him on the shoulder to convey that he was joking (a censor mosaic over the boy's face blurs the distance between them somewhat, so it's hard to see precisely what is occurring). however, to call something a joke does not render it appropriate. it is not okay, and it raises many questions. just an overall bewildering action, and you would think someone who shoulders so much political and religious responsibility would have the foresight to never utter the words "Suck my tongue" to a little boy. there is a lot of uproar on the internet about it at the moment. I recommend, if you are uncertain, to view the video, put yourself in the boy's shoes and the adult's shoes, and draw a conclusion for yourself. Cephas fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 01:02
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"diaspora government"? see this raises more questions! id of course expect tibetan communities to have tibetan leaders, but the idea that there's a separate diaspora-as-such government that has some kind of sway over tibetans in the US, india, etc seems nuts to me. like, it seems so out there that i feel like i must be misunderstanding you. what kind of pressure can be applied in such a situation? ok so A doesn't like where B put the picture. what could they do about it beyond complaining on whatsapp? this is a sincere question.
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Apr 11, 2023 01:19
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Sounds like a government-in-exile if without official authority. Given pre-PRC Tibet I suspect this is also a pretty religious government.
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Apr 11, 2023 01:29
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Achmed Jones posted:"diaspora government"? see this raises more questions! id of course expect tibetan communities to have tibetan leaders, but the idea that there's a separate diaspora-as-such government that has some kind of sway over tibetans in the US, india, etc seems nuts to me. like, it seems so out there that i feel like i must be misunderstanding you. It's not my lived experience so I don't know that I feel comfortable talking about social pressures, etc. in a ton of depth. The Tibetan government in exile maintains a significant amount of influence over Tibetans outside Tibet no matter where they are geographically located. As with many cultural diaspora the Tibetan community maintains tight social networks to both maintain cultural cohesion and to support each other. As such there's significant pressure to maintain in group cohesion. That comes with a lot of layers because the concept of "Tibetans" as a single people ("tsampa eaters" etc) is a relatively new thing that came about in exile to make it easier to appeal to the international community and so on as a very deliberate thing, while in fact centuries of religious, political, and regional tension still exists under the surface. So it's not like the Dalai Lama's secret police can have you arrested in America, but it's absolutely like you may face ostracism or shunning within the community you depend on because word came back from ODL that you're a splitter, or for concern that it may reflect poorly or create trouble for family in the immediate orbit of the government in exile, in monasteries, or so on. In particular the government in exile (and the office of the Dalai Lama, these are different things as he abdicated all political authority, at least on paper, while still retaining substantial soft power) has substantial sway over cultural associations and so on and those cultural associations in turn have influence over the the government in exile. I don't really want to go much further into it as this is taking me pretty far out of my depth as someone who has been privileged to be a fly on the wall observer of these mechanisms but who isn't part of the Tibetan diaspora and does not have a comprehensive knowledge of the personalities, etc in it at present. It's just that it is a government in exile, which means politics, and all that goes with that, and ODL and deep loyalties and personal and religious agendas are all still things in play, despite HHDL and his relatives are not openly participants in government since 2011. To the specifics of that case, it really depends on who takes how much seriously, what they might gain, and so on. Monks and religious centers in the US for the most part depend on donations, and big donors can be influenced by the suggestions that come down the pipeline in the form of "oh that center? well it's fine but I think it would make Rinpoche happier if..." So there can be serious economic and career consequences if people complain to the right people in the right ways. And I don't think any of this is like, orchestrated by HHDL specifically. It's the ambitions of individuals and the capacity for power and influence brokering and so on that comes with any kind of politics, secular or religious. Edit: I also don't want to add a bunch of stigma and negativity to the thing when Chinese influence agents are constantly trying to do exactly that. But at the same time I don't think it's fruitful or beneficial to treat either the Tibetan monastic institutions or its government in exile as if they are immune to the shortcomings of all religious institutions and governments. So please don't take this as like, castigation or criticism of these bodies. They're just, well, human institutions in this samsara. Edit 2: it's a Buddhism thread and not a Tibetan secular and religious government thread so I'm gonna stop after probably saying way too much and inelegantly. Paramemetic fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 03:01
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thank you for that explanation, it helps a ton specifically, the "exile government has considerable influence on diaspora community" bit. i was under the impression that it was only particularly influential to the community in/around dharamshala
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Apr 11, 2023 03:08
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the tibetan diaspora being extremely small relative to the huge international prominence of the dalai lama is a big part of it
Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 12:54 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 12:52
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Got some good vegan garbage cow soup tonight at the Vietnamese place with the meditation platform and alter in it, and for the second time one of the monastics from our local Thien temple was there, joining the owner and staff for dinner. Makes me wish I spoke Vietnamese
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Apr 12, 2023 01:53
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Lately I've been feeling divided between two thoughts: "I'm really bad at this whole Buddhist Thing" and "The Western Buddhist Community (particularly online) are a bunch of tryhards". On one hand, I feel like I'm not being as good a person as I could be. I'm trying to eat less meat (it feels so hard to go full vegetarian in the US), I think more about what I do and how it affects others, and I try not to be so attached to things or people, and contemplate that nothing is permanent, so appreciate it while it's here. Really, that doesn't feel like it's too much/enough. I think Gandhi said that religion without sacrifice was one of the great evils of this world, and I feel sometimes that I don't really sacrifice anything. On the other hand, I feel like a lot of Buddhists online present an unrealistic/difficult lifestyle as if it should be the norm. "Oh yeah, being a Buddhist is easy! Just follow the 5 Noble Precepts. And don't eat meat. And don't forget to meditate. Also, you should cut out unsavory entertainment. What's unsavory? Oh, media, art, fiction, most hobbies, basically anything that isn't watching a sunset solemnly." I'm exaggerating a bit, but I see so many people in other Buddhist online communities advocating for people to cut out everything that's a "distraction" (video games, movies, television, etc.) For example, this reddit post. It reminds me of those hardcore Christians that boycott anything sinful, only this time, it's hidden with a "well, you don't HAVE to do this, you just will never achieve enlightenment and will probably be reborn as a preeta or hell-being, but that's up to you if you want to do that!" I like my hobbies. They're how I meet and connect with a lot of people, and while I think it's important to check that they don't become a problem, this mindset I'm seeing online is really bugging me.
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Apr 16, 2023 13:09
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Reddit is the spiritual materialism (and every other kind of materialism) capital of the internet, and a hive of frauds besides, so I wouldn't take any of those responses especially seriously. If anything I think with hobbies and "unwholesome" entertainment or whatever it is not necessarily a problem to indulge in those things, except if/when those things become a significant distraction in other areas of your life; that is, it's fine to play video games, but if playing them is causing other problems (ignoring other duties, or consuming a large degree of your thoughts when you're not playing them, causing you rage and anxiety) then it is worth taking a step back to cultivate the state of mind that allows you to look at their role and presence in a detached way as such that you can see that problem. In other words, if you have been playing Elden Ring for 7 hours straight, mindfulness is looking at that and realizing that it is a problem without getting judgmental of yourself for having done it but instead taking time to refocus.
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Apr 16, 2023 14:21
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you don't have to be a monk/nun to be a buddhist. westerners tend to forget this and to want to go super hard, even though most buddhists do not interact with their religion that way. don't worry about it. do what you can as your life allows. do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. maybe some day you'll go harder, and maybe you won't. you should compare your seemingly-small efforts to no effort, not to someone else's larger efforts.
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Apr 16, 2023 15:21
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Lately I've been feeling divided between two thoughts: "I'm really bad at this whole Buddhist Thing" and "The Western Buddhist Community (particularly online) are a bunch of tryhards". It is pretty challenging to go vegetarian in the US! I went vegetarian this year and it's definitely a bit more challenging than being flexitarian. I work from noon into the nighttime, and I basically have to account for bringing two meals worth of food to work if I want to eat heathily and not break bank. The food options around where I work are either an impossible whopper, or you're paying like $15 for a grilled cheese and a cup of soup. I've been subsisting mostly on slow-cooker curries with chickpeas, tofu, or paneer for a while now. From a practical standpoint, though, I don't think there's anything wrong at all with just doing your best. Eating less meat is a really thoughtful practice. I think, generally speaking, hobbies can be a real saving grace in life, because they are done out of a love for life. They can be a doorway that leads you to more knowledge or skill or community. With everything, I think it's just a matter of perspective. Buddha said all conditioned phenomena are non-self. I love my hobbies. They are great, but they also cannot be a basis for my sense of self. A couple years ago, I was in a bad car accident, and I spent a long, long time recovering from the injuries. During that time, I couldn't do a lot of the hobbies I liked. Just standing was painful, so I couldn't cook. Bending over hurt, so I couldn't garden. Even going for a walk was difficult, so going running was too hard for me. When I thought about things like kendo, and judo, and karate, which I had done in the recent past, I cried a lot because I felt like I'd never be able to be a kendoka, or a judoka, or a karateka again. Activities I took for granted were suddenly and traumatically stripped away from me, and I felt my identity was being stripped away from me as well. It was a really painful experience and a hard lesson to try to learn from. I think that is one of the dangers of being attached to your hobbies. Hobbies are great, they are wonderful, but they are no solid basis for your sense of self. Life unfolds, and things can leave you. I don't know if I'll be able to take up judo again, but I've learned to draw. There might be a time when my vision goes, or my carpal tunnel gets worse, and drawing goes as well. All you can do, I think, is appreciate all the good things there are in life, and be grateful for every moment you get to cherish them.
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Apr 16, 2023 15:26
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Heath posted:it's fine to play video games, but if playing them is causing other problems (ignoring other duties, or consuming a large degree of your thoughts when you're not playing them, causing you rage and anxiety) then it is worth taking a step back to cultivate the state of mind that allows you to look at their role and presence in a detached way as such that you can see that problem. In other words, if you have been playing Elden Ring for 7 hours straight, mindfulness is looking at that and realizing that it is a problem without getting judgmental of yourself for having done it but instead taking time to refocus. Buddhism has been great for me in this regard. I used to get really mad at games. Now I know that my intention when I play games is to have fun, and I'm aware much earlier on if I'm getting frustrated and I have the wherewithal to just put the game down and go do something more productive. I think when Elden Ring came out I did put some marathon sessions in but at the same time I knew that's what I wanted to do and I made space for them which imo is different than accidentally spending your whole day in front of the TV when you had other stuff you wanted to accomplish. In terms of internet Buddhists my experience has been that every internet community will eventually distill down to people who are really hardcore and people who are more casual don't post as much. For example if you ask on a mountain biking community how to get started they'll say you probably need a $1200 bike and don't even bother with a department store bike because they're poo poo and really the $1200 one is just to get you started until you save up enough for a $4000 full suspension bike. Meanwhile there are loads of kids out on trails on department store bikes having a great time and not even having an inkling that some nerd online thinks their bike sucks. Basically this proZD video: https://youtu.be/4ZK8Z8hulFg
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Apr 16, 2023 18:33
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I highly recommend avoiding 'online buddhism' as much as possible and, on a related note, recent converts to any religion are almost always extremely gung-ho and in many of the most pointless ways.Achmed Jones posted:you don't have to be a monk/nun to be a buddhist. westerners tend to forget this and to want to go super hard, even though most buddhists do not interact with their religion that way. 100% People get drawn to the weird esoteric stuff or masturbatory poo poo about enlightenment when the actual stuff that will have the most impact in one's own life in 99% of cases is just living by the precepts. besides that's the foundation that all the weird esoteric stuff and masturbatory poo poo about enlightenment is built on anyways. note this isn't to say that people shouldn't cultivate lofty aspirations or w/e, but it's very easy to get the cart ahead of the horse. Anyways I say all of this as just some rear end in a top hat with a big pile of my own biases which I am currently proselytizing here. if someone has a good community online, by all means do make the most of it, they definitely do exist, I just don't know how much of that is likely to be found on buddhism reddits or the like. Hiro Protagonist posted:Lately I've been feeling divided between two thoughts: "I'm really bad at this whole Buddhist Thing" and "The Western Buddhist Community (particularly online) are a bunch of tryhards". At the risk of sounding flippant, just try to make it through the day without doing any harm. if you can do that then you're honestly doing pretty good. then build on that. idk about anyone suggesting that being a buddhist is easy unless someone somehow lives an existence where they basically don't interact with the world. imo trying to be a good buddhist by completely withdrawing from the world is entirely missing the point, plus for the bodhicitta oriented sects of buddhism, explicitly misses the point because you do basically zero good to anyone at all sequestered away. Even traditions that do very long retreats do them as a practice with an end-point and eventually people have to reintegrate with the society that they took a break from. Hell, probably the defining thing of being a buddhist in any practicing sense is the experience of managing the friction between how you think you should live and what the world demands from you. in conclusion, gonna return back to this as a good summary: Achmed Jones posted:don't worry about it. do what you can as your life allows. do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. maybe some day you'll go harder, and maybe you won't. you should compare your seemingly-small efforts to no effort, not to someone else's larger efforts. Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Apr 16, 2023 |
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Apr 16, 2023 20:34
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A lot of Western Buddhism stuff that I have read can be annoyingly like the mountain biking example about that, or very biographical, which I don't really find very supportive. I subscribed to Tricycle for a year for my birthday, and a lot of the stuff they have is good, but for every article that's like a good little dharma talk in text, there's another that's How I Embraced the Dharma while Managing my Macros and Reducing my Food Miles. But everyone walks their path. Achmed Jones posted:you don't have to be a monk/nun to be a buddhist. westerners tend to forget this and to want to go super hard, even though most buddhists do not interact with their religion that way.
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Apr 16, 2023 21:00
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prom candy posted:In terms of internet Buddhists my experience has been that every internet community will eventually distill down to people who are really hardcore and people who are more casual don't post as much Very true. Some of these communities sound more like the story of the Buddha when he was doing hardcore asceticism. How soon till they brag of not only being vegetarian, but of only eating 1 grain of rice per day? A good contrast to those sorts of tryhards is to go read the Dhammapada or some Pali suttas. Early Buddhist teachings are largely down to earth pragmatic stuff. And when it comes to vegetarianism, it has to be put in context. Monks were not forbidden from eating meat. And in places in the world were year round vegetarian diets are not doable, like Tibet and Mongolia, the monks ate plenty of meat. The most noteworthy rule on meat eating was that a monk shouldn't eat the meat of an animal that was expressly killed for the monk. In the setting of monks begging for food, they were basically eating the villagers' leftovers. At a Burger King, the person behind the counter isn't choosing an animal to be killed. The people in the back aren't either. The meat comes frozen in a box out of the back of a truck. It can be argued that most of the people at the meat packing plant aren't even choosing what animal lives or dies. When it comes down to your personal ethics, if every time you go to the Burger King you lament the lack of vegetarian options, and eat the burger mindful that you are doing it out of necessity rather than an real craving for animal death, then the ethical system worked. By cultivating that level of mindfulness, you are slowly breaking down the ignorance that drives most people to just eat whatever. It is a little sliver of "awakening" to simply be aware of the real content of the Burger King menu. That level of mindfulness should also be applied to hobbies. Are you engaging in your hobby out of greed, hatred, or ignorance? Are you engaged in your hobby consciously, or using it as a kind of escape from consciousness? Zen provides a ton of examples of doing "hobbies" with mindfulness. You can garden mindfully. You can paint mindfully. You can go for a walk mindfully. If you do a hobby mindfully, rather than to induce a kind of stupor, then it is fine.
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Apr 16, 2023 22:03
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The BK example is ironic since around here they sell the Impossible Burgers which, in my experience, taste the same. But they cost more. If a day should come when they cost LESS than the “beef”…
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Apr 16, 2023 22:05
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I would argue that you can have a beer and watch football or anime or like some godawful reality tv show and be a Good Buddhist. one of the cool things about the whole middle way stuff is that it's a lot more feasible and a lot less unpleasant than being expected to be 100% ascetic 100% of the time. (not good advice for alcoholics, and I'm not suggesting that that makes someone a good buddhist or w/e and, to be clear, certainly stuff like 'don't abuse intoxicants' is very much a good thing to do for basically 100% of people) Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Apr 16, 2023 |
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Apr 16, 2023 22:09
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Cephas posted:It is pretty challenging to go vegetarian in the US! I went vegetarian this year and it's definitely a bit more challenging than being flexitarian. I work from noon into the nighttime, and I basically have to account for bringing two meals worth of food to work if I want to eat heathily and not break bank. The food options around where I work are either an impossible whopper, or you're paying like $15 for a grilled cheese and a cup of soup. I've been subsisting mostly on slow-cooker curries with chickpeas, tofu, or paneer for a while now. From a practical standpoint, though, I don't think there's anything wrong at all with just doing your best. Eating less meat is a really thoughtful practice. That's interesting you're talking about vegetarianism. I went vegan yesterday. I've been a vegetarian on and off for a long time; but yesterday I decided to go vegan. It was because I threw up a piece of cheese and I realized my guts are messed up beyond belief.
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Apr 17, 2023 00:46
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Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It's always helpful to keep things in perspective, which this thread seems to be really good about.
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Apr 17, 2023 01:15
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I really appreciate this thread too. I've been doing my best to feel more at peace with *waves hands all around me*, specifically with all the transphobia stuff that's been escalating lately. I tried a bunch of things to make myself feel better. I tried getting knowledge on the subject (reading books on fascism, nonviolent resistance, etc.), I tried reading dharma books, I tried hiking in the woods, I tried talking to my therapist. In the end, the thing that helped me was meditating on the beach at night. I sat in the sand right where the waves were washing up onto the shore, so the waters were lapping at my feet, and looked out at the waves, and let all my senses just melt into the ocean and the sand and the wind at night. I didn't have to focus on my breath or on a mantra. I could just make the sound of the waves the object of my focus. When I drove home, I could still feel the tide coming and going inside of me. It was so strong for about a day, and then it faded until it became more like a memory. But it brought me so much peace. I ended up really appreciating Fragrant Palm Leaves, which I finished reading a couple days ago. I think it actually helped me with the very topic of lay, Western Buddhsim. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote it to eventually be published, so it's not like it's his true, unfiltered thoughts. But it is basically a journal of what he was thinking and feeling around the 1960s, when he was a monk in his late 30s/early 40s. It was very humanizing to see that he had rough patches, and likes and dislikes, and could be kind of petty. Things like saying ugh these Americans with their stupid consumerist holiday, in Vietnam our Tet celebrations are so much better! Then later, in a better state of mind, he would write more graciously of Americans giving each other presents. Or him talking about how wonderful his days were in his jungle monastery that he helped build, and how much fun and joy he had basically doing whatever outdoorsy stuff he wanted. Or talking scathingly of the bureaucracy of hierarchical Buddhism. Even little things, like not being fond of American food, or insisting on lighting candles instead of using electric lights when he was living in a NY apartment. I feel like it's easy to forget that even a monastic is allowed to have basic preferences in their life, and when given the option it's okay to choose the thing that makes you feel better. Like, it's okay to like things.
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Apr 17, 2023 02:29
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"It's okay to like things" is a powerful teaching, but the world may not yet be at the place where it can be widely accepted.
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Apr 17, 2023 02:32
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I only lurk this fine chill thread, so I don't know how useful my rambling will be, but lately I've been on a decluttering/minimalism effort that's sorta related to the discussion at hand? Apparently true minimalism is to have just enough stuff: only things that serve a purpose and are useful to you. Minimalist reddit however is another place where people go too far and wind up on the ascetic end of the scale obsessing whether 12 shirts is too many to own or getting mad about being given Christmas/Birthday gifts. Me personally I just wanted to get out from feeling hemmed in by my stuff and get a handle on my collecting habits as it was getting to be too much, hence looking at the declutter and minimalism reddits for tips. I've gotten rid of some stuff, stopped collecting some categories, and am trying my best to be intentional with the things I still do collect. Collecting stuff in general is probably pretty counter to Buddhism, but since I cut back on it I've been much happier and spend much less time trawling ebay, throwing money away at stuff, or worrying if I can get a hot new item before it sells out. A couple of years ago I finally learned a small highly curated collection is a lot cooler than a collection of just everything, now I am trying to learn what is "enough" when it comes to my ownership of things.
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Apr 17, 2023 03:41
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I wanted to go back to the bike example I posted earlier because cycling has been on my mind a fair bit lately. In May of 2013 I quit drinking and then a couple months later I used the money I had saved and bought a bike. I started getting really into riding and got the tight shorts and the jerseys and all that. But I also joined the online communities that were always talking about longer rides, going faster, more elevation, all day club rides, racing, wrenching on your bike, off-season training, and so on. I started pushing myself to ride harder and go for longer rides because the internet told me that's what it's all about. And then I pretty much stopped riding because it felt like a chore and because when I compared myself to the stats getting posted on Reddit and YLS I felt like I sucked poo poo and was wasting my time. This year I decided to get back into it but with a focus on what drew me to it in the first place: Getting outside, getting some exercise, enjoying the nice weather, and seeing parts of my city I wouldn't otherwise see. No strava, no 100km rides, just going out and riding at whatever pace feels right until I'm ready to come home. Instead of being focused on some future goal I'm just experiencing and enjoying the moment, and it's great. Imagine that!
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Apr 17, 2023 05:47
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Deep thoughts while biking home. There are some animals which seem very near to humans in their cognitive and world-experience capacity. I am thinking here not just of the great apes, but of elephants, parrots (various), ravens/crows, octopi, perhaps also whales and dolphins. Would these creatures be nearer to humans than to "animals" in terms of rebirth? If you were an elephant, and were fortunate enough to avoid being killed or put to work by humans, you'd have a pretty good ride. Big brain, big trunk, and while I'm sure elephants eat the occasional bug or bird egg, you're mostly going to be eating vegetarian. If I go to the zoo, should I try to tell them about the dharma? 
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Apr 18, 2023 18:17
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Nessus posted:Deep thoughts while biking home. Yes, the more "majestic" the animal generally the better the previous life. Animals mostly go thru their life experiencing the results of previous kamma and have little opportunity to make their own. Higher animals like elephants, service dogs, pets, whales/dolphins can generate good merit but it would take a worthy effort (my fav one is the rabbit in the moon story). However they can benefit from the Dhamma; It is said when "animals such as deer or birds hear a Dhamma talk or pay homage to the sangha they make skillful kamma whether they know it or not ... And when cows, dogs, biting flies, or lions & tigers harass a bhikkhu or deprive him of life, they make unskillful kamma whether they know it or not." (from the commentary of AN 4.171 [I think - this was a secondary source]). There is also a story of bats overhearing bhikkhus [during the time of a previous Buddha] reciting the Abhidhamma although they did not understand the terms like aggregates or elements but by grasping at those signs they were reborn as humans during Gotama's life. Another story is of a frog that emerged from a pond as the Buddha was speaking; it grasped the sign of the Dhamma in the Buddha's words. Just then a shepherd came to see and hear the Buddha, and as the thought of Dhamma was running thru the frogs mind the shepherd {unknowingly} rested his staff on the body of the frog. The frogs mind, gladdened by Dhamma at its death moment, was reborn in Tavatimsa. [Visuddhimagga 7.51]. Animal realm is a destination for rebirth but still it is not good: A person who sneaks around to commit misdeeds is said to be subject to rebirth as a creeping animal like a snake, centipede, scorpion ect... There was a brahmin reborn as a cow 800 times for the role played in sacrificing them. Even the life of a well cared for housecat is not desirable; there is still suffering, there is still (if not more) craving and it is very difficult to climb out of that realm. Virgil Vox fucked around with this message at 20:36 on Apr 18, 2023 |
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Apr 18, 2023 20:28
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gate gate poodlegate poodlesamgate bodhi svaha
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Apr 18, 2023 20:36
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Virgil Vox posted:Yes, the more "majestic" the animal generally the better the previous life. Animals mostly go thru their life experiencing the results of previous kamma and have little opportunity to make their own. Higher animals like elephants, service dogs, pets, whales/dolphins can generate good merit but it would take a worthy effort (my fav one is the rabbit in the moon story). However they can benefit from the Dhamma; It is said when "animals such as deer or birds hear a Dhamma talk or pay homage to the sangha they make skillful kamma whether they know it or not ... And when cows, dogs, biting flies, or lions & tigers harass a bhikkhu or deprive him of life, they make unskillful kamma whether they know it or not." (from the commentary of AN 4.171 [I think - this was a secondary source]). There is also a story of bats overhearing bhikkhus [during the time of a previous Buddha] reciting the Abhidhamma although they did not understand the terms like aggregates or elements but by grasping at those signs they were reborn as humans during Gotama's life. Another story is of a frog that emerged from a pond as the Buddha was speaking; it grasped the sign of the Dhamma in the Buddha's words. Just then a shepherd came to see and hear the Buddha, and as the thought of Dhamma was running thru the frogs mind the shepherd {unknowingly} rested his staff on the body of the frog. The frogs mind, gladdened by Dhamma at its death moment, was reborn in Tavatimsa. [Visuddhimagga 7.51].
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Apr 18, 2023 20:45
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I have to get my practice better habitualized. I know its just a matter of "do it" and that I always feel better when I do but follow through on ideas is sort of an issue with me right now. Any suggestions for shifting habit behavior from unproductive to productive?
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Apr 22, 2023 16:27
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Bilirubin posted:I have to get my practice better habitualized. I know its just a matter of "do it" and that I always feel better when I do but follow through on ideas is sort of an issue with me right now. Any suggestions for shifting habit behavior from unproductive to productive? door number 1, treat some expression of practice as on the same level as brushing your teeth, because it is. not only will you feel better but you won't be going around with bad breath. if you have issues following through with brushing your teeth that's a mental health issue not a practice issue. door number 2, maybe you're not supposed to feel better right now. you may be going through a phase of your practice or season in life where what you need to be doing is asking exactly this type of question of yourself - you wouldn't have asked the question without noticing the pattern, and you wouldn't have noticed the pattern without the opportunity arising to notice it. It's just present karma without innate rightness or wrongness. door number 3, what do you mean by productive?
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Apr 22, 2023 16:48
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Unproductive: reading and posting, drinking more than is wise Productive: doing other things too (never not  ) like reading, drinking herbal tea, practicing musical instrument, sit for a mindful 20 minutesbut thank you, that is helpful
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Apr 22, 2023 23:48
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Thanks again ram das from hell, just getting enough into a normal routine was enough for the positive feedback loop of well being to kick in. Like brushing your teeth, except a mental reset for the day
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Apr 26, 2023 15:09
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You know that's a good analogy and I ought to start doing it myself. Maybe even do it when I brush my teeth. Dental hygiene, mental hygiene.
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May 1, 2023 18:06
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I have a silly question, but does anyone know any exercises for learning to keep my back straight. Years of goon posture have not been kind to me.
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May 6, 2023 23:37
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...now that I asked that aloud, why the heck am I just not doing body weight exercises.
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May 6, 2023 23:43
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A gorilla can get swole as gently caress on a dharmically compatible diet. And you're like a cousin to a gorilla, in the final analysis. Buddhism: The gateway to real Gorilla strength.
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May 7, 2023 00:31
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An interesting story that came up in the other thread: https://www.lionsroar.com/quick-who-can-save-this-cat/amp/
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May 18, 2023 19:59
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Nessus posted:An interesting story that came up in the other thread: Great story, excellent article.
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May 18, 2023 20:36
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Bit rough on the cat though.
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May 18, 2023 20:41
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