RE: Kim's tool shed

Kim's tool shed Babs _ 1/18/17 1:08 PM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 1/30/17 2:38 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 1/30/17 8:04 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 2/1/17 3:15 PM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 2/2/17 4:39 AM
About zen, dzogchen and attainments Babs _ 2/2/17 4:42 AM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments CJMacie 2/2/17 8:13 AM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Babs _ 2/2/17 8:57 AM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Derek2 2/3/17 6:14 PM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Babs _ 2/5/17 7:56 AM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Derek2 2/5/17 8:09 AM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments CJMacie 2/21/17 7:39 AM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Babs _ 2/21/17 9:17 AM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Matt 2/21/17 11:45 AM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Babs _ 2/21/17 12:16 PM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Matt 2/21/17 12:58 PM
RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments Babs _ 2/21/17 1:14 PM
About the importance of physical exercise Babs _ 2/22/17 3:32 AM
RE: About the importance of physical exercise Jinxed P 2/23/17 6:29 PM
RE: About the importance of physical exercise Babs _ 2/24/17 1:52 AM
RE: About the importance of physical exercise supaluqi 3/8/17 5:37 AM
RE: About the importance of physical exercise Babs _ 3/8/17 10:28 AM
RE: About the importance of physical exercise Change A. 3/9/17 5:52 PM
RE: About the importance of physical exercise Babs _ 3/10/17 1:05 AM
RE: About the importance of physical exercise Change A. 3/11/17 8:21 AM
RE: About the importance of physical exercise Babs _ 3/11/17 9:33 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed tdiggy t diggy 3/11/17 1:23 PM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 3/11/17 10:03 PM
about shamatha and rigpa Babs _ 3/12/17 3:06 PM
RE: about shamatha and rigpa Babs _ 3/16/17 8:22 AM
RE: about shamatha and rigpa Babs _ 3/16/17 9:42 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed tdiggy t diggy 3/13/17 9:45 PM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 3/14/17 1:15 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 2/8/17 4:20 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed Banned For waht? 2/12/17 6:50 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 2/13/17 10:14 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 2/19/17 2:25 PM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 2/20/17 3:32 PM
RE: Kim's tool shed CJMacie 2/21/17 7:52 AM
Bringing light to the darkest pit Babs _ 3/16/17 4:16 PM
Modes of Intention, Attention and Awareness Babs _ 4/10/17 4:41 AM
RE: Kim's tool shed Babs _ 4/12/17 6:46 AM
Mind States and Awareness in 5 images Babs _ 5/7/17 2:17 PM
Pure Lands Babs _ 5/15/17 8:57 AM
RE: Pure Lands Babs _ 6/1/17 1:18 PM
13 Pure Land Jhanas Babs _ 6/2/17 10:11 AM
RE: 13 Pure Land Jhanas Geoff W 6/20/17 4:37 PM
RE: 13 Pure Land Jhanas Babs _ 12/10/18 5:59 AM
Transmission - Heart of all Buddhism Babs _ 8/12/19 3:13 PM
RE: Transmission - Heart of all Buddhism Babs _ 8/15/19 12:43 PM
RE: Transmission - Heart of all Buddhism Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö 4/1/20 2:33 PM
Emptiness of Self and Phenomena in the Forms of Space and Time Babs _ 8/18/19 11:34 AM
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 1/18/17 1:08 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 1/18/17 1:08 PM

Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Hi folks,

Have been thinking of making a practice log, or something like that for a while now, so here it goes. I'll be making some notes on practices themselves but also showing around my tool shed, whatever tools are lying around here.

I'll open this by posting this text on Metta Meditation w Dzogchen Spin, that was previously posted on this forum and linking to YouTube for guided Dzogchen Metta practice.

I must say that the effectiveness of this practice has taken me by surprise. I've never come across the idea of it, specifically from the dzogchen/atiyoga practice which is a particular one (and not just vague eye-staring in the hippie fashion). Looking straight into the eyes of one's pair, while holding hands, while both being able to rest and be open in the natural state (rigpa), it really makes up a formula that quickly disarms our shields and protectiveness towards other people which is a huge issue to many people, including experienced dharma people. I've struggled with social anxiety and panic attacks since I was a teenager, so I know what I am talking about. And yes of course these issues have lessened greatly during the years of practice but no other technique I am aware of has given as direct benefit in regards to joining atiyoga with physical intimacy, as dzogchen metta. This is one of my favourite practices ever emoticon

Welcome to my tool shed!
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 1/30/17 2:38 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 1/30/17 2:37 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Some light afternoon coffee chit chat.

There is a story of a disciple of master Padmasambhava who assassinated an evil emperor in Tibet who persecuted buddhists,
followers of buddha dharma. This disciple went and shot an arrow right through this evil emperor who was destroying not only teachings of
buddhism and the buddhist community but also it's universal moral values. So, this yogi took his bow, went and shot him dead.

Why was it necessary to kill him? Supposedly because the emperor had so much power and he was using it on the expense of those who he felt were opposed to him and his group. I wouldn't want to be in such a position but the yogi tried to do the world and the community a favour.

Perhaps without his decisive action we wouldn't have no Tibetan buddhism, or some of it's schools or teachings now. Perhaps you or I
would have had no opportunity to study buddhism if there wasn't his action. Perhaps his decisive action was the cause of thousands, hundreds
of thousands or millions of people during the last over 1000 years to meet the buddha dharma to illuminate their minds.

It's pretty mind boggling when you start to think about it. The yogi, Pelgyi, killed someone for the spiritual and psychological benefit, health and happiness of many others. And supposedly had his master's, Padmasambhava's, who is considered the second buddha after Sakyamuni,
blessing for doing this. Pretty rough, huh?

The history of the world knows many stories of good men killed by bad men. But there are much less stories of good men killing bad men. Why so? Many have said that "when bad men come into power, good men need to stand up and fight back", along these lines. So are good men being blinded or paralysed by their high morals? I think that Pelgyi's arrow was an arrow of compassion towards all beings but also towards the evil emperor because by killing him he prevented the emperor from creating a lot of negative karma both personally and nationally. Has anyone seen any discussion or articles on this?

I've read about the crazyness of Japanese zen-masters who encouraged Japanese soldiers to attack and kill people of other nations. I almost
stopped practicing back in the day when I read that "masters" of the lineage that I was practicing in had done something like this. But this
is a different thing.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 1/30/17 8:04 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 1/30/17 8:04 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Guru in Burnout

This is a casual sharing of what I have experienced during the last three
years. I'm sharing this information in case it help others in similar
situation. I have chosen to use the word ”guru” in the title only
for a catchy name. I do not wish to be called or referred to as a
”guru”.

Burnout

I had a burnout for 3 years, from late 2013 until late 2016. It all
started with way too much working and got really bad with the arrival
of our first child who was a very poor sleeper for the first year or
so. I had all the classical symptoms of a burnout: constant sleeping
problems, bodily heat problems, regular headaches that I could only
keep at bay by taking painkillers, exhaustion, emotional irritation
and some stomach problems. No matter how much I sleep I tried to get,
among the hectic daily life, I was always tired. And no matter how
much I ate, I didn't feel energised. I could not exercise because the
vitality of the body was very low. If I would try to do yoga or some
other physical exercising, I would have to stop after some minutes
because I had no energy to continue, my body would just get heated up
more.

The only way I could keep up with the demanding daily regime was to do
tantric practices, mantras to be specific, and meditate some but not
a lot. If I didn't do daily practice, my condition would get worse.
Practice would help me to remain clear minded. I had to keep on
working because as an enterpreneur I am responsible for supporting my
family and get no benefits of taking a sick leave. Also there was no
one who could have stepped in for me, as the head teacher of Open
Heart, were I to take sick leave. I had no other choice than to keep
tramping on, and for the most of it, I didn't and couldn't enjoy it
at all. It was a vicious cycle.

Now that this period has passed, I wonder how I managed to pull that off
because the amount of work during these years is huge. Continuous
courses, teaching retreats, numerous awakening guidances, passing
regular initiations, blogging and answering a lot of emails. I also
wonder, am surprised really, how our marriage survived. There were
numerous occasions when I felt I simply had no other choice than to
leave. Mere burnout with a sick leave would have been a peace of
cake. Merely having a small child who wouldn't let us sleep would
have been a walk in the park. Or merely needing to take care of the
job would have been easy but all three together was a killer. It was
extremely stressful.

When you can no longer control or do anything to regulate the constant
hardships you meet, that's when it becomes hopeless and pointless.
You keep taking care of your responsibilities until it get's so bad
that you either run away or loose your ability to function. It is
horrible when faith in the goodness of life disappears. It is
horrible to live yet not feel any joy because you're out of juice,
out of energy, dried up like a stick in a desert.

Having been through all this, I am not surprised at all that common people
without any psycho-spiritual knowledge and skills so often end up in
devorce. I am actually not surprised of even worse things happening.
That is what extremely stressful circumstances do.

All through these challenging times it was my spiritual practice that
kept me going. I sticked to my daily practices even when I was
exhausted and fed up. I was fortunate to have years of training and
stable insights before all this which helped me to stay on course.
Even though my body was exhausted with all the problems, mentally I
was able to keep it cool enough. I am certain that had I not
meditated, were awakened and opened several bhumis prior to this
trial, I would no longer be doing this job and/or be married. There
is absolutely no doubt about this.

Person who has ground mahamudra understanding,
I
don't think, will have nervous breakdown,
unless
it is a physical disease.
If it is a disease, it can happen.
Other than that it will not happen.

- Tai Situ Rinpoche

From: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=No45mfuOjVQ&list=PLCA7194D2DD551611

I have never seen any proficient adept talk about burnout, or nervous
breakdown. But I've noticed it being many times announced that the
personal doctor of the Dalai Lama requires him to take time off of
his busy schedule for the reason that it is too demanding on his
body. I've also read the same about Chetsang Rinpoche who is the head
of drikung kagyu-school of Tibetan buddhism.

Healing

Finally, after three years of this, all of a sudden it all changed. Readers of
this should refer to OpenHeart Bhumi Model to understand what I'm going to say next.

Myhealth got almost back to normal in few days after the 1st
of Nowember 2016, when hitting the 11th bhumi, which is
the first mahasiddha bhumi. When the 11th bhumi opened,
for a few days I felt a very powerful healing energy whenever I sat
down. It was like my body system was being connected to the source of
life and vitality again, and the system was being recharged and fixed
back to normal. During the first couple of days, I'd estimate my
health recovered to 70-80% of normal. This was a huge and fast change
as it had been 10-20% for three years. It took about one month
for full recovery. Now after 2-3 months after the shift, I am doing
my work and family chores, plus physical exercise for 1-2 hours a
day, without getting exhausted at all. At moments I am still amazed
how this has happened.

For those in burnout

I am a tantric practitioner who does practices such as guru yoga and
deity yoga. I do not know how different systems of medicine (western
or eastern) can help those in severe burnout but from my own
experience I can say that the help of a spiritual master, or a
buddha, is invaluable in this situation. As one's vitality is so low,
classic meditation practices where one relies on one's own power and
concentration is out of the question, that is, are not useful. For
this reason I'd recommend those in burnout to learn and practice
these teachings for their health and spiritual benefit.

Thank you for reading.

- Kim, 30.1.2017
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/1/17 3:15 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/1/17 3:15 PM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
About sitting still and micro-movements.

Sometimes we are instructed to "sit still without moving" when learning
meditation. This means that your external movements are purposefully
stopped, that you are not creating external movements anymore, except if
you need to adjust your posture because of pain or discomfort. What
often happes with "don't move, sit still" type plain instructions is
that people sit as if they are holding their breath for the duration of
the sitting. This is very uncomfortable. People become very
tense and this in turn can have many kinds of undesirable effects in
the long run. You can have sleep problems, become overly emotional and
so on. A short term effect is that your mind keeps busy like a flock of
bees and you still feel restless after sitting. So, the essential point
of "sit still without moving" is to stop doing external movements, to
open and relax all the joints and muscles but then allow subtle movement
in your physical and energetic body. There are all these subtle
energies doing their thing, keeping our body healthy and mind clear and
open, if we allow it, so it is very good to allow this movement of life
in our being. If we do just this, our mind becomes very clear as the
energy may flow freely. It is the opposite effect to what happens if we
sit trying hard not to move at all. This point should be understood and
remembered.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 4:39 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 4:39 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Pointers to awakening. Bits and piecesfrom various dialogues.
  • You just have to keep marinating in both modes, selfless and self-based, one at a time. The idea of the self-affirmation mode is to meet it, experience it, be aware of it, be aware of how the I feels like, what it is and how it exists. It is simply looking, seeing, feeling, perceiving, tasting how the "me" feels like. You know, just being aware of it, from the selfless space. Zoom into the I-sensations and zoom out, zoom in, zoom out. Just looking at it, not blankly, but with interest like a scientist investigates an organism under a microscope. See what is this "I" that I've thought myself to be. I am saying "What is this "I"?" This means that the I/self is being objectified. The subject self is being objectified so that it can be seen as an object in the space of awareness. It is very simple, nothing complex. It's just that this study has to be done carefully and fully through, util there is no more doubt or unclarity. There is nothing solid or permanent about the "I". It's just sensations and impressions, stuff. What is found from the center of the strongest I-sensation after affirmation? Is there anything there? Look straight into the bull's eye. This is complete instruction. Just continue.
  • The thing is that selfless awareness cognises itself. There is no me, I, self or anyone there. OK. This selfless awareness is in connection with the body and mind. Through the body and mind it can feel and act. But for action it doesn't need an "I". In essence we are selfless awareness, brimming with life and aliveness, expressing itself through this vehicle of human body. Awakening is a glimpse to that but it can take a good while to actually get to this experience 100%, so that it is uninterrupted.
  • No hurry. Being in a hurry is a great evil. Hopes and desires are useless as well. This formula will do it's thing when you keep applying it. Twist the steel wire, make these questions clear to yourself by studying what you experience.
  • Sometimes people don't notice a special event of awakening, they just realise that "Oh, it's a bit different now. Simple. Easy". See how it is, apply the formula.
  • While using the first selfless mode, it assures that there is clarity of mind, at moments it might get quite dark and uncomfortable. This happens because the formula digs into the core of self-delusion which is a dark place. But no problemo, just be aware of whatever comes along. One small moment and observation at a time.
  • Good. The tension in the head, perceiving of that, is crucial. "Me" or "I" sits behind the eyes, inside the head, looking out through the eyes and hearing out through the ears. Be aware of that, and doing just this you objectify your "I". As this is done (or conventionally put: when you do this, although it is not really "you" who does this) revelations about the nature of this self start coming.
  • Don't try too much. An observation can be made just in few seconds. Small moments, small observations. It's sort of like taking down a pyramid one stone at a time. A mature craftsman does things one things at a time, not all at once.
  • For an awakened person, saying the "I" or "me" doesn't do anything, energies don't get stirred up, and particularly the tension inside the head behind the eyes. That simply does not arise no matter how hard you summon the self. Do this: Relax thoroughly, marinate in the selfless space with time, without hurry. Then as your mind is clear like the surface of a still mountain pond, introduce the affirmation. Do this carefully, in detail, to find out whether this tension comes up or not. If it doesn't you might be awakened already.
  • You will never get awakened. "You" will not. The awakened state is already here and there and everywhere. There is no place where wakefulness is not, except in the mnd that goes around in circles. Are you getting my point? In one sense you are your history and persona but in other sense you are not. We get fooled by appearances. You-are-awareness-without-location... "You" exist only on the level of thought. "You" are a thought! A thought! Hahaha... Isn't that funny!? Listening... no location, unbounded awareness... Seeing... so free, so direct, so immanent, so intimate! Yes?
  • Stop trying to "get it". Become a fool instead. What we are doing is not highly intelligent or sophisticated. We cannot figure out our being, because being is not thinking. OK?
  • I think that you are quite used to, or have become a bit attached to sitting practice. I am like that too. But both, recognition of the selfless state as well as self-based state can be done any time. It is smal observation of a split second or few seconds that matter. Yes, we use concentration and mindfulness in this processing but it's not like one has to stare one's breath or navel as in common meditation. Do the analysis, observe the modes a bit by bit, moment by moment. 2-3 minutes is a long time when doing this practice correctly, and such a short period can be all that is required. It is a matter of processing, keeping the water on heater for it to become warm and to start boiling. This means digging the subject-self out into open so that it can be seen in a correct way. What is the correct way? "I" doesn't stay and it doesn't have a fixed, firm, solid shape. "I" is just a bundle of stuff, emotions and impressions on top of each other. "I" is deeply imprinted contiuous associations and we *believe* it. We have a fixed belief in this entity. "I can not do this... I can do this! I am poor. I am great!" and what thought-associations have we. But this is just being identified as concepts and thoughts... Are "you" anythign else than a stubborn idea? Look at yourself and find out. ?
  • Reg. "more of selfless space". You are talking about three dimensional space, that between your head and pelvis. Yes, we observe the bodyspace, 3d space, but actually selfless space is zero-dimensional, non-dimensional. Selflessness means non-locational, not located in three dimensional space or time. Thoughts, such as the I-thought on the other hand are very much located in time and space. If you affirm the "I/me", make the self apparent momentarily on purpose and watch the clock, you can observe through, or based, on this illusory self, until after a moment it again disappears. So, through this experiement we can see that the "I" is bound to time and place. And yet we are dealing with a phantom because it always mysteriously disappears when it is sought after.
  • We can talk about other stuff later but now we need to take a gun, fix the aim and pull the trigger. Go back to instructions that I have given you in the first message. Then take the Awake-book and read a few dialogues from there. Then shut the door, sit down and do the two part formula. First, relax, relax, relax and recognise the open mind space... See if there is a me there or not. Look ahead and behind, left and right, up and down and the center. Am I here? Check. Then marinate in that like a piece of meat in bbq marinad. Then after the selfless is thoroughly felt through your whole body, muscles and bones, bring in the self by doing the affirmation. Punch it in: "I! I! I! I!"..." Me! Me! Me! Me!"... Some sensations will come up, then don't try to do anything, only watch at the sensations. Don't watch away from these sensations! What is this I-stuff? And where? Be deeply aware of that. Deeply! Alert! Right in the center of the strongest I-sense... Drill, drill, drill. Eventually the sensations will subside. Then start over.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 4:42 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 4:42 AM

About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
    About zen, dzogchen and attainments

    >It’s encouraging that you say that one can get to the 6th bhumi with
    classic vipashyana practices. Am I correct in saying that after
    awakening people in the group could carry on with their shikantaza
    practice?
    For example. If a teacher of zen-tradition is awakened they usually are
    around 2-3-4 bhumis, opened not perfected. Zen-master Hakuin talked
    of his 18 kenshos but he was one among few exceptions. I've never
    seen anyone explain his kenshos. He surely did not have the same
    kensho again and again! I am pretty sure he was talking about bhumi
    openings, although he didn't use that word because bhumi opening
    feels like being awakened inside the awakened state, it just gets
    subtler and subtler, clearer and clearer. Then on the other hand I
    know soto zen teachers, famous ones, who after several decades of
    practice haven't even had the initial insight, opened their 1st
    bhumi. This is reflected in the way how they talk and describe
    things. I don't think there is a zen-teacher alive today who really
    knows what Dogen was talking about. I hope there was but I haven't
    met one. When they "just sit", they are more or less stuck
    in alaya vijnana. Have seen this with my own eyes.

    Almost all great theravada-masters are 6th bhumis, opened not perfected.
    They seem to get stuck at this stage. Maybe it has to do with their
    motivation, lack of including all beings. Compassion is the key in
    opening bodhisattva bhumis, at least until 8th bhumi which is the
    abode of Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva of Compassion. Vajrayana
    teachers, those who practice themselves and are sincere, are usually
    on bodhisattva bhumis, opened not perfected. Then there are many
    teachers of the Tibetan tradition who might have big organisations,
    fancy titles and everything yet are low in their bhumis, if even
    awakened. Then rarely someone on mahasiddha bhumis pops up but these
    are very rare. It's even more rare to meet someone who has all 13
    bhumis open and the lowest 6 perfected and hence is a fully attained
    arhat. To meet a living buddha, who has all bhumis perfected is
    close to non-existent in physical body but it's great that Amma is
    there. This is just a brief comment. I think serious practitioners
    should take this stuff seriously. Any practically applicable system
    that can shed light on the level of attainments, either one's own or
    others can only be useful and of help.
    By classic vipashyana I mean following some theravadan or mahayanan
    exposition of vipashyana. No, this assumption is not correct, in my
    view. Shikantaza is atiyoga. It is dzogchen, from the
    kadag/emptiness/selflessness perspective. Shikantaza is not a
    ”practice” and certainly not a practice of the
    generation/vipashyana stage. I am sorry to say this but I've seen
    many from zen "just sit". But they don't just sit, except
    for very brief periods, like glimpses of split seconds here and
    there. It actually seems that many people start taking back steps
    with zen. You know, common people with steady lives and basic morals
    might spend more time in selfless awareness (although switching back
    and forth with self-based mode) than zen buddhists during the first
    couple of decades of practice because the poor instructions become a
    barrier. They are given poorly analysed ways of practice. I've seen
    whole sanghas sit in the mud. By mud I am referring to alaya
    vijnana, substrate consciousness often talked about by dzogchen
    -masters. No real clarity. I am really sad to say this but that is
    how it is. There is no point to sit and sit and sit endless hours if
    you don't know what you're doing. I did so for over 20 000 hours.
    People rant and are in love with the idea of the natural state and
    ”just sitting” but they don't know what it means. They don't. No
    clue. So sorry to say this but I am just trying to help.

    Someone wrote: "My first buddhist teacher was Kobun Chino Roshi. In one
    class, someone asked him how to get closer to his lineage or more
    involved with his lineage. His answer was to look into
    dzogchen." Another zen-teacher called John Denko
    Mortensen, who took up dzogchen after becoming a zen-teacher, said,
    "While zen-masters say weird things, dzogchen-people actually
    explain things". His excitement of a very different pedagogy in
    dzogchen which apparently was new to him, was audible.

    The point is that one needs to know a whole bunch of things to really
    make progress on the path. One needs to understand the mechanisms,
    how the mind works, what the elements are and have a cataloque of
    various practices to be able to make progress. We need to
    acknowledge that when we are at the foot of the mountain or at the
    side of the mountain, we are NOT at the top of the mountain.
    Dzogchen-masters like Longchenpa make this perfectly clear. One
    needs to practice vipashyana, in one form or the other. Without this
    knowledge it is unrealistic to speak of "attaing buddhahood in
    this life". Entirely unrealistic. Dzogchenpas such as Jigme
    Lingpa, have been clear about the difference of the subtle mud one
    can sit in for decades thinking that it is awareness or rigpa. I
    know such cases who spent decades sitting, doing retreats every
    month all year around, and yet their practice was subtly coloured.
    Some clarity, yes, but not abiding at home, still travelling. One
    needs to know the difference of samsara and nirvana, to able to go
    beyond both.
Kim,
2.2.2017.
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CJMacie, modified 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 8:13 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 8:08 AM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 856 Join Date: 8/17/14 Recent Posts
Kim Katami:
    ...Almost all great theravada-masters are 6th bhumis, opened not perfected.
    They seem to get stuck at this stage. Maybe it has to do with their
    motivation, lack of including all beings....

Yet another demonstration of astounding conceit rooted in sheer ignorance -- you've no idea what you're talking about vis-a-vis Theravada Buddhists. Weave your own fantasies and pratices as you may. When you claim knowledge as in as in these statements it becomes charlatanism.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 8:57 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/2/17 8:57 AM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
And do you have any idea of bhumis Chris?
Derek2, modified 7 Years ago at 2/3/17 6:14 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/3/17 6:14 PM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 231 Join Date: 9/21/16 Recent Posts
I think Theravada Buddhism can degenerate into "me and my spiritual progress." Is that the sort of thing you mean, Kim?
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/5/17 7:56 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/5/17 7:56 AM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Why did you feel the need to ask this question Derek? What is the cause of it?
Derek2, modified 7 Years ago at 2/5/17 8:09 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/5/17 8:09 AM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 231 Join Date: 9/21/16 Recent Posts
Doesn't matter.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/8/17 4:20 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/8/17 4:20 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
>To really do atiyoga practices, does one really need a teacher qualified
in these and a lot of preparatory insightful investigation?


- One thing I know for certain: One needs to get awakened asap and then
open the consecutive bhumis up till 11th. Then you know what atiyoga
is. 9th bhumi seems to be some sort of a turning point to most but as
11th is the first mahasiddha bhumi, it isn't until then when you
really know it and live it, without the need to do this or that all
the time to fix attention or remove something.


That question of a qualified teacher is a tricky one. I am saying this
with respect to all concerned. A particular rinpoche who is
considered one of the greatest dzoghen masters alive today, said last
August (or July) in webcast that "during activity his
rigpa-state lasts for 3 seconds at a time". He said this as a
response to some people who came to him and claimed to be in rigpa
24/7.
According to my bhumi analysis of him, his bhumi is 10, so he hasn't yet opened
his first ms bhumi. From my own experience, and that of my teacher
colleagues, I can testify that during the terrain of 9th-10th bhumis
it was precisely like that: a few seconds of rigpa and then something
else and then a few secs of rigpa again. This changes when hitting
11th. But the questions was about qualified teachers. Thousands of
people worldwide from the Dalai Lama to many followers say that the
rinpoche in question is a "dzogchen master". He is a great
authority on dzogchen. A reality check is needed here. He can not be
a master of rigpa as he comes in and out so markedly, according to
his own words. It doesn't make sense, does it? There really is a need
for some profound reality checks in vajrayana buddhism and dzogchen.

Banned For waht?, modified 7 Years ago at 2/12/17 6:50 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/12/17 6:50 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 500 Join Date: 7/14/13 Recent Posts
On a easy "dream"plane, you can push your hand through a wall and it still may hurt. Also know how to walk on water, or rise from ground.
But not on hard level earth. But still there are or have been those who can leave a print on a stone, or rise from ground etc.

So the bhumi model or fetters model is real. In order to call oneself on earth, enlightened, one should able to also prove it(specially to your own self).

Just using your thread to spread fetters model. You are being used here sorry.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/13/17 10:14 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/13/17 10:14 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
"Dharma is not for grasping, it is for crossing over". - Stephen Batchelor

It is always a relief to hear this, wonderful to hear this being reminded. But then the logical question is how often are people crossing over,
then being able to discard the vehicle of buddhism or buddhadharma?

I was watching this panel discussion of notable Western dharma-agents who were talking about the future of buddhism and dharma, like how it has been, how it will be in the future, how it will turn out, what is essential and so on. I've seen similar discussions before and it's great that such discussions are being had. But one problem that I almost always feel from such discussions is the essential matter of understanding profoundly what dharma and the purpose of it is. The discussions seem to be on the level of trying to fit forms and paradigms of particular traditions or schools and their techniques and systems to new cultures and their people, in this case buddhism of the ancient Eastern cultures to modern Western societies.

Said with love and respect, I think this positioning misses something very essential. It misses the essential point of understanding dharma, methodology of our mind and awareness all the way over the currents of deluded mind, at the level of principles, instead on the superficial level of techniques and systems (that are the expression of principles). It is always nice to see smart people talk about such important matters but I feel that this problem is there.

There is a real need for pragmatic dharma here. We need to figure out both for ourselves and others, and for the future generations, what the purpose of dharma is and be able to apply it in practice. When we talk about crossing over the currents of mind that goes around in circles (samsara) we not only need to practice but we need to practice in a way that we know perfectly well what the awakened nature of ours is. A glimpse or two won't do. We need to yank the vehicle (method we are following) were in to the extent that as a minimum requirement we consciously live from our awakened nature more than half of the time. I am talking about taking vipashyana practice at least to this point because then we know our true being well enough to see the principles behind practices, methods, systems and religions. We need to become at least half-buddhas to be able to really know what dharma is about. Being a half-buddha defined like this is not far from being a full buddha. As a brief note, by our true being I mean awareness (rigpa), not substrate consciousness (alaya vijnana).

And from there we can see a very different kind of future of buddhadharma in our culture. We can also see the past of buddha dharma in those cultures they came from. Then we aren't looking at the question from the point of view of having had a glimpse of our true being a while ago in retreat, or from the theoretical point of view. At this point we come to live the dharma and no longer need to refer to what he or she taught us about buddhism or dzogchen. We no longer need to refer to scriptures for a referral. Constantly talking about scriptures becomes a burden at this stage.

I think we really need to start taking the matter of knowing ourselves a bit more seriously than before, whatever it might mean to you. Where are those people who come to live their true nature, their buddhamind through following ancient dharma methods? That is always a healthy
question to ask.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/19/17 2:25 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/19/17 2:25 PM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
I once heard of some meditatively useful information from the way how
special operation soldiers are trained. I was watching a documentary
of SAS soldiers and came across these two quotes that fit my
experience of mind training well.

If you are scared, if you are feeling scared, you better get cracking
and do something about it.”


- "Doing something about" fear would refer not to get
paralyzed by it but to apply detachment (shamatha) and analytical
meditation (vipashyana).

If you convert fear correctly, then you become more aware of your
surroundings, your peripheral vision is opened up much more, and
you're taking in more information about the movement around you.”


- When we become identified with any self-based emotion such as
gripping fear it narrows down our field of vision. It's like a
compulsory shrinking. A simple way to stop this from happening is to
look or feel your surroundings, the directions outside your body.
Look left and right, up and down, front and back, and what happens is
that the fear looses it's momentum. This in turn enables you to
become aware of the fear, the movement of energy causing the
narrowing down, and neutralise it. This cannot be done if one is
identified with emotion.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/20/17 3:32 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/20/17 3:32 PM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Sid:
I don't mean this as too much of a
throw-away post but I just wanted to say that much of what is above is
the content I'm here for, reminding me that DhO is an awesome resource.

Also
if you see this Kim Katami, for what it's worth I'll add that I
personally like a good portion of the dharma writings and videos you've
put out there (at least what I've read or watched). I saw the photo of
you as a Zen monk from ages ago and I actually find it rather inspiring
and supportive of your case as a teacher that you admit that during
years of living in Japan as a monk and getting your estimated 8,000
hours of cushion time in you made no progress then and eventually came
to suspect that some of your teachers weren't even enlightened. I
suspect that many people here on this forum had experiences similar to
yours: wasting lots time with ineffective or altogether worthless gurus
(and in some cases the kind trying to sap away your money as well as
your attention). I like that you find that you made progress only later
with different and more powerful (and organized) practices. I'm also
glad that it sounds like you picked up a couple students from your posts
here. 

Looking at the Dharma Overground as a whole your posts
about your bhumi rating system are interestingly controversial but not
in my mind too inappropriate as we probably care more about
concrete/estimated/measured/demonstrated attainments and maps of
attainments than maybe any other online forum does... there is of course
a shadow-side to attaintment-fixations that could be embodied in such a
form that people should be on the lookout for. Your posts about steps
beyond arahatship are pretty interesting given that there has been
debate here for ages about what to do after 4th path (whether Actual
Freedom work, tantric stuff, concentration work/siddhis, whatever)... I
would urge those who criticize you for not placing arahatship as final
bhumi to acknowledge that this common to Mahayana schools (some of which
think that arahats will blink out into a false parinibbana only to
re-manifest later after a few kalpas) and this is not an eccentric view
unique to Kim. Of course on the flipside of that, from the Theravada
standpoint Kim/many Mahayanists are very wrong to downplay arahats. ;)

I
am also not surprised that you have received some resistance here since
you are mostly writing about Dzogchen or tantric practices that lie
outside of the work of many Theravada Buddhists.

Furthermore you
claim to have seen ghosts since you were a child and to work with the
dead and powerful spirit gurus - I'm actually willing to totally go with
you there that this is a possibility and even a powerful expedient (and
shame on anyone who denies that some Tibetan schools don't go for
things exactly this or don't allow supernatural knowledge generally
whether in the form of termas or whatever... heck read the Vimuttimagga
and you'll get several good notes for interacting with "non-humans" and
getting them to like you and tips for hanging out in graveyards... the
Pali canon also includes suttas with notes about making offerings to the
dead/ancestors and to place spirits) - but for a lot of materialists +
those people who are used to dangerous pompously mystical gurus the fact
that you are open about this will always be a reactive barrier and will
likely generate acidity like what we see in some of the replies to your
posts.

Anyway, long story short I don't think it's a mystery why
some people won't like your posts but you also should know that there
are others who do. Really I can't actually speak for other people (I'm
just taking my best guess/assessment of things). I personally hope you
continue to post and to share your perspective and tools.

~S

Howdy Sid,

Sid's bit is copied from here. Let's see.

Zen-days. Yeah, it was pretty intensive sitting those days. Staring right at the end of long exhalations at the lower belly and getting zen master's praise for doing it so properly and thoroughly. There was alot of zeal and devotion in that. I don't think I could have or would have continued doing it without taking bodhisattva vows. I think the most important thing from zen training to me was the spirit of not giving up. A lot of sitting and long days of dynamic rhythm.
I used to think that the zen masters whom I studied with were the greatest beings alive. Because of this I had a lot of faith in what they taught/instructed me. And they really are/were great people with kind and loving hearts but enlightenment-wise their attainments were not really that high, I got to know later. I'm glad I got to talk about this with one of my zen masters later who fully agreed and acknowledged my points.

>I like that you find that you made progress only later with different and more powerful (and organized) practices.

Yeah. Who can say that I made any progress? I am not having a nondualistic wordplay here. You know, first I did zen for about 4 years, then met a lady online who from distance taught me things and gave me confidence to trust the non-physical teachers that were coming to me often. She herself had met some living teachers but mostly learned from nonphysical beings and actually preferred that. So, other than zen, zen art, inner martial arts, reiki healing and some forms of kriya yoga, I did not learn a buddhist path from anyone else than the non-physical masters. What I have learned from them, I have taught to others as I was asked to do that.
So, as I have said many times I do not have validation in any buddhist lineage, not in any orthodox lineage. And yet, there are a few buddhist teachers from different sanghas who have taken up study with me. Also, a senior nyingma lama called me a terton but it was nothing formal. So I don't have any "papers", no titles, just a worn out Leonard Cohen t-shirt emoticon I wanted to say this to underline that I didn't make progress by following any path that was already available taught by any living teacher. I do not have that formal history. So no buddhist authority has formally recognised that I'd have made "progress". Of course I know myself that my life and mind is different now that it was before. I cannot thank the buddhist establishment for that but only my masters.

>Your posts about steps beyond arahatship are pretty interesting... Of course on the flipside of that, from the Theravada standpoint Kim/many Mahayanists are very wrong to downplay arahats

I could have made the choice of starting to teach and becoming public much later than I did. But I knew I had things people could use for their own benefit so I started teaching quite early. I was aksed to anyway. One of the sides of this choice is that as I travel myself I tell and speak of my notions along the way. I mean in many aspects I haven't followed any readily available buddhist system or literature, in some minor aspects I have.

According to the Open Heart Bhumi Model there are 13 bhumis altogether, different names and stages in opening them and also the perfection of them. It was only sometime after I had an awakening myself and started having further irreversible shifts inside that already awakened mind when I learned about the bhumis from my teachers. Then it made sense. Similarly, regarding arahatship I think only recently I finally got what it means. Or at least, what it means in OHBM, which is probably closer to the traditional theravada definition of arhathood than the MCTB definition.

In OHBM the opening of the 6th bhumi refers to arahathood but it isn't until these six bhumis are perfected when it is complete arahatship. This I didn't know before. This is still different to buddhahood.

>Furthermore you claim to have seen ghosts since you were a child and to work with the dead and powerful spirit gurus - I'm actually willing to totally go with you there that this is a possibility and even a powerful expedient (and shame on anyone who denies that some Tibetan schools don't go for things exactly this or don't allow supernatural knowledge generally whether in the form of termas or whatever... heck read the Vimuttimagga and you'll get several good notes for interacting with "non-humans" and getting them to like you and tips for hanging out in graveyards... the Pali canon also includes suttas with notes about making offerings to the dead/ancestors and to place spirits) - but for a lot of materialists + those people who are used to dangerous pompously mystical gurus the fact that you are open about this will always be a reactive barrier and will likely generate acidity like what we see in some of the replies to your posts.

To be exact I have never talked of "ghosts" or spirits of the "dead". My knowledge of such beings is that these are nonphysical yet ignorant beings in the same way ordinary people are. Many people from all corners of the world have testified of such things, including some schools of vajrayana buddhism. But I am not a specialist on entities who don't have a body.

Tantric guru yoga. The very thing of it and it's validity can be tested by anyone anywhere. Kenneth Folk's testimony of his experience with Buddha Amitabha who introduced him to Pure Land jhanas, points to this principle, although Amitabha is not a guru, yet I suppose he could be. Folk simply called "Amitabha" three times and something happened right away. I think that if someone doesn't have any attraction towards any specific master, like Sakyamuni or Guru Rinpoche, then Amitabha is a good choice as his vow is to come to anyone who sincerely calls him, that is, he easily picks up the phone for anyone who is sincere. Make the call and see how it feels in your being when he picks up the phone. I'm speaking in dualistic terms here. What Buddha Amitabha actually is is freedom within us, awakened nature.

Not all people need tantra, mahamudra or dzogchen. But those who want to attain buddhahood, full enlightenment, in this life do. If anyone wants to follow secular dharma, go ahead and enjoy. This is my personal point of view based on my years of study under my teachers. So I am sorry for talking in the way I have. I have meant no harm and never meant to downplay theravada or other forms of buddhism, though what I've said probably sounded like that. If I have offended anyone, I apologise. But it's like you said what matters in pragmatic dharma is "concrete/estimated/measured/demonstrated attainments and maps of attainments".

>Anyway, long story short I don't think it's a mystery why some people won't like your posts but you also should know that there are others who do. Really I can't actually speak for other people (I'm just taking my best guess/assessment of things). I personally hope you continue to post and to share your perspective and tools.

- Thank you for saying these words.

Cheers. 
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CJMacie, modified 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 7:39 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 7:36 AM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 856 Join Date: 8/17/14 Recent Posts
Kim Katami:
And do you have any idea of bhumis Chris?

1) In Wikipedia, note “ the Mahayana bodhisattva's path...”

"Bh
ūmi (Buddhism) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ten Bodhisattva Bhūmi (Sanskrit; Tibetan "byang chub sems dpa'i sa", enlightenment-being grounds/levels) are the ten stages on the Mahayana bodhisattva's path of awakening. ...
(last modified on 14 January 2017, at 22:30.)"

2)
In the PTS (Pali Text Soceity – i.e. Theravada) Dictionary:

"Bhūmi
(f.) [cp. Vedic bhūmi, Av. būmiš soil, ground, to bhū, as in bhavati, cp. Gr. fu/sis etc. See bhavati
1. (lit.) ground, soil, earth Vin ii.175; Sn 418 (yāna carriage road); ...
—2. place, quarter, district, region M i.145 (jāti district of one's birth); Sn 830 (vighāta˚); Nd2 475 (danta˚); DhA i.213 (āpāna˚); PvA 80 (susāna˚)—uyyāna˚; garden (—place or locality) Vv 6419; Pv ii.129 J i.58.
—3. (fig.) ground, plane, stage, level; state of consciousness, Vin. i.17; Vbh 322 sq.; Vism 126, 442 (with ref. to the 4 Paṭisambhidā, as sekha—bhūmi asekha—bhūmi), 517 (paññā˚—niddesa). Usually—˚ indriya˚ Nett 192; dassana˚ plane of insight Nett 8, 14 50; sukha˚ ground for happiness Dhs 984 (cp DhsA 214).
bhūmi—ttaya the 3 stages, viz kāmâvacara, rūpâvacara, lokuttara Vism 493.
—pl bhūmiyo Ps ii.205=Vism 384 (appld to the 4 jhānas) purisa˚ (aṭṭha p. bh. eight stages of the individual viz. manda—bhūmi, khiḍḍā˚, vīmaṁsana˚, ujugata˚ sekha˚, samaṇa˚, jina˚, panna˚, or as trsld by Rh. D in Dial. i.72, under "eight stages of a prophet's existence"; babyhood, playtime, trial time, erect time learning time, ascetic time, prophet time & prostrate time. Cp. the 10 decades of man's life, as given by Bdhgh at Vism 619)."


3) Also having seen plenty of the presentations of your “bhumis” – the photos, etc. From your initial background (e.g. beginning with the Yogananda teacher in Hawaii), and the fact that apparently the only personage you've rated as tops (13th-”bhumi”) was "Amma" (Mata Amritanandamayi), a Brahmanic Hindhu “Saint”, you've got little ground (“Bhūmi”) to stand on – other than the trademark self-promotional pretension-- when saying anything about Buddhism, least of all Theravada.
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CJMacie, modified 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 7:52 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 7:45 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 856 Join Date: 8/17/14 Recent Posts
Kim Katami:

... I could have made the choice of starting to teach and becoming public much later than I did. But I knew I had things people could use for their own benefit so I started teaching quite early. I was aksed to anyway. One of the sides of this choice is that as I travel myself I tell and speak of my notions along the way. I mean in many aspects I haven't followed any readily available buddhist system or literature, in some minor aspects I have. ...


As a exit comment, and echoing one of the very first issues I brought, way back when, up about your manner of speech, here are used, 13 times in 5 sentences, “I”/”my”/”myself” references. This manner of speech, as  well as the body language of the photo / avatar, the “statistics of awakening” competition, etc. amount to text-book examples, in the context of  Theravada, of the awakening-hindering fetter of:

"Māna

[late Vedic & Epic Sk. māna, fr. ;man, orig. meaning perhaps "high opinions" (i. e. No. 2); hence "pride (No. 1). Def. of root see partly under māneti, partly under mināti]
1. pride, conceit, arrogance (cittassa uṇṇati Nd1 80; Vbh 350). Māna is one of the Saññojanas . It is one of the principal obstacles to Arahantship ..."

So, carry on as you may, helping people as it may, but in comparing to, claiming understanding of, etc. Theravada, you've little ground (Bhūmi) to stand on.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 9:17 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 9:17 AM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Chris, before going on to respond to your messages I got to continue to what I said here to you. I am sure you saw that.

During the last couple of years of your commenting of my posts, I have said the same thing several times, yet in the thread said my opinion of you more directly than before. I think you deserved it. What you have done now by posting some de facto bits is what you have done before as a reply to me when I have indicated you to behave or asked you to be open for new. Is this the way you'd behave to your friends and family members when they told you that you've been behaving like an idiot? Would you keep quiet, not show any sort of remorse or not make an apology and just tread on? I wouldn't. I'm just saying this because you are not showing any signs of constructive and supportive spirit. Critique is fine but behaving like a prick is not. I'm sorry for being so direct but gotta because I have no interest in being part of this type of communication with you anymore.
CJMacie:
Kim Katami:
And do you have any idea of bhumis Chris?

1) In Wikipedia, note “ the Mahayana bodhisattva's path...”

"Bh
ūmi (Buddhism) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ten Bodhisattva Bhūmi (Sanskrit; Tibetan "byang chub sems dpa'i sa", enlightenment-being grounds/levels) are the ten stages on the Mahayana bodhisattva's path of awakening. ...
(last modified on 14 January 2017, at 22:30.)"

2)
In the PTS (Pali Text Soceity – i.e. Theravada) Dictionary:

"Bhūmi
(f.) [cp. Vedic bhūmi, Av. būmiš soil, ground, to bhū, as in bhavati, cp. Gr. fu/sis etc. See bhavati
1. (lit.) ground, soil, earth Vin ii.175; Sn 418 (yāna carriage road); ...
—2. place, quarter, district, region M i.145 (jāti district of one's birth); Sn 830 (vighāta˚); Nd2 475 (danta˚); DhA i.213 (āpāna˚); PvA 80 (susāna˚)—uyyāna˚; garden (—place or locality) Vv 6419; Pv ii.129 J i.58.
—3.
(fig.) ground, plane, stage, level; state of consciousness, Vin. i.17;
Vbh 322 sq.; Vism 126, 442 (with ref. to the 4 Paṭisambhidā, as
sekha—bhūmi asekha—bhūmi), 517 (paññā˚—niddesa). Usually—˚ indriya˚ Nett
192; dassana˚ plane of insight Nett 8, 14 50; sukha˚ ground for
happiness Dhs 984 (cp DhsA 214).
bhūmi—ttaya the 3 stages, viz kāmâvacara, rūpâvacara, lokuttara Vism 493.
—pl bhūmiyo Ps ii.205=Vism 384 (appld to
the 4 jhānas) purisa˚ (aṭṭha p. bh. eight stages of the individual viz.
manda—bhūmi, khiḍḍā˚, vīmaṁsana˚, ujugata˚ sekha˚, samaṇa˚, jina˚,
panna˚, or as trsld by Rh. D in Dial. i.72,
under "eight stages of a prophet's existence"; babyhood, playtime,
trial time, erect time learning time, ascetic time, prophet time &
prostrate time. Cp. the 10 decades of man's life, as given by Bdhgh at
Vism 619)."


3) Also having seen plenty of the presentations of your “bhumis
– the photos, etc. From your initial background (e.g. beginning with
the Yogananda teacher in Hawaii), and the fact that apparently the only
personage you've rated as tops (13th-”bhumi”) was "Amma" (Mata Amritanandamayi), a Brahmanic Hindhu “Saint”, you've got little ground (“Bhūmi”)
to stand on – other than the trademark self-promotional pretension--
when saying anything about Buddhism, least of all Theravada.

Is your point that bhumis are not part of therevada but of mahayana? Is your point that what I am doing with bhumis has no relevance to buddhism at all? If your answer is yes to these questions, you clearly have no clue what the Open Heart Bhumi Model means. Schools or denominations don't matter. I've told you before that you can remain a die hard traditional theravadin by all means but why do you keep repeating the same stuff to me?

>Also having seen plenty of the presentations of your “bhumis

You might have seen plenty of these presentations but it is clear you don't understand at all what they mean.
CJMacie:
Kim Katami:

... I could have made the choice of starting to teach and becoming public much later than I did. But I knew I had things people could use for their own benefit so I started teaching quite early. I was aksed to anyway. One of the sides of this choice is that as I travel myself I tell and speak of my notions along the way. I mean in many aspects I haven't followed any readily available buddhist system or literature, in some minor aspects I have. ...


As a exit comment, and echoing one of the very first issues I brought, way back when, up about your manner of speech, here are used, 13 times in 5 sentences, “I”/”my”/”myself” references. This manner of speech, as  well as the body language of the photo / avatar, the “statistics of awakening” competition, etc. amount to text-book examples, in the context of  Theravada, of the awakening-hindering fetter of:

"Māna

[late Vedic & Epic Sk. māna, fr. ;man,
orig. meaning perhaps "high opinions" (i. e. No. 2); hence "pride (No.
1). Def. of root see partly under māneti, partly under mināti]
1. pride, conceit, arrogance (cittassa uṇṇati Nd1 80; Vbh 350). Māna is one of the Saññojanas . It is one of the principal obstacles to Arahantship ..."

So, carry on as you may, helping people as it may, but in comparing to, claiming understanding of, etc. Theravada, you've little ground (Bhūmi) to stand on.

Manner of speech, huh? Is the use of the first noun the problem? Seriously? And what about the emptiness of the self? What about conventional language? Chris, in your way of analysing me and my state of attainment is nothing wrong but you really are getting bound by your method of doing your analyses. Not lucid.

>This manner of speech, as  well as the body language of the photo / avatar

- Based on my manner of speech and body language in my profile photo you draw the conclusion that I am conceitful. I'm sorry but this is really ridiculous.
 
>the “statistics of awakening” competition

- Of course I am happy and proud to be able to present these statistics and the method because it is something extraordinary but competition... please. There'd have to be statistics from other schools/lineages for there to be an opportunity to compare (not compete) them. I'd love to know specifically how other schools are doing. And as I have said I do have some data from here and there, and then just many testimonies from many people from many fields. Based on this I am and can draw the conclusion that when it comes to getting people awakened, having that first revelation, 2pf works pretty great, and fast, especially in one on one guidance.

- I feel that pragmatic dharma is a common effort to make dharma teachings better available and understandable to anyone who is looking for such help, instead of merely following the old forms of buddhism. The 2pf has kicked the butt in getting people awakened. The statistics indicate that. But. If I ever find out that there is even better and faster way to get awakened, I'd toss the 2pf in an instant, and it's statistics. So to me, if I use the term "competition", it is in helping people get awake as soon as possible as easily as possible, not in bragging that my school is better than yours. OK?

>So, carry on as you may, helping people as it may, but in comparing to, claiming understanding of, etc. Theravada, you've little ground (Bhūmi) to stand on.

- Where did you get the idea that I am claiming understanding of theravada buddhism? I have talked of the principles behind buddhist practice and systems in general but never claimed to be an formal authority on theravada or any other form of buddhism. How you could have missed that. Because of emotional fits? I once posted a similar photo of a bull and bull fighter (don't remember where) which I partially meant as a joke but also trying to deliver this point to you, because it really does seem like you loose it everytime you see my posts, like a bull seeing red.

- Chris, after my last post I actually thought of Skyping with you, meeting you face to face. This thing has been going on for long enough that I felt that for the messaging to become fruitful and beneficial, we'd have to get pass this head butting which is just a waste of time for me. If you're up for Skyping, I am too. But if you keep continuing in the same spirit as before, I'll skip your messages because nothing useful comes out of going in samsaric circles.
Matt, modified 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 11:45 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 11:45 AM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 316 Join Date: 1/14/14 Recent Posts
Kim Katami:
- Based on my manner of speech and body language in my profile photo you draw the conclusion that I am conceitful. I'm sorry but this is really ridiculous.
 
Kim,

The super interesting think about your system is that you rate contemplative attainment based on a photo.  Are you saying that something like a level of conciet is not asertainable from a photo, or that Chris is not capable of making that determination?

I'm not trying to play 'gotcha', I'm really just interested in the range and constraints of this photo/assesment method.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 12:16 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 12:16 PM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
matthew sexton:
Kim Katami:
- Based on my manner of speech and body language in my profile photo you draw the conclusion that I am conceitful. I'm sorry but this is really ridiculous.
 
Kim,

The super interesting think about your system is that you rate contemplative attainment based on a photo.  Are you saying that something like a level of conciet is not asertainable from a photo, or that Chris is not capable of making that determination?

I'm not trying to play 'gotcha', I'm really just interested in the range and constraints of this photo/assesment method.

Oh, that's an interesting question. Nicely picked emoticon

This question can be answered by discriminating whether bhumis are open or if they are perfected. It is a matter of endless debate whether morals/ethics are perfected at some stage. Some say yes, some say no. I think they are when reaching full buddhahood, that is reaching perfection of 1s to 11th-13th bhumis. Prior to that, meaning full arhats (perfected bhumis 1-6) or bodhisattvas (perfected bhumis 1-7 or 1-10), the mind is still subtly stained and unwholesome actions can take place.

To be able to see whether someones bhumis are opened and/or perfected requires professional, that is, really solid skills of bhumi mapping. But if the skills are there, then it is possible to sense if some or any stain is there, regardless of it's subtlety.  
Matt, modified 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 12:58 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 12:58 PM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 316 Join Date: 1/14/14 Recent Posts
Kim Katami:
matthew sexton:
Kim Katami:
- Based on my manner of speech and body language in my profile photo you draw the conclusion that I am conceitful. I'm sorry but this is really ridiculous.
 
Kim,

The super interesting think about your system is that you rate contemplative attainment based on a photo.  Are you saying that something like a level of conciet is not asertainable from a photo, or that Chris is not capable of making that determination?

I'm not trying to play 'gotcha', I'm really just interested in the range and constraints of this photo/assesment method.

Oh, that's an interesting question. Nicely picked emoticon

This question can be answered by discriminating whether bhumis are open or if they are perfected. It is a matter of endless debate whether morals/ethics are perfected at some stage. Some say yes, some say no. I think they are when reaching full buddhahood, that is reaching perfection of 1s to 11th-13th bhumis. Prior to that, meaning full arhats (perfected bhumis 1-6) or bodhisattvas (perfected bhumis 1-7 or 1-10), the mind is still subtly stained and unwholesome actions can take place.

To be able to see whether someones bhumis are opened and/or perfected requires professional, that is, really solid skills of bhumi mapping. But if the skills are there, then it is possible to sense if some or any stain is there, regardless of it's subtlety.  
I don't know what to take from your answer.  I could try to explain what I might deduce from your anwer, but I'll start by just trying to clarify my question.  What is rediculous, that
  • conciet can be assessed from a photo
  • Chris is capable of making such an assessment
  • Kim is conceited [this is not snark here, but I just noticed that this might be what you're talking about]
  • Kim, not being a buddha, is of course somewhat concieted.
Really, I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm just trying to understand the message.... I guess you're saying option 2, that Chris is not a professional, am I right?
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 1:14 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/21/17 1:14 PM

RE: About zen, dzogchen and attainments

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
matthew sexton:
I don't know what to take from your answer.  I could try to explain what I might deduce from your anwer, but I'll start by just trying to clarify my question.  What is rediculous, that
  • conciet can be assessed from a photo
  • Chris is capable of making such an assessment
  • Kim is conceited [this is not snark here, but I just noticed that this might be what you're talking about]
  • Kim, not being a buddha, is of course somewhat concieted.
Really, I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm just trying to understand the message.... I guess you're saying option 2, that Chris is not a professional, am I right?

1. Conceit can be assessed from a photo if the skill of bhumi mapping is high.
2. A person without an in-depth training in bhumi analysing cannot make valid distinguishments.
4. Kim, not being a buddha is of course somewhat conceited, or somehow deluded.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/22/17 3:32 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/22/17 3:32 AM

About the importance of physical exercise

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About the importance of physical exercise

On courses and retreats we always do some simple physical exercises. In the morning we do deep release (rushen) and then free form streching throughout the day for brief periods. At some point, when sitting a lot, you just start to feel that you want to move, open tightness in the body and release tensions. The same happens in daily life, not just at teachings. In fact, people do streching and opening of the body subconsciously, in the morning, at work or wherever they are, just like animals do. Applying simple exercising like this is very important every day. It keeps us fresh and helps in integrating the three bodies, physical body, energetic bodies and the body of awareness.

Also regular exercise, in one form or the other is important for a meditator and especially for a tantric meditator who works with the powerful energies of the guru and deities. Tantric energy work stirs up the energies of the mind so much that if one doesn't do any physical exercising, there can be stagnation which in turn causes some physical aches, pains and/or emotional peaks. Yes, physical exercising can and does smoothen out dark night symptoms and in general, as said above helps with the integration of the meditative state (rigpa) with the other two bodies. It's not like you sit in natural awareness and it's automatically aligned and integrated with the other two bodies, not at all.

What do I mean with physical exercises?

Exercises can be in many kinds of forms:
Slow (like taichi or chigong), fast (like fast body weight exercises or running), light (little muscle contraction), heavy (a lot of muscle contraction), opening/stretching (yoga, stretching) or body care (using soft or hard rollers, beating the body with a wooden stick, bundle of steel wires or a hammer to effect deep release of stresses in the physical tissues).

These are the main categories of physical exercises. Often few or several of the elements are combined together as for example in yoga (slow, light and stretching; slow, heavy and streching). Then of course if you do some warm up exercises before running a few kilometres and add some stretching, you combine several elements together. I think it is important to know of these different elements and modify one's exercises, not just follow one form of exercise (unless it combines the elements).

The physical body has numerous muscles, hundreds of bones, a lot of stuff that can become stiff or that can be kept in dynamic and healthy, soft and open, condition. I think it is important to change one's form of exercise and not to do the same routine, the same series of postures for example everyday. I say this because any part of body can be closed and opened not just to one direction but to numerous directions. The body is an organic whole so the form of exercise should take this into account.

In the Western culture we have a stubborn idea that physical exercise should always break sweat and be hard. No, no. Exercising should always be in accordance with how you feel. If you need light and easy exercises you shoudn't do heavy exercises. And vice versa. If your body is stiff after a heavy exercise that you did before, then do some warm ups and long stretches. Learn to listen to your body and balance the extremes.

This is just some simple guidelines reg. physical exercising. Hope it is of use to you emoticon

Kim
Jinxed P, modified 7 Years ago at 2/23/17 6:29 PM
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RE: About the importance of physical exercise

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Kim, what would you rank Bhante G's attainment based on photo?

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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 2/24/17 1:52 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 2/24/17 1:52 AM

RE: About the importance of physical exercise

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Jinxed P:
Kim, what would you rank Bhante G's attainment based on photo?


Hi JP,

For the sake of shedding light on how OHBM works, I can do this, although there is a lot of material of this in my blog. I have done so many bhumi analyses during the past 1½ years so at one point I had to say no because I was getting so many requests from all possible directions. Now I offer bhumi reading as a service.

But I would like you to do a reading too before I tell you mine. There is no point of asking me to do readings alone because it will teach you nothing. How? Read this.

I have also asked OH teachers in training to do readings on this picture for comparison. I'll post their comments here.
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supaluqi, modified 7 Years ago at 3/8/17 5:37 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/8/17 5:21 AM

RE: About the importance of physical exercise

Posts: 45 Join Date: 4/12/16 Recent Posts
hey Kim,
Thanks for putting out there your Awake! ebook...the question 'what identifies with self-identifcation' amongst other clues definitely helped me pass the gateless gate (95% sure)!

"When two flashing swords meet there is no place to escape"

Just out of interest, being a first pather (with K Folk's guidance), Im pretty sure it was not an A&P experience or a path moment. It was a happening independent of the MCTB insight map, yet seems to be an unshakeable understanding, a kind of 'putting 2 and 2 together, doh! moment', it is irreversible, and obviously so, like one cannot go back to thinking 2+2 equals unicorn!

Yet, I wonder why on earth couldnt I have seen it previously...Im not that dumb (surely!)...and I think perhaps the key was a lessening of a clinging/aversion to that fairy tale, which allowed one the space to be able to dispassionately reason enough to properly put 2 and 2 together...maybe a loosening of a 'fetter' and better situated within that map:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetter_%28Buddhism%29

ps the VM dialogue in Awake! pdf is mis-edited and repeats itself...just to let you know!
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/8/17 10:28 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/8/17 10:28 AM

RE: About the importance of physical exercise

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supaluqi:
hey Kim,
Thanks for putting out there your Awake! ebook...the question 'what identifies with self-identifcation' amongst other clues definitely helped me pass the gateless gate (95% sure)!

"When two flashing swords meet there is no place to escape"

Just out of interest, being a first pather (with K Folk's guidance), Im pretty sure it was not an A&P experience or a path moment. It was a happening independent of the MCTB insight map, yet seems to be an unshakeable understanding, a kind of 'putting 2 and 2 together, doh! moment', it is irreversible, and obviously so, like one cannot go back to thinking 2+2 equals unicorn!

Yet, I wonder why on earth couldnt I have seen it previously...Im not that dumb (surely!)...and I think perhaps the key was a lessening of a clinging/aversion to that fairy tale, which allowed one the space to be able to dispassionately reason enough to properly put 2 and 2 together...maybe a loosening of a 'fetter' and better situated within that map:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetter_%28Buddhism%29

ps the VM dialogue in Awake! pdf is mis-edited and repeats itself...just to let you know!
Glad you liked the book. I've meant to update it for a while but it keeps getting postponed due to other work. In this thread above I posted some pointers from recent guidances.

>Yet, I wonder why on earth couldnt I have seen it previously

Today a friend of mine told me of his grandmother who appears to be awakened. Yesterday another friend told me of her kids of whom other one couldn't find his sense of self while the other did. I also know a couple of people who never had a sense of self, since birth. Then on the other hand there are those, people like me, who have such a stubborn tendency for selfing that it really creates discomfort and frustration. I had loads of frustration also because nothing happened when I was following the instructions given to me by a buddhist meditation teacher. It seemed to be a bit like lottery, some win and some don't, with equal dedication and effort.

Recently a friend who did guidance with me wrote:

The two part formula is too good to be true, except it really is true! This is so wonderful. The distinction between the subject-self and the
object-self is such an important distinction to make, something I never understood until I came across the Guidance on the Open Heart-website.
Really crucial to awakening. I spent 18 years working with the object-self doing vipassana which would have knock on effects on
weakening the subject-self, but left it still alive and kicking, whereas after two weeks looking at the subject-self in the Guidance with Kim I
finally woke up! I feel so grateful for this - it's been life changing for me. I don't think there are many teachers out there that understand
the subject versus object self distinction. Open Heart is really lucky in this regard. In terms of Buddhism in general, this really is ground
breaking stuff.”


This friend did 18 (!) years of daily meditation and monthly retreats. I did 8½ years of a lot of daily sitting. I know other such examples.

It really shouldn't be that difficult. Nothing replaces dedicated practice on and off the cushion over many years but that first insight, awakening, can surely be generated easily and quickly with this formula. It doesn't require preparation of years of practice, although it can help (or be a bit of an obstruction). There are slight indications that some buddhist teachers might be starting to use the 2 pf in their sanghas. I think it is wonderful news. If this spiritual or buddhist thing that is going on is said to be something that puts an end to existential confusion, it ought to deliver it in a reasonable way to anyone*.  
Change A, modified 7 Years ago at 3/9/17 5:52 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/9/17 5:52 PM

RE: About the importance of physical exercise

Posts: 791 Join Date: 5/24/10 Recent Posts
I tried the two-part analysis and it works really good. Thanks Kim.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/10/17 1:05 AM
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RE: About the importance of physical exercise

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Change A.:
I tried the two-part analysis and it works really good. Thanks Kim.

My pleasure.
Change A, modified 7 Years ago at 3/11/17 8:21 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/11/17 8:21 AM

RE: About the importance of physical exercise

Posts: 791 Join Date: 5/24/10 Recent Posts
Did you come up with it yourself? Or did you find it somewhere?
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/11/17 9:33 AM
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RE: About the importance of physical exercise

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Change A.Did you come up with it yourself? Or did you find it somewhere?

In the end of March in 2014, soon 3 years ago, I was contacted by a French man who had met my dharma brother in India. This man asked me to help him to get awakened which hadn't happened to him after 35 years of a lot of meditation (he was even a renunciate/monk for 12 years in TM-movement). I got his email and sat down for a moment. And just like that I knew the two part formula in my mind. Later I figured out that this technique is a memory from my past lives. Since, during these 3 years, 82 people out of 84 awakened with it.

As the practice instructions of orthodox dzogchen and mahamudra are secret, I do not know exactly what techniques they practice to get awakened but here are two references, copied from here:

An acquaintant, practitioner of Tibetan dzogchen and a student of Namkhai Norbu, wrote me:
”There are practices that are nearly identical to... "self-inquiry", in the practice of khordas rushan (korde rushen). But I'm a fairly
hard-line traditionalist when it comes to practices and transmission and cannot discuss the specifics of rushan here.”


A better and more to the point reference about awakening as it is taught in Tibetan mahamudra and dzogchen, popped up when I was listening to a recording* by Daniel P. Brown, the author of the book ”Pointing out the Great Way”:

Now bring to mind your usual sense of self, your personal identity. You
can evoke this and use it as an object of reflection. For example I
would evoke Dan, Danness, and look squarely at Danness. The thing
about self-presentation is that you can evoke it and you can observe
it... So evoke your sense of self and observe it. Notice any personal
characteristics you associate with that sense of self. Familiarise
yourself with the target of your search... And now take your
awareness... And let your awareness roam thought the regions of your
body. See if you can find any thing in itself, any independently
existing thing that is that personal identity, anywhere in the field
of bodily experience. You have to actively search... And the more you
search anything independently existing, any thing in itself, the more
what you search for will be seen from your awareness as unfindable.
Emptiness practice... is in the unfindability of the target... If you
think you find the independent basis for that sense of self, if you
find any thing that's substantial, roam around in that area and break
it down to smaller units of analysis... OK, now evoke your sense of
self, your personal identity once again... Familiarize yourself with
the target of the search. Evoke your personal identity and notice any
personal characteristics you associate with that sense of self...
Now, take your awareness and let it roam through mental content. Do
you find any independently existing thing that is that self?... As
you continue to search at some point there is a shift in your basis
of operation. What remains right here is the awareness itself, no
longer obscured by the empty construction of the personal identity.
You open up to the level of awareness that is cleaned up of the cloud
of self. And you start operating from that instead of operating out
of self-mode.”


tdiggy t diggy, modified 7 Years ago at 3/11/17 1:23 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/11/17 1:23 PM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 23 Join Date: 12/26/11 Recent Posts
How far can this techique take you past the initial awakening event?  ie. post stream-entry, do you and your students continue with this basic 2-part analysis as a core technique to practice throughout the day?
Thanks!
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/11/17 10:03 PM
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RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
tdiggy t diggy:
How far can this techique take you past the initial awakening event?  ie. post stream-entry, do you and your students continue with this basic 2-part analysis as a core technique to practice throughout the day?
Thanks!

A couple of times, when some people have easily become awakened (opening of the 1st bhumi, stream entry) and were not tired due to demanding processing with the 2pf, I've had them continue using the technique just to see how it would work. They did get some additional stuff ot of their system which was good but couldn't open the next bhumi. So we don't use this technique for anything else except getting people awakened. I suppose it could be used after but as it is designed to specifically pierce through the sense of a subject it is off the point to apply it after when this has already been achieved.

I've had maybe about 30-40 people out of those 80+ who were not interested in post-awakening practices offered by OH or were following other paths, but in OH we have tantric practice called Tibetan Heart Yoga, for post-awakening. THY combines tantra and dzogchen atiyoga.

So, by no means is the 2pf a core technique after awakening, even though you still experience the shifting between the two modes, self-based and selfless. 
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/12/17 3:06 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/12/17 3:06 PM

about shamatha and rigpa

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I referred to a certain paradigm shift here. Some continuation to that.

>Super glad that you said shamathais not contrary to natural awareness. Shamatha is my favorite thing.

- When hitting the 11th bhumi, when it opens, a paradigm shift takes place. From that point on awareness, rigpa, becomes your basic mode of living. Prior to this, rigpa is momentary, now it's on and now it's not, and when it's not on, there is attachment to thought and emotion, that is, selfing takes place. If by shamatha we mean concentration practice, the mechanism of it is that you attend an object with you one-pointed attention... until you find yourself thinking of something and when you do, you return your attention to this object of focus, back and forth, back and forth. So, there is shifting between the two modes of mindfulness and mindlessness, or absence of mindfulness.

The benefit of mindfulness is that it calms you down. At the same time, the down side of concentration practice is that you have to keep applying it to stay calm and forthis reason it is artificial. The natural state, rigpa, is not dependant on techniques or application. It's not dependant of concentration. I also think that doing too much concentration practices can become an obstruction in recognising the natural state.On the other hand, when shamatha concentration is taught in the context of the natural state, or dzogchen, then there are less room for making mistakes, I think.

So, when the 11th bhumi, or the first mahasiddha bhumi opens up, you are mostly in rigpa because the natural state is not your underlying mode anymore but your main mode of being and operation. From the natural state the applications of concentration, mindfulness and attention can be experienced to be not two different things. It is a peculiar thing. At that point you can apply focus, from gentle to maximum, without ever leaving rigpa. On the other hand, as I referred to the paradigm shift, even if you don't apply focus you don't become distracted. This being the case, I heavily recommend opening those bhumis!
tdiggy t diggy, modified 7 Years ago at 3/13/17 9:45 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/13/17 9:45 PM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 23 Join Date: 12/26/11 Recent Posts
Thanks Kim!

Is there an outline of what constitutes the whole path/arc of the teachings you follow?  Is it posted somewhere online or on one of your sites?  


Thanks!
-Tom
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/14/17 1:15 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/14/17 1:15 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
tdiggy t diggy:
Thanks Kim!

Is there an outline of what constitutes the whole path/arc of the teachings you follow?  Is it posted somewhere online or on one of your sites? 

Thanks!
-Tom

Hi Tom.

Yes. See here, under Courses menu.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/16/17 8:22 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/16/17 8:22 AM

RE: about shamatha and rigpa

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
A brief diary note related to the mentioned paradigm shift. I think that at this stage of my practice I am starting to do proper shikan taza or dzogchen atiyoga, meaning that there is no difference whether I sit or move, it's all the same. In dzogchen and mahamudra they call this same taste or one taste. It means that the conditions of what used to be samsara and nirvana, the state of freedom, are unified and therefore there is only a seemless continuum of freedom in countless moments and events that are experienced.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/16/17 9:42 AM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/16/17 9:42 AM

RE: about shamatha and rigpa

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
A brief video explanation why the dzogchen view of great perfection differs from thhe views of all other vehicles, explained through considering the energy channels.

Part 1 and Part 2.

Also a bit of video of dzogchen dance that we have started using in our sangha instead of walking meditation, video 1 and video 2.
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Babs _, modified 7 Years ago at 3/16/17 4:16 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/16/17 4:16 PM

Bringing light to the darkest pit

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This is actually a very interesting and profound thing, the matter of meeting and blending with things and situations.

When we are in self-mode, our being becomes contracted in time and place, that is becomes localised. When we are in selfless mode, our natural state, we are not localised in the same way even though our physical body of course has a concretic form and exists in time and space. So, when we are in our natural state with open mind and receiving heart, we can meet things as they come and blend with them. I am not saying that we can "accept" everything because not every thing we meet can be accepted due to common morals but still things can be met with and be blended with skillfully, with warmth and clarity of our true being.

This skill of meeting and blending is subtle thing, or actually not really a thing because it is based in natural awareness itself. When we are or true beings, we can feel it and know it through our bodies. When someone investigatingly touches you when you are in selfless mode, it can be felt concretically that the body feels different. This is a reference to Testing the Mind of Meditation, find a blog text and Tube video with that title.

So, meeting and blesing is subtle happening and if we are encased to a self, we cannot meet people, things and situations naturally. Unconditional compassion means that by relaxing we insist being in the natural mode. It is such a relief. Whatever comes to us then is not a problem be it praise that would make us feel egoistically elevated or hatred and aggression that we would ordinarily meeth with fight or flight reaction or "spiritually by trying to accept it". In our natural mode, we don't need to accept because everything is already accepted and blended with. But as said, this doesn't mean that everything is OK all the time. If that would be the case it would be dark as in the midnight during midday but this is not the case, isn't it. On a relative level we do have high and low, good and bad, stupidity and wisdom.

So, next time when you notice that oh-ou that ego of yours rears it's ugly head with some nasty thoughts and emotions, give it full freedom to do so. Pain may come, ache may be, the emotion of being pissed off can come completely freely. Give it some understanding, give it a blanket to keep warm and some warm soup, instead of trying to fix it or remove it. "Here, Blind Rage, my old buddy, have a seat and take comfort in this body. Stay as long as you want, no hurry. Enjoy the muscles and bones of this body. Create pain as much as you want. It's totally fine."

As Mother Machig Labdron famously said:

"Confess your hidden faults.
Approach what you find repulsive.
Help those you think you cannot help.
Anything you are attached to, give that.
Go to the places that scare you."

It is a pitfall to want to have happiness and joy. It's an egotrip. By meeting and blending with whatever causes discomfort, pain and suffering, that is the rocketship that all mahasiddhas have taken to reach the full moon that never waxes or wanes.
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Babs _, modified 6 Years ago at 4/10/17 4:41 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 4/10/17 4:41 AM

Modes of Intention, Attention and Awareness

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I was watching an interview of Culadasa John Yates at Batgap where he talked about different categories of concentration, attention and awareness. These have been extensively explained in various Tibetan buddhist sources, in my opinion sometimes in excess detail. I considered this a moment and wrote my take on the matter.

Modes of Intention, Attention and Awareness


Two modes of the natural state
  • Child Awareness* (rigpa, zero dimensional)
  • Mother Awareness** (rigpa, zero dimensional), Child Awareness united with
    Mother Awareness
*Child Awareness: State of pure awareness related only with one's personal
bodymind. When tapped in full equals with the Open Heart-definition
of a fully attained arhat, perfection of bhumis 1-6. Subtly
dualistic.
**Mother Awareness: State of pure awareness related with one's personal and
the larger energy body, extending beyond one's personal aura. When
tapped in full equals with the Open Heart-definition of a buddha,
perfection of bhumis 1-10. Nondualistic.

Two modes of mindfulness that disregards the natural state
  • Intention or concentration without Awareness* as the base
  • Attention (three-dimensional) without Awareness** as the base
*neither Child or Mother Awareness

*Training in one-pointed concentration where an object is used as a support to
one's shamatha meditation that simultaneously disregards
three-dimensional space and the natural state or awareness.
Dualistic.
**Training in effort-based attention applied to three-dimensional space such as
in space gazing which disregards the natural state or awareness.
Dualistic.

Two modes of mindfulness that takes the smaller natural state into account
  • Intention or concentration with Child Awareness as the base
  • Attention (three-dimensional) with Child Awareness as the base
*Training in one-pointed concentration where an object is used as a support to
one's shamatha meditation that simultaneously does not disregard
three-dimensional space or the natural state, that is, awareness.
Subtly dualistic.
**Training in effort-based attention applied to three-dimensional space such as
in space gazing which does not disregard or exclude the natural
state, that is, awareness. Subtly dualistic.

Two modes of mindfulness that takes the full natural state into account
  • Intention or concentration with Mother Awareness* as the base
  • Attention (three-dimensional) with Mother Awareness** as the base
*Application of one-pointed concentration from within the fullness of the natural
state, or Mother Awareness. Nondualistic.
**Application of three-dimensional attention from within the fullness of the natural
state, or Mother Awareness. Nondualistic.

See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg6Xd40a0n4
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Babs _, modified 6 Years ago at 4/12/17 6:46 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 4/12/17 6:46 AM

RE: Kim's tool shed

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
From Erik Pema Kunsang.

About mindfulness in the Tibetan tradition:

"Nyoshul Khenpo’s intention, if I may be so blunt, may not have been to create an army of rigidly mindful robots, twice aware of every breath and step. The self-conscious watching of my breath, constantly on the watch like a hawk, and closing down this living moment into a withdrawn simplified focus, may not have been his aim either."

http://levekunst.com/the-perfect-mirror/
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Babs _, modified 6 Years ago at 5/7/17 2:17 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 5/7/17 2:17 PM

Mind States and Awareness in 5 images

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Mind States and Awareness in 5 images-video, 40 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8dKYijPcTo&feature=youtu.be
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Babs _, modified 6 Years ago at 5/15/17 8:57 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 5/15/17 8:57 AM

Pure Lands

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
This might be if interest if you have read of Kenneth Folk's experience with Buddha Amitabha or know about Pure Land jhanas.

Cheers.
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Babs _, modified 6 Years ago at 6/1/17 1:18 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/1/17 1:18 PM

RE: Pure Lands

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
I'll be posting some (probably) interesting stuff about Pure Land Jhanas soon but meanwhile here's a bit of Pedagogy of Dharma.
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Babs _, modified 6 Years ago at 6/2/17 10:11 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/2/17 10:11 AM

13 Pure Land Jhanas

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Hi.

Before posting a video of going through the 13 Pure Land Jhanas, here's a little info on them plus their related deities. If you are allergic to websites of particular lineages, please disregard everything else seen at the site.

As K. Folk found his first PL Jhana by inviting Amitabha Buddha, I'd be interested in additional info to this and this. When I have time I'll make a comparison of his PL Jhanas and mine/ours.
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Geoff W, modified 6 Years ago at 6/20/17 4:37 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 6/20/17 4:37 PM

RE: 13 Pure Land Jhanas

Posts: 103 Join Date: 1/2/17 Recent Posts
Farewell, sweet prince.  We'll see you again when you return to us as Pema Rinpoche, Baba Bhumi K, Swami Katami, as foretold by the ancients.
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Babs _, modified 5 Years ago at 12/10/18 5:59 AM
Created 5 Years ago at 12/10/18 5:59 AM

RE: 13 Pure Land Jhanas

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
An idea How Zen Buddhism Can Be Bettered, based on Yasutani Roshi's instructions of shikantaza. Would have posted the text directly but copy pasting makes the text obscured, requiring stilization of the whole text, so here's a link instead.

https://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2018/12/how-zen-buddhism-can-be-bettered.html
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Babs _, modified 4 Years ago at 8/12/19 3:13 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 8/12/19 3:12 PM

Transmission - Heart of all Buddhism

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Transmission  - Heart of all Buddhism

In this text, I will discuss the topic of transmission in buddhism, particularly from the point of view of dzogchen but also sutra and
tantra. I was inspired to write this after I read Tahlia Newland's blog entitled, Can you get a Dzogchen Transmission from an Unrealised Teacher?. Since 2017, Mrs. Newland has discussed abuse and problems in Tibetan buddhism, especially those related to Sogyal Lakar (Sogyal Rinpoche) and his Rigpa-organisation. Her above linked text discusses dzogchen practice in very much the same way I have in many blogs and talks, so I felt like offering my take on these essential questions that do not concern only dzogchen but are to all forms of buddhism, and other approaches. For full presentation by Mrs. Newland, I recommend reading her original text. Questions presented here are from her text.

Read the rest here:
https://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2019/08/transmission-heart-of-all-buddhism.html
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Babs _, modified 4 Years ago at 8/15/19 12:43 PM
Created 4 Years ago at 8/15/19 12:43 PM

RE: Transmission - Heart of all Buddhism

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
In tantric practice, deities are practiced. A tantrika chants, ”Avalokiteshvara, Avalokiteshvara, Avalokiteshvara...”, endlessly day and night. For a beginner this might appear exiting, something exotic. We begin like that and throw ourselves in the practice.

A year or two later, one comes to understand that this Avalokiteshvara-practice is nothing but cultivation of the perfectly enlightened archetype of compassion, that we already possess. It no longer is exotic or exiting in a naive manner. Gradually, we start to feel that somehow we have the same freedom and compassionate energy as Avalokiteshvara does. We begin to become Avalokiteshvara.

Again, a year or two later, we truly understand. We become embodiments of Avalokiteshvara. At this stage there is no thought of anything exotic or exiting in our practice. There is not even idea of compassion or radiance of energy, nor of sentient beings. These concepts have turned into a living reality. Chanting of Avalokiteshvara's name is the same as chanting, ”me, me, me” for our state of mind is not separate from that of enlightened compassion. When we chant, ”Avalokiteshvara, Avalokiteshvara, Avalokiteshvara...”, the result is no different to
chanting ”Me, me, me...”.
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Babs _, modified 4 Years ago at 8/18/19 11:34 AM
Created 4 Years ago at 8/18/19 11:34 AM

Emptiness of Self and Phenomena in the Forms of Space and Time

Posts: 709 Join Date: 2/5/13 Recent Posts
Emptiness of Self and Phenomena in the Forms of Space and Time

I was listening to an interview of Leigh Brasington, an American
practitioner and teacher of buddhist meditation who has background in
theravada buddhism as well as dzogchen.

In the interview (https://youtu.be/o9xP28pzQAA?t=4808)
he briefly discusses concepts of space and time as forms of
self-delusion. I have discussed about this on many occasions but just
as a reminder, felt like writing a short note.

Emptiness of Space: From 3-D to Zero-D

Self or me, in all of its forms and expressions, is located both in time
and space. Our sense of me-ness is located in three-dimensional, 3-D,
space. It is easy to see how our physical body is a three-dimensional
object existing in three-dimensional physical space. In the same
manner, as all of our self-based confusion is in our mind, mind
objects of various kinds also come and go in the same way, appearing
and disappearing in three-dimensional mind space. These two bodies,
physical and energetic or mind, are the two most obvious bodies we
have but then there is a third body which for sentient beings is
mostly hidden and unknown. This unfamiliarity (marigpa) is the root
cause of our confusion and suffering. That is the body of knowing
awareness or rigpa.

Full text here: https://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2019/08/emptiness-of-self-and-phenomena-in.html
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Linda ”Polly Ester” Ö, modified 3 Years ago at 4/1/20 2:33 PM
Created 3 Years ago at 4/1/20 2:33 PM

RE: Transmission - Heart of all Buddhism

Posts: 7134 Join Date: 12/8/18 Recent Posts
Kim Katami:
Transmission  - Heart of all Buddhism

In this text, I will discuss the topic of transmission in buddhism, particularly from the point of view of dzogchen but also sutra and
tantra. I was inspired to write this after I read Tahlia Newland's blog entitled, Can you get a Dzogchen Transmission from an Unrealised Teacher?. Since 2017, Mrs. Newland has discussed abuse and problems in Tibetan buddhism, especially those related to Sogyal Lakar (Sogyal Rinpoche) and his Rigpa-organisation. Her above linked text discusses dzogchen practice in very much the same way I have in many blogs and talks, so I felt like offering my take on these essential questions that do not concern only dzogchen but are to all forms of buddhism, and other approaches. For full presentation by Mrs. Newland, I recommend reading her original text. Questions presented here are from her text.

Read the rest here:
https://openheartopenheart.blogspot.com/2019/08/transmission-heart-of-all-buddhism.html

Thanks for this thread! Right now I'm wondering if I'm going (even more) crazy or if the following can be due to transmission: I was watching Lama Lena doing teachings on facebook live, and after she had talked about all thoughts and perceptions of the world come and go and having no substance, she said "Watch!" and then she was verbally silent for a long period but I could tell that she was still vividly communicating, as she so often is in those "silent" moments. I tuned into it and felt very relaxed and suddenly she disappeared, sort of, or was there like a ghost. Transparent! As it was twenty to four in the morning here in Sweden, I wrote a comment about it, attributing it to sleep deprivation. One person replied with a laughter emoji afterwards. Another practicioner said that it really had happened. So I watched the video in replay. The first time I was staring at the pixels and couldn't see it. Then I watched again, tuning into the vibes - and then I saw it again! Is that something that occurs in transmission? 

At another time, she asked us to watch her through our hands, between the fingers, and then watch a finger print, and then look back and forth. That was to illustrate how recognizing thoughts with our mind can first feel like watching ping pong, before we can comprehend it all at the same time and see that it isn't separate. The thing is, it wasn't like ping pong for me. When I focused on my finger print, I could still see Lama Lena as vividly, and she wasn't farther away than my finger print. There was no space, no perspective. Everything was just as close. I have had visions like that before (all after watching Lama Lena on youtube) and I thought that was just a quirk of the stage of my practice. Now I'm wondering if that was transmitted too. 

Is this what transmissions are like? 

I had my first experience of Dharmatta while practicing directly after watching Lama Lena on youtube. I attributed that to transmission, because it was so exceptionally clear, and I'd had the feeling that something had happened while watching too. That was more in line with what I expected. I had not expected a person to go invisible right before my eyes, apparent to some and not to others.

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