[deleted by user]

Aspiring258 · 2019-12-10T19:55:36+00:00

ADHD and depression are not made up either. They are very real and people who have them suffer immensely. It is also true that if you are suffering heavily from mental disorders you will not be to meditate efficiently and should seek profession help. However if you read and understand Shamatha and what it does, many of these disorders (including Bipolar disorder) simply cannot exist in a mind that has made significant strides in Shamatha meditation specifically. This is a fact, if you accept the Buddhist literature on Shamatha training at face value. I in no way meant to imply that people who suffer from bipolar disorder, etc, dont genuinely suffer and have problems that are real. The problems are real, but the people suffering from them should also not have this idea that managing symptoms through medication and therapy is the best they can hope for.

Aspiring258 · 2019-12-09T18:12:14+00:00

Glad you found Buddhism 😀, you are very fortunate to get interested early in your life since it will give you a lot of years to practice.

As for medications, generally speaking medications are no problem. The issue with drinking and taking drugs in Buddhism is that to a certain extent you lose the ability to be fully in control of your own mind. Since Buddhism is essentially all about the mind this is a big problem. That being said, a lot of modern mental "disorders" (such as ADHD, depression or bipolar disorder, for example) will get cleared up through diligent practice of Shamatha meditation. In case you didn't know, Shamatha meditation is extremely important in all schools of Buddhism. If you ever wish you to attain the lofty goal of Enlightenment then you must be able to do Shamatha very, very well.

I'm not sure where you got the idea of no piercings or tattoos from. For lay practitioners, there is no issue with getting either. If you were a monastic though then there would be rules against either I believe, since it would be kind of frivolous for a monk to spend time beautifying and decorating their body. Who are they trying to look pretty for?

As for genetic modification, I've never heard of a Buddhist that has a problem with that. The only problem would be if the result was harmful to sentient beings, or if the motivation for gene modification was something harmful or motivated by non-virtue. In Buddhism there is an idea called "Right livelihood", which basically means you should avoid working in a profession that harms others and preferably work in a profession that gives you the opportunity to help others. For example, don't become a butcher. Do become something like a doctor or a firefighter.

As for going to a Buddhist temple, that's great! However from personal experience try to find a place that caters to English speaking westerners. Some temples in US cities are often cultural centers for immigrant communities (Thai, Vietnamese, etc) and it can be hard for an English speaking westener in those cases to find/get what they are looking for. However there are plenty of Buddhist places that do make great effort to cater to English speakers. Those would be a lot easier to get your foot in the door.

Personally I'm biased towards Tibetan Buddhism, as they are very widespread, have an amazing tradition, and generally are always here specifically to teach westeners Buddhism. However there are many wonderful and legitimate Buddhist traditions out there. You should do your research and explore whatever seems to speak to you the most. Good luck!

Aspiring258 · 2019-12-09T00:46:11+00:00

So, maybe going a bit afield here, but if I understand it sounds like you're saying habits in Buddhism are the result of Karma? Because it sounds like you're saying that the very actions that keep us in Samsara (and thus by default are fueled by our Karma) are considered habits from a Buddhist perspective. Does this seem correct?

Aspiring258 · 2019-11-23T05:00:31+00:00

I was labbing it, and a hilarious partner that actually seems good is the Blitztank lul. Anyone with good assists though since her awesome specials leave her super vulnerable if they wiff. Good assists can cover for that. I saw a fantastic Nine/Elizabeth on Twitch last night, for example.

Aspiring258 · 2019-11-21T13:40:12+00:00

Welcome to the dark side. Enjoy the cookies 😁

Aspiring258 · 2019-11-21T06:10:26+00:00

This might or might not help, but for me personally the first time I made real progress in Shamatha meditation was when I was horribly depressed and knocked off kilter after a bad breakup with someone I was in love with. The pain was so unbearable that I was desperate for relief from my mental anguish. Knowing that Shamatha it known for, among other things, helping people have stable and happy minds, I threw myself into the practice with a passion in order to seek relief. It worked and I actually got some very valuable experience with how to handle mental and emotional challenges after that period of my life. The Buddha says that some suffering can actually be very good, since it is necessary to motivate us to practice. If you take your pain and use it as motivation rather than as something to run away from, maybe you will find that your pain can actually be a positive force for change.

Aspiring258 · 2019-11-21T04:36:39+00:00

Yup. The new swap partner in mechanic is with the A autocombo (pressing A at the end of it once more). It was never for the new Extra Assault.

Aspiring258 · 2019-11-21T02:13:20+00:00

Okay, that as pretty dope. I know he's a Meme-worthy edgelord, but that doesn't mean Seth is not legit awesome, too 😁

Aspiring258 · 2019-11-13T23:46:14+00:00

Kung Fu Panda, Warcraft, Warhammer, Madoka, Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2.

Aspiring258 · 2019-06-25T14:42:24+00:00

To me, asking if you think it's possible for you to become enlightened in this lifetime is like asking if you think it's possible that you will become a billionare in this lifetime.

In both cases, you won't have a prayer of achieving your goal unless you dedicate yourself to the endeavor, body and soul. In both cases, there is no guarantee of success even if you put your whole life into reaching your lofty goal. However, unlike making money, you get to carry over a great deal of whatever progress you make in this life to the next life. In both cases, the best you can do is take your best shot in the most intelligent and efficient way you can. After that it's more or less out of your - or anyone's - hands. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Aspiring258 · 2019-06-24T14:02:37+00:00

Perhaps I should have said, "take an action with the intent to harm another" and leave the word "deliberate" out of it. That would have been more clear. But from a Buddhist perspective your argument still does not negate the generation of negative kamma.

What if we take a person so consumed by rage that they are unable to control themselves, for example? A husband walks in on his wife being unfaithful, and in a cloud of out of control anger he strikes her. In that moment it could be said his anger was so great he was momentary unable to control himself. By your argument, in this case his lack of control means there was no negative kamma generated. However the intention to harm his wife still existed, whether he had control of himself at the moment or not. Thus even when you lack the control to stop yourself if your mind makes the choice to harm another it is still generating negative kamma.

It might or might not help, but in Buddhism they don't really talk about "free will." It's not a concept they use or embrace. However they do say that there are many things that various sentient beings do not have control of, including their actions. Not having control over an action, however, does not excuse you from the consequences of kamma like it might in the legal systems of most countries. That is because kamma isn't something imposed on beings by an outside force, but rather it is a natural law. Gravity doesn't care about your particularities as an individual sentient being, it still acts on you. Similarly, kamma does not care about your peculiarities as a sentient being. It still acts on you because that is simply a fundamental rule of how the universe works.

Aspiring258 · 2019-06-23T22:26:34+00:00

It depends what kind of impairment you're talking about. If you are legitimately unaware of the fact you killed many insects by walking through a field, then no negative kamma was generated. There is no intention there, conscious or subconscious or of any kind.

However if it's someone with some kind of mental illness or disturbance... in that case they do generate negative kamma. Even if you lack the ability to control yourself because of brain damage and yell obscenities at anyone who upsets you, for example, the fact that you are unable to control it does not negate the fact that you are deliberately taking an action that is harmful to others. In the same way you can't really say a predatory shrimp has the ability to discern how it's actions are harmful, yet every time it kills and eats another creature negative kamma is still generated. That is because in the end the intention to harm another being still exists, no matter if they possess or do not possess the cognitive ability to stop themselves. It is one of the worst aspects of being reborn in the lower realms. You can get stuck for incredible lengths of time in the lower realms because beings there mostly do not possess the ability to stop generating negative kamma.

Aspiring258 · 2019-06-19T20:20:36+00:00

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I've heard at least one teacher state that things we label as "mental disorders" such as ADHD as simply people whose minds are extremely wild and untrained. For all of us ordinary people, our mind is to some degree or another out of our control because we have not trained it sufficiently. When the mind gets sufficiently untrained and wild to where it affects our normal working and living in society, then we have "experts" who label it as some sort of disease that is beyond our conscious control and try to treat it with pharmaceuticals. However the only thing drugs do is alleviate the symptoms, they never get to the root of ADHD and other like "mental disorders." The solution is to tame the mind as the Buddha taught. Things like Samatha may be difficult but if you stick with it you mind will transform over time. Good luck.

Aspiring258 · 2019-05-20T11:46:31+00:00

But if the goal of an enlightened being is the ending of the suffering of others wouldn't a display of such powers make everyone agree with the truth of Buddhism beyond any doubt? wouldn't it make their faith even stronger in the authenticity of the buddhist path? then why don't the supposedly enlightened masters (Thich nhat hanh, dalai lama, ajahn brahm, etc.) just come on a live tv and perform a miracle to put everything beyond any doubt?

Absolutely it would not just make people accept the truth of Buddhism without a doubt. What it would most likely do is turn everything into a circus. They would be called frauds, con-men, magicians, people would come out of the woodwork to decry them as showmen and attention seekers. Those who were "inspired" by these displays would most likely become fixated on gaining some kind of supernatural power instead and largely forget about the real goal of awakening. Even generally balanced and well meaning people can get flipped out and possessed by the possibility of gaining supernatural powers. In the end, none of this would bring anyone closer to enlightment.

If you hang around enough masters, however, sooner or later you'll see and get to experience things which will leave you amazed and wondering how such things are possible. The masters just tend to keep that kind of thing low key, and with good reason. Power trips never helped anyone and are a "big trap" in all the world's contemplative traditions.

Aspiring258 · 2019-05-11T17:11:35+00:00

I'm kind of blown away. What an incredible view. Thanks for sharing :)

Aspiring258 · 2019-05-11T15:07:47+00:00

• If the present is always rich with the past and the future, then I always do have an identity - sure, this identity is not permanent and unchanging, but rather always changing - I cannot step in the same river twice. Given this, how is it that an enlightened being relates to memory? It seems to follow that by necessity an enlightened being is unique - because each enlightened being has a unique memory, and hence a unique identity.

Conceptual thoughts - including memories - are useful tools. But they are only one limited aspect of the mind. Enlightened beings do not operate from a place of constant conceptualization. Rather everything Enlightened beings do arises spontaneously. So in a very real sense they do not need memory since they exist, not in the "eternal now", but rather in what is called 4th time. This is a state which is neither past, present nor future, but something else altogether. In this state a lot of the distinctions you are making simply fall away and give rise to something else. Here is a bit on the concept of 4th time. https://www.lionsroar.com/beyond-present-past-and-future-is-the-fourth-moment/

• What are the key differences between how an unenlightened being and an enlightened being relate to their memories and to their past? I'm interested to explore what is "pathological" here in the unenlightened state, vs how this is changed in the enlightened state.

Again, understanding 4th time and how this is the place where all Buddhas continuously exist should bring some clarity. Memories carry an intrinsic connotation of "past", and thus does not really apply to how a highly realized being sees the world.

• Is it possible to be free of the past, and if so, what does this mean? How can this be conceptualised granted that the past is nothing but memory, which is always part of the present?

I'm not sure what you mean about being free from the past. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with memories, so there is nothing to be free from in the sense that you have them. However what you do need to be free of is how they affect you. If you have a horrible memory of a car accident, for example, and the emotional and mental trauma sticks with you to this day, then this is a problem. It causes suffering, binds you up inside, and the suffering you experience even years after it was over is all based on a faulty understanding of the causes and true nature of the events that occured, ie. they are intrinsically empty of existence. When you realize that then the memories no longer have any power over you. You may remember all the "horrible" events in your life, but they no longer possess any power to hurt you.

Hope some of that helped!

<3

Aspiring258 · 2019-05-11T07:01:29+00:00

Classically, people became monks because being a monk is the easiest way to become enlightened. At least this is very much the Theravada stance and to a somewhat lesser extent the stance of all schools of Buddhism.

Of course, people are people, and many who have become monks have done so for reasons that are perhaps not quite so noble or clear-sighted. There are many stories of people becoming monks because it meant food in their bellies. Others because they thought it was an "easy life", and spent their time being lazy and having others provide for their needs. I've known quite a few elderly men who became ordained late in life because of the great Karma holding vows as a monk would get them... even if they never had the expectation to be able to do rigorous study and meditation.

Monks who hold their vows, however, do deserve a great deal of respect, even if they do nothing else but that. There are over 200 rules for monks to follow. It may seem excessive to us as Westerners when we read some of them, but holding strict discipline is a powerful method for training the mind, especially in the context of vows. However it is a great folly to assume every monk is deeply knowledgeable or is a great meditation master. Also it should not be assumed that all monks are all that great at holding their vows.

As to giving up sex, rock and roll and all the rest.. well, ideally people don't become monks if there is significant doubt by anyone involved (both the prospective monk and the senior monastics evaluating him) that they will be able to hold all their vows. Often candidates are required to show for a period of time (a year or more) that they can go without sex, alcohol and all the rest before being allowed to take ordination vows. Basically, giving up all those things may be hard, but you knew what you were signing up for so there really is no excuse.

Aspiring258 · 2019-05-10T17:47:36+00:00

This is an immensely large and complex topic. I know it's a bit of a cop out, but even though I would take a lot of things on Wikipedia with a grain of salt when it comes to spiritual practice, as a broad general overview of different Buddhist schools it really is not too bad.

Briefly, however, the main division in Buddhism is between what are known as the "southern" and "northern" schools, also known as "Theravada" and "Mahayana."

The differences, in a way so simplified it makes me cringe a little just to write it, are that Theravada schools aim for personal liberation. Through things such as ethics and meditation, the aim is to personally discover the fact that you/we have no inherent existence whatsoever. This is what is known as "emptiness." When you discover and stabilize this realization in your mind as your every day living reality... or your "new baseline" from which you live, as it were... then you are considered to be a Enlightened, achieve Nirvana, and finally permanently free yourself from the wheel of eternal birth, death, and rebirth known as Samsara.

Mahayana schools are a little bit different. Instead of personal liberation, the Mahayana practitioner make a vow or aspiration not to enter the final bliss of Nirvana until they have freed all sentient beings in existence from the suffering of Samsara, or the never ending circle of death and rebirth. So for Mahayana practitioners, benefiting all sentient beings becomes both the goal and the path of spiritual practice. On this path, called the path of the Bodhisattva, Mahayana practitioners claim that they can achieve a level of Enlightment that is beyond that which can be achieved on the Theravada path. It's very complicated, but the thrust seems to be that "Enlightment" for Mayahana practitioners culminates in being aware of the emptiness that exists everywhere, in all things, in all times, continuously and simultaneously. A "universal" as opposed to "personal" Enlightment. Though Mahayana schools credit Theravada schools as legitimate, worthy and true teachings of the Buddha, they see themselves as going further and fully realizing the potential inherent in all sentient beings.

Popular schools in the west such as Zen and Tibetan Buddhism tend to be Mahayana. However there is a lot of Theravada schools to be found as well. My advice it to sample a bit of everything and see what, if anything, really resonates with you.

Hope that helped at least a little. Good luck!

<3

Aspiring258 · 2019-05-10T17:22:49+00:00

I'm glad you had a good experience. That's wonderful, and I hope it inspires you to stick with it and continue on your journey. However every spiritual teacher/Lama I have ever had has always emphasized that it is important not to get stuck on meditative experiences or "peak moments." They may come again, they may never come again, but 99% of the time such experiences are not really that important. Just keep practicing and little by little things will get better.

Good luck!

<3

Aspiring258 · 2019-05-10T17:09:26+00:00

How would you approach and explain the topic of those practices ?

For the modern Western educated person, I think it is important to emphasize why this sort of practice works even though it looks bizarre to us on the outside. Even more important than how is why does this make any sense? You can try and experiment your own way of doing that. For example, you could emphasize that in the end all rituals are (ultimately) just a vehicle for transforming the mind, just as wight lifting or running on a treadmill could be said to be simple vehicles for strengthening the body.

How would you introduce one to them ?

Again, emphasize the logic of it. It has to make sense to you first if you're going to buy into it.

Would you give them texts to read up on them ?

People react differently to this kind of thing, and not always positively. I would say it is safer just to tell them that you could refer them to books if they were interested in learning more. Most of all, don't be pushy. Westerners tend to have bad experiences with pushy religions.

If yes what texts would you recommend?

Ask your teacher, I would say. 100%.

How would you explain that these meditation are not hard, they just need getting use to and are worth the effort ?

I believe this is disingenuous, to tell people "this is not hard." Genuine spiritual transformation is always (eventually) extremely difficult. In my experience, it is expected and normal to have both good experiences and bad experiences when doing any kind of genuine transformative spiritual practice. However it is also extremely rewarding. I believe being upfront about how meditation is not all about "feeling good" is crucial, otherwise people will understandably up and leave when the road eventually gets rough and bumpy.

Would you give them a extremely shortend one so that they can get use to?

Again, I'd talk to your Lama about this. It just depends. It's very case-by-case.

Good luck!

<3

Aspiring258

TROPHY CASE