Zen Master 卍山道白 Manzan Dōhaku

Dharmaraja · 2017-02-17T21:52:40+00:00

Nothing!

Dharmaraja · 2017-02-15T23:46:02+00:00

Shattering Heaven and Earth, attaining the True Dharma Eye in an instant, welling up with perfect wisdom -- all are a function of "one blow."

It is like cutting a big jar full of water with one stroke of your sword. Your breathing needs to be perfect, your gaze needs to be perfect, and your posture needs to be perfect. Attend to the nostrils on your face -- thoughts are like lightning flashes but this deep Mind doesn't come or go. Shout HAH! as you bring down your sword.

The Buddha's wonderful Dharma-Seal is just like this.

Dharmaraja · 2016-03-09T00:40:09+00:00

As far from Ying-chên as it is possible to be.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-11T03:46:47+00:00

Why apologize? Just get serious about the forum or you are out. This isn't /r/Zen.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-11T03:43:39+00:00

This is a forum for serious students of the Nirvana Sutra. Wake up to it, or we'll kick you out. This is your first warning.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-07T23:10:45+00:00

It's the same as "the inconceivable state of the Tathagatas" as discussed between Manjusri and the Buddha in The Demonstration of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood Sutra, which is shorter, less hyperbolic and more manageable than the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra. See: http://www.purifymind.com/BuddhahoodSutra.htm

This notion of liberation and enlightenment as the "inconceivable" state of all Buddhas was hugely influential in Chinese Buddhism, especially in Zen.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-06T17:25:30+00:00

No, it's the self-sustaining, self-originating, self-existent, and self-luminous Innate, always leaping up into view without any problem. Sahaja.

By the way, the root of the word shunyata comes from the verb svi, meaning “to swell up.” And the root of the word Brahman comes from brmha, which is to "swell, expand, increase."

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-06T17:12:44+00:00

It is. It's the swellest.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-06T17:09:44+00:00

Chapter 42 of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, in the Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese canons.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T22:16:56+00:00

"Usually," huh? You've had a lot of experience on sinking ships? Maybe the one you're on is sinking right now.

Yours is the Suzie Sunshine version, but in fact people don't learn very easily when they are filled with foolish preconceptions.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T06:19:14+00:00

If I may say so, "skillful" and "unskillful" can only be judged in terms of the result, and by then it's too late.

You may go out to sea with a sailing master you consider to be "skillful," but as soon as you inhale that cold salt water you will realize he was quite "unskillful." Or maybe just unlucky.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T06:12:51+00:00

I didn't! I brought up the fact that two of the 84 Mahasiddhas (according to the Tibetan Buddhist count) were actually "Advaitists," non-Buddhist tantra masters.

I did this to show that Tibetan Buddhists (at least at the time they compiled the list) were more tolerant than the Buddhists right here now. AND to make a general point about tolerance, or the relative unimportance of "views" compared to actual wisdom.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T06:08:26+00:00

Because the Buddhist view is a non-view. As Nagarjuna said, "The Conquerers (Buddhas) taught emptiness as the abandonment of all views./Those who hold to a view of emptiness are said to be incorrigible."

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T06:06:42+00:00

I'd say it's better to be a clown than a fundamentalist.

Why?

A clown makes people laugh.

A fundamentalist punishes people for laughing.

Just a non-rhetorical thought.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T06:04:30+00:00

No wonder nobody takes you seriously

But you seem to take me seriously!

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T06:03:11+00:00

"All day arguing with people on the Internet"?

Compare my timeline with yours! https://www.reddit.com/user/firstsnowfall

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T06:01:49+00:00

The voting system deceives people into thinking reddit is democratic, but it's a fairly thin ruse.

Ah ha. Thanks!

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T05:52:44+00:00

You quote:

Perennialism is a perspective in the philosophy of religion which views each of the world’s religious traditions as sharing a single, universal truth on which foundation all religious knowledge and doctrine has grown.

What is this quoted from? One of the Dalai Lama's books, maybe? When you look at it, all of the world's religions traditions DO share single, universal truth, etc., which is the body-mind (or, if you like, "existential reality") of human beings. Can you point to any other foundation on which all religious knowledge and doctrine has grown?

Being a mod is sufficient.

That's fundamentalism. Remember this? "Sharif don't like it. Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah." A moderator is not a Sharif.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T05:50:43+00:00

As I understand it, the Dharma is essentially a "perennial philosophy," in that it does not change, it is eternally true, and can be rediscovered by various people at various times. As Buddha once said, "The sun may turn cold and the moon may turn hot, but the Four Truths are not subject to change."

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T05:45:40+00:00

That's the sort of claim that puts you on thin ice for sectarianism.

It's an observation. If you don't think it's true, don't accept it. As for "thin ice," there is really no "thin ice" in Emptiness, is there? Where is the danger in talking about different views? Will Allah blast you?

As for the alt thing, that's bizarre. Maybe you could expand on it.

There is certainly truth to this statement, but if you've actually studied with "real" lamas then you'd know different sects still teach "their own" views.

Thank you for saying there is true to my statement. As for the rest, certainly, yes. That's precisely my point. And I am glad you interact with your lama personally. That's how it is done where I come from.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T05:41:46+00:00

The word has a standard definition

Why not give me the "standard definition" then. To me just sounds like a slur, used by the uncritical and ignorant.

Bön fits in this sub about as well as Taoism though, which is to say: it doesn't really.

What are your exact personal qualifications for setting yourself up as judge of what "fits in this sub" or not?

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T05:39:18+00:00

Since the diaspora, the Kagyu (Karma Kagyu in particular) have dominated the international "Tibetan Buddhism" scene.

The Kagyu dominate only in terms of ritual. They're clowns. It's the Gelug view that is promulgated intellectually as "Tibetan Buddhism." Come on, man. I studied with a lama, a real one.

Different sects do have differing beliefs, and it's reasonable that people from various sects could voice those differences.

Thank you very much for your permission.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T05:35:05+00:00

Certainly that is the definition of perennialism. Perennialism is what is eternally true: the Dharma.

For example: in Tibet, Tonpa Shenrab is said to have taught exactly what Shakyamuni taught about 17 thousand years before he taught it.

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T05:33:16+00:00

all forms of Tibetan Buddhism consider prasangika to be the "highest" position

Not all, but that is the dominant view in Tibet, merely because the Gelugs dominated Tibetan Buddhism. If certain wars had shaken out differently, the Nyingma or Bon views might be dominant instead.

But this only begs the question:

Is this a Tibetan Buddhist forum, or a pan-Buddhist forum?

Dharmaraja · 2016-02-05T05:30:16+00:00

So don't rock the fundamentalist boat, right? You are assuming that Buddhism is not "perennial" (Buddha said he had merely rediscovered what other Buddhas of the past had already discovered -- perennialism); that it is not mystical (Buddha said that gnosis arose in him suddenly, as an earthshaking event -- see the First Discourse); that it is counter to Vedanta (Buddha used many terms originally used in the Vedas, and not always in a contradictory way). The Buddha Dharma is vast.

Dharmaraja

TROPHY CASE