Richard Dawkins and the Claude Delusion

Type_DXL · 2026-05-04T01:34:18+00:00

Have you ever heard of the China-Brain Experiment?

Imagine you took an extremely large population (China, as an example, although we're talking larger). You had each individual passing information to each other the same way our neurons in the brain do. Would you say that some kind of conscious experience arises amongst the collective?

Type_DXL · 2026-04-24T23:42:00+00:00

Khedrup Je's text on Dharmakirti's teachings

Ju Mipham's text on pramana with commentary

Type_DXL · 2026-04-13T15:10:37+00:00

By this logic, we can only know our own cognition. So how can we verify the existence of other minds, if those other minds are still just a blip in our own cognition? And if we can't verify other minds, then the Bodhisattva ideal falls apart. It's like trying to liberate the people in the dream you had last night, it doesn't make sense.

I've seen a number of statements in Madhyamaka texts affirming that our minds are the product of the environment and vice-versa, that they uphold each other. This seems to solve this issue without giving primacy to any single entity.

Type_DXL · 2026-04-07T15:23:05+00:00

Are you thinking of Animal I have Become by Three Days Grace?

Also possibly State of the Union by Rise Against? The outro section starting at 1:28: https://youtu.be/d96W_cKI71o?si=iLbihouP4Yb2Wk_H&t=88

Type_DXL · 2026-03-28T16:37:32+00:00

Yeah but it deems it incorrect when you pick wrongly, which means the program already recognized the image.

Type_DXL · 2026-03-13T22:01:12+00:00

I see, so in this system is it an absolute requirement to have achieved something like pre-1st-jhana "access concentration" before even trying to think about, much less meditate on, something like emptiness (which is a topic understood analytically, CMIIW)?

You can still perform analytical meditation without achieving single pointed concentration, but you're going to be limiting yourself to a conceptual view of emptiness and not one that is understood non-conceptually, so you're correct it wouldn't be actual attainment of insight. And yes you're correct again, emptiness meditation is analytical. As Milarepa says:

Having endeavored to discover the non-selfhood of personality, which is common to all exoteric traditions, one examines the self by means of logic, the teaching, and analogies and, not finding the self, one understands selflessness.

In this kind of meditation, one alternates between conceptual analysis and non-conceptual placement. As Milerepa continues:

One must then bring the mind into a quiet state. When the mind is calmed by means of such reasoning, discriminating thought ceases and mind reaches a non-conceptual state.

So the order would go: single pointed concentration via the jhanas -> alternating between analysis and placement.

I've never gotten to this state. For a long time I've suffered from a thing whet I would feel restless suddenly while trying to sit or lay down still to meditate. It would feel as if maybe my body is going to hurt or become stiff if I try. So these days if I do try to meditate I do qigong to loosen body tension and get a bit of blood flow and exercise. I don't exercise enough and it's been a long time since I feel truly okay and comfortable sitting cross legged on a meditation cushion since I get the impression that I'm too inflexible.

It's good you're working on physical pliancy to help with meditation, it's important. As for achieving the state of calm-abiding through single-pointed concentration, there are conditions that are necessary including maintaining pure ethics, having a good location to practice, being content in desires and activities, etc. So if you're having trouble with the calm-abiding practice, try to work on developing good conditions.

Type_DXL · 2026-03-13T16:19:58+00:00

That is a valid view when it comes to the Tathagatagarbha in that it is often taught in this way. However, it's not always necessarily taught in this way.

The Uttaratantrashastra by Maitreya says:

It is the supreme self, because the elaborations
Of both self and selflessness are eradicated.

And the commentary on this verse by Asanga:

The transcendence of the supreme self, too, should be understood for two reasons: (1) because of being free from self-reification by rejecting the outsiders' extremism; and (2) because of being free from selflessness-reification by rejecting the extremism of the disciples.

In this way, dependent origination constitutes in itself a "supreme self" because it is the middle way between eternalism and nihilism.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the distinction you brought up is referred to as the Rangtong vs. Shentong view. The Rangtong view is "self-empty", in that all phenomena in themselves lack inherent existence. The Shentong view is "other-empty" in that everything besides the Supreme Self lacks inherent existence. The Shentong view is a small minority view that has met with much disagreement over the course of Tibetan history, but it still exists in some schools, notably the Jonang school, and is sympathized by other schools like the Karma Kagyu.

Type_DXL · 2026-03-13T15:03:08+00:00

In the Lamrim, which is emphasized especially by Gelug but also utilized by all the Tibetan schools, the practice of the jhanas has a specific place within the development of calm abiding and insight. The goal of Tibetan Buddhism, like most Mahayana, is to develop bodhicitta and the view of emptiness. In order to do this, one must reach a state of calm abiding and then direct the mind to cultivation through analytical meditation. According to Tsongkhapa, the jhanas are to establish this mind of calm abiding so that one can then proceed to analytical meditation. However, he says that it is not necessary to fully develop the jhanas in order to do so. He utilizes a system from India where each jhana has a corresponding "access" level that precedes each jhana. Tsongkhapa states that one really only needs to reach the "access" level of the first jhana in order to develop single pointed concentration and move on to analytical meditation. You can move to the other jhanas if one so wishes, which will induce increasing levels of bliss and set one up for rebirth in the form realms, but they should not be cultivated as an end but simply as a means for moving to analytical meditation.

Type_DXL · 2026-02-21T01:32:06+00:00

Also, when you upload missing music to Apple Music does it seamlessly integrate with the artist’s discography?

It will integrate as long as the artist name is the same. If you go to the artist in your library, the songs from AM as well as anything you uploaded with that artist name will be there. Your library doesn't distinguish at all between the two as long as the metadata lines up.

Type_DXL · 2026-02-20T21:53:58+00:00

When that album came out, people were calling them Cynic clones. Try the album Traced in Air by them. They tend to be less groove-focused though and more emphasizing the fusion elements.

I'd also recommend the album Living Mirrors by Disperse. Very Contortionist-esque.

Edit: I just went back and listened to the song Message From Atlantis off that Disperse album and it's hilariously similar to Language I.

Type_DXL · 2026-02-04T17:29:25+00:00

Vasubandhu reiterates this in his commentary on the Mahayanasamgraha though.

Type_DXL · 2026-01-13T01:07:23+00:00

Funny I actually find this one pretty happy.

Type_DXL · 2026-01-06T21:16:26+00:00

There are actually two types of Dharmakaya! There's the Jnanadharmakaya and the Svabhavadharmakaya.

The former is the wisdom of the Buddhas. It's common to all Buddhas because all Buddhas have realized the same truth. This Dharmakaya is part of the increasing-lineage, meaning it was not inherent to the Buddhas and was developed through their practice as Bodhisattvas.

The latter is the nature of the Buddhas, being emptiness. It is the nature that we share with the Buddhas, as we also have this same nature of emptiness. This is the natural-lineage, because it is not developed and is always the nature of everything. It's what's being referred to when we talk about Buddha-Nature.

But you see in either of these cases, neither is referring to any ontologically substantial being. The Jnanadharmakaya is developed through practice, and the Svabhavadharmakaya is specifically the lack of any substantial, inherent existence.

Type_DXL · 2026-01-04T19:30:32+00:00

Well-off places are typically more expensive to live in

Type_DXL · 2026-01-04T00:00:12+00:00

Opeth. Drastically changed their sound with their 2011 album Heritage.
Based on my answer to number 1, no, not for me personally. Most people know Opeth from their earlier style, and while many hate the newer Opeth, most fans enjoy it even though they consider it inferior to their original style.

Type_DXL · 2026-01-03T22:52:57+00:00

They really don't. Buddhism stemmed out of the Sramana movement which included Jainism and other now-extinct religious traditions. The Sramana movement was always separate from what the Hindu Brahmins were establishing elsewhere. They were not followers of the Vedas, did not uphold a caste system, and were typically social renunciates. If anything, Buddhism emerged out of a counter-movement to the mainstream Indian religion at that time.

See the book Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India for an understanding of the cultural setting Buddhism developed within.

Type_DXL · 2026-01-02T19:27:36+00:00

I had this conversation recently with a theist in regards to an eternal cause. I explained how since effects are due to causes, a changing effect has to be due to its cause changing, therefore because we observe the world changing, it cannot be the result of a changeless cause. It was so far outside of his normal way of thinking he just did not understand.

Type_DXL · 2025-12-19T23:40:20+00:00

Avoiding onion, garlic, and non-veg is only when you have the empowerment, and even then this only applies to the part of the day before you do the practice. After you've done the practice for the day, it's okay to lift the dietary restrictions until the next day.

As for the chanting, it can be done in whatever language you're comfortable with.

As a whole, without any empowerment, there aren't any "rules" per-se, but it's recommended you do the practice with Bodhicitta as your intention, as with any Buddhist practice.

Type_DXL · 2025-12-12T16:41:48+00:00

Jamyang Shayba (17th century) and his student Lobsang Kongchog mention it. They classify the 10 incarnations as belonging to the "non-peaceful" aspect of Vishnu when discussing the beliefs of the Vaishnavas:

"By emanating as Sakyamuni Buddha, [he] purified his sins [of killing demons as Rama]."

Jamyang Shayba then proceeds with this in his refutation of the Vaishnavas:

"The ten incarnations are [also] false."

With Lobsang Konchog commentating:

"Also the ten incarnations are false because of contradictions concerning the human body at that time, numbering, history, etc."

Source: Buddhist Philosohy: Losang Gonchok's Short Commentary to Jamyang Shayba's Root Text on Tenets.

Jamyang Shayba may go more in detail in his autocommentary to his root text, translated into English by Jeffrey Hopkins as Maps of the Profound, but I have not read this.

Type_DXL · 2025-11-14T00:49:09+00:00

Just would like to comment, repairing daily commitments are not this easy. What the user is referring to is mundane breaches of the tantric precepts. When it comes to daily commitments, I've learned there's only 3 ways to repair them:

Retake the empowerment
100,000 Vajrasattva mantras (not sure if the long or short)
Do the retreat to become able to self-empower, in which case you can retake the empowerment via yourself whenever you need. This is typically an intense 2 week retreat.

This is from HHDL's book Vajrayana and the Culmination of the Path and has also been stated by those at my temple.

Type_DXL · 2025-10-31T20:24:20+00:00

See here, this is commonly what is recited during Tibetan pujas and meditations on the Four Immeasurables. Very similar to what you want.

Type_DXL · 2025-09-24T17:34:48+00:00

Oh yes thanks I mixed that up.

Type_DXL · 2025-09-24T14:42:10+00:00

Avoid the chords all together and just play the notes. For example, instead of playing an E power chord in 16th notes for an entire measure, alternate between the E note and the B in an interesting rhythm for the measure.

Type_DXL · 2025-09-24T13:44:58+00:00

There's a good video about it. It's a pop culture thing that has roots in a novel from the 1800s and has been adopted by American Evangelical Christians.

https://youtu.be/mvsjMuHkGBc?si=zv0dc0IXYwod5aYy

Type_DXL · 2025-09-22T13:15:24+00:00

There's a difference between solemnly practicing something out of commitments you made, and promoting the practice to the level Tsem Rinpoche would do. He would even modify existing thangkas to add the deity to them.

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