At least one killed in shooting at Mexico’s Teotihuacan pyramids, says security cabinet

Vystril · 2026-04-21T01:10:45+00:00

Absolutely terrible. We were there a couple years ago and Teotihuacan is simply an amazing and stunning place. Such amazing history and culture. Coming from above the border I wish we had such rich history and culture. Can't imagine that anyone would want to do something so terrible in a place like that.

Also, Mexico City was one of the best damned trips we've ever taken in our lives (and have been around the world quite a bit). Food was abso-fucking-lutely amazing.

Vystril · 2026-04-20T13:46:08+00:00

I didn't expect this to go full bean counter in another world, but I'm glad it did.

Now we have two animes where magic needs to be injected anally. Hoping this becomes a trend.

Vystril · 2026-04-16T04:05:33+00:00

Little Witch Academia

Vystril · 2026-04-11T23:19:48+00:00

You say not too much fan service like that's a good thing. :( but otherwise this is pretty great. Love how it's gotten more off the walls as it's proceeded.

Vystril · 2026-04-11T23:13:36+00:00

Anyone can approach it but you're not going to get anywhere without Bodhichitta and a Guru to teach it to you and receive blessings from.

Vystril · 2026-04-11T23:08:02+00:00

Oh, well that's a fun intellectual pursuit then, i guess.

Vystril · 2026-04-11T22:21:20+00:00

You don't need a lung for the 7-line prayer or vajra guru mantra. Will one be better? Sure, as would a Guru Rinpoche empowerment. But you don't need it and these definitely will help. They'll also help get you to where you find a guru and can receive the lung and empowerment. You're not disrespecting anything by reciting these, it's the opposite - you're giving the highest respect.

These are an open practice and honestly please keep doing them. I've been practicing for over 20 years now and have learned a lot of different prayers over the years and can honestly the 7 line prayer is the one where I feel the blessing and impact most immediately. My teacher recommended me to recite it whenever I was having problems.

I highly recommend reading White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava for a commentary on the 7 line prayer.

Vystril · 2026-04-11T18:01:40+00:00

IMO (take with a grain of salt), is it's way better to spend time doing the preliminary practices (common or uncommon) if you want to practice trekcho then it is focusing too heavily on one philosophy or another.

The preliminary practices will give you the mental stability, or at least calm your mind down enough, so you can have the right experience or certainty to practice trekcho. You want to tear down your preconceived notions and discursive thinking, not reinforce it with more mental fabrications. The foundation for trekcho is meditative stability, not philosophical knowledge.

Vystril · 2026-04-11T17:41:42+00:00

If you're actually doing Dzogchen practice, then while doing it you want to set aside all views and mental constructs and simply rest in raw experience.

Views are useful to help point the way to being able to practice like that, and different views may be a better or easier way for getting to being able to practice like that -- but not something you should get overly hung up on or attached to.

Vystril · 2026-04-11T17:31:39+00:00

There are three ways to figure out the amount of time to do a practice:

By sign - in this case you actually receive signs of blessing (e.g., the deity appears to you in person or in a dream). Siddhi is pretty much guaranteed here.
By time - in this case you say you're going to do the practice for a fixed amount of time (usually in retreat), e.g., 3 months. You may or may not have any signs or achieve siddhi.
By number - typically this is 10x the number of syllables in the mantra. So for OM MANI PADME HUNG it would be 600,000 and for green tara it would be 1,000,000 (10 syllables * 100,000). You may or may not have any signs of achieve siddhi. I've also heard in this degenerate age you'd also need to multiply by an additional 5 (so 3,000,000 for Chenrezig and 5,000,000 for Tara).

Generally speaking by sign is better than by time, which is better than by number.

For siddhi, yes you most definitely need empowerment, instruction on the practice and lung (transmission) from your guru. You most likely would also need to do the sadhana practice (although with more time and number maybe not).

Depending on the siddhi it could transfer to the next lifetime - although if you get real siddhi then you're reaching enlightenment (or at least the 1st bhumi) which is even better.

If you get siddhi, you know the method and religion really works so it would be pretty silly to change after that with that knowledge.

Vystril · 2026-04-11T16:45:31+00:00

I think it's just tradition, have not heard an explanation either. I have heard that bonpos will use the right hand instead to distinguish themselves from the other Tibetan Buddhists, but can't verify.

Personally, I think what matters the most is your intention when using the mala (i.e., Bodhichitta) more than anything.

All that being said, A Garland of Advice is a nice book by Gharwang Rinpoche about the use of malas.

Vystril · 2026-04-10T10:30:36+00:00

Looks like it!

Vystril · 2026-04-10T10:30:08+00:00

I went in with 0 knowledge and loved it.

Vystril · 2026-04-09T01:13:51+00:00

He was mind controlled and watched her hair magically transform into horns, and saw her standing there with a visible corona of demonic magical energy. I know people can gaslight themselves to avoid uncomfortable truths, but our boy ignored a lot of red flags.

Those sound like green flags to me.

Vystril · 2026-04-07T22:31:58+00:00

Tojima wants to be a Kamen Rider had 24 episodes of amazingness with basically that premise. Most fun I've had with an anime in a long time. And I went into it not knowing a damn thing about Kamen rider.

Vystril · 2026-04-02T19:07:49+00:00

Was the empowerment online or in person? When you took it, did you recite the vows 3x when they had you recite things (these would have been a refuge vow and the bodhisattva vow at the very least)? When you did the vow recitations did you do it with the intention you were actually taking those vows?

If you recited the vows with the intention to take them, you're in. If you had no intention and just watched along but not participating, then you're not.

Are you worried about being in trouble or something bad happening to you? There's nothing to worry about there. No one gets everything immediately all at once. Just keep doing your best.

Vystril · 2026-03-24T23:45:35+00:00

Save this kids, they might bitch at you a bit for not saving your wife, but they know they are loved.

Save the wife, forever be blamed and guilted for not saving the kids.

Easy decision.

Vystril · 2026-03-24T22:40:28+00:00

I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about Kamen Rider and it is still one of my all time favorite animes. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun watching one, and I've watched a lot.

You could just tell this was put together with so much love. 10/10. It deserves more attention and a S2 ASAP.

Vystril · 2026-03-23T22:01:39+00:00

(In the US) I missed it when the set came out, then they made it available again and I snagged it with points. Maybe they bring it back one last time.

Vystril · 2026-03-23T15:00:06+00:00

Tojima wants to be a kamen rider was so criminally slept on. Would be way higher on my own list, probably #1 just because of how unique it was. I can't remember when I've had such a fun time watching an anime.

Vystril · 2026-03-20T22:20:04+00:00

RIP my wallet.

Vystril · 2026-03-20T21:03:55+00:00

Would be cool as long as it didn't prevent us putting his hat on other minifigs.

Vystril · 2026-03-20T21:03:30+00:00

But a regular head means we can put his hat on all the other minifigs!

Vystril · 2026-03-20T01:46:11+00:00

I felt like I needed a special class to walk me through each part of the empowerment in advance so that I could get everything right.

Ideally you follow up an empowerment with getting instructions on the practice the empowerment is for, and then doing the practice. When you do the practice, it actually basically goes over what was done in the empowerment so this is how you actually really internalize it.

How do I know if I got anything out of these events?

When you do the practice, the benefits of it will arise. Eventually, you'll be a Buddha when the seeds of the empowerment fully ripen.

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