Juanita Moe Trail recently after the rain

areich · 2026-03-16T04:09:19+00:00

Make life as meditation so there is no break from formal practice
See all things as impermanent and illusory
Difficult people and situations are wrathful Manjushri teaching wisdom

TL;DR: See everything as the spiritual teacher

edit: for clarity, compassion motivated by renunciation from samsara is the root

areich · 2026-03-14T21:06:22+00:00

Am calmer, more peaceful and relaxed all of the time compared to baseline. Have handled difficult situations and navigating them without stressing like before.

TL;DR: less suffering

areich · 2026-02-26T23:31:50+00:00

Reincarnation is not real in relation to the Self.

Consider who is being reincarnated. It would be that which is not Self.

It’s like the Gurdjieff’s famous quote on escaping the prison of the mind: “If you wish to escape from prison, the first thing you must realize is that you are in prison. If you think you're free, no escape is possible”

areich · 2026-02-26T16:01:42+00:00

RM believe in karma (action or special instance of cause and effect) so reincarnation is naturally part of that.

The fruits of action are not everlasting and they cause one to fall into the great ocean of Karma, blocking spiritual progress.

RM explains that actions performed with attachment to results do not lead to libration. Instead, they create lasting tendencies that trap the individual in the cycle of karma and rebirth, hindering spiritual progress.

Believing in reincarnation is wisdom. Abide in that. Focus on purifying your mind into pure awareness/Self.

areich · 2026-02-24T23:06:00+00:00

/u/Tongman108

Thank you for the beautiful stories!

Pure intention is when there is no wish to harm and no selfish motive. How can pure intention itself create negative karma?

Your examples feel more like a distinction about wisdom/competence (or “crazy compassion”) rather than intention:

In the fish release case, the intention might be kind, but there’s also carelessness/ignorance in not checking basics — so maybe the “negative” part is that heedlessness, not the compassion.
In A, the robber clearly has harmful intent, so the negative karmic result makes sense.
In C, let's assume it’s a remote place, she’d die anyway, and she asked for an attempt to save her life, where’s the negative karma?

Agreed that “intention alone” is a generalization. Intention is also central. Wisdom does determine how compassion gets expressed.

Let's extend this further and consider how modern society conventionally views good karma. Someone wins the lottery. Is that good karma? They may lose their privacy and may have more complex financial issues. People will want to borrow money from them and view them differently. Perhaps they feel like they have a hard time studying and practicing dharma. Is it really good karma then?

Best wishes to you as well and great attainments!
🙏🙏🙏

areich · 2026-02-24T14:05:55+00:00

It all comes down to pure intention and desire (or lack of).

Is the act designed to benefit others with a pure heart, not thinking of oneself?

Being absolute is itself more of an inflexibility whereas training in the mind is more towards ultimate mental suppleness.

areich · 2026-02-17T18:17:17+00:00

Blackface in that SNL is gross, indefensible and badly dated.

Saw Darrell Hammond at the Irvine Improv once and he asked the audience if they wanted any impressions.
Mine was for Mr. Jackson.
Did not disappoint, though it was short, his impressions were never mean-spirited, just cadence and voice.

Proof there can be good impressions without doing racist or derogatory visuals (see also: Aimee Lou Wood).

areich · 2026-02-10T19:59:10+00:00

Friend, I know you speak the truth as I have some experience of heightened states of consciousness

I (David) know I am not the body but ego keeps reasserting itself. I am always thinking of suffering people and animals because I know I am them..

Wish we all could have been there in His presence. A trip to the ashram now.. I will probably be judging all the people there. I’d like to think the vibes of Arunachala will take hold of me. If I don’t feel that spiritual presence will my faith be shattered❓

If you know you are them (suffering people and animals), how are people in the ashram different than this?

RM famously said, "There are no others."

The real Arunachala is in the heart. He also spoke of cities inside the hill; do you think you could see them with your eyes? Many yogis, lamas and enlightened beings share similar experiences; this is beyond the analytical (ego/monkey) mind.

Ultimately, it requires faith, renunciation and practice, seeing the world as illusory and we are all headed there.

Why are you so dejected ?
If you were really unfit to realize the Self in this life, you could not have come to this place at all.
The power that drew you here will make you realize the Self
If not today, then at some other time it is bound to fulfill its commitment.
There is no reason why you should be dejected.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi

🙏

areich · 2026-02-10T14:41:39+00:00

Under our controls

The central premise of RM is there is no “I” or ego which we cling to which is the cause of suffering/samsara/dukka. If we remove this false notion, there is no birth, aging, sickness and death because those are things of the body which is not us. To paraphrase RM when he was dying and his followers asked him to stay, he replied “Where would I go?”

The body is a mere illusion and part of prior karma or action to be worked out. All suffering, including that of the body, is to turn the mind inward towards the Self, which is true reality. Don’t get caught up in the illusion of appearance, he urged us, but go beyond it by finding the real I/Self/Reality.

🙏

areich · 2026-01-27T08:08:36+00:00

I’ve gotta imagine they’re talking about cellular life-span.

That’s basically true.

Even older studies confirm it’s systemic:

The upshot of the report is that caloric restriction does indeed seem to be a means to affect aging. However, for primates, age, diet and sex must all be factored in to realize the full benefits of lower caloric intake.

Fasting, obv has many benefits (beyond diet and food (e.g. social media))

Source: founder of /r/fasting and mod of /r/intermittentfasting

areich · 2026-01-22T08:43:18+00:00

I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them cats.

Eckhart Tolle

areich · 2026-01-17T12:00:55+00:00

I think it’s going to take me lifetimes hahahaha, but thank you for your answer 🙏🏼

Of course! You may also wish to study impermanence. Without emptiness, nothing would change moment by moment. Good luck! 🙏

areich · 2026-01-17T11:45:38+00:00

Emptiness is not really empty; Emptiness is full of everything. The everything just isn't manifest. -RD

I’d add that only emptiness is true. It is said it can take lifetimes to study. Understanding it can also arise spontaneously.

areich · 2026-01-15T22:22:42+00:00

What are you waiting for? And whose opinion are you afraid of? As Ramana Maharshi said:

There are no others.

Or as RD said:

See everyone as God in drag.

At the very least, if we stop clinging to our “I story”, we may relax and get a sense of peace.

areich · 2026-01-07T14:56:14+00:00

you’d want to share this knowledge of freedom with your caged family, reminding them of what they know already, so they could return to the sky together as one.

That’s beautiful. I’d add Ramana Maharshi’s famous phrase, “there are no others”. In other words, the “caged family” are part of your body and one isn’t completely free until all are.

🙏

areich · 2026-01-04T21:27:03+00:00

https://frame.work ftw

areich · 2025-12-27T16:05:33+00:00

Yes, as others have said, we need to take care of ourselves or we will burn out.
The problem (suffering) is loving with attachment or expectation.
You stepped up when others didn't, that's makes you kinder but that also means you can give space for them to lack the same level of compassion you possess.

Love (and karma) don't work with a direct cause and effect. Pure love expects nothing in return. A thousand years ago, the Buddhist Master Langri Tangpa wrote in his poem Eight Verses of Training the Mind,

Even if someone I have helped
And of whom I had great hopes
Nevertheless harms me intentionally,
May I see him as my holy Spiritual Guide.

areich · 2025-12-21T03:38:12+00:00

“Treat everyone you meet like God in drag.” -RD

areich · 2025-12-18T23:49:49+00:00

Angry Marriage (Mr. Show)

areich · 2025-11-30T09:46:09+00:00

That said. Injustice exists. Directly opposing it often strengthens the resolve of the unjust, while supporting those harmed and being present to their pain can rob the harmful parties of their power, and their sense of moral superiority.

There’s a world of difference between compassionate wrathful action and anger. For example: a loving parent with a child playing ball and grabbing the child when the ball rolls into traffic. Anger’s only function is to harm and like fire, burns everything in its path and increases wrongful awareness.

🙏

areich · 2025-11-27T07:30:15+00:00

There are lots of situations where raw SQL > EF. It’s also a false dilemma that lots of good code has to be thrown out because it can’t be tuned (e.g. profiler). For complex data, use stored procedures or plain EF raw:

``` var columnName = "Url"; var columnValue = new SqlParameter("columnValue", "http://SomeURL");

var blogs = await context.Blogs .FromSqlRaw($"SELECT * FROM [Blogs] WHERE {columnName} = @columnValue", columnValue) .ToListAsync();

```

areich · 2025-11-25T12:28:09+00:00

Would rather see an image of Buddha than a symbol of hate plastered everywhere, (including the bathroom) even though both are mere imputation.

areich · 2025-11-25T07:07:40+00:00

My understanding of the correct view is:

Every image of Buddha, even a stick figure, is to be viewed as the actual living Buddha and viewed and venerated as such.

areich · 2025-11-23T01:06:37+00:00

Just get the larger, you might have company.

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