If you are lucky enough to avoid those things while still being in the material world... I can see why you might not find it as stifiling as others might. Kudos. I hope your luck holds.

There are plenty of "semi-remote" places where one might enjoy the best of both worlds. High speed internet and a peaceful natural environment with clean air and water... for example. You might be able to make such a thing work for you in a place like Banff or Kauai.

Still, I stand by what I said. If you ever tried to meditate in NYC or find a place to do Chi Kung in London... you will know what I mean. Paris may be the City of Light, but it is awfully difficult to be a light-being there.

I went through the whole "you are what you do" thing with another poster already, so I won't rehash it. I will simply say that it amounts to semantics. Perhaps I should say "You are what you are doing." (in any given moment) There is a good reason you don't find telepaths working at McDonalds. Wall Street businessmen can barely walk or stand correctly, forget about levitation.

You might be idealistic enough still to think that you will be that .0000001% of people who can develop miraculous powers and cultivate enlightenment while living in the Babylon System. You might. Who knows? Statistically, however your chances are much higher if you live somewhere (and do things) more conducive to your goal. It is hard enough to do these things while living in a monastery on a mountaintop 24hrs a day for 40 years. Seriously.

Stilling your mind is a difficult task while sitting at the base of a Sequoia tree... sitting in traffic in the Lincoln Tunnel? Good Luck.

"People tend to forget that all religions are trying to explain the same thing. Namely, the more mysterious, subtle, and profound aspects of what it is to be a human alive in this reality. Some of it is consensual, some of it is personal. Most of it is extremely relative."

Agreed.

All religions seem intimately connected in some interesting ways, for example in the Buddhist caves where various works were found there were also found works about Dao and even Christianity. No religion was created without influence of previous religions, in the archaic world this was highly noteable. For example, even the Renaissance occurs in a time when the silk and spice trades provided an exchange route for religious ideas, including from the East to the West. Alexander himself introduced Buddhism to greece and he was friends with Aristotle. It even seems that there was an exchange of martial arts ideals during this time as well and it can be noted that some schools of swordmanship are said to hail from Aristotle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Buddhism

It can be noted that Greco-buddhism was established in the area that Jesus was born in, hundreds of years before his birth. It is likely that he was directly exposed to Buddhist thought.

So the observation that different religions often teach the same thing can be directly linked to them sharing teachings. Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, so called norse and greek and roman paganism, Christianity, judiasm, egyptian religion, masonic orders, all of these are intimately related to one another.

There is one truth, it reaches nearly everyone in some form or another, it is for us to have, not for us to fight over because we know it by different names.

jUST been reading some cool articles written by "sen" !!

http://www.calmdownmind.com/

( makes our Buddha-hood discussion seem a little simple!! )

I am not going to go into detail about my experience, but I have felt this to, I don't think it is a bad thing I believe we are the same energy and we are all experiencing life from different perspectives, and to be on an enlightened path, I believe , is to just live your life and enjoy every moment you can and do not cause unnecessary pain for others as this would be hurting your self, just feel love ,even if people test you they just don't know any better, meditation may help to get your thoughts in order.... how to get/keep things on track in your life......and live your life without regret.....and when it is your time you may reach nirvana maybe in this life and the next....we are all god.

Agreed ! i believe if love is behind every action one cannot go half wrong!

cubeananda, thanks for the links will check them out

Hyperspace Fool : thanks for your post, I must disagree to something you said regarding super powers, extra abilities and stilling the mind.

Please do not take offense to this or see me as saying "I am stiller or holier than thou" because it is in no way intended like that.

I believe that stilling the mind is not half as hard as you say, different meditation techniques work in different ways, but most of the time the practitioner does not put the time in to meditation that they should, often they / we also do not cultivate the right mental state by true living and correct and positive thinking, nor do we try to eradicate our flaws in emotional thinking and try to refrain from reacting to negative and upsetting situations. I believe that all these things massively effect our ability to still our mind.

I find when I walk my path properly and meditate enough daily (which isnt most of the time, I have a lot I need to improve on ) I find I am lucky enough to be able to still my mind considerably, yes no where near the level of super powers but considerably stiller than normal.

I don't want to sound egotistical, what I am saying might but I do not intend it this way... I can meditate in a busy city center on a bench and I don't hear the noise, I have tried to meditate at concerts to see if I can do it and I can just about, but with great difficulty. loud bangs or loud intermittent noise will disturb me but general noise I do not find it that much of a problem.

Most people just don't put the time in meditation and the other aspects of their path, I guilty more than anyone of this, but when they do I believe that considerable stillness can be achieved.

May we all become still, see the light and reach nirvana.

Peace

It didn't take the Buddha a long time to begin questioning his abilities to teach. Also he figured it would be laborious for him to do so. Personally I don't find the notion of "permanent Buddhahood" to be especially helpful. We're all Buddhas already as far as I am concerned.

Whenever Hyakujo gave talks on Zen, an old man sat with the monks to listen and always withdrew when they did. One day, however, he remained behind, and Hyakujo asked, "Who are you standing here before me?". The old man replied, "I am not a human being. In the past, in the time of the Kasho Buddha, I was the head of this monastery. Once a monk asked me, "Does an enlightened person fall into causation or not?". I replied, "He does not." Because of this answer, I was made to live as a fox for five hundred lives. Now I beg you, please say the turning words on my behalf and release me from the fox body." The old man then asked Hyakujo, "Does an enlightened man fall into causation or not?" Hyakujo said, "He does not ignore causation." Hearing this the old man was at once enlightened. Making a bow, the old man said, "I have now been released from the fox body, which will be found behind the mountain. I dare to make a request of the Master. Please bury it as you would a deceased monk."

Kensho, I'm not sure what exactly you were trying to communicate when you talk about the (historical) Buddha's frustrations with teaching. It is true that he questioned his ability to teach, and that it would be a burden etc, but this was *before* he actually started to teach. Once he resolved to teach the dhamma for the benefit of sentient beings, he never quit. He taught throughout northern India for the last 45 years of his life, up to the time of his death (at least according to the traditional pali cannon).

There are people on this planet who may have established a connection with a group of beings that could have selected a certain vibe for a human soul to travel through, until its human reccurent character within our grid becomes aware of its current animal vibration.

I have really no idea to what extent conclusions could be drawn by this idea, but anyway its what that story tells me.

If you're not being aware of that animal, its contantly being eaten for many lives, until you finally hit a point of becoming aware of your circumstance as total animal vibration, at which point it no longer matters what the animal vibration you were also.

Like as I sit here I am some animal, and perhaps theoretically if I could become aware of the very animal iteration in the existence of these various interrelating fractals which is basically just animaling along through time. If that creature died, you would have an awesome awakened state of being aware of not being condescended into the vibrations of either a human or an animal. since your soul's yang died, your yin would have recorded the experience of death, and by entering into that experience yin becomes yang. and eventually you're looking at blackwhite, which is not either black or white, but both at the same time.


But iono honestly Just my perception of that story.

Like the animal would be like the 5th or harmonic to the tonic of an octave.

I suspect that I know a guy who is his dog.

1. What is buddhahood? What is Enlightenment?
2. Who?
3. I think Jesus did, and look what happened to him :/. I'm sure many other people do as well. I think it's even been named "Jerusalem syndrome" … but I think the question is… Is it wise to talk about it (especially in public)? Maybe fight club had a point.

These questions are actually meant to be answers… or jokes…

lol?

Through my own experience and studies, there are two ways of attaining "godhead". One is through the destruction of the EGO, and another is through the perfection of the EGO. Both methods, if examined closely, are actually the same.

What is destruction of the EGO? I think it's learning to get out of the way. Learning to let go. Learning to just flow. The Tao.

What is perfection of the EGO? I think it is learning about "god" and bringing oneself in line with "god's Will". The Tree of Life.

How does one learn about "god's Will"? I think one must be sufficiently empty to allow "god" to enter and work through one. Only then can one learn the nature of "their god".

Eventually and Ideally, one would not need tools like psychedelics to help one be in line with the nature of god.

Safe Travels.