A View on Buddhism

[hannah]

The book I am reading opens;

To His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet
"You are Lama!
(all my mentors)
You are Archetype!
(all my deities)
You are Dakini!
(all enlightened women)
You are Protector!
(all fierce angels)
For now 'til enlightenment,
No Savior other than you!....
Be my eternal friend!"

May His wishes all come true!


I have been reading about the four great Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattva Tara, Lady of Miraculous Activites, Bodhisattva Lokeshvara, Lord of Compassion, Manjushri, Lord of Wisdom and Vajrapani, Lord of Power.
According to this book, Tibetan history (and indeed I suppose all human history), can be seen through " ordinary perception" and through "extraordinary perception".
For example though ordinary perception Tibet has been invaded and occupied by the chinese. All but 13 of Tibet's 6267 monasteries have been destroyed. The chinese have made a concerted effort to elliminate Tibetan religion and identity. Shocking and sad.
On an extraordinary level it could be seen that Vajrapani emanated himself as Mao Tse-tung and that he did this for 3 reasons. One, to prevent ordinary human materialists from making and reaping consequences of such acts. Two, to challenge Tibetan Buddhists and force them to achieve detachment, compassion and wisdom. Three, to scatter Indo-Tibetan Buddhist teachers over the planet. This all happens within the context of the advent of Shambala, a prophecy originating from the Kalachakra Tantra.

Anyway the book is 'Essential Tibetan Buddhism' by Robert A. F. Thurman. I've only read nine pages!!
The other wildly interesting thing I read there was that Shakyamuni personally met many gods, including Brahma, Indra and Yama. And following this reasoning he also met with Jehovah. He discovered that none of them created the universe and that ultimately they too were in need of the teachings of Buddha. Other names for Buddha are God Beyond Gods and Teacher of Gods and Humans.
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namaste

[rudyh01]

Eh, yes, but it gets very tricky to begin speculating about what extraordinary perception 'could be' seeing in various situations unless we really have it; it can be very confusing to say the least.
We can speculate each and every event into it's reverse...

However, as Buddhism basically teaches that we each have our individual perception of the world and thus all experience our individually different world, such philosophical exercises can show us how relative our own world and our own 'truths' are.
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Love & clear light,
Rudy

[Tara's-child]

Hannah, I too have read this book, it is very good, Robert Thurman is an exellent man now, a bit on Tara or as the Tibetans call her Drolma. She is Bodhisattva, Buddha, Yidam, and Tantric Deity, she's got it all going on! In Tibetan, her name translates to 'mother who saves us from the suffering of worldly existence'. His Holiness has said that she is the patron female deity of Tibet, while Chenrezig is the patron male deity.

All things can seen in 'ordinary preception' and 'extrodinary preception' namely when dealing with Tantra practice and Deities(and like rudy mentioned: 'my' preception and 'alls' preception).

I am so glad that you have read about Tibetan History. Giving my stance on it, Im pretty sure mao was evil and not quiet an emination of Vajrapani, but this is only my view.

I am inspired by the Tibetans and their scholars of Tibetan Buddhism that they have compassion so rooted in their very being that this is their approach to their horrifying history, i respect them more so than before.

And, yet again, the stories of Shakyamuni and the gods, i believe, is a metephor, but this is just me.
That Dharma transcends others in truth.

all my opinions and outlooks(like tom-la would say, 'chirp' )
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When I give, I give myself.-Walt Whitman

[hannah]

yes I agree with you both. Actually reading about Shambala reminded me a little of the 'return of Christ and Kingdom on Earth' sort of belief that some(all?) Christians hold. The 'church' I grew up in was stuck on this future kingdom and refused action and participation in the present because of that fixation. they were forgetting that it is the present which leads to the future. Because of my childhood influences I believe ever more strongly in being present in the moment, living in this moment and none else.
....but it is helpful, (and yes I meant to say that the above ideas are only theories), to remember that there is more to what is happening around us than perhaps all we percieve.

Om
_________________
namaste

[Tara's-child]

very, very true Hannah. Shambala reminds me of the old hollywood movie 'lost horizon' where all the people living in Shangri-La are fully enlightened yata-yata, ect.

It is certainly unhealthy to dwell on the future that hasnt arrived, but it is also not good to dwell on the past, which i do giving my unique circimstances with Tibet
_________________
When I give, I give myself.-Walt Whitman

[hannah]

To be honest I have sometimes worried that you have too much aminosity towards China and that those negative feelings hurt you more than you deserve, (perhaps a little forward of me seeing as I haven't known you long, sorry if I offend, I just want everyone to be well )
But perhaps you are offended by China's actions because you love Tibet like it were your child.
_________________
namaste

[Tara's-child]

yes, i have far too much aminosity towards china and things chinese, no doubt about that, it is quiet apparant. It only comes from a love for Tibet, Tibetan Culture, the religions of Tibet(Tibetan Buddhism and Bon) and the way of life lived pre-1959.

china will forever 'rub me the wrong way' especially in this time when Tibetans are being so hurt: women cant go to the doctors for a simple thing like a headache without being put under and being 'operated' on so she can't have children. 'thamzing' sessions still take place where children are forced to kill their parents behind 'bamboo curtains' it's a hidden genocide. Yesterday i ran across a website that had quotes from chinese officials telling what they called ''the true history of Tibet'' how would they know? They had no connection to Tibet, no country did.

So yes, aminosity to a country full of lies, deceite, destruction of culture and torture upon the Tibetans.
please rudy, no quotes about Dharma, i know im supposed to feel equinamity for everything, but i cannot support hate.
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When I give, I give myself.-Walt Whitman

[hannah]

[Tara's-child]

_________________
When I give, I give myself.-Walt Whitman

[palden gyatsos friend]

The devils will lose
The Gods will win

You can't escape karma. :wink:
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'I really like these teeth.There is a human being who took my teeth and then there is another human being who gave me my teeth.'
Palden Gyatso. ~*~

[Tara's-child]

Lha Gyalo
'victory to the deities!'
_________________
When I give, I give myself.-Walt Whitman

[Compassion First]

Victory to the Gods, my Friends!!!!!!!!

Lha Gyalo!!!!!!
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If I do not go to Hell to help them, who will? -- Ksitigarbha

[WuMing426]

Wow!! I just hit this, and thought, "Hey, I know what they're reading!!" Then I had to go find it.
I'm a big fan of Dr Thurman, as well. I'm not sure if I'm destined to be a Tibetan Buddhist, but when I watch him speak, I'm so sure that I am. He's such a magnetic speaker, and his enthusiasm comes through.
I'm a buddhist, for sure, but where I belong is, at this point, open to interpretation.
Shinran looks good, and I am intrigued by Shantideva and Milarepa. I so don't know where I'm going, but I know I'm in the right "church."
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A society will be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable members- the animals. -Gandhi
Everything comes to pass, nothing comes to stay. -Matthew Flickstein
One who hates the feline is one not to be trusted.- Chinese proverb

[Compassion First]

WuMing......

Well.....one way or the other, you belong right here.

I don't know myself sometimes where, within the incredibly rich Tibetan traditions, I really fit.

Even if you don't find yourself buying into the Mahayanist tradition, I'm sure you will find our group to be a helpful and useful place in general.

Sometimes I would welcome the viewpoints of a Zen or a Theravadist in our discussions, and I think there are a few of us who are Buddhist, NOS....

One of the wonderful things about Buddhism, I think, is that the paths for the various traditions were laid out, and none of them were considered "wrong"...

Not at all like the competitiveness of the Christian faiths where one church believes they are "right" and everyone else is going to hell......
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If I do not go to Hell to help them, who will? -- Ksitigarbha

[Compassion First]

Hannah.....

Better late than never, but....

God, Brahma, Allah, Jehovah, The God of Abraham, Zeus.........if he ever did exist, as the original "Godhead", was and is the same entity, I think............

Lord Shakyamuni came from a Brahmin background, and it is my belief that Buddhism and the Order of Bikkhus began as a sect of Brahmanism in his lifetime.

When Lord Shakyamuni held a teaching, countless monks, laymen, living Boddhisattvas, and Gods, Demigods, and Bodhisattvas from the Pure Realms came to hear him, as well as other non-human entities. Since Lord Shakyamuni was omniscient, as were a few of the followers who later were responsible for passing on his doctrines, they were able to interract with these non-earthly entities directly. Brahma/Jehova/Allah was in attendance at some of these teachings, as was Maitreya, Chenrezig, and many others. This I believe to be "literally" true. It was, after all, Chenrezig who spoke the "Heart Suttra" at one of these teachings.

Lord Shakyamuni was most respectful of Brahma and the Brahmins, but criticised the lax and hypocritical among them. He also said that Brahma was not "the builder of the house"......... In short, he was supporting the existence of the God Brahma, and other Gods, but took away their supremacy. In a way, Mara, the God of Death, was a much more powerful foe, to the eyes of Lord Shakyamuni, than any other God, for Mara held the cycle of Samsara in his hands.

In truth, Brahma, even from Brahmin literature was of great pride and slow wit. The tale of the God Sveta that I recently unearthed while searching for information on a related deity shows this.

Brahma was looking upon his good works, reflecting upon all that he had done, but never noticed that the world that he had built was beginning to sink into the ocean. As his handiwork was being destroyed by a great deluge, Sveta, in the form of a giant Boar, emerged from the Nostril of Brahma, fully formed, and with his mighty tusks was able to lift the world from the ocean, thus saving it.

Now this story is obviously not to be taken literally, but it is evident that the followers of Brahma knew his limitations as well. If one studies the Old Testament well enough, one soon learns the limitations of Jehovah or the God of Abraham. The Qu'ran, written from the opposite end, puts man in a very limited role, and you soon find that mankind does not fit into the little pidgeonholes that Mohammed and Gabriel would have us fit.

These are just some of the reasons I am sure that these godheads are the same entity.........

The Dhammapada (which if you must draw a parady is "The Gospel of Lord Shakyamuni") leaves one with many insights into what Lord Shakyamuni felt about the gods of his time, as well as Brahmanism. It doesn't take long to read.

Was this lucid enough to comprehend?
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If I do not go to Hell to help them, who will? -- Ksitigarbha