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quitealotofsodapop · 19 days

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Nobody would expect Wukong to actually faint at the news that his mother and father were not only present but also that he has had a sibling this entire time just waiting to hatch. So they all kinda panicked when Macaque had to rush forward to catch him so he doesn't land on the hard cavern floor. At this point Yuebei is probably old enough to cling to her baby's back like, well, a monkey cub and was probably just eith hin the whole time since Wukong, as king, was pretty much in charge eof everything and had a lot of important duties to deal with during the party itself. She's probably crying because she doesn't understand why her Mama is in her baby's arms and isn't moving. Which is whag distracts everyone enough from baby Luzhen to realize what happened and the two spirit monkeys are doing their best to coo and comfort their grandvaby while also trying to tend to their newborn (whom Pigsy had started cradling and was checking over) while also dealing with the unfortunate fact that they're ghosts and cannot actually do anything

Later onn the adults in the troop tease the hell out of Wukong for fainting like a delicate flower at the prospect of being a big brother, but they definitely understand where he's coming from. He'd still been reeling from Guanyin's revelation that she was, in some obscure way thag involved reincarnation, Wukong's birth mother by Celestial Law and had kept the fact hidden in an attempt to keep him as safe as she possibly could have considering how deep into trouble he'd been when they had met. And also by that same law, Wukomg is technically an imperial prince because before Guanyin had been Wukong's mother, Wukong's mother had been the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother's firstborn daughter.

referencing.

Macaque def spends a lot of the festivities keeping Yuebei occupied. He recognises that Wukong has a lot of duties during the festival (preparing the beach for the party, ensuring bonfire safety, making sure monkeys got to the island safely, etc), and agrees to keep the cub on him for a Baba-daughter day (something both really need since the drama of S4).

Mac doesn't like the noise of the party, and Yuebei gets fussy after the tenth or so person cooing at her, so they're relaxing against his and Wukong's favorite tree watching the sea when MK's shout reaches them.

Macaque understands how stone monkeys can be born from secret stone eggs - the little lady clinging to him + the pair in his own body evidence of that. So the idea of there being an undiscovered egg inside the mountain doesn't surprise him - what does is the sheer enormity of Wukong's parents being present as ghosts (aided by the bodhisattvas) and guiding him to his unhatched baby brother.

Macaque knows Wukong is about to faint the moment the little stone shell cracks open, and rushes forward to catch him while Yuebei flutter-chirps for her mama/baba (Wukong uses both) from her papoose.

MK and Pigsy has their hands full with helping Luzhen break out of his shell (the little guy was sorta stuck from the rock being hardened for so long), and the subjects are just cooing at the new Prince + laughing at the irony of meeting the King's little brother in a similar manner to how he was born!

Shihua and Ye Lin see Yuebei and just start cooing about how sweet she is! Their little overdue Grandcub! And her eyes are such a lovely shade of her grandmother's blue! Macaque keeps quiet about about the whole "she Ate a bone demon" part for the moment.

Guanyin and Shihua likely keep it quiet about their first life for now. Especially since Wukong is still dealing with the aftershock of finding Luzhen and meeting his parents' spirits (+that Guanyin is his mom's present incarnation). The knowledge that he might be considered divine royalty under Celestial Law would be a bit much for him right now.

#stone matriarch au #slow boiled stone egg au #stone egg talk #lmk yuebei #yuebei xing #sun wukong #six eared macaque #liu er mihou #shadowpeach #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk aus

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writerbuddha · 6 months

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Just a question. I want to make a fic about the first Jedi and his disciples before Disney gets the drop on me. I'm only familar with disney canon. What miracles are associated with the buddha and the bodhissatva and what way can I characterize the philosophy of the force in buddhist terms?

The basic idea was that the first Jedi is basically a wandering Gautama Buddha and his disciples were basically the Eight Bodhisattva. Manjushri is known for his kindness and wisdom. Guanyin is kind and compassionate. Vajrapani is strength and protection incarnate. Maitreya is prophesized to bring balance to the force. Ksitigarbha swore to save everyone in the galaxy no matter how evil and no matter what it costs her and I don't really know much about the rest. Might even toss some characters like Sun Wukong and other buddhist associated characters.

The intent is to make the first jedi a real larger than life figure. God's amongst mortals who would make any other force user look like a joke. Yet also make them suprisingly human in that the first jedi just wants to help people and comfort them and doesn't want to use such powers in the first place for violence.

I also want to play around with the first sith and portray them as Eldritch abominations and monsters who feed of the weak and oppressed. Maybe they would be the Mara analogue in this telling.

Oh, this is intriguing! I love this concept!

Buddhism and Miracles

The Buddhist view on miracles, wonders, magic, superhuman powers is a quite complex one. There is a threefold distinction of Buddhism: the Buddhist science of the mind, Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist religion. The miracles of Gautama Buddha are belonging to the realm of Buddhist religion: it is proposed that through mental training one can achieve miraculous powers, as the basis of "miracles" is perfect control over one's own mind, like goldsmiths making the gold pure and workable, so they can use it to create wonderous things. The Buddha was reportedly manifested the ability to walk on water, to read other people's minds, to fly through air, to heal the wounded with his will, or growing a tree full of flowers and jewels out of his toothpick, calming down a raging elephant that attacked the village he visited, and so on. However, such miracles are all subordinate to the one true, genuinely miraculous power that one must strive for: the ability to guide people according to their mental development, for their own good, using suitable methods to fit these people.

It must be noted that in Buddhist mythology, miraculous powers are regarded as potential off-shoots of practice. Through mental training, one can develop the capacity to concentrate the power of the mind. But it's crucial to understand that in Buddhist thought, these abilities aren't dependent on the cultivation of wisdom and compassion: in stories, it's not just possible, but actually quite common for someone to gain such powers without any significant, or even meaningful spiritual and psychological progress. For this reason, the Buddhist view on these miraculous powers - should they exist at all - is that if you have them, that's a sign that you're making progress, but you mustn't brag about or reveal them, unless it's absolutely necessary. And unless you're fully awakened, these supernormal powers have a way of engendering supernormal defilements. The Buddha, like most most spiritual or religious teachers of the East, warned against those individuals who display miracles to attract people to their traditions, because there is a good chance that they're tricksters led by greed, or that their holiness is on shaky grounds.

The wholesome and unwholesome use of miracles

There is a story about the fifteen days of the miracles demonstrated by the Buddha, all performed in response to the relentless claims of six ascetics who claimed, the teachings of the Buddha are invalid, as they possess mystic powers far grater than him. The Buddha outdid every single miracles the ascetics were able to produce. Since such display of special powers was done in order to arouse or strengthen faith - which is, in Buddhism, refers to trust or confidence in the Buddha's path of practice and one's own potential for enlightenment - the performance of the fifteen miracles was a wholesome act. And likewise, there's the story of Khema: she was a young, extraordinarily beautiful queen, who was clinging on physical beauty. When she met the Buddha, he was able to read her mind, and he manifested a time-lapse of a young and even more beautiful woman, aging it to middle age, old age, very old age, then to dust. As a result, Khema realized the true, impermanent nature of the object of her attachment. This is another example for the wholesome use of miracles.

In Star Wars, this can be likened to Master Yoda using the Force in Episode V to rise Luke Skywalker's x-wing out of the swamp: this "miracle" was demonstrated to arouse trust and confidence in Jedi teachings and in his apprentice's own potential to become a Jedi. You can see that Jedi Knights are demonstrating their abilities only "for knowledge and defense" as Yoda said.

When it comes to unwholesome uses of miracles, we have the story of Pindola Bharadwaja, who was one of the Buddha's first disciples. It's said that one day, a wealthy merchant, who didn't believe in the existence of the extraordinary powers of holy men, challenged them: he suspended a beautiful and expensive sandalwood alms bowl from the top of a really high bamboo pole, and said, the master who can get it down, can keep it. Pindola Bharadwaja, who progressed very fast in his mental training, and attained several miraculous powers as a result, stepped forward. He rose into the air easily and took the bowl. The people were in awe, but their excitement alerted the Buddha who arrived to the scene. He broke the bowl into pieces and said, he is very displeased by the public display of such miracles, likening it to prostitution that is done for the sake of cheap delights.

That's because this miracle wasn't performed to benefit others, it didn't arouse trust or confidence in the Buddhist path and in one's own potential for enlightenment. It was done to impress and to show off, thus, it was distasteful. In Star Wars, this can be compared to Anakin Skywalker using the Force in Episode II to fly a fruit through air in order to impress Padmé - he even admits, "If Master Obi-Wan caught me doing this, he'd be very grumpy."

Bodhisattvas

Bodhisattva can mean anyone who vows to become enlightened in order to relieve the suffering of all beings, but there are also celestial Bodhisattvas, who are realized beings, inspired by the wish to attain complete enlightenment, and have vowed to be reborn in the world to help all living beings. They're deity-like beings, however, it should be noted that these Bodhisattvas are representing our potentials.

Guanyin - or Avalokitesvara or Chenrezig - is enlightened compassion, Vajrapani is the powerful energy of enlightenment that can be utilized to do many good things, Manjushri is the enlightened wisdom. I think the most important ability that these Bodhisattvas are said to possess, is that they're able manifest themselves in hundreds or even thousands of bodies simultaneously.

In this essay of mine, I examined Jedi teachings and how the Force works - these are, on the fundamental level, identical to Buddhist philosophy. I hope it will help:

Māra and the Dark Side of the Force

In Buddhism, although Māra is depicted as a god or demon, he is an aspect of the mind and the heart: the inner experience of all forms of attachment, greed, hatred, and delusion, everything that interferes with and puts to an end our spiritual practice. His "armies" are sensual desire, discontent, hunger and thirst, craving, laziness, fear, indecisive wavering (doubt), restlessness, longing for the transitory things in life (gain, praise, honor, and fame), and praising oneself and belittling others. His three "daughters" are thirst, delight and desire.

When Māra is discussed as an external being, he is said to reside in the highest heavenly realms of cyclic existence, thus, he enjoys long life, power, privileges and pleasures. But it must be noted that he is, like any other being, subjected to Karma, birth and death, and there are stories that gave a closure to him as an external entity: he ends up being a Buddhist himself. So, if you wish to draw an analogy with Māra in a complex and intriguing story you draw up, I suggest to use the Son as his Star Wars counterpart. He embodies the dark side of the Force, but he is also the mosaic of the light side and the dark side just like all living beings in George Lucas' Star Wars universe.

The story of Devadatta as a potential inspiration

If you would like to use Buddhist stories as inspiration for the Sith, I recommend you the story of Devadatta, the Buddha's enemy. In the Theravada tradition, Devadatta, who was one of the disciples of the Buddha, attained several miraculous powers through mental training, but no wisdom and compassion. His miracles convinced a crown prince, Ajatasattu, that he is a great teacher. But Devadatta became obsessed with his own skills and sought fame and power, declaring, he should be the one who leads the Order of Buddhists and not the Buddha. Even though his miraculous powers began to fade as his mind became clouded by such afflictions, he started to preach his own teachings, claiming, they're from the Buddha himself.

The Buddha warned him that he is on the path of self-destruction but Devadatta was relentless. Long story short, he was so consumed by greed that he eventually convinced prince Ajatasattu to kill his father, the king, and usurp the throne, while he assassinates the Buddha. As an attempt, he unleashed a raging elephant, but it was calmed by the loving-kindness of the Buddha, and his other attempts failed as well. Although Ajatasattu took the throne, the public was so resented of Devadatta that he was forced to withdraw his support. After this, he tried to cause a schism in the Order, but his followers were won over by the Buddha. Devadatta eventually died of sickness, his bad mental state supposedly ate into his physical health, however, in his final moments, he realized his mistakes.

The story of Devadatta, in my opinion, is an ideal inspiration for the first Sith, if we go with the notion that the Sith were Force-sensitives who left the Jedi Order. This is in Disney canon, I think. If we go with the fact that according to George Lucas, the Sith ruled the known universe before they destroyed themselves, we have a more complex situation, because that would imply that the first Jedi started out as a Sith apprentice or a Sith Lord, like Gautama Buddha started out as a prince living in luxury, and not a great spiritual teacher, or that the Sith were able to gain control over the galaxy, like Darth Sidious did, with the difference that there wasn't an Emperor, but many warring Sith Lords who all sought to rule the whole galaxy.

#buddhism #star wars #the force #miracles #gautama buddha

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mahayanapilgrim · 29 days

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The Bodhisattva Vow

From the Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life by Master

Shantideva

Through these actions now performed and all the virtues I have amassed,

May all the pain of every living being be completely scattered and dissolved!

For all those ailing in the world, Until their every sickness has been healed, May I myself become for them The doctor, nurse, the medicine itself.

Raining down a flood of food and drink, May I dispel the ills of thirst and famine. And in the aeons marked by scarcity and want, May I myself appear as drink and sustenance.

For sentient beings, poor and destitute, May I become a treasure ever-plentiful, And lie before them closely in their reach, a varied source of all that they might need.

My body, thus, and all my goods besides, and all my merits gained and to be gained, I give them all and do not count the cost, To bring about the benefit of beings.

May I be a guard for those who are protectorless, a guide for those who journey on the road. For those who wish to cross the water, May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.

May I be an isle for those who yearn for land, a lamp for those who long for light; For all who need a resting place, may I be a bed.

May I be the wishing jewel, the vase of wealth, a word of power and the supreme healing, May I be the tree of miracles, For every being the wish-fulfilling cow.

Just like the earth and space itself And all the other mighty elements, For boundless multitudes of beings May I always be the ground of life, the source of varied sustenance.

Thus for everything that lives, As far as are the limits of the sky, May I be constantly their source of livelihood Until they pass beyond all sorrow.

Just as all the Buddhas of the past Have brought forth the awakened mind, Trained and abided in the precepts of the Bodhisattvas Step-by-step

Likewise, for the benefit of beings, I will bring to birth the awakened mind, And in those precepts, step-by-step, I will abide and train myself.

Those who thus with clear intelligence Take hold of the awakened mind with bright and lucid joy,

Today my life has given fruit. This human state has now been well assumed. Today I take my birth in Buddha's line, And have become the Buddha's child and heir.

In every way, then, I will undertake activities befitting such a rank. And I will do no act to mar or compromise this high and faultless lineage.

For I am like a blind person who has found A precious gem inside a heap of dust. For so it is, by some strange chance, That enlightened intent has been born in me.

It is the sovereign remedy That perfectly allays all maladies. It is the tree that gives relief To those who wander wearily the pathways of existence.

It is the universal bridge that saves All wandering beings from the states of loss, The rising moon of the enlightened mind That soothes the sorrows born of the afflictions.

It is the mighty sun that utterly dispels The misty ignorance of wandering beings, The creamy butter, rich and full, That's churned from milk of holy teaching

Living beings! Wanderers upon life's paths, Who wish to taste the riches of contentment, Here before you is the supreme bliss. O ceaseless travelers here is your fulfillment!

And so, today, within the sight of all protectors, I summon beings, calling them to Buddhahood."

"The Way of the Bodhisattva" by Shantideva,

Bodhichitta Prayer

Precious and Sublime Bodhichitta

Where it is unborn may it arise

Where it is born, may it not decline

But go on increasing further and further!

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radical-revolution · 5 months

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In this Holiday Season let's all join our palms together in prayer and wish for the light of wisdom to reach the hearts of everyone in this world. May all beings be well and happy.

With folded hands,

I beseech the Buddhas of all directions

To shine the light of Dharma

For all those bewildered in misery’s gloom.

- A Guide To The Bodhisattva Way Of Life by Shantideva

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semi-imaginary-place · 3 months

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hnk stuff from reddit

The running joke is that you need a PhD in Japanese Pure Land Buddhist philosophy to understand what is going on. The main thing to get is that HnK is a critique of Pure Land Buddhism.

As for discussions on ship of theseus or plato's save this is anglosphere Westerners trying to use Western philosophical terms (which are more familiar) to interpret the existentialist themes inherent to Buddhism.

Most of this stuff is searchable on the internet. But you can also look up a primer on Buddhist philosophy and Mahayana Buddhism in particular which is the form most popular in East Asia.

Other than that there was this one imgur post going around compiling mythological references but I don't remember where it it.

Specifically ship of theseus/grandfather's axe deal with the question of what is the essence of something (or someone one). If something keeps changing having it's parts replaced with different parts at what point is it something different than the original. To understand a more Japanese perspective on philosophy and aesthetics look up kinsugi, wabi-sabi, or even the shinto influences on Japanese Buddhism.

Plato's allegory of the cave is about perspective, experienced versus objective reality, what is real, and knowledge. Some's dude's only seen the world through the shadows cast on a wall, then leaves the cave and realizes that everything they're seen has been shadows.

Some basic extremely simplified highschool takeaways for Buddhism is that suffering or discomfort (durka) is inevitable in life, this suffering stems from attachment to the world and desires (of any kind). Life is in a cycle of reincarnation (samsara). The way to break free of the cycle is to reach enlightenment (nirvana) by freeing oneself of all desire. In Mahayana Buddhism someone enlightened may instead choose to remain in the world to guide others becoming a bodhisattva. In the context of history this allowed Mahayana Buddhism to better adapt to local religions as it spread across Asia, incorporating local religions and deities. Thus Japanese Buddhism is descendent from Chinese Buddhism and you can see the Chinese influences in it (same with Korean Buddhism). Chinese Buddhism itself was influenced by other non-Indian cultures along the silk road in Central Asia (Persia, etc). So the route Japanese Buddhism took was from India to Central Asia then China before finally coming to Japan. Honestly just read the Wikipedia page on Buddhism it explains thing better than I can.

I'm not well versed enough in Buddhism to have a good guess but here's some notable plot points in relation to Buddhist themes in HnK.

Phos is set up narratively to gain all 7 jewels/treasures (houseki) of Buddhism and then the author deliberately makes it so he doesn't. Phos gets the wrong final jewel. Phos gets shell and agate legs, gold platinum alloy arms, Lapis Lazuli's head, and Achemea implants an artificial pearl eye into their head. The last treasure Phos was missing was a red gem/carnelian/coral. But instead Phos got Adamante's eye and became "human".

Humanity failed to go extinct. Their souls, flesh, and bones existing separately and simultaneously in the world. Instead of continuing the cycle of reincarnation the Moon People/Lunarians are stuck in a state of neither life of death, stagnant. Instead of striving to reach enlightenment they seek complete annihilation the cessation of existence. To these descendents true humans are as to gods, the only ones with the power to have them die.

There's also a lot of ominous imagery. Like the lotus is probably the most significant symbol in Buddhism representing enlightening and the cycle of reincarnation. And Phos is associated several times with an empty lotus seed pod, like that he has failed Buddhism or something, the lotus failed to complete it's lifecycle and will not be born again from it's seeds.

I honestly don't have any conclusions what to make of all this, still mulling over it all.

#hnk

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santoschristos · 3 months

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"All religious forms are manifestations of the great cosmic, universal, infinite religion latent in every atom of the cosmos." --Samael Aun Weor - The Perfect Matrimony

Any genuine religion, mystical tradition, or type of spirituality is an attempt to communicate something of value and importance, which is that there is a purpose to life that one can experience for oneself.

The main traditions that we study here are Hinduism, Judaism, and the reform of those religions which came later, which are Buddhism and Christianity. We study all religions, but these are the four main ones we are interested in.

There are people all over the world that study the religion that they grew up with, or the religion that they became attracted to during their life. All of those traditions are very beautiful and have a great deal of knowledge that they express to humanity.

But unfortunately, people do not see religions for what they truly are. Over many centuries, religions have become a mere belief, something that people follow, respect, study and believe in, but rarely experience. It is very rare, sadly, to find anyone who has true experience of what the religions are teaching. Yet, that is their purpose: to guide us to experience what they teach.

In this tradition, the experience of religion is our primary goal. Our primary interest is learning the practical value of each religion.

Now in the case of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity, all of them in their essence teach exactly the same thing. On the surface they can appear different, but in their heart they are exactly the same.

They are attempting to convey the experience of a higher way of living, something that cannot be communicated in words. Each religion is like the expression of direct mystical experience with the divine.

Jesus was a vessel for that spirit which came in order to teach the same thing, the same religion, the same truth in different places. As an example: in India we find the Lord Krishna, who taught the same truth, in different levels of course, according to its own vessel. The vessel of Krishna who is one with that Spirit and is that same Spirit itself is the Bodhisattva; the Bodhisattva of Krishna is of course Arjuna, who we find in the Bhagadvad Gita.

Arjuna is the one who is talking to the Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, but you have to understand that Arjuna is the bodhisattva of Krishna. So, Krishna is the master of Arjuna. Krishna is the master and Arjuna is the Bodhisattva, who is learning from him and is at the same time teaching to others through the same.

The thing is that when we talk about this spiritual prophecy, or this intelligence that is able to incarnate in many places in order to establish the religion or the way to union with God of that time and place, this concept is understood in the western world, through the Bible, but in a very incomplete way.

Indeed, in the West there is a lot of ignorance related with this spirit, because in many different places this spirit has received many names. Among the Tibetans, for instance, Christ is known as Avalokiteshvara; you find that name in the Buddhist Pantheon.

Among the Taoists you find Kwan Yin. Kwan Yin is of course, according to the Tao, the “subtle voice,” or the “sweet voice,” in other words, the verb, the word, Logos.

Among the Mayans, they call this spirit, Kukulkan. The word “Kukul” means bird and “Kan” means serpent. So, when you say Kukulkan, this means the “bird-serpent.” That spirit, the “bird-serpent” in Aztec language or Nahua, is Quetzalcoatl.

There among the Peruvians, the Incas of Peru they call him Viracocha. Viracocha is the same Vishnu, the Lord. Of course, Chokmah חכמה, in the Kabbalah as you know means “Wisdom” and this is related with this spirit of wisdom.

All religions are precious stones strung on the golden thread of Divinity.

All religions conserve the eternal values. False religions do not exist.

All religions are necessary; all religions fulfill their mission in life.

It is absurd to state that our neighbor’s religion is useless and that only ours is authentic. If the neighbor’s religion is not good then my religion is not good either because the values are always the same.

It is stupid to state that the religion of the indigenous tribes of America is idolatry because they too have the right to say that our religion is idolatry. If we laugh at them, they can also laugh at us. If we say that they adore or that they adored idols, then they too can say that we adore idols.

We cannot discredit the religion of others without discrediting ours as well because the principles are always the same. All religions have the same principles.

Under the sun, every religion is born, grows, develops, multiplies into many sects, and dies. This is how it has always been and will always be.

Religious principles never die. The religious forms can die, but the religious principles, in other words, the eternal values, can never die. They continue; they are re-dressed with new forms.

Religion is inherent to life in the same manner that humidity is to water.

It is worthwhile to study all religions. The comparative study of religions leads one to comprehend that all religions conserve the eternal values, that no religion is false, that all are true.

The word religion comes from the Latin word religare, which implies “to link or bind or union of the Soul to God."

"As the blazing fire reduces wood to ashes; similarly, the fire of Self-knowledge reduces all bonds of karma to ashes..." --Krishna - Bhagavad-gita 4:36-37

The eternal values embodied in the world's religions express the essential requirements for the consciousness to enter into the light and fully realize the purpose of living.

In other words, the heart message of every religion seeks to awaken the consciousness and eliminate suffering, so that the eternal light may be known through our own direct experience.

"Truth is one; sages call it by various names." -- Rig Veda

Original Post by Mac Fion

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talonabraxas · 1 year

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The Key of becoming a Bodhisattva: One who wishes to protect oneself and others quickly, should practice exchanging oneself for others, which is a great mystery. All those who are unhappy in the world are so as a result of their desire for their own happiness. All those who are happy in the world are so as a result of their desire for the happiness of others. Enough of such talk! Note the difference between the fool who seeks his own benefit, and the sage who works for the benefit of others. One, who does not exchange his own happiness for the suffering of others, surely does not achieve Buddhahood. How could one find happiness even in the cycle of existence? Therefore, in order to alleviate my own suffering and to alleviate the suffering of others, I give myself up to others, and I accept others as my own self. --A Guide To the Bodhisattva Way Of Life by Shantideva Bodhisattva Shambhala: The Realm of the Bodhisattvas Talon Abraxas

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cosmicchrist888 · 2 months

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Cosmic Consciousness

The Only Savior of the world 🌎 is our inner Solar 🦸 Hero, The Sun God of all Religions, your Spiritual SUN and Messiah, Messenger of The GODS and only true initiator /teleisthai ( initiation ) in the ancient sacred mysteries of Regeneration. An ordinary Man might so perfect himself that he becomes a conscious Monad, a vessel or holy grail for The manifestation of The Christ, The Solar Logos, The Word, Verb, Reason, the primordial, sound, creative principle of the universe. All who do their Great Work, who follow the perfect path, the middle way, the narrow way, the path of holiness, the way of the cross which leadeth unto life, the path of the middle, the eightfold path of the bodhisattvas will become perfect as the father in heaven is perfect. Gnosis, Ma’rifat, Bodhi, the inner Divine Wisdom, spiritual knowledge of God is the reward of the Cosmic Man, The Cosmic Christ, the perfect man. This is the goal of a spiritual Master, a mystic, an initiate, to become an avatar, a guide for all humanity. He is teaching communion with god not only through faith but through self knowledge, contemplation of the inner life. I tell you, Know the light within and become friends with it. Rise from the dead, like a sun rise every morning, at sunrise souls are born again. This is the second birth! Enlightenment! bringing the light and sharing wisdom ( Sophia ) with the world. You are immortal, eternal, you are the universe, a cosmic being, cosmic consciousness! Wisdom, union with The Absolute, with your true and higher self is attained through Yoga practice, initiation into the mysteries of life & transcendental Magic. Evolution is the path back to oneness, back to godhead. Follow the inner light of the divine mind, know thyself and become a Christ, a Hermes, a Buddha, Adam Kadmon. I am SON OF MAN, The heavenly man, The second & last Adam, the expected Messiah. Yes this is my second coming. I am inside of you and outside of you, I am the manifestation of The Solar Logos, The Word made flesh. Behold, when you enter your inner city, the new Jerusalem, the heavenly kingdom, follow the man carrying a jar of water. Follow him to the house that he enters, the zodiac sign of Aquarius. Follow him to the new golden age where he will reign for a thousand years. This will be the reign of the spiritual man, of the inner cosmic Christ. Salvation is now, salvation is the purification of your heart, the transformation to Gods, a new 6th root race of Cosmic beings ! The alchemical marriage of the sun and the moon, the union of spirit and matter. Spirit will always triumph over matter ! Long live our inner king, the absolute reality, the Solar deity!

Inverential peace

Cosmic Christ

#cosmic consciousness #enlightenment #gnosis #sungod #divine wisdom #logos #rebirth #regeneration #self realization #resurrection

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under-olympos-bodhi-tree · 9 months

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Buddhist Prayer for Strength against Illness

In the shadow of illness, under the weight of pain, May the light of the Dharma guide my way. As I traverse the path of sickness and health, May I find refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. In every moment of discomfort, in every pang of distress, May the teachings of impermanence remind me: All things arise and all things pass, And in this knowledge, may I find solace and strength. May the boundless compassion of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Mercy, Envelop me in warmth, easing my suffering and fear. With each breath, may I draw upon the energy of countless Buddhas, Rekindling my spirit, revitalizing my body. Though illness touches me, it is not all of me. Within, there lies a core untouched – luminous, calm, and pure. As I navigate the trials of this life, May I remain connected to this inner refuge, my true nature. For all beings who suffer, for all touched by illness, May we support each other, bear witness to each other's journey. Together, may we walk the Eightfold Path, Finding peace, healing, and liberation in its embrace.

#buddhism #dharma #meditation #personal #greco buddhism #I suck at ryhmes XD #I did my best on this one #I am very tired -_-

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commonplacebuddhism · 1 year

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Bibliography

All the Buddhist books I have taken notes from, with links if they are available free online. Updated 02/26/24.

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path by Jack Kornfield

Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World by Lama Surya Das

Buddha's Brain: the Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom by Rick Hanson, Ph.D., and Richard Mendius, M.D.

Buddhish: A Guide to the 20 Most Important Buddhist Ideas For the Curious and Skeptical by C. Pierce Salguero

Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening by Stephen Batchelor

Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha translated by Thomas Byrom, Shambhala Pocket Classics 1993 (There are A LOT of versions of this online, but not this particular edition)

Enlightenment is an accident: ancient wisdom and simple practices to make you accident prone by Tim Burkett

Happiness is Overrated: Simple Lessons on Finding Meaning in Each Moment by Cuong Lu

How to Raise an Ox: Zen practice as taught in Zen master Dogen's Shobogenzo by Francis Dojun Cook (2002)

How We Live is How We Die by Pema Chödrön

Illumination: a guide to the Buddhist method of no-method by Rebecca Li

Love for Imperfect Things by Haemin Sunim

"Living my vow," by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel in Lion's Roar, March 2021.

Nothing Holy About It: The Zen of Being Just Who You Are by Tim Burkett

Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity by Soto Morinaga

Opening to Oneness: A Practical & Philosophical Guide to the Zen Precepts by Nancy Mujo Baker

The Other Shore by Thich Nhat Hanh

Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa

A Spiritual Renegade's Guide to the Good Life by Lama Marut

Start Here Now: An Open-Hearted Guide to the Path and Practice of Meditation by Susan Piver

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment by Roshi Philip Kapleau (I read the 25th anniversary edition and this is the 1967 version)

Wake Up: How to Practice Zen Buddhism by Bonnie Myotai Treace

Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching by Robert Meikyo Rosenbaum

The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva, revised translation and new preface by the Padmakara Translation Group (2006) (This is another one that is widely available online in other editions.)

When Things Don't Go Your Way: Zen Wisdom for Difficult Times by Haemin Sunim

Zen and the Art of Anything by Hal W. French

Zen Beyond Mindfulness: Using Buddhist and Modern Psychology for Transformational Practice by Jules Shuzen Harris

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki (Link goes to a book that is listed as the 2006 ed but it looks identical to my 2002 edition)

#bibliography #recommended reading #buddhism #buddhist #master list #free books

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quitealotofsodapop · 20 days

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Shihuā probably would have peeled through Guanyin's eyes (if that's something that could be done, idk it seems to imply that even souls already reincarnated can still interact with the world in some way with how the Golden Cicada would guide Tang in the Lantern City or how all of the Pilgrims jsut suddenly appeared as spirits rather than memories when Wukong was rescuing everyone from the Scroll's curse) if she could. Just imagining Shihuā and her mate watching over Wukong through Guanyin, and since Guanyin has reached enlightenment, she probably can recognize when this happens. Crying for Wukong's pain and cheering for his victories, cooing at how he'd care for the baby monkeys. Maybe some of Wukong's more nerdy pursuits (dude is canonically a person who loves to learn) came from his dad? Or his painting skills at least.

Oh yes.

Shíhuā and Yē Lín are able to see much of Wukong's life on the island, given that it's their resting place. And the passed Matriarch has the privilege to see through the eyes of her most recent incarnation - the Bodhisattva Guanyin themselves no matter where they are.

And like with the Golden Cicada's spirit guiding Tang; Shíhuā is able to project herself to the goddess for matters requiring an extra opinion.

So the pair of monkeys are able to share the pains and sorrows and joys that Wukong experiences growing from a cub to a king to a pilgrim to a near-god. And they honestly just want to give him a hug.

They also giggle loudly when their son first meets the little visitor from the lunar realm with six-ears, knowing full well that the flustered stone cubs acted as they did once upon a time.

I love the thought of Wukong coming across his mother's things and seeing that while she had her love of music and fashion (her horde of jade ornaments and bone instruments evidence of that), she was admitedly awful when it came to art.

Wukong finds an art gift the mated pair shared and it looks like that one MLP meme.

Shíhuā, sheepishly: "Oh, your father had always been the better one when it came to visual arts." Yē Lín: "Hard not to when my muse is so beautiful!" Both ghost monkeys: *start nuzzling like newlyweds* Wukong: *covers eyes in embarassment*

Wukong's dad is also super proud and supportive of when he left the island to get an education from Subodhi. Shíhuā points to Wukong's piles of dogearred alchemy textbooks (this monkey had a big nerd moment in JTTW when he had to be a doctor) as evidence that he always had his dad's love of learning new things.

Wukong wonders aloud if his parents' habits rubbed off on his cubs (bio or adopted), only to turn around and see MK covered in chalk and drawing a mural of the Stone Matriach and her Consort from memory on the cave wall.

Yē Lín: "See? It's not only me! Your beauty trancends life itself!" *continues smooching wife* Shíhuā: *loud Wukong-esque snort of laughter!* Wukong: *prays Guanyin comes back soon*

Oh if there's grandbabies? You know them grandbabies getting the ghost equivalent of mini-boss bodyguards. The two monkeys sob over Wukong's cubs, overjoyed that he's able to be there with them when they couldn't for him.

#stone matriarch au #sun wukong #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk guanyin

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primordialsoundmeditation · 3 months

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Turn Your Thinking Upside Down

An article by Pema Chödrön

We base our lives on seeking happiness and avoiding suffering, but the best thing we can do for ourselves is to turn this whole way of thinking upside down.

On a very basic level all beings think that they should be happy. When life becomes difficult or painful, we feel that something has gone wrong. This wouldn’t be a big problem except for the fact that when we feel something’s gone wrong, we’re willing to do anything to feel OK again. Even start a fight.

According to the Buddhist teachings, difficulty is inevitable in human life. For one thing, we cannot escape the reality of death. But there are also the realities of aging, of illness, of not getting what we want, and of getting what we don’t want. These kinds of difficulties are facts of life. Even if you were the Buddha himself, if you were a fully enlightened person, you would experience death, illness, aging, and sorrow at losing what you love. All of these things would happen to you. If you got burned or cut, it would hurt.

But the Buddhist teachings also say that this is not really what causes us misery in our lives. What causes misery is always trying to get away from the facts of life, always trying to avoid pain and seek happiness—this sense of ours that there could be lasting security and happiness available to us if we could only do the right thing.

“Suffering can humble us. Even the most arrogant among us can be softened by the loss of someone dear.”

In this very lifetime we can do ourselves and this planet a great favor and turn this very old way of thinking upside down. As Shantideva, author of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, points out, suffering has a great deal to teach us. If we use the opportunity when it arises, suffering will motivate us to look for answers. Many people, including myself, came to the spiritual path because of deep unhappiness. Suffering can also teach us empathy for others who are in the same boat. Furthermore, suffering can humble us. Even the most arrogant among us can be softened by the loss of someone dear.

Yet it is so basic in us to feel that things should go well for us, and that if we start to feel depressed, lonely, or inadequate, there’s been some kind of mistake or we’ve lost it. In reality, when you feel depressed, lonely, betrayed, or any unwanted feelings, this is an important moment on the spiritual path. This is where real transformation can take place.

As long as we’re caught up in always looking for certainty and happiness, rather than honoring the taste and smell and quality of exactly what is happening, as long as we’re always running away from discomfort, we’re going to be caught in a cycle of unhappiness and disappointment, and we will feel weaker and weaker. This way of seeing helps us to develop inner strength.

And what’s especially encouraging is the view that inner strength is available to us at just the moment when we think we’ve hit the bottom, when things are at their worst. Instead of asking ourselves, “How can I find security and happiness?” we could ask ourselves, “Can I touch the center of my pain? Can I sit with suffering, both yours and mine, without trying to make it go away? Can I stay present to the ache of loss or disgrace—disappointment in all its many forms—and let it open me?” This is the trick.

There are various ways to view what happens when we feel threatened. In times of distress—of rage, of frustration, of failure—we can look at how we get hooked and how shenpa escalates. The usual translation of shenpa is “attachment,” but this doesn’t adequately express the full meaning. I think of shenpa as “getting hooked.” Another definition, used by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, is the “charge”—the charge behind our thoughts and words and actions, the charge behind “like” and “don’t like.”

It can also be helpful to shift our focus and look at how we put up barriers. In these moments we can observe how we withdraw and become self-absorbed. We become dry, sour, afraid; we crumble, or harden out of fear that more pain is coming. In some old familiar way, we automatically erect a protective shield and our self-centeredness intensifies.

“We can become intimate with just how we hide out, doze off, freeze up. And that intimacy, coming to know these barriers so well, is what begins to dismantle them.”

But this is the very same moment when we could do something different. Right on the spot, through practice, we can get very familiar with the barriers that we put up around our hearts and around our whole being. We can become intimate with just how we hide out, doze off, freeze up. And that intimacy, coming to know these barriers so well, is what begins to dismantle them. Amazingly, when we give them our full attention they start to fall apart.

Ultimately all the practices I have mentioned are simply ways we can go about dissolving these barriers. Whether it’s learning to be present through sitting meditation, acknowledging shenpa, or practicing patience, these are methods for dissolving the protective walls that we automatically put up.

When we’re putting up the barriers and the sense of “me” as separate from “you” gets stronger, right there in the midst of difficulty and pain, the whole thing could turn around simply by not erecting barriers; simply by staying open to the difficulty, to the feelings that you’re going through; simply by not talking to ourselves about what’s happening. That is a revolutionary step. Becoming intimate with pain is the key to changing at the core of our being—staying open to everything we experience, letting the sharpness of difficult times pierce us to the heart, letting these times open us, humble us, and make us wiser and more brave.

Let difficulty transform you. And it will. In my experience, we just need help in learning how not to run away.

If we’re ready to try staying present with our pain, one of the greatest supports we could ever find is to cultivate the warmth and simplicity of bodhichitta. The word bodhichitta has many translations, but probably the most common one is “awakened heart.” The word refers to a longing to wake up from ignorance and delusion in order to help others do the same. Putting our personal awakening in a larger—even planetary—framework makes a significant difference. It gives us a vaster perspective on why we would do this often difficult work.

There are two kinds of bodhichitta: relative and absolute. Relative bodhichitta includes compassion and maitri. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche translated maitri as “unconditional friendliness with oneself.” This unconditional friendliness means having an unbiased relationship with all the parts of your being. So, in the context of working with pain, this means making an intimate, compassionate heart-relationship with all those parts of ourselves we generally don’t want to touch.

Some people find the teachings I offer helpful because I encourage them to be kind to themselves, but this does not mean pampering our neurosis. The kindness that I learned from my teachers, and that I wish so much to convey to other people, is kindness toward all qualities of our being. The qualities that are the toughest to be kind to are the painful parts, where we feel ashamed, as if we don’t belong, as if we’ve just blown it, when things are falling apart for us. Maitri means sticking with ourselves when we don’t have anything, when we feel like a loser. And it becomes the basis for extending the same unconditional friendliness to others.

If there are whole parts of yourself that you are always running from, that you even feel justified in running from, then you’re going to run from anything that brings you into contact with your feelings of insecurity.

“I’m here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away.”

And have you noticed how often these parts of ourselves get touched? The closer you get to a situation or a person, the more these feelings arise. Often when you’re in a relationship it starts off great, but when it gets intimate and begins to bring out your neurosis, you just want to get out of there.

So I’m here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away. You can cruise through life not letting anything touch you, but if you really want to live fully, if you want to enter into life, enter into genuine relationships with other people, with animals, with the world situation, you’re definitely going to have the experience of feeling provoked, of getting hooked, of shenpa. You’re not just going to feel bliss. The message is that when those feelings emerge, this is not a failure. This is the chance to cultivate maitri, unconditional friendliness toward your perfect and imperfect self.

Relative bodhichitta also includes awakening compassion. One of the meanings of compassion is “suffering with,” being willing to suffer with other people. This means that to the degree you can work with the wholeness of your being—your prejudices, your feelings of failure, your self-pity, your depression, your rage, your addictions—the more you will connect with other people out of that wholeness. And it will be a relationship between equals. You’ll be able to feel the pain of other people as your own pain. And you’ll be able to feel your own pain and know that it’s shared by millions.

Absolute bodhichitta, also known as shunyata, is the open dimension of our being, the completely wide-open heart and mind. Without labels of “you” and “me,” “enemy” and “friend,” absolute bodhichitta is always here. Cultivating absolute bodhichitta means having a relationship with the world that is nonconceptual, that is unprejudiced, having a direct, unedited relationship with reality.

That’s the value of sitting meditation practice. You train in coming back to the unadorned present moment again and again. Whatever thoughts arise in your mind, you regard them with equanimity and you learn to let them dissolve. There is no rejection of the thoughts and emotions that come up; rather, we begin to realize that thoughts and emotions are not as solid as we always take them to be.

It takes bravery to train in unconditional friendliness, it takes bravery to train in “suffering with,” it takes bravery to stay with pain when it arises and not run or erect barriers. It takes bravery to not bite the hook and get swept away. But as we do, the absolute bodhichitta realization, the experience of how open and unfettered our minds really are, begins to dawn on us. As a result of becoming more comfortable with the ups and the downs of our ordinary human life, this realization grows stronger.

“We may still get betrayed, may still be hated. We may still feel confused and sad. What we won’t do is bite the hook.”

We start with taking a close look at our predictable tendency to get hooked, to separate ourselves, to withdraw into ourselves and put up walls. As we become intimate with these tendencies, they gradually become more transparent, and we see that there’s actually space, there is unlimited, accommodating space. This does not mean that then you live in lasting happiness and comfort. That spaciousness includes pain.

We may still get betrayed, may still be hated. We may still feel confused and sad. What we won’t do is bite the hook. Pleasant happens. Unpleasant happens. Neutral happens. What we gradually learn is to not move away from being fully present. We need to train at this very basic level because of the widespread suffering in the world. If we aren’t training inch by inch, one moment at a time, in overcoming our fear of pain, then we’ll be very limited in how much we can help. We’ll be limited in helping ourselves, and limited in helping anybody else. So let’s start with ourselves, just as we are, here and now.

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mahayanapilgrim · 3 months

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Meditation Practice In Stages

By Alan Wallace

In the beginning stages of meditation practice, noticing how painful self-centeredness is a useful incentive.

Instead of simply abandoning it, we gradually strain it out.

As Santideva says in his Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life, if you don't think of developing bodhicitta for your own sake, how can you ever aspire to develop it for others?

Shantideva's first chapter is devoted exclusively to the benefits of developing bodhicitta. Whether the practice is Mind Training, meditative quiescence, bodhicitta, or the realization of emptiness, an awareness of the benefits as well as the potential problems and their antidotes provides us with a clear understanding of how to engage correctly in the practice. The results will come from correct practice done with earnestness, a proper level of intensity, and continuity over a long period of time. They will not come faster by anticipating or longing for them.

There is a natural tendency, when our practice starts to go well, to get excited at the prospect of attaining wonderful results very quickly.

You are standing guard, vigilant at the front door of your house, while a thief climbs in the back window and robs you blind. As diligent as your efforts are, they are working against you, simply because your attitude towards the practice is misconstrued. The profundity of any practice is a function not only of the technique but also of the practitioner. A human being cannot be fundamentally superficial, because the Buddha nature we each have is an utterly pure and divine essence; but a person who is trite and dilettantish in terms of conscious behavior can trivialize an ostensibly profound practice. The corollary is also true, that a profound person cannot practice superficially

On hearing teachings that are said to be rare and secret and only for the most advanced practitioners, we may feel that we have managed to slip through the door of an elite club. We can fool ourselves that the visualization or mantra or whatever practice we have learned is extremely profound; but that may not be true for us right now.

Why do we engage in any spiritual practice?

The answer that Buddhism emphasizes is our own vulnerability to suffering, whether blatant or as an undercurrent of anxiety. If we are deeply aware that we need help and recognize that without Dharma our minds are dysfunctionally creating misery, it becomes ridiculous to hold a supercilious attitude. It is hard to be pompous when the reason for practicing is a desire to be free of our own mental distortions. The Four Noble Truths—the existence of suffering, the source of suffering, freedom from suffering and its source, and the means of achieving such freedom—are very sobering in this regard.

~ B. Alan Wallace

#buddha #buddhist #buddhism #dharma #sangha #mahayana #zen #milarepa #tibetan buddhism #thich nhat hanh

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spotsupstuff · 2 years

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You know, even after the final, I didn't understand some things. In episode 13 we saw the past lbd as she came there (by the way, what kind of place is it, do the gods live there? or is it on earth?) To work and then order them (same question who is this, gods?) because they do not think at all about mortals and they do not care about them. And after that the man began to ask for mercy, but as a result he was killed

So all that she was doing meant that she just wanted to cleanse the sky of all the gods and help the mortals? and what the mayor said was that her plan was great, but because of the monkey king and his team, she couldn't get what she wanted (they interfered with her because she wanted to eat Tripitaka like in the original or maybe there was some other reason?) and after that, mayor said that she took into account all the mistakes and this time she will completely destroy everyone I do not quite understand what the reasons were in the past, and what she wanted to achieve, and why she was arrested

The beginning of e13 shows us that she began to attack the Heaven (similarly to Sun Wukong, funnily enough, ha). But that wasnt when she came there for the first time, shes been within the ranks of that place for a good while, at least so is implied. She says that basically what she was trynna do there was guide the man who ruled the place into making the world better, but, after seeing that the ruler and his advisors were all pretty shitty, she came to the faulty conclusion that the only way one could fix the world is by restarting everything

The ruler had a real actual power to Actually make a change everywhere, perhaps stop all the suffering in the mortal realm. But judging by his reaction when she mentions the mortals, he didn't even think about them once- with how startled he was by her bringing them up

She never mentions wanting any kind of power in the form of ordering gods about- she even becomes disgusted when the ruler offers her a high position and riches. Her only goal is Literally to rid the mortals of hurting, the not-mayor says as much

Fact! Confucius has basically done the same! Looking for a king/someone with social power to shape the society into something better. But unlike Confucius, Im guessin the frustration got to WBS n she snapped in the form of decidin to go after the reset

There is also a history of the Gods not being exactly compassionate with creatures down on Earth. Remember, this isnt christianity. The gods are hardly perfect and are still prone to flaws and mistakes (the only one who doesn't make mistakes and has flaws is basically the Buddha n the bodhisattvas come in pretty close). So her bein hissy towards the Heaven is not necessary a sign of her being Evil thru that

She never wanted to eat Tang Sanzang in the LMK universe, but rather Tang Sanzang is the reason why she was imprisoned instead of killed, Im guessing. What I imagine is that Sun Wukong and the other pilgrims were hailed into Heaven to deal with her since she is so powerful and either Sun Wukong or somebody on a similar power level to him (Erlang Shen? maybe Buddha himself showed up?) subdued her and she was about to be executed when Tang Sanzang chimed in with his compassion (because, after all, her core motivation isn't necessarily evil- ridding people of pain n all) and so instead she was trapped in that box and not allowed to come out until she would Understand that her way of going about this is wrong

Maybe she accepted being chained and trapped beCAUSE of Tang Sanzang, since she probably didnt want to hurt any mortal ever. Shes hurting mortals in present time (the host, the citizens of the cities that were frozen), because after all the ages shes been stuck in that box, instead of getting better she only got worse aka colder to life. Because what does it matter if some mortals die now, especially if their sacrifice helps her with her goal, when she is bound to destroy it all soon enough?

Do remember that in this world, the idea of reincarnation and living in the mortal realm is more of a punishment than anything else. Punishment which is possible to escape only thru immortality, ascension to Heaven or ascension into the state of Nirvana (Buddhahood)

TLDR; her only reason ever and what she wanted to achieve was to stop people from being in pain. She was arrested/caged in that box because she decided the only way to achieve what she wanted was to destroy everything. Her idea of destroying everything is very, INCREDIBLY similar in nature to a suicidal person wanting to end themselves, except it includes LITERALLY everything in existence with her. Which is... Bad

#Spot says stuff #lmk #lego monkie kid #when i think about it she was basically doin a kamikaze on a big ass scale #hope this clears stuff up

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