Originally posted by Dawnfirstlight:Happy to hear that. All the best to you, AEN!
Thanks!
Originally posted by Dharmadhatu:There are many practitioners in the Tibetan tradition with high realisations beyond Anatta only that they are not in public profile cos they shun fame and distractions. It is like that. And many past practitioners attain very good signs at the point of death. Also, for them, it is not in their character to talk or describe their realisations. That's why it seems rare. Very good that you are willing to share with us. As we all need encouragement and pointers and an example on the way.
why so fast print? why not get more experience first, then maybe a better book will emerge?
You're right. Many great practitioners do not discuss their experience very openly.
Originally posted by whylikethatah:“no books on earth”, “1st one in history”...
lol, full of condescension as usual
Or... factual. I just haven't found one that talks the same stuff I do.
Actually there are very good books out there that talks about insights, just perhaps not the same journey.
I was just discussing with Thusness how some of those Mahamudra books seem very clear on anatta and shunyata but way of practice and the way their insights develope are different.
So their emphasis and maps are different.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Or... factual. I just haven't found one that talks the same stuff I do.
Actually there are very good books out there that talks about insights, just perhaps not the same journey.
I was just discussing with Thusness how some of those Mahamudra books seem very clear on anatta and shunyata but way of practice and the way their insights develope are different.
So their emphasis and maps are different.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Of course need to pay for it. I don't intend to sell it for a profit (it will be good if I can recover the costs): in fact I intend to keep my online free version for free... just that those who wish to get a hardcopy can do so.
Nowadays publishing online don't need so much of a capital, since self-publishing allows 'print on demand' online.
you can contact world scientific if you need to publish your e book.
Originally posted by Rooney_07:you can contact world scientific if you need to publish your e book.
Thanks for the suggestion... though it sounds like some scientific establishment. Since my e-journal is about spirituality, not sure they can help.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Thanks for the suggestion... though it sounds like some scientific establishment. Since my e-journal is about spirituality, not sure they can help.
how u know world scientific is that? have you asked before? ask and then see how it goes.
Originally posted by whylikethatah:
why say "Or"? cannot admit it ah? because of your ego right? i know, lol Thusness was right to 'admonish' you. i'm sure that word is very familiar to you. save for Thusness, you simply love to talk down to others to prove your point and assumed superiority. Ever considered going to see a shrink? I hope you enjoy all the recognition you get when u publish your stuff :)
I shouldn't have said 'Or'. Just 'factual' is enough. Whatever I wrote is factual.
I could care less what other people think of me based on their own projections: humble, proud, deluded fool, enlightened person, ordinary, special, whatever.
I only care about expressing facts: not what opinions people form with regards to the truths I expressed from my knowledge and experience. Ultimately, since my concern is only for truth, I have no intention to sugar coat it or make it sound nice to people. I also have no intention to write in false humility. I have also no interest to follow the bullshit taboos surrounding awakening and insights, making things obscure for people. I value an environment where open discussions about practice, experience, insights, states and stages could be done, which is what this forum should be, and by the way is what the ancient Sangha in Buddha's times was like.
If for example, by my expressing something, you felt from your own projections that it was ‘condescending’, I could care less about it (and I have no ego to care about them – without a sense of self/Self, the only interest is objective truth, not subjective feelings/emotions/what-not). I have said my piece and it is not my business what you make of it. If you think that I have a huge fucking oh-so-enlightened or oh-so-holy ego, so be it, and I could care less (though I personally find it hilarious and amusing), since I only express objective observable experiential facts and have no concerns about people’s opinions and feelings about them. I could also care less if you believe what I said, since my job and concern is simply to speak what I know to be true, not what you make out of what I said.
I do not write to impress people. And because I do not write to impress people, I also do not write in fear of offending people. Whether people are impressed, offended, angry, or confused (though I am always happy to clarify if they want to), and from their own projections find me egotistic, humble, wise, deluded, or whatever, those are none of my business. My only business is to impart truths and facts that I know, observed, and experienced… cold hard truths so to speak. And I say to them: since these are facts I know and discover, you too can know and discover them. And I say to them: why don’t you step out of your delusional zone of feelings and beliefs, and see objective/experiential/observable truth for yourself. Who cares about what this guy or that guy or what I said. What I said can only be of value when you truly see it for yourself, so just take whatever you think is useful and see things for yourselves.
I know for a fact that majority (like 99% of those ‘enlightened teachers’) do not speak from the realization of Anatta – once you realize Anatta it will be very apparent who is and who is not speaking about Anatta. Those teachers offer genuine insights, just not Anatta. I know for a fact that Anatta insight is very rare, but not non-existing. I know for a fact these people realized Anatta based on their experiential descriptions: Buddha (of course!), Dogen (dead, but Genjo Koan is gold), Steve Hagen (Buddhism Is Not What You Think – profound), Toni Packer, Alex R. Weith (Zen priest, his stuff can be found here), Kenneth Folk, Daniel M. Ingram (but he sees anatta in terms of states which probably shows some immaturity of insight). I know for a fact that there probably is more, but not known by me possibly because they do not write books, or do not speak about their experience much. Believe me (or not) when I say I have scoured through the Buddhist bookshops for true experiential description because it is always interesting to have someone who I can learn from and compare notes with, but often to my disappointment (this explains why I am always interested and in search of materials from true practitioners). I also know for a fact that it is true the vast majority of teachers and authors simply do not speak about anatta. However I also know for a fact that there are some practitioners who are much much more advanced than me in insight and experience – Dakpo Tashi Namgyal’s book on Mahamudra being one of them, which I am currently reading. Even then, his path is different from mine even though there are overlapping areas - there simply isn't any other book on Earth I could find that is anything quite like the path I gone through. (sorry Thusness, but 'on Earth' is apt for me at the moment, until one day I discover another similar book, or someone shows me another similar book which I would definitely be interested to see, then I stand corrected hehe)
Oh and I would also add: recognizing that your insight surpassed many teachers is not something to be proud of. It is something far more tragic and sad. So to me, pride is never an issue when you come to this moment of recognition, because how can you be proud of something which is so tragic and sad (though I don't feel sadness since I no longer have attachment to persons, masters, teachers, lineages, etc unlike the past)?
Those great traditions and teachers that you once held in high esteem (and of course still do), that you thought you could find wisdom in and look up to, somehow just doesn't express what you realized. Maybe there are some – but very rare. There is some disillusionment. You may have some kind of crisis of faith even (if you are a very faith type of person, not saying myself), which is not fun.
It is best not to attach to anyone - not to great practitioners, not to great teachers, masters, or even Buddha. Ultimately, spirituality is not about attaching to someone seen as being great or superior. I have no intentions to appear as such a person to become another object of attachment for another. In Zen, they say, when you see the Buddha, kill the Buddha. It means kill your attachment.
Ultimately, I think I would have attained the slightest benefit out of my spiritual practice if one day I am able to completely relinquish any attachments... to teachers, masters, Buddha, even to my mother, father, even to myself, my mind, my body, my life. If one day I could be so dispassionate as to be unconcerned/unattached that my life would end the next moment, that I have no concerns about mind and body, I would have at least achieved something I set for in this path.
From hell to Buddha... there is not a single thing not illusory... not a single thing that when grasped through delusion, invariably leads to suffering.
p.s. no disrespect to Buddha or great practitioners meant. The greatest respect you can pay to Buddha is to put his teaching into practice.