Dreams, global warming, etc

• An Eternal Now

  21 Sep 12, 01:09

  ok... this has really nothing to do with buddhism. Just want to mention I had a dream two days ago, entering a cave that is made entirely of ice and then noticing the ancient ice cave (that felt like it existed for millions of years) is melting away at a tremendous rate. I felt sad about the effects of global warming in that dream. That's strange, I seldom have thoughts about global warming.

  Next day I saw this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19652329

  Record minimum for Arctic sea ice

  Think we should really take care of our planet... its a global effort. I think the global warming effects are speeding up now.

  Just reminded there was a topic on this many years ago... http://sgforums.com/forums/1728/topics/235502

• An Eternal Now

  21 Sep 12, 01:12

  We know very little about the consequences of drastic sea ice reductions. Most model predictions have sea ice declining less fast”

  Dr Poul Christoffersen University of Cambridge

• Jacky Woo

  21 Sep 12, 08:42

  ever since technology improves, the environment suffers, like the invention of car, planes, petrol, aircon, you name it. the earth is facing an irreversible damage from man kind activities.

• An Eternal Now

  21 Sep 12, 17:52

  While on the topic of dreams...

  Life is a big dream indeed. Fundamentally, lucid dreams should lead to a greater awareness of the dream-like, illusory, empty (yet luminous and vivid) nature of all states waking or sleeping. Last month I had a lucid dream and I wondered how can I wake up from this dream? So I prayed to Thusness for guidance and immediately, an intuition arose: “this is simply a dream, so just examine the dream-like and empty nature of the whole dream-scape”, and as soon as I examine it, I woke up (to another dream called the waking life, haha).

  This is a lesson about the blinding spell of karmic propensity and the role of insight... when we are in ignorance, it is just like a magical spell and we are being shrouded by this magical spell to perceive in certain way. Only insight is able to penetrate and break through this magical spell or veil... there is no other way.

• dvd_33

  21 Sep 12, 20:53

  amithovo...
• An Eternal Now

  21 Sep 12, 22:12

  Originally posted by An Eternal Now:

  While on the topic of dreams...

  Life is a big dream indeed. Fundamentally, lucid dreams should lead to a greater awareness of the dream-like, illusory, empty (yet luminous and vivid) nature of all states waking or sleeping. Last month I had a lucid dream and I wondered how can I wake up from this dream? So I prayed to Thusness for guidance and immediately, an intuition arose: “this is simply a dream, so just examine the dream-like and empty nature of the whole dream-scape”, and as soon as I examine it, I woke up (to another dream called the waking life, haha).

  This is a lesson about the blinding spell of karmic propensity and the role of insight... when we are in ignorance, it is just like a magical spell and we are being shrouded by this magical spell to perceive in certain way. Only insight is able to penetrate and break through this magical spell or veil... there is no other way.

  
  And as Kyle Dixon quoted,
  
  "…The process of eradicating avidyÄ� is conceived… not as a mere stopping of thought, but as the active realization of the opposite of what ignorance misconceives. AvidyÄ� is not a mere absence of knowledge, but a specific misconception, and it must be removed by realization of its opposite. In this vein, Tsongkhapa says that one cannot get rid of the misconception of 'inherent existence' merely by stopping conceptuality any more than one can get rid of the idea that there is a demon in a darkened cave merely by trying not to think about it. Just as one must hold a lamp and see that there is no demon there, so the illumination of wisdom is needed to clear away the darkness of ignorance."
  
  Napper, Elizabeth, 2003, p. 103

• An Eternal Now

  26 Sep 12, 00:53

  The other day I dreamt of a dharma protector who communicated with me unseen... and unheard. But I knew his presence (his presence is of the 'fearsome' and 'awesome' kind) - very tall with great spiritual power and saw the sutta placed in the room, and I knew that he was telling me that the sutta should be placed in a proper place instead like an altar. Then I woke up. I don't know if this is just a random dream or was there really a dharmapala that is trying to communicate with me, but anyway, the next day I respositioned my majjhima nikaya. Please respect the sutras and dharma books, don't put them in your private room or in a messy place. Because all Buddhas are born from dharma. It is like treating the Buddha's mother.

• geforce

  2 Oct 12, 21:10

  Ya. Just put the Om Mani Wheel next to bed is the best.. Can go Buddha Land anytime.. lol

• bycai

  3 Oct 12, 14:39

  Originally posted by Jacky Woo:

  ever since technology improves, the environment suffers, like the invention of car, planes, petrol, aircon, you name it. the earth is facing an irreversible damage from man kind activities.

  
  According to Buddha mentioned in the Diamond sutra that all existences are truly mere dreams that has no basis, but the affliction caused oneself and others does affecting both human and animals etc. Technology improves does not really contributes most of the environmental issues like global warming, it is lack of replenishing the trees crops farming over the years. In addition, the emotional 'disgraces', intolerance, lack of benevolence among human and cruelty towards animals endengering emotional fleeting that thawing the ice more speedily. As you may be aware that animals unloving emotions have alot of impact as well. The improving of technology did not solve this global warming issue. So you still need the power of mind and the power of love :D May all be well and safe. _()_

• An Eternal Now

  3 Oct 12, 14:43

  This is another dream that Thusness told me to wrote down. It happened last night.

  In my dream, I was contemplating something that the Buddha said:

  ""Bhikkhus, when ignorance is abandoned and true knowledge has arisen in a bhikkhu, then with the fading away of ignorance and the arising of true knowledge he no longer clings to sensual pleasures, no longer clings to views, no longer clings to rules and observances, no longer clings to a doctrine of self.[11] When he does not cling, he is not agitated. When he is not agitated, he personally attains Nibbana. He understands: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being."

   

  As I contemplated this in my dream, I saw how when there is craving, when there is agitation, when there is clinging, I could project consciousness out of my body into another place, into the sky, into another realm, into another lifetime. I saw that this is how rebirth works - craving drives the entire process of becoming!

  And then I stopped this craving-conceiving-projecting, and I was back where I was - on my bed. But I am still sleeping. And I instantly entered into this incredible bliss again (this happened a few times so far) - it was sooo blissful like the last time. But this time, it lasted much longer.

  I can feel my entire being, even my face, is of this intense blissful vibration. After some time which felt longer than the last time (it was quite long and I began to wonder how long it will last), then as thoughts arise, the bliss begin to lessen until I woke up from the blissful sleep samadhi... lol

   

  May all beings put an end to becoming and attain the highest bliss of Nirvana.

• An Eternal Now

  3 Oct 12, 15:24

  THIS --->

  29. “So it was with reference to this that it was said: ‘One should not neglect wisdom, should preserve truth, should cultivate relinquishment, and should train for peace.’

  30. “‘The tides of conceiving do not sweep over one who stands upon these [foundations], and when the tides of conceiving no longer sweep over him he is called a sage at peace.’ So it was said. And with reference to what was this said?

  31. “Bhikkhu, ‘I am’ is a conceiving; ‘I am this’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall not be’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be possessed of form’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be formless’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be percipient’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be non-percipient’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient’ is a conceiving. Conceiving is a disease, conceiving is a tumour, conceiving is a dart. By overcoming all conceivings, bhikkhu, one is called a sage at peace. And the sage at peace is not born, does not age, does not die; he is not shaken and is not agitated. For there is nothing present in him by which he might be born. Not being born, how could he age? Not ageing, how could he die? Not dying, how could he be shaken? Not being shaken, why should he be agitated?

  32. “So it was with reference to this that it was said: ‘The tides of conceiving do not sweep over one who stands upon these [foundations], and when the tides of conceiving no longer sweep over him he is called a sage at peace.’ Bhikkhu, bear in mind this brief exposition of the six elements.”

• An Eternal Now

  3 Oct 12, 17:06

  Thusness told me that the stream of wisdom will penetrate into the three states eventually, many years ago. For example if you keep chanting something, or if you keep playing computer games, then in the dream these things will appear. Likewise when you get acquinted with wisdom, this appears into dream and deep sleep as well. This is the flow of dependent origination – ignorance flows, wisdom also flows.

• simpo_

  4 Oct 12, 07:16

  Originally posted by An Eternal Now:

  This is another dream that Thusness told me to wrote down. It happened last night.

  In my dream, I was contemplating something that the Buddha said:

  ""Bhikkhus, when ignorance is abandoned and true knowledge has arisen in a bhikkhu, then with the fading away of ignorance and the arising of true knowledge he no longer clings to sensual pleasures, no longer clings to views, no longer clings to rules and observances, no longer clings to a doctrine of self.[11] When he does not cling, he is not agitated. When he is not agitated, he personally attains Nibbana. He understands: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being."

   

  As I contemplated this in my dream, I saw how when there is craving, when there is agitation, when there is clinging, I could project consciousness out of my body into another place, into the sky, into another realm, into another lifetime. I saw that this is how rebirth works - craving drives the entire process of becoming!

  And then I stopped this craving-conceiving-projecting, and I was back where I was - on my bed. But I am still sleeping. And I instantly entered into this incredible bliss again (this happened a few times so far) - it was sooo blissful like the last time. But this time, it lasted much longer.

  I can feel my entire being, even my face, is of this intense blissful vibration. After some time which felt longer than the last time (it was quite long and I began to wonder how long it will last), then as thoughts arise, the bliss begin to lessen until I woke up from the blissful sleep samadhi... lol

   

  May all beings put an end to becoming and attain the highest bliss of Nirvana.

  Thanks so much for sharing this ..

• reborn76

  5 Oct 12, 20:20

  用什麼態度來看待夢見親�（�嚴法師-大法鼓0299） http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpyYc-jo6CY&feature=relmfu 還沒發生的事情為什麼會先夢到（�嚴法師-大法鼓0263） http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFrOFh8bsco&feature=relmfu I think the Late Ven Shengyan has a proper valid Buddhist points on the way to treat the Dream
• An Eternal Now

  6 Oct 12, 03:03

  cant watch the videos as I am overseas and using phone to reply. Will watch it when I come back. I find namkhai norbu rinpoche and tenzin wangyal rinpoche explanation of dreams in their dream yoga book to be well explained. Also chnnr received teachings in dreams... In my experience I also received teachings in dreams. There was also a period of time when my dreams of future were so frequent and accurate that I will tell my friends what will be happening tomorrow. Nowadays this type of dreams still happen but less frequent. Its quite interesting to see the parallels in this so called "dream of clarity". Also I have the "clear light sleep" experience or being in the "natural light" or full contentless presence in sleep before, as well as countless lucid dreams From another site: http://www.natural-connection.com/resource/yoga_journal/dream_yoga.html That's a running theme with Wangyal, who says that the main problem of Western dream work is that it tends to reinforce our distorted view of reality. In fact, in the Tibetan scheme of things, learning to be lucid or aware within one's dreams is merely "a beginning stage, very basic." Part of the difficulty, he says, is that LaBerge and Garfield "talk about all the adventures you can have. You can have sex in a dream. You can improve your health in a dream. If you have a mathematics problem, you can work on that in a dream. They go into all the worldly aspects of dreaming. They don't look into the spiritual dynamic of dream yoga. When we are awake, we do so many things to mess up ourselves; they're learning to do the same thing in dreams." Both Wangyal and Norbu distinguish between different kinds of dreams. The most common variety are those that derive from "karmic traces," the residue of mental tensions and entanglements that arise in the course of the day. These dreams spring from events, according to Norbu, that "touched the person deeply and left traces of the tension, fear, or other strong emotion." The more significant variety are "dreams of clarity," which arise as a result of clearing away the distraction of karmic traces through the persistent practice of dream yoga, and breaking through to a level of direct spiritual insight or teaching. To Wangyal, dream yoga is all about learning to achieve those dreams of clarity. "When the dreamer is freer of karmic traces and the dream comes from a deeper part [of consciousness]," he says, "there's a chance to have dreams that are purer, and one of the ways these dreams manifest is in teaching." One of the goals of Tibetan dream yoga, then, is the same as that which Sufis like Vaughan-Lee seek to achieve in a much less elaborate fashion: the reception of dream teachings.
• An Eternal Now

  12 Oct 12, 11:59

  http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=6973&view=unread#unread Climate Change: We're Doomed by Huseng » Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:09 pm I read this interesting article on Alternet: Profiting From Catastrophe: If Fossil Fuel Companies Burn All Their Reserves We're Undeniably Screwed Here are the facts: The business models at the center of our economy are in the deepest possible conflict with physics and chemistry. http://www.alternet.org/environment/154 ... ly_screwed This is particularly relevant: If we spew 565 gigatons more carbon into the atmosphere, we’ll quite possibly go right past that reddest of red lines. But the oil companies, private and state-owned, have current reserves on the books equivalent to 2,795 gigatons -- five times more than we can ever safely burn. It has to stay in the ground. Put another way, in ecological terms it would be extremely prudent to write off $20 trillion worth of those reserves. In economic terms, of course, it would be a disaster, first and foremost for shareholders and executives of companies like ExxonMobil (and people in places like Venezuela). Of course it goes without saying that they'll keep burning that carbon into the atmosphere as to do otherwise would mean financial disaster and in some cases violent uprisings against states. Democracies won't elect leaders who demand economic sacrifice in exchange for ecological security. Nevermind the fact that even if half the world actually did do that, you'd still have giants like China, India and the USA among others not curtailing their fossil fuel use. This of course leads one to foresee a rather bleak future. It is inescapable. We're screwed. Optimism won't fix the problem. The ship is sinking. However, as a Mahayana Buddhist what can you do? You might curtail your own energy consumption, but at the end of the day it is just a token gesture given the monstrous pollution created by our greater societies. So, in the coming decades, Buddhism as a whole will face unprecedented problems with the rest of the world. Ecological payback that will probably see deaths on an enormous scale. With it all the social discontent and emotional and psychological deterioration that accompanies cultures in rapid decline. This leads me to think that mere "Dharma Centers" teaching meditation and a few classes won't be enough. Institutions will have to address a lot more severe problems than stress from the workplace and family. Poverty, hunger and destitution will be huge problems in the coming decades. Moreover, you can expect violence to become more and more commonplace in what was once peaceful communities as economies contract and governments inevitably slap down anger revolts. We'll see what happens over time, but everything from peak oil to climate change points in the direction of everything going down hill. Still, I know few Buddhists who really recognize and acknowledge this. In modern Chinese Buddhism they like to talk about "building a Pure Land on Earth," which is essentially utopianism, but I think quite blind to the hard reality facing us all. The sentiment is that if you purify your own mind and maybe take up environmentalism, people will follow suit. This might mean bringing your own reusable bag to the grocery store, but such practices fail to consider that there are more cars on the roads than ever which shuttle those shoppers with their reusable bags. A nice gesture, but ultimately futile. Ideally, we can be of aid to others as much as possible as the sting of our collective past deeds becomes intolerable, but in order to do that we should really prepare for some seriously hard times.
• An Eternal Now

  14 Oct 12, 10:11

  Someone with similar experiences with me on facebook: "Jackson, I have been experiencing this shifting of presence inward and seeing inward this satin black luminostity for nigh on a year. I have also come awake in it while yet deeply asleep. It feels like being a tiny candle of awareness in vast emptiness. This has happened numerous times and, nearly a week ago, I became lucid in it while yet asleep and experienced a vast power that was me and yet not me. It seemed to deepen, yawning open inward, and then there was a sensation of falling, quite pleasant, and it felt like this vastness was a vortex falling into, and emerging out of, Its Self all at the same time. I remember thinking only "This is different" and then "I" was gone. The remainder of the night was spent in lucid dreams, so far as I can tell. I was flying around in the dream telling all the dream characters that they were asleep and that, if they would realize this, they could fly. Then I managed to show one of them how to fly. I also saw my inner guide and remembered seeing him in 2 other dreams. This time He came calling me by name and I flew directly to Him with great joy at hearing my name upon his lips. The light of love and recognition in His eyes was so delightful -- like coming home after being so long away. Typically, I fall asleep in this state as I slip into it now very naturally as I begin to fall asleep. But, although I view it as a deepening of my meditation, I don't know what more to look for, do, or not do with this state of deep, clear and still presence. There are still thoughts but they are distant and ignored, like hearing people whispering far away about things that are of no consequence. Any suggestions?"
• Dharmadhatu

  16 Oct 12, 21:48

  Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche:

  It occurred to me today that I will have to work much, much harder if I am ever even to get close to this thing called ‘enlightenment’—especially when I think of the strange dream I had recently.
  
  I was in some kind of a restaurant and drinking coke from a classic coca cola bottle. As often happens in dreams, the ‘absolutely impossible’ suddenly became all too real, and I found myself—my entire body—being sucked into the bottle! And because I’m so attached to my ‘normal’ terms of reference, I really hated being stuck in that bottle. It felt completely wrong! I was furious about not being able to push my head out of its narrow neck, and as there were no hooks to grab hold of, I kept slipping further and further into the belly of the bottle.
  
  Then I thought about how absurd and bizarre my situation was. The idea that I’d been sucked into the bottle in the first place defied all logic, so why was I trying to apply logic to get myself out? And I real

  ized that the fact my familiar tool ‘logic’ didn’t work was what I hated most of all!
  
  Children are far less fettered by reason and logic than adults. I’m constantly amazed by how carefree they are, and am reminded of something Claudia’s daughter, Sachiko, once did. She was playing with her Barbie doll one day, and as she really liked the doll’s skirt, she decided she wanted to wear it herself. So, completely unselfconsciously, she undressed the doll, convinced that the pretty skirt would fit her.
  
  For myself, I can see how tightly bound I am to logic, and if I needed any further proof about just how far from enlightenment I really am, I just have to look at my inability to accept the death of my devoted attendant Karma Lodro. That he was too young to die is a foolish notion, actually, because it suggests that the death of someone older is somehow more acceptable. But this is the dichotomy I’m left with… along with my tremendous gratitude to Karma Lodro.

  
  

• An Eternal Now

  16 Oct 12, 22:39

  lol, sucked into a bottle... interesting experience and nice insight

• JohnKelly

  17 Oct 12, 02:45

  His dream reminds me of this:

  http://www.metacafe.com/watch/305129/pepsi_kid_in_bottle/

• An Eternal Now

  22 Oct 12, 11:28

  Originally posted by reborn76:

  用什麼態度來看待夢見親�（�嚴法師-大法鼓0299）
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpyYc-jo6CY&feat…
  還沒發生的事情為什麼會先夢到（�嚴法師-大法鼓0263）
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFrOFh8bsco&feat…
  I think the Late Ven Shengyan has a proper valid Buddhist points on the way to treat the Dream

  Thanks for posting. Good explanation... Finally watched it.

  There was one time in my dream, completely lucid, I entered into deep samadhi and recalled something about my immediate past life. I will not talk about the details here... But when I woke up and check the internet, it was just as I saw.

• An Eternal Now

  22 Oct 12, 12:26

  Thusness wrote: “Your practice of entering the 3 states (waking, dream and deep sleep) seems to progress well. All the six entries and exits must be beaming bright and energetic for you now to penetrate the 3 states. In addition, your faith and merit must be there. Practice hard.”

• An Eternal Now

  22 Oct 12, 19:20

  Just now was flipping through a thick meditation book 'Mahamudra: The Moonlight' to look for any indications about some of my experiences.

  I saw this, and thought wow, what a clear description. Can't say I'm at higher one taste yet - but from Thusness's descriptions of his own cycle of day and night, it seems he's definitely experienced it.

  This is it:

  "On the average level of one flavor, the meditator will achieve inner release from his inborn clinging to dualities such as realization and realizer, experience and experiencer. He will cut the root of that dualistic clinging to perception and perceiver. Besides, the meditator, during the period of postabsorption, will not experience much solid clinging to duality, while the delusion in his dreams will also diminish. It is said that such meditator will gain sufficient inner power capable of helping or harming his fellow beings.
  
  On the great level of one flavor, the meditator will realize nondual awareness, detached from any mental clinging, which lasts throughout the cycle of a day and night. This realized state cognizes all diverse appearances as the manifestation of the unceasing power of mind’s primordial purity and evenness. He will also achieve a perfect union of absorption and postabsorption, which will continue, like the flow of a river. Thus, while absorbed in nondual awareness, he will cognize the inner sensations of a few indeterminable appearance with some degree of clarity. During his postabsorptive consciousness he will perceive appearances in the manner of seeing an ephemeral illusion, which is just a vision of emptiness. Even though such postabsorptive perception is detached from any clinging, it will occasionally contain some subtle dualistic appearance originating from the stream-consciousness of the meditator. He will either have some uninterrupted and lucid dreams without any attachment or else will not dream. At this stage the meditator will acquire some power of supernormal cognition and will receive prophetic directions from his yidam and dakini. In addition, his jealousy will clear completely."

• An Eternal Now

  25 Oct 12, 23:40

  Yesterday night before I woke: meditated in dream, everything absorbed into one, no subject nor object, great bliss.

  Past few days I had visions of what is going to take place the following day which happened.

• Metta with Mindfulness

  27 Oct 12, 09:00

  Hello AEN, How do you practise dream yoga?