Ask a Bodhisattva Anything

Redeemer : that quote in your sig has got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever read, awesome.

reply to post by robhines


It was posted by someone here long-ago. I had to retrieve my password and remember my account name so I could post on this thread. It looks like it's calming down now.

Originally posted by Redeemer
reply to post by robhines

 

It was posted by someone here long-ago. I had to retrieve my password and remember my account name so I could post on this thread. It looks like it's calming down now.

Yeah I just searched via google and saw that he last posted in 2007. Didn't realise you'd been around that long until I checked. And yeah, hopefully this thread will calm down, but as with any others where people say they've realised some state of mind, have been enlightened, etc, it'll probably just roll on in the same way.

reply to post by robhines


I've done my part. You can only say so much. I've seen this happening a lot and it's important to shut it down before it causes problems. Anyone who claims to be enlightened probably isn't and it can lead to more suffering if people blindly follow them based on such claims. The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama did not even say he was enlightened but only simply said "i am awake'.

reply to post by IAMIAM


Greetings again IAMIAM. I must step in but only to speak to others here who question those things they dont, nor want to really understand.

Those who want to test do not realize that no test is necessary for we ourselves need no test. We know, and therefore have nothing to prove...only to share with others. It is a human quality to defend oneself, but un-necessary too those who walk the path. To walk it means we deviate not to the left or to the right. Those friends who question run to and fro into the future ignoring the past and sprint off in many directions...while we stay on our own path. And I believe this should answer most of them...then again, perhaps I am wrong?

We are ALL brothers unlike the remarks made...and we all share a single light. Though some of us carry it brighter, larger and longer. I hope all will find their way. But they will have to let go 1st...but some will hang on with tight fists to their anger, doubt and animosities. And to let them go, is one of the 1st steps

Nothing to prove for those unbelievers...nothing to attest to those who deny. Nothing to those who doubt and deny the blessing shared within enlightenment.They too can walk the path with us.

And we will lead the way....Blessings, MS

reply to post by Redeemer


Now you are qouting the buddha,
Okay, read through every single post made by the OP in this thread & reconsider your dogmatic projections of what the OP is actually claiming. Buddha encourages enquiry about the nature of all phenomena, so may it be.

to save some time (your impatience may get the better of you) here are the salient details:

OP has stated that he is not a buddhist. He was only aware of the simplistic translation of "Boddhisattva" although in my considered opinion he has expressed the essence of Bodhicitta with intimate & humbling insight from personal experience NOT those tainted expressions from false gurus or inanimate words in religious texts online or in books & was grateful for receiving a more in-depth definition of what it means to be a bodhisattva according to the tibettan tradition, which he was unfamiliar with...
He also revised his claim to have attained enlightenment after acknowledging he does not know everything (lol) & that he is comfortable with just calling himself liberated instead.
From my perspective his merit is venerable and his intentions are sattvic, the same cannot be said for the judgemental posters locked & loaded with all kinds of zen mind tricks up their sleeves waiting to pounce on the work of unsuspecting bodhisattvas with their nefarious uses of existential paradox & folly. What is more harmful in your opinion. Presenting the ultimate paradox of existence in order to expose the "delusions" of a light worker without admitting we are all timeless souls at heart (actually this can be VERY poisonous & lead to a dark depressive feeling of hopelessness) versus attaining miraculous awakening after beloved meditation on divine oneness & unity & coming online to discuss intuited wisdom based on personal observation straight form the source with other seekers of the ultimate truth out of compassion???

Parable:

A man spent his whole life climbing every mountain in every country seeking every holy man, seer or prophet searching for the meaning of life.

When he reached the last mountain he was an old man. As he reeached the top, he saw a guru sitting crossed legged and smiling.

"Oh Great Holy man! I have searched the world over to find the meaning of Life! Can you please tell me so I will know?

The Holy man shook his head no and smiled and said .."You have wasted your whole life searching?" The man nodded in anticipation. "The answer you seek has been within you the whole time. The answer is TO LIVE!"

Here he had wasted a lifetime seeking...instead of LIVING. The answer...was right there. Climb your mountains and seek your truth...but dont forget to LIVE it...and not waste it only searching... all along the way.

The meaning of LIfe? Is to LIVE.

reply to post by EmeraldGreen


When I get home from work tomorrow. I am going to read through this entire thread. It's not that I don't have patience, it's that I don't have time right now. I have to be up for work in four hours. If their claims of enlightenment are true, I am sure they will be fine and I don't mean that sarcastically. I have a problem with wanting to crush people's egos and the thread was perceived to be egotistical by me but I will have a second look as you have suggested. Is wanting to crush people's egos beneficial? I don't know. I'm just a man with opinions and faults.

Working in retail has killed my compassion.

jesus h christ , the parables are bing rolled out now.

ok, then.

3 frogs on a log and one decides to jump in. how many left on the the log?

I have returned after reading the thread. It seems that while we may disagree on what enlightenment is or isn't that the op has touched on something that most do not. After seeing so many threads like this, it's easy to jump the gun. Maybe we shouldn't feel the need to label things as much as we do. I decided to do this instead of getting my sleep before work because for some reason this is more important, this is not sarcasm. I'm apologizing now for not reading the thread fully and for making quick assumptions. I hope you all find what makes you happy.

Originally posted by JohnySeagull
jesus h christ , the parables are bing rolled out now.

ok, then.

3 frogs on a log and one decides to jump in. how many left on the the log?

None! Because there's no such thing as a frog or a log!

Originally posted by robhines

Originally posted by JohnySeagull
jesus h christ , the parables are bing rolled out now.

ok, then.

3 frogs on a log and one decides to jump in. how many left on the the log?

None! Because there's no such thing as a frog or a log!

i guess that could be right.

the answer i more familar with is 3. there is still 3 frogs on the log. one decides to jump in. he didn't actually jump in.

kinda like the OP deciding he is a Bodhisattva.

speaking of frogs;

A man walks into a bar with a frog.
Man: "Bartender, will you give me a free drink if the frog orders it?"
Bartender: "Sure, whatever."
Man: "Can I have a beer please!"
Bartender: "The frogs lips didn't move, and yours did. No drink."
Frog: "So? I'm a ventriloquist!"

Hello are you illuminati? Can i become enlightened if i walk around with a lighter? if not, why?
Should dark people walk with lighters at night?
Are you a girl? can u post pictures of you?
If you a man, do you feel atracted by other men?
witch smiley do you like or
Why is there a light in the fridge but not in the freezer?

[

Originally posted by Redeemer
reply to post by robhines

 

I've done my part. You can only say so much. I've seen this happening a lot and it's important to shut it down before it causes problems. Anyone who claims to be enlightened probably isn't and it can lead to more suffering if people blindly follow them based on such claims. The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama did not even say he was enlightened but only simply said "i am awake'.

Why do you try to protect those that do not want your protection?

Originally posted by vedatruth

Originally posted by IAMIAM

Originally posted by Bluesma
If this person was what he says he is
He wouldn't be saying it

If he wasn't the person who came up with that saying, he would not be saying it. He is not that person. He is his own person having a similar experience. Let him walk his path, as you would like to walk yours.

With Love,

Your Brother

Nobody can stop him from walking his path. But when he declares something to the world, we have to test him.

You can test if you want but there is no need to because he declared something to the world. There is really no point stating that you are a Bodhisattva or enlightened, because if you are then just be and people will know. That is one reason I read these types of things to try and understand the person that thinks they need to say they are enlightened because it does not make since at all.

reply to post by ErgoTheConfusion


You are describing the concept of "Chu" - The "Middle Way" (and quite nicely I might add).

I am a practicing Nichiren Buddhist. The great Daishonin taught that all things that exist are either perceivable or imperceptible but all phenomena originated from a source that comprises both and yet it is neither - this is the Middle Way. The Middle Way is one of my favorite Buddhist concepts - That unimaginably fine line between existence and non-existence is nothing short of sublime. When one can see this concept as the framework for all things they will indeed see what it means to be enlightened.

~ Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

reply to post by robhines

Do you realise how many sutras we have translated into english now? From Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan, Zen, all different types of Buddhism.

You can translate sutras till your eyesight fails you, and it will make no difference. You cannot fit Eastern religious practice into the Western Enlightenment concept of religion as text, as dogma. The power of a religion doesn’t lie in its precepts – didn’t you hear me the first time? – but in its rituals and the comfort they give to ordinary people. The idea that religion is something written down in a book is peculiar to Jews, Christians and Muslims – nobody else’s religion is like that.

How ironic that you should quote me the Theravada scriptures; they were first committed to writing not fifty miles north of where I am typing this. Examine them carefully and you will find that they were written down by and for monks, not lay practitioners. The Vinaya consists of rules of daily conduct for monks. The Suttas (sutras in Sanskrit) are the discourses of the Buddha as handed down in the Theravada tradition, while the Abhidhamma Pitaka is a collection of highly abstruse, deeply philosophical analyses of the Suttas. None of these texts are ever read by lay Buddhists, except for the Dhammapada, and even that is only consulted by highly philosophical laymen who are halfway to becoming monks themselves.

The average Buddhist no more reads the Suttas than the average Christian reads the Bible – indeed, unlike a Christian, a Buddhist may be completely ignorant of the Suttas and many are. The essence of religion does not lie in books. The belief that it does was spread to other cultures by Christian missionaries promoting the Bible – a new concept of religion as a product of written, codified dogma. But religion itself remains what it always has; a matter of the heart.

Originally posted by Redeemer
Also, as a student of Buddhism. I do find this offensive but more so, I find it damaging and harmful to the op and others. People are going to hang on your words because they don't know better. They crave answers and will listen to anyone that claims "enlightenment". If you're serious about being a bodhisattva, why are you on the internet playing 20 questions instead of easing people's suffering on a greater scale? This does not make sense.

As a student of buddhism you should know better than taking offense from this. While the term boddhisattva is a buddhist term, the realization itself have no parallel in western terms, maybe only as being full of "holy spirit" or Christ Consciousness. He used the term that we are most familiar with.
Since he reached his realization outside of any religious frame, and he only offered to answer our questions, what is there to take offense for? I can't imagine a buddhist master taking offense for Mother Theresa realizations, even if she would use buddhist terms.
I see his thread here as a way of helping others too.
Isn't the buddhist path mostly about perfecting our innate wisdom and compassion? I'm sorry, but I don't see any wisdom nor compassion in taking offense from a person wanting to help.

man he didnt answer my question i feel so left out

seriously folks go easy on him and all those that claim enlightenment. it is not a place we ever arrive at not on this planet in this meat suit i would suspect, rather a series of awakening built on experiences and observations.

Things are relative to the observer so as long as he is happy who cares. We are all on the same path.

peace