It goes as follows:

The deluding passions are inexhaustible.
I vow to extinguish them all.
Sentient beings are numberless.
I vow to save them all.
The truth is impossible to expound.
I vow to expound it.
The way of the Buddha is unattainable.
I vow to attain it.


I was reading this again this morning and felt like sharing it. As Stephen Gaskin says about it-- "Keeps you busy. Guaranteed for a lifetime."

The way of the Buddha is unattainable.
I vow to attain it.

Interesting, but I've always wondered why?

If the Buddha could do it, why couldn't anyone else?

If the Buddha could do it, why couldn't anyone else?

because we all enjoy television too much.

If the Buddha could do it, why couldn't anyone else?

I think anyone can. Jesus expressed much the same opinion, when he said somethng like "All these things I have done, ye shall do also-all these and more."

I think anyone can. Jesus expressed much the same opinion, when he said somethng like "All these things I have done, ye shall do also-all these and more."

well the buddha himself has said that anyone could become a buddha or a arahant. that is if you properly devote yourself

well the buddha himself has said that anyone could become a buddha or a arahant. that is if you properly devote yourself

But there have been so many people following these paths. Maybe some of them have attained Buddhahood, but choose not to go on t.v. and say: "Yeeayyy! I'm a Buddha, beeyotch!"

The deluding passions are inexhaustible.

yes

your whole life is proof of this

now tell me

am i saying that because i don't like you or am i saying it because my chi levels are too low and my spirit well is exhausted and it's making me cranky

yes



am i saying that because i don't like you or am i saying it because my chi levels are too low and my spirit well is exhausted and it's making me cranky

Since you ask--the oracle informs me that you are merely trying to be a smart-ass.

I like the idea of acknowledging that there are limits in this universe, and then vowing to break them. Reminds me of something John Lilly said:

"In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the mind, there are no limits."

I suppose the question is, how far you really willing to go?

Is there anything discernibly different about a buddha? That is to say, how would one go about identifying one who has attained buddha-hood?

Buddha means awakened one.

What awake means to you, or how much you wish to be awake and aware, or how much you wish to send yourself into states of "higher awareness" or recognize those who do, is entirely on you though.

Buddha didn't talk about rhythmic breathing, a secret I found to quick forward someone into a raised awareness... I found it alone. I found it by pure chance just like I found the lucid dreaming article on totse by pure chance that also shifted my world.

A little more experimentation might lead to one damn good thread. Not now though. Because before I found out that little secret, what Buddha said was a distant memory I learned in history class, afterwards it became the only words that could explain what I was exactly going through...in fact, I laughed reading his quotes, because it seemed like he was right next to me and completely understood the totally different reality I was seeing.

Just imagine becoming as sensitive as an infant, overnight. It's not what you think....

Once you go to that world, man, once you find a way and it works, there's no turning back unless you choose to do so. Buddha knows something, something that society has lost touch with completely. That something is always there though, it always will be. There are quick ways and long ways to find it... I believe I've found a quick way.

But enough, if I need to say more on it Ill make a post.

Is there anything discernibly different about a buddha? That is to say, how would one go about identifying one who has attained buddha-hood?

It is written:
The unenlightened man gets up, eats, goes to work, comes home, eats, goes to sleep.

The enlightened man, on the other hand, gets up, eats, goes to work, comes home, eats, goes to sleep.

Point being, enlightenment isn't so much about doing as about being.

Allof this begs the question, what constitutes enlightenment. I have read, and accept as true, that there are seven levels of consciousness, the "top" four or so of which might beconstrued as being more or less enlightened. But the word itself offers some clues.

When one is enlightened, one lives in light, takes oneself lightly, is free from fear, tension, hatred. One wears the world like a loose garment. Synchronicities abound, as the universe itself conspires to fulfill one's desires.

Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. I read this somewhere.

I suppose the question is, how far you really willing to go?

Good question. I like to think that I would go to any length, but fall short of that ideal on a regular basis.

How does one reach that which cannot be reached?
Follow that which cannot be followed?
See that which cannot be seen?

Silliness! It reaches. It follows. It sees. Now then; if it reaches all of us, follows all of us, and sees all of us. If we all have it, what separates the enlightened from the unenlightened?

Opinionated sight creates blindness; blindness to opinion creates sight.

Or, as JC said, "Judge not lest ye be judged."
Or, as Lao Tzu said, "Color blinds. Scent diminishes. Sound deafens. Taste dulls. Feeling numbs."

How does one reach that which cannot be reached?
Follow that which cannot be followed?
See that which cannot be seen?

Silliness! It reaches. It follows. It sees. Now then; if it reaches all of us, follows all of us, and sees all of us. If we all have it, what separates the enlightened from the unenlightened?

Opinionated sight creates blindness; blindness to opinion creates sight.

Or, as JC said, "Judge not lest ye be judged."
Or, as Lao Tzu said, "Color blinds. Scent diminishes. Sound deafens. Taste dulls. Feeling numbs."

If you ever read the book "Cutting through Spiritual Materialism", you'll understand the purpose of the vows. Unfortunately I can't show you without a substantial amount of effort (ie. reading the entire book again and finding the parts relative to this topic)

Personally, the whole Bodhisattva vows aren't my cup of tea. They're beautiful. But they tie you to something. And they boost the ego; a delusion which the Buddhist should be trying to transcend.

If you ever read the book "Cutting through Spiritual Materialism", you'll understand the purpose of the vows. Unfortunately I can't show you without a substantial amount of effort (ie. reading the entire book again and finding the parts relative to this topic)

Personally, the whole Bodhisattva vows aren't my cup of tea. They're beautiful. But they tie you to something. And they boost the ego; a delusion which the Buddhist should be trying to transcend.

For some, if not most, an over-inflated ego is a necessary aspect of the journey to ego-death. It is quite hard to throw something away that is still seen as serving a purpose. If, however, in its greatest state, it still has no power to extinguish suffering and rather magnifies it, it can easily be cast aside. The desire for no desire is often the hardest one to let go; an over-inflated ego can help one reach the point where they can let this desire finally go without taking back all others. As always though, the individual journey is seen differently by everyone, though it is the same journey for all of us.

For some, if not most, an over-inflated ego is a necessary aspect of the journey to ego-death. It is quite hard to throw something away that is still seen as serving a purpose. If, however, in its greatest state, it still has no power to extinguish suffering and rather magnifies it, it can easily be cast aside. The desire for no desire is often the hardest one to let go; an over-inflated ego can help one reach the point where they can let this desire finally go without taking back all others. As always though, the individual journey is seen differently by everyone, though it is the same journey for all of us.

Congrats, you figured most of it out yourself! This is a big purpose of the vow. But I still don't like it

Yes, the book does discuss overcoming even the desire for no desire.

^Too true. That is the big question.

I know full well that the only reason I have not yet fully manifested my Christ-consciousness is due to my own doubts and fears.

And simply getting to where I can forgive myself for being where I am has been a long and ardous process.