Comments on: Delete Yourself (Part III) http://wizardsmoke.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/delete-yourself-part-iii/ A Chatty Wizard Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:50:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: wizardsmoke http://wizardsmoke.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/delete-yourself-part-iii/#comment-238 wizardsmoke Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:44:57 +0000 http://wizardsmoke.wordpress.com/?p=59#comment-238 Yeah, I have faith in Buddhism as an effective practice strategy, although it's not something I practice <em>formally</em> at the moment (current formal training = Daoist, although I haven't gotten very deep into actual ritual, so it's not my "religious persuasion" just yet). Following a period invested in black magick, I got involved in Buddhism and found it to be rather rewarding, dropped the magickal angle and have been that way ever since. 'Course, all the dogmatic crap in Buddhism is depressing like in any other religion. It really just comes down to finding a teacher who fits with you, I suppose. An art is only as good as the artist, blah blah blah. And obviously there are Buddhist cults too and crazy fundamentalists. I think I may write about some of that next. It's just too juicy to ignore! Yeah, I have faith in Buddhism as an effective practice strategy, although it’s not something I practice formally at the moment (current formal training = Daoist, although I haven’t gotten very deep into actual ritual, so it’s not my “religious persuasion” just yet). Following a period invested in black magick, I got involved in Buddhism and found it to be rather rewarding, dropped the magickal angle and have been that way ever since.

‘Course, all the dogmatic crap in Buddhism is depressing like in any other religion. It really just comes down to finding a teacher who fits with you, I suppose. An art is only as good as the artist, blah blah blah. And obviously there are Buddhist cults too and crazy fundamentalists. I think I may write about some of that next. It’s just too juicy to ignore!

]]> By: ben http://wizardsmoke.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/delete-yourself-part-iii/#comment-236 ben Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:02:51 +0000 http://wizardsmoke.wordpress.com/?p=59#comment-236 "Which reminds me… about that non-dual “life is a dream” new-age stuff: It’s not wrong, it’s just that it doesn’t help anyone to tell us life is a dream. Not unless the philosophy is actually going to give us hints or a practice strategy as to how to get out of the dream or see it for ourselves." Exactly. Would you see Buddhism as a series of strategies for realizing this ? I enjoy repeating the word "Sunyata" - emptiness - when I feel anxiety on the bus. “Which reminds me… about that non-dual “life is a dream” new-age stuff: It’s not wrong, it’s just that it doesn’t help anyone to tell us life is a dream. Not unless the philosophy is actually going to give us hints or a practice strategy as to how to get out of the dream or see it for ourselves.”

Exactly. Would you see Buddhism as a series of strategies for realizing this ? I enjoy repeating the word “Sunyata” - emptiness - when I feel anxiety on the bus.

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