> > It WOULD be a shock, although a pretty short one, > > if if all fades to black at the end... > > TurquoiseB: > Tibetan rebirth cycle matches with my subjective > memories of past lives and the transit through > the Bardo... > So, Turq is a 'TB' (True Believer).
Upon death, the individual soul-monad rests in the Tibetan Heaven, the Bardo state, and then after a little while, gets re-born in another human body. The purpose of life is to unite the self with the Self, and to attain Unity Consciousness, a state of enlightened awareness, which gives life meaning. In Turq's religion, God is Karma, a religion Turq read about in a book and/or a spiritual cult guy told him about it. Just speaking for myself, I'm glad Turq finally came out of denial and defined his own spiritual path! Read more: 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead' The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States By Guru Padmasambhava http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhism 'Surfing the Himalayas' A Spiritual Adventure By Frederick Lenz St. Martin's Griffin, 1996 http://tinyurl.com/y9c6c8n 'A Separate Reality' Further Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Casteneda Pocket Books, 1973 http://tinyurl.com/ybfh4ym > As I suggested earlier, I don't worry about it > terribly much. If "fade to black" turns out to > be the reality, what will be there left of "me" > to notice? My belief in reincarnation and the > Tibetan rebirth cycle matches with my subjective > memories of past lives and the transit through > the Bardo in previous life-death-rebirth cycles, > but that could just be imagination AFAIK. > > The issue in the Tibetan forms of Buddhism that > I admire -- as, interestingly, the issue in forms > of shamanism or occultism such as those popularized > by Carlos Castaneda -- is remarkably pragmatic and > liberating IMO. They don't believe that much, if > any, thought needs to be given to "future lives" > or what happens after we did. The only thing that > "matters" is this life and what happens *before* > we die -- right here, right Now. > > The only "measure" of one's "evolution" or "score" > in terms of karma is (in their view) one's state > of attention right here, right Now. "How am I > doing karmically" is literally the same question > as "What is my current state of attention?" > > In the Tibetan model, based on a belief in rein- > carnation, "what matters" is how much awareness > and clarity and compassion one can bring to the > moment of one's death. In their view, the more > clarity of awareness one brings "with them" to the > Bardo can determine the easiness or uneasiness of > that transition, and help determine the nature of > the next birth, and how much awareness one gets to > "start with" in it. > > Interestingly enough, in Yaqui shamanic traditions > some of the teachers I've met admit that there > might be such a thing as reincarnation, but they > choose to never dwell on it or consider it because > in their system it is irrelevant. Their idea of a > "goal" in life is the cultivation of awareness (or > in their model, "personal power") to as great a > level as possible, given the length of one's life- > time. What happens after that is in their view not > relevant; it's a Here And Now kinda study. > > I resonate with this. While I accept the likelihood > of the multi-lifetime model, I don't particularly > "count on it." Like the Tibetans and like the shamans, > my "score" in this life depends on the state of atten- > tion I can "wear" during my life, not on anything > that happens after it. I think this is a preferable > 'tude to kicking back and assuming that one "has time" > to work things out in future incarnations if one does > not get them handled in this one. > > With that 'tude, I somehow suspect that I'll approach > the moment of my own death more easily than some who > are beset with guilt over all the things they "did > wrong," or who are concerned with going to Hell or > looking forward to going to Heaven. *Or* looking for- > ward to the next incarnation. All of those concerns > are either past or future, and the business of > spiritual development seems to me to be all about > Here And Now. > > Thanks for all the great raps, Lurk. It's been a real > pleasure, and a real change from the normal level of > discussion here. >
