Guest guest Posted October 13, 1999 Report Share Posted October 13, 1999 Dan: >Welcome, Mike. How many languages do you speak? Sounds like a lot. *That may be, Dan, but not enough... I technically speak four and read about another seven, but in fact the only one I'm much good at is English. >Since you've shared your eclectic studies of mystical literature, I wonder >if you'd be willing to also share what you've distilled from your >far-ranging studies. *I think for me the single most important point I have managed to gain at least some intellectual understanding of is the fact that, from the very first, not a single thing has ever come into existence in any way whatsoever - that the essence of all and everything from the very ground up is, always has been, and always will be complete and utter emptiness - openness, if you prefer,... and that it is the lucid radiance of this that arises as the all-encompassing compassion of apparent reality... Maybe that's how you say it, anyway... >What has been most helpful to you - has any learning >proved particularly important or far-reaching? *I've worked with Complete Reality Taoism, Ch'an, and Mahamudra and Dzogchen almost consistently over the past nearly 40-odd years. They have always served me as a sounding rod for anything else I ever looked into. Dzogchen and Ch'an, and - to a lesser extent - Mahamudra, inasmuch as they establish absolutely nothing whatsoever, have always seemed to me the most far-reaching and most profound. >Has being able to read >texts in the original language added something that might be missed by we >who have read texts primarily in English? *Definitely. Unfortunately many of the established translations of the technical terms of the yogas of the most profound nature are really only wishful thinking on the part of the translator... This is unfortunately especially true of much that was translated prior to the 70s and 80s where many of one's translators were in fact trying to seel their own brands of 'spirituality', and much of the terminology we are left with today, far from being diamond sharp is just pure 'theosophy'... I cannot begin to tell you what a pity this is. >D: Nice to have you here. Peace to you... Thank you. And the same to you. Thanks, Glo, for the Fire and Ice Poem, and Dan (was it?) for the compulsive Roshi Interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 14, 1999 Report Share Posted October 14, 1999 Mike, >*I think for me the single most important point I have managed to gain at >least some intellectual understanding of is the fact that, from the very >first, not a single thing has ever come into existence in any way >whatsoever - that the essence of all and everything from the very ground up >is, always has been, and always will be complete and utter emptiness - >openness, if you prefer,... and that it is the lucid radiance of this that >arises as the all-encompassing compassion of apparent reality... >Maybe that's how you say it, anyway... A beautiful statement! Love, Dharma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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