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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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One-Dogma-Fits-All?
#4329179 - 06/23/05 03:57 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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I was 14 when I undertook my first studies of religion and philosophy. At the time, I believed I needed to find one "ism" and stick with it in order to be well-adjusted. My mother was a seeker who switched gurus on a regular basis, and I saw that as the source of her depression and discontent.
I could not find a belief system which "worked" for me, despite diligent study and testing, so I decided I was an agnostic, and left it at that for over a decade.
In my mid-twenties I began studying psychology and spirituality in a desperate attempt to find meaning in life. The marriage-career-kids combo was not creating the happy-ever-after I had imagined it would. I allowed myself the luxury of "dabbling" in many belief systems, and began to suspect that I would not find a particular ONE which I could fully subscribe to.
My approach is not unlike patchwork quilting...choosing fabric from many sources, shaping it to mesh with the rest, and creating something new and different. This allows me flexibility in my actions and thoughts, and I am constantly reading and conversing to discover new "fabric."
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment
Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 2,571
Loc: Under The Bodhi Tree
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Veritas]
#4329186 - 06/23/05 03:59 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thats fine, as long as you are developing spiritually, why not? Out of curiosity, which religions/philosophies did you actaully study?
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Sinbad]
#4329201 - 06/23/05 04:06 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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At 14 I studied everything my local library had to offer: Christianity, Judaism, Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Existentialism, you name it! In my 20's I added Wicca, Immanuel Kant, several Greek philosophers (Epictetus being my favorite), Hinduism & more I cannot recall! Recently I have begun studying and practicing Tantra, and find much growth and joy in it.
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment
Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 2,571
Loc: Under The Bodhi Tree
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Veritas]
#4329243 - 06/23/05 04:21 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Great! Is that Buddhist Tantra, Hindu Tantra or some other Tantra?
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Sinbad]
#4329262 - 06/23/05 04:27 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Hindu-Western Tantra. Light on the ancient texts, heavy on the energy work.
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment
Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 2,571
Loc: Under The Bodhi Tree
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Veritas]
#4329276 - 06/23/05 04:31 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Cool, i wish you all the best with that. I have much respect for Hinduism in general, especially the Tantric aspects.
What kind of Tantra specifically are you practicing? Does it include mantra and visualization practices? Or just physical yogic movements and direct energy and breath work? Or, as in some cases, all of the above?
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Sinbad]
#4329295 - 06/23/05 04:37 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Yes, all of the above. I began by reading "Conscious Loving" by Charles & Caroline Muir. They are primarily Hindu Tantra practitioners, with a California/Hawaiian flavor! Chanting, tantric massage, visualization of chakra colors/elements/symbols, yogic breathing, Kundalini meditation during masturbation/sex, sacred spot healing/massage work.
I also attended a workshop led by one of the Muir's recent graduates. I left feeling (and, several people commented, looking!) as though I had just experienced an hour-long, full-body orgasm! Amazing!
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment
Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 2,571
Loc: Under The Bodhi Tree
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Veritas]
#4329305 - 06/23/05 04:40 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Sounds Invigorating.
But how exactly do you utilize these "Full body orgasms" into your path of spritiual development? After all, that is the whole point, is'nt it?
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Veritas
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Sinbad]
#4329347 - 06/23/05 04:55 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Excellent question!
I had always loved sexual sensations, and enjoyed having sex, but sensed that there must be more to it. It was pleasurable, yes, but worth all the controversy and fuss? Nah...
The Tantric sexual experience is loosely related to physical sex in that it involves the same physical components, but the spiritual activation which occurs is beyond any experience I have had. The movement of Kundalini energy through my body has shifted my reality in ways I did not anticipate or believe in. I feel a kinship and connection with Universal energy which was absent through most of my adult life.
In combination with my "quilt," Tantra has opened the door to my ability to feel happy most of the time.
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment
Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 2,571
Loc: Under The Bodhi Tree
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Veritas]
#4329398 - 06/23/05 05:11 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thats Good. In the traditions i follow, sexual energy is utilized for the purpose of full and complete awakening through the unification of solar(male) and lunar(female) engergies. But this is a very very small part of the Buddhist Tantric path, as Tantra in Vajrayana encompases and utilizes all phenomenal expereinces for the path of awakening.
Tantric teachings in there traditional forms within Buddhism, blossomed out of the realized minds of many Buddhist Masters, (who were disciples of the Buddha himself), and have been transmitted from teacher to disciple right the way down the ages up to this present day in unbroken lineages which have been taught and practiced within the many schools of Buddhism throughout Tibet, and now fortunalty the world. Westerners especially get lead astray by the word "Tantra", and automatically assume something sexual, when in reality, this just is'nt the case within all authentic traditions, belonging to both Hindu, and Buddhist paths.
I consider my condition to be very fortunate indeed, having recieved many such precious teachings.
Edited by Sinbad (06/24/05 03:04 AM)
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Swami
Eggshell Walker
Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Veritas]
#4330036 - 06/23/05 07:39 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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I am learning to access the cosmic energy through the expression of anger. I call it Temper Tantra.
-------------------- The proof is in the pudding.
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Registered: 03/15/05
Posts: 95,368
Loc: underbelly
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Swami]
#4330052 - 06/23/05 07:44 PM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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I am supplementing my income with a niche product for cooking erotic fruits and veggies called Tantra Tempura.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
Edited by Icelander (06/23/05 07:44 PM)
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Sinbad
Living TheMoment
Registered: 12/23/04
Posts: 2,571
Loc: Under The Bodhi Tree
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Re: One-Dogma-Fits-All? [Re: Swami]
#4331318 - 06/24/05 03:03 AM (18 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thats Great! Ill have to remember that one. Damn Swami you come out with some excellent one liners.
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