XPost: talk.religion.buddhism, alt.zen, alt.philosophy.zen   
   XPost: alt.buddha.short.fat.guy   
   From: Julianlzb87@gmail.com   
      
   On 13/08/2010 13:15, Julian wrote:   
   > On 13/08/2010 12:57, Jigme Dorje wrote:   
   >> On Aug 13, 7:50 am, Tang Huyen   
   >> wrote:   
   >>> small tortoiseshell wrote:   
   >>>> Julian:   
   >>>   
   >>>>> Didn't the Buddha specifically condemn all forms of divination   
   >>>>> (the Occult?)   
   >>>   
   >>>> I dont know, but if I were a buddha I would too. If you have any   
   >>>> references I be glad to read it...   
   >>>   
   >>> "How shall I be in the future?’ He will not doubt internally, ‘What   
   >>> is this? How is this? Who are we? Who shall we be? From where   
   >>> does this being come? Where will it go after dying from here?’   
   >>> Whatever common worldly views which recluses and brahmans   
   >>> attach to, to wit, views (drsti-gatani) tied to theory of self   
   >>> (atma-vada), views tied to theory of being (sattva-vada), views   
   >>> tied to theory of living being (jiva-vada), views tied to theory of   
   >>> rites and rituals to bring good luck (kotuhala-mangala-vada) — all   
   >>> these views are at this time cut, understood, cut down at the root,   
   >>> made like the stump of a palm tree, made something which has   
   >>> ceased to be, never to grow again in the future." SA, 296, 84b-c,   
   >>> Nidana-samyukta, 150-152, MN, I, 264-265 (38).   
   >>>   
   >>> In the Discipline (Vinaya), monks and nuns are forbidden from   
   >>> practicing divination, including astrology (looking up), etc. There   
   >>> is also condemnation of looking down, sideways, etc., which are   
   >>> figurative ways of doing divination, but I have no reference for   
   >>> now. Telling fortune is strictly forbidden. Monks and nuns are   
   >>> also forbidden from displaying their supernatural powers. This   
   >>> kind of discipline cleanly separates Buddhism from shamanism,   
   >>> which relies on the development and display of such supernatural   
   >>> powers for money and power, etc.   
   >>>   
   >>> In Vietnam, about half a century ago, there was a young monk   
   >>> who developed supernatural powers and who was proud of them,   
   >>> and he was expelled, so he joined the Cao-dai religion and went   
   >>> high up in it, precisely because of his supernatural powers.   
   >>> Buddhists would say to that: Good riddance!   
   >>>   
   >>> In Buddhism, one learns to ignore the supernatural powers that   
   >>> develop (as fringe benefits) from one's cultivation. The higher up   
   >>> one's attainment is, the fluffier and airier (and less real) it feels.   
   >>>   
   >>> Tang Huyen   
   >>   
   >> And yet, there are still long lines of people making appointments to   
   >> see monks for divination.   
   >   
   > Things determined   
   > by most voices   
   > are not the greatest truths   
   > but noises.   
      
   http://www.econlib.org/library/Mackay/macEx6.html#Ch.6, Fortune-Telling   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)