r/TheMindIlluminated • u/abhayakara Teacher • Jun 06 '18
Culadasa's May Patreon Q&A is out.
https://youtu.be/pYZ7kiIbLWs7
u/abhayakara Teacher Jun 06 '18
There was a cameo appearance by /u/nick_grabovac with some fun questions about cessation and fruition, among others. Really great questions this time (not that they weren't great before, but these were even better)!
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Jun 06 '18 edited Jun 06 '18
Is Bill Bengston the energy healing guy he was talking about?
Just sounds like woo woo to me.
With the teachers believing in illusions and magic, it's a bit disappointing.
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u/abhayakara Teacher Jun 06 '18
It does sound woo-woo. He's not pitching woo at you, though—he's just using it, because why not? He has stage four lung cancer. Whether it works, or whether there's some placebo effect, doesn't matter. If he were to experience a full remission and then say "I used Bengston's method, it worked, you should too, stop your chemo," I'd be really, really uncomfortable with that. Correlation, causation, etc.
But trying something that sounds a bit woo along with all the other things actually seems pretty reasonable to me. Not trying it because woo would smack of pride. Bengston's an interesting character—I really don't know what to make of him or his method. If it works, hallelujah. If it doesn't, oh well. What I do care about is Culadasa staying alive and having an optimistic outlook, and if that's all Bengston's technique does for him, I don't have a problem with it.
Just bear in mind that while Culadasa's teachings are compatible with an attitude that anything that smacks of woo is wrong, that is not what Culadasa is teaching. What he's teaching is how to meditate, without a bunch of dogma attached to it.
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u/tanger Jun 07 '18
It sounded like he is only applying it to healing of the incision, not the cancer.
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u/abhayakara Teacher Jun 07 '18
I think speculating about this in detail is kind of a violation of Culadasa's privacy.
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u/heartsutra Teacher Jun 06 '18
Yes, he was talking about Bill Bengston. But don’t dismiss Bengston out of hand — he actually has years of impressive lab results (on top of extraordinary anecdata), and it seems like he’s really on to something about the effect of consciousness on matter. It’s a shame the field is muddied with so much BS, because Bengston’s research and results appear to be legit.
Note also that Culadasa is receiving this treatment for free from students and friends, and it is complementing his conventional treatment rather than replacing it. So there’s certainly no harm. Plus his health is finally on the upswing!
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u/verblox Jun 06 '18
So many white dudes... Meditation must surely appeal to more than middle-aged white guys like me.
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u/abhayakara Teacher Jun 06 '18
Yup. Maybe they want a little representation, though. Like, do they really want us to white-man's-burden the dharma at them?
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u/5adja5b Jun 06 '18
Wonderful :) I wish you guys were closer so I could visit more easily. Looks kind of cosy in the Culadasa stronghold :)
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u/serastarfield Jun 06 '18
What is Patreon?
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u/abhayakara Teacher Jun 06 '18
It's a way to support people with monthly donations online. Culadasa's Patreon, for example: https://www.patreon.com/culadasa/posts
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u/hlinha Jun 06 '18
2:55 Culadasa's health, new book and ongoing Stronghold changes (Chris)
12:40 Is there value in a gradual release of effort to cultivate sukha (or more pleasurable piti) at lower levels of energy? (Jason)
24:50 Integration of the jhanas with Asanga’s nine mental abidings in TMI. Is TMI an original integration of Mahayana (Yogacara) and Theravada models of shamata practice (in addition to integrating insight practices as well)? (David)
28:06 Are the sensations in the body a valid meditation object for practicing effortlessness, at least for a part of the session? Stages 6-7 clarifications. (Boris)
34:33 Samatha, Insight and their relation with path attainments. (Adrián)
45:18 'Formal' and 'informal' practices to work towards third path; key signposts that indicate progress inthe right direction. (Nick)
57:08 How to gain confidence in the exploration of the Dharma? Thanissaro Bhikkhu's and Culadasa's view on rebirth. (Kevin)
01:11:59 What role does the Dharma/Awakening play in treating psychiatric conditions, that are commonly believed to be more biological in nature like Bipolar disorder and Schizophrenia? (Michael)
01:21:50 Follow up - what are the blind spots that practice can hide? (Adrián, follow up to the Q above)
Note: Questions were edited for brevity/ease of view and may or may not reflect the originals (found here).