Two Minutes Of Wisdom With Tenzin Palmo (VIDEO)

7 hours ago (4:48 PM)

To respond to the numerous criticism of empiricism.

Firstly, you need something to ground your claims. You can just think really, really hard on stuff. You can't just meditate in some cave somewhere. You need something of substance to give you basic facts and to double check your claims. Now it could be an axiom system or empirical evidence, but it has to be something. Otherwise, you are just BSing.

Secondly, you can not defend your religious beliefs by just attacking empiricism/science. Attack science all you want. If you want to go tiresome, mention "love". If you want to go ad hominem, mention "scientism". None of this ever works. But suppose it did and you torn down science to a pile of rubble. You still haven't done anything to show that your religious beliefs are true. All you've done is attack science.

Sorry, if silly criticism of "you can't study everything using science or empirical evidence" is the best you've got, you've got nothing.

Permalink | Share it

Miriam Pia

18 hours ago (5:51 AM)

I'm glad she was able to start a nunnery-school and is helping a bunch of other women. Its different in the West in the co-ed atmospheres to which people like myself are accustomed. 40 years ago, or maybe 60 years ago the only teaching openings in philosophy would have been at women's colleges. I am not against teaching women and never have been but I had intended to teach in a co-ed atmosphere.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

logicanada

Trying to escape this site but cannot.

05:52 PM on 6/07/2011

I wonder. Do these people ever sit down and actually listen to the gibberish they spout.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

Dan Jighter

09:23 PM on 6/07/2011

I agree entirely. When listening to the Dalia Lama and the video above I got the same feeling.

I also wonder if they check any of their gibberish with logic and empirical evidence (when available, which on human suffering and human interactions there is certainly evidence). I somehow doubt it.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

HawaiiSteve

be your own lamp... let truth be your light!

436 Fans

11:52 PM on 6/07/2011

You have to understand that in the Buddha's time, the Scientific Method was unknown. It was a time of rampant superstition. The Buddha was able to transcend these limitation through meditation, and discover what he felts was the true condition of mankind.

Meditation can bring clarity to one's own thoughts, opening the path to learning. I am a Buddhist, and also trained in science. Research is the backbone of science, but I also get insight through meditation. I do not need a study to understand that Greed, Hate, and Ignorance are the major cause of suffering in this world (the core teaching of the Second Noble Truth).

Which brings me to my final argument; faith does not need to be proven. I know some Christians are trying to teach creationism as science. I feel no such need to validate my faith. The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path provide me with a moral compass that is quite comfortable and workable in my world. As a result of my mediations on the subject, I have come to accept the Dharma as something beneficial in my life. I hope it helps others to find peace, and I am always happy for a chance to spread it around. But I never would dream of forcing it on someone, or trying to prove that I'm right and you're wrong. My faith is my own, if it works for you great, if not you are still a wonderful being worthy of love and compassion.

Permalink | Share it

There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

ZenGardner

117 Fans

10 hours ago (2:10 PM)

Most of them can only perceive the world through the filter that they have been trained under. They're told that the Buddha said life is suffering, and so they see suffering. They see evidence of it where others may not.

But these are biases that we all have.

Permalink | Share it

I Make Stuff

18 Fans

8 hours ago (3:55 PM)

Not everything can be explained empirically my friend...

Permalink | Share it

Miriam Pia

18 hours ago (5:54 AM)

Did that really seem unclear to you? No one says you have to always agree; normally people don't agree with even great thinkers about absolutely everything.

As far as the DL's gender. Well, some men will only be submissive to another man. There are differences at times in how best to lead when there are gender differences. It can be done for co-ed groups - some people prefer female or male leaders. Others have a 'case by case' type of preference. In some cases it depends on how old one is and on who has hurt one the most - there may be aversion or reliance on whichever gender caused the most pain.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

logicanada

Trying to escape this site but cannot.

11 hours ago (12:47 PM)

It has a gender?

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

ZenGardner

117 Fans

10 hours ago (2:05 PM)

Usually not.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

logicanada

Trying to escape this site but cannot.

05:49 PM on 6/07/2011

The greater question that may never be asked is : Why is this video being published.

Permalink | Share it

onlyThis

89 Fans

10:40 AM on 6/07/2011

I do not think there is a path to anywhere. YOU are the path that is being walked. You are the expression of Infinity here and now, just as you are. Nothing to achieve, nothing to reject, no grasping, no pushing away. It is only the mind which makes any distinctions. See the mind for what it is.

Permalink | Share it

urownexperience

05:11 PM on 6/07/2011

You are trying to talk the wisdom of a marathon runner while you haven't learned to crawl yet. You are a beginner.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

logicanada

Trying to escape this site but cannot.

05:50 PM on 6/07/2011

Most marathon runners think about sex when they are running.

Permalink | Share it

onlyThis

89 Fans

24 hours ago (12:19 AM)

First of all, I am a long distance runner.

Story: Student is standing on the bank of a swollen river and sees the Master walking on the other side. "Master! Master! How do I get to the other side?" he shouts. "You already are on the other side." Master shouts back.

Have you not read the story of how Hui-Neng became the Sixth Patriarch?
Have you not read the Diamond or Heart sutras?
Have you not read Huang-Po or Nargajuna?
Have you not read the Advaitic sages Ramana Maharshi or Nisargadatta Maharaj?
Have you not read the Tao Te Ching or the writings of Chuang-Tzu?

Story: Man walks into the psychiatrist's office with a chicken and says "Doctor, my brother here thinks he is a chicken, can you help him?" (hint: brother is mind)

Have you not seen or read any of the non-dual teachers out there today? Adyashanti, Wayne Liquorman, U.G. Krishnamurti (deceased), david carse, Robert Adams (deceased), Francis Lucille, Gangaji, etc etc

If you find yourself in an infinite sea and swim for a million miles you are no closer or father away from anything than when you started.

There are no beginnings except in the mind as there are no endings except in the mind. You are the dream, not the dreamer.

Am I a teacher?

Nope.

Am I a master?

Nope.

Am I enlightened?

Nope.

Who/what am I?

Now, at least, we are asking the right question.

Permalink | Share it

Miriam Pia

18 hours ago (5:55 AM)

Unless you know that person you don't know that.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

Dan Jighter

02:49 AM on 6/07/2011

How does she know the Buddha and his four noble truths are correct? How does she know that there is a such thing as enlightenment? This all sounds very nice, but how much of it is true?

Permalink | Share it

dharmadhatuzoo

07:23 AM on 6/07/2011

OMG, you're blowing her mind, man.

Permalink | Share it

urownexperience

05:15 PM on 6/07/2011

That you can only know for yourself through meditation, otherwise your beliefs are based on only on what you think is true. In the absence of thought comes insight. You apparently haven't meditated to any depth.

Permalink | Share it

JohnyTL

05:47 PM on 6/07/2011

I'ma pirate!

All I had to do was rescind my ability to think and insight came to me immediately.
Sailing boats and stealing gold was always in me. I just needed to stop thinking!

Wait, do you actually believe this?

Permalink | Share it

There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

Dan Jighter

09:18 PM on 6/07/2011

I fail to see how when meditating your beliefs are based on more than what you merely think is true. From what I understand, meditation is a mental phenomenon where part of the brain powers down temporarily. I can see that giving one a new perspective and experience of their own consciousness. I don't see how that can give one information beyond what is in one's own head. How can meditation, for example, demonstrate that the four noble truths are indeed true? The four noble truths sound like a claim that can be empirically studied to me, surely empirical analysis will give a more reliable result than quiet thinking or meditation and we can at least compare it with the result from meditation. Is there empirical evidence of the four noble truths?

For this reason I think JohnyTL actually has a good point.

Permalink | Share it

There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

Miriam Pia

18 hours ago (5:56 AM)

LOL, now you sound like a true student of philosophy! Perfect to ask such important questions!

Permalink | Share it

Matthew2010

35 Fans

14 hours ago (9:40 AM)

The idea that Tenzin Palmo has never reflected on such questions is silly. She is renowned for having done 12 years of solitary meditation. That's right: TWELVE years, alone, spending the vast majority of her waking hours reflecting, over and over, on very basic questions of exactly this nature. She is very, very familiar with these concerns.

If you actually want to know the answers put forward by Tibetan Buddhism to the sorts of questions you raise, that's fine. There are many, many books on the subject and I would urge you to read some of them. It does seem, though, that you imagine that asking a few general questions about the basis of Buddhist views is going to pose a problem for Buddhism--as if such questions had never occurred to practitioners of the religion. But it's just the opposite--posing these questions is just the point in Buddhism. It is just by serious, sustained reflection--far more sustained than what we ordinarily engage in--on these issues that one comes to have any understanding.

In general, I think it's probably best not to start off assuming that people with a view or belief system that is unfamiliar to you are naive dummies. You can make lots of criticism of Buddhism, of course, but being un-self-reflective is not one of them.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

Dan Jighter

10 hours ago (1:36 PM)

"The idea that Tenzin Palmo has never reflected on such questions is silly. She is renowned for having done 12 years of solitary meditation."

Um, sorry, many years of solitary meditation is not justification for a claim. And in the time of that solitude, how often did someone discourse and disagree with her over things? Oh, wait, it was solitary. Certainly one can think long and hard about something without seriously questioning its validity, just rationalizing the view. "Serious, sustained reflection" is not hardly enough, you still need evidence.

"It does seem, though, that you imagine that asking a few general questions about the basis of Buddhist views is going to pose a problem for Buddhism..."

Actually, that seems correct so far. In asking about Buddhists know such things, I've gotten appeals to faith and to sustained reflection, as if that proved anything. (It doesn't.) The only direct support and evidence for Buddhism so far has been the benefits of meditation. Beyond that there has been no support for Buddhism, just attempts to dodge providing support and talk up Buddhism.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

Dan Jighter

10 hours ago (1:36 PM)

"In general, I think it's probably best not to start off assuming that people with a view or belief system that is unfamiliar to you are naive dummies."

I didn't. The comment you are replying to says no such thing. I have listened to Tenzin Palmo's video above and the Dalia Lama speak and I was frequently finding parts that were obvious nonsense or falsehoods or at least seemed to require substantial justification.

In any case, if you aren't some naive dummy, where's the justification for Tenzin Palmo's claims?

Permalink | Share it

JohnyTL

12:03 AM on 6/07/2011

OMG that guy was a woman!

Permalink | Share it

urownexperience

05:16 PM on 6/07/2011

Insensitive and immature

Permalink | Share it

JohnyTL

05:38 PM on 6/07/2011

No, you don't get it.

That's no man, it's a woman!

Permalink | Share it

There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

Solveig Nielsen

0 Fans

09:02 PM on 6/06/2011

Lovely to see such video teachings with Tenzin Palmo on HuffPost.

The work she does for 'her' nuns in India is great and she also did an incredible job raising funds and constructing the nunnery altogether.

I once visited the nunnery while the nuns were chanting their evening prayers and in my memory still stands how the prayer hall completely filled with this amazingly beautiful, peaceful, and sweet spiritual chant.

I wish they will release a CD at one point because I am sure many people would want to listen to it and absorb themselves into the beauty of the sound.

Best wishes to Ani Tenzin Palmo for her great work!

Permalink | Share it

urownexperience

05:16 PM on 6/07/2011

Working in India is only for the brave.

Permalink | Share it

JohnyTL

05:49 PM on 6/07/2011

Well that's kind of insulting to Indians.

Permalink | Share it

There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

Miriam Pia

18 hours ago (5:58 AM)

That's so inspiring. I'm working on getting an actual Unitarian Universalist monastic order going. This is our first one in our 500 years or so of denominational history. I'm assuming it will be co-ed because its 21st century UU, but its a mysterious process. I have found some women and men in Buddhism and in Catholicism to serve as some inspiration about achieving this. I don't plan to do it all alone and - well, if you don't know what UUism is, check us out.

Permalink | Share it

Saijanai

36 Fans

8 hours ago (4:01 PM)

UU dates back to about 1960.... DId you mean 50 years instead of 500?

Permalink | Share it

aklib

You're a daisy if ya do!

203 Fans

08:20 PM on 6/06/2011

Christ and Buddha taught the same truth. Buddha's teaching comes down through the ages less distorted than Christ's teachings. Christ and Buddha taught reincarnation and karma, and thus the individual responsibility of each person. The Christian teaching was highjacked by selfish men and distorted to suit their ends of political power. Specifically, the fundamentalist Christian teaching of heaven and hell, and the individual making a choice between the two. Plus, the idea of "original sin" is a fabrication. Modern fundamental Christianity uses fear (of going to hell) and guilt/shame (original sin) to contol its followers. The whole framework of modern Christiany is a distortion of Christ's teaching. Essentially, Christ taught "as you measure it unto others, so shall it be measured unto you." Thus, individual responsibility for your creations. The truth will set you free and NOT put your mind in a trap. Now, a response to releafer: Releafer, judging from your icon, I would guess that you are a practicing Bud-ist. Judging from the clarity (or rather, lack thereof) of your post, you probably hit the bud pretty heavy. However, the ideas you express are accurate. Time does not exist in the way we percieve it physically, and our souls are indeed eternal. We are spirit in flesh, learning and growing in this dimension of actuality, learning how to handle creative energy. This is my understanding of reality and if you want a link or a source, I refer you to Jane Roberts/Seth. :)

Permalink | Share it

religionfree

25 Fans

10:36 PM on 6/06/2011

Jesus is a mythological figure that never existed.

You might as well be talking about personal beliefs of Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

kadellagroove

167 Fans

01:14 AM on 6/07/2011

Proof?

Permalink | Share it

There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

dharmadhatuzoo

07:26 AM on 6/07/2011

There is just as little evidence for the Buddha's existence.

Permalink | Share it

There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

Miriam Pia

18 hours ago (5:59 AM)

No offense, but Jesus Christ is a historical figure.

Permalink | Share it

macboo62

0 Fans

9 hours ago (2:40 PM)

So was Plato and Ceasar,,,,,maybe even Henry the VIII....

Permalink | Share it

393 Fans

02:33 AM on 6/07/2011

nice f/f

Permalink | Share it

aklib

You're a daisy if ya do!

203 Fans

03:58 AM on 6/07/2011

Thanks! Back at ya. :)

Permalink | Share it

urownexperience

05:18 PM on 6/07/2011

Yep, historically we don't know what Christ said. No record. Just speculation. He may have only preached for three months.

Permalink | Share it

Miriam Pia

18 hours ago (6:01 AM)

Not exactly true. Please research the Internet. Also realize that in cultures that rely upon the oral tradition - spoken and heard words and teachings, that those trained to remember precisely typically do so. As such, perfect preservation of orally transmitted teachings has often occurred. When teachers that were preserved that way are written down, it is not reasonable to say that those who preserved the teaching orally were a bunch of incorrect idiots or to say that 'there were no records' of that which had been preserved orally.

Permalink | Share it

dharmadhatuzoo

13 hours ago (11:10 AM)

History means texts. There are texts of history which mention Jesus: the gospels, inside the bible and out. Not saying they're accurate, but they fit the criteria of historical documents exactly: texts composed by those who claim to have witnessed events wherein those events are described.

Permalink | Share it

JohnyTL

06:01 PM on 6/07/2011

I think you want everything to fit neatly together too much and in doing so showed a complete distortion of the Christian faith.

You have completely left out the part where Jesus claims to be the son of YHWH which is a massive part of his story.

Jesus says the only way to Heaven is through him and so did his followers (John 14:6, Romans 10:9). While we're on the topic of Heaven, it is not the same as reincarnation. The Christian afterlife is a one time thing while Buddhism is over and over.

There was absolutely no back up for your claim that people hijacked (which you misspelled) Christian doctrine or that Buddha's teachings had a clearer line than Jesus's.

I hope you were practicing Bud-ism at the time of this post.

Permalink | Share it

aklib

You're a daisy if ya do!

203 Fans

06:52 PM on 6/07/2011

Ha ha, I haven't practiced "Bud-ism" for ages. And thanks for correcting my spelling. There is plenty of evidence that Christ taught reincarnation. Food for thought.
http://cryskernan.tripod.com/christian_reincarnation.htm :)

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR

Occams SawZAll

In this world, A Razor was just not enough.

153 Fans

07:05 PM on 6/06/2011

Hi Diddlely Dee and Atheist Life for me !
Where are the women centered religions of the world ? hmmmmm!

Permalink | Share it

dharmadhatuzoo

07:27 AM on 6/07/2011

Wicca?

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR

Occams SawZAll

In this world, A Razor was just not enough.

153 Fans

07:50 AM on 6/07/2011

Wicca is a nature based religion....I would agree that it has more feminine elements than most of the male centered religions.

Permalink | Share it

Miriam Pia

18 hours ago (6:04 AM)

Yes, Wicca. There are also goddess based Druids. Not all Wiccans or Druids are "goddess only" but there are many who are. In RC, Holy Mary and a number of female Saints serve the role of connection to the feminine divine. I don't honestly believe that a Creator of the entire Cosmos is properly understood as purely male - but maybe its OK is the boys that don't like girls think that, LOL. Also, if the deity were to be masculine, I think its random rather than done for the purpose of insulting the females.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR

Occams SawZAll

In this world, A Razor was just not enough.

153 Fans

15 hours ago (8:59 AM)

I think it about power and control.....

Permalink | Share it

There are More Comments on this Thread. Click Here To See them All

Entheo

05:40 PM on 6/06/2011

i've no problem with it, but that was two minutes of gender advocacy, not wisdom, which seeks unity (or non-duality) out of the opposites. let's call a spade a spade.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

Tmboy

Reading comments messes with my ZEN, but I'm addic

89 Fans

06:29 PM on 6/06/2011

She was not advocating for anything. How is this advocacy? She was clearly responding to a set of questions. Her stating the clear gender bias/roles in the culture/sect she is referring do should not be deemed as advocacy. And if you listened you would actually find wisdom in what she said, gender discussion included.

Permalink | Share it

Erdgeist

661 Fans

05:18 PM on 6/06/2011

In the old Pali canon the Buddha makes zero distinction between men and women. If a person has entered the stream to nirvana, they are noble ones (aryasravaka); who belong to the Triple Gem Sangha. Spiritually speaking, they are higher than worldlings, monks and nuns who have not entered the stream.

Permalink | Share it

HUFFPOST SUPER USER

kadellagroove

167 Fans

01:16 AM on 6/07/2011

thats kind of what she said is it not?

Permalink | Share it

dharmadhatuzoo

07:30 AM on 6/07/2011

Ahem. Not that I contest what you say, but also in the Pali canon he wouldn't let women into the sangha until his aunt asked repeatedly, and then he said that a nun ordained years and years ago would have to bow down to a man ordained at just this moment, and then he said that the Buddhadharma would last only half as long in this age due to his permitting women to enter the sangha.

Permalink | Share it

Miriam Pia