Buddhism and observable truths

[Changed]

Dr. Ian Stevenson has done much research on reincarnation, the traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism both have many documented cases of reincarnation with supporting evidence.

Some (most?) Buddhists don't even believe in actual physical reincarnation...

Karma is merely cause and effect you can observe it all around you, all beings and phenomena arise because of cause and effect.

this also is not true. karma is NOT cause and effect. karma is the events that happen during our life, and are simply a "record" of the things that have happened and have been done during our life time.

it isn't, "I cut somebody off in traffic this afternoon, so tonight I'll burn my hand on the stove"

by following the 4 truths, we aim to end the karmic cycle, resulting in nirvana.

 

[High Yogi]

"Drugs are just a road map to the treasure, not the treasure itself."
- anonymous

I think psychedelics are definitely a key factor on the path to enlightenment because they give insight on how to assess the mind, as well as inspire those who use them to actually reach enlightenment.

There has to be a rupture in the plane of consciousness in order for most people to get anywhere close to true meditation, for the consciousness is not comprehensible without first perturbing it. Its like Terence Mckenna said "whoever discovered water, it certainly wasn't a fish"

You cant discredit psychedelics for all of their worth just because you've learned to reach "the other" without them, when it is the psychedelics themselves which showed you the way to enlightenment. If it weren't for psychedelics would you be where you are today?

 

[sohrah]

The Buddha likened the mind to a guest house. (Agāra Sutta, SN 36.14).

Whatever is happening around us, be it in a condo or bungalow, alone or in community, our dwelling place is teeming one moment, tranquil the next. Likewise, the pleasant, painful, worldly, and unworldly feelings passing through the mind are to be treated like guests.

Sitting quietly, we practise being more mindful and observant. With sharpened attention, we monitor every sense experience and thought and begin to see more precisely how the mind is influenced. Are we aware of old disturbances and reactions that continue to echo long after the people or situations that created them have gone?

Brooding over the conflicts and careers of long ago – words left unsaid, family or former friends still unforgiven, or skewed perceptions frozen in time – the tapes of the past play on while the future is dimmed by anxiety. Taking these thoughts to be real, we circle helplessly under long suppressed burdens and fret about what will be. Though the guests have come and vanished, we tenaciously wait on them – for months, years, even decades.

Is it not time to let them go and move beyond the isolation of bitterness, regret, and fear? Having faced loss or hardship, we know what it is to grieve. Just as we know the past is dead and the next moment beyond our grasp, until we can trust surrendering to this reality, the peace we yearn for remains elusive.

Security is here in the dark night, in the centre of our grief. Ready to be with what we feel, no matter how terrible, we touch a primordial stillness. We know that what passes through the mind – sometimes a raging storm, sometimes a protracted longing – is all fleeting, stressful, and not who or what we really are.

This reflection by Ayyā Medhānandī is from the book, Gone Forth, Going Beyond, (pdf) pp. 33-34.