Buddhist curious about awakening.

Hi folks,
It's nice to be a member on this site, I hope I can learn some things here.
I am a Buddhist for about 20 years and I am happy with my religion. I took refuge with a Tibetan Buddhist group.
I'm also a trained psychotherapist. I trained at a place called CCPE in London. This form of therapy includes the spiritual dimension and is not specific to any religion. Though, some of the theory had its roots in a universalist Sufi Tradition i.e., (Inayati Sufism)

I went to a Christian school when I was very young and was a choir boy! But for my youth and up to the latter half of my twenties I thought all religion was a load on nonsense.

These days I am interested in the more mystical aspects of religion and meditation, contemplation, prayer.

Best wishes and many blessings.
Rob

Welcome to CC. Buddhism is a false religion, but any questions you have will be best answered in the bible discussion forum..

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting.

Hebrews 10:20
by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body,

Nana korobi, ya oki
~
Proverbs 24:16

welcome!
i am glad you came to join our community

years ago i had a friendship with a professor in university who was Buddhist and had been for a very long time. he was always very adamant to explain that Buddhism was a philosophy of living, not a religion, that it had nothing to do with whether there is a God or not or who God is.
i studied art in school, and art history, and in particular a lot about Asian art history. in large part the history of art in SE Asia is linked with the history of Buddhism. i am aware that practice and thought about Buddhism can vary to a great degree depending on the part of this continent it comes out of, and that in many places it is very much aligned with theistic thinking of Hinduism - particularly the closer to India we're talking about. the same is true looking at the development of Buddhism over time, as in some areas existing theism and ritual were 'added' to what was ((or may have been)) originally a system of thought and practice that had little to do with the worship of gods. Gautama was raised Hindu, of course, and naturally this colored his thoughts as he sought enlightenment, but further North and East as Buddhism spread, where Hinduism was not prevalent, in Japan for example, there are forms of Buddhism that have very little or in fact nothing to say about theology at all.

with that all taken into account, would i be correct assuming you are Buddhist in an Indian tradition, closer to being Hindu but with particular differences in philosophy of living and observation of rites involving idolatry? why do you call it a "religion" ?

thanks

Ive always liked the story about the Old man on the mountain hehe...

Impermanent are all created things, Strive on with awareness...

Hi Rob welcome and have a great day <3

But don’t live on one grain of rice, it’s not healthy physically nor spiritually. some folks still practice asceticism not a wise choice IMO.

Hello,
Thank you for your welcome.
I practice Tibetan Buddhism in the Karma Kagyu school. It traces itself back to the Indian adepts Tilopa and Naropa.
Buddhas are not gods, however Buddism (Dharma-vinaya / doctrine-discipline) does include belief in life beyond this one, or a continuation of mind. Buddhism rejects the Hindu idea of a creator god that is eternal, and rejects the Hindu idea of Atman, an unchanging eternal soul that is a part of God. Buddhists, on the other hand do believe in the existence of gods, but believes that the god or gods are deluded, in that they think they are eternal, all powerful and all knowing.

The Buddha's insights were not just adopted from those around him or added later, he saw for himself by direct experience, by purifying the mirror of his mind he was able to see directly the reality of death and rebirth into the various realms (gods, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and hell beings.)
Tibetan Buddhism is particularly rich in stories of various spiritual beings both helpful beings and dangerous beings. And Tibetan Buddhism includes Vajrayana, or Tantra. Tantra involves longer prayers and mantras including visualisation under the guidance of a Lama or guru.

I would say it includes philosophy, but is also about direct spiritual experience, the way I think of it is a form of spiritual purification with the aim of ending suffering for all beings in all realms.
The Bodhisattva ideal of Mahayana Buddhism that Tibetan Buddhism is part of, is a commitment to keep being reborn in order to help all sentient beings to achieve liberation. That includes all the hell beings. Nobody is to be left to suffer, not even your worst enemy, not even the most evil beings. They are all considered to have Buddha Nature at their heart.

I hope that helps, I'm no scholar and I'm not here to proselytise.
I consider Jesus to be a Bodhisattva.

So what exactly brings you to a Christian forum???

...

I say at the top of the thread. I'm interested in awakening, though that may mean different things to different people. Mostly, I'm curious about the experience that people talk about when they say they experience the holy spirit, or feel born again.
I saw a video on YouTube of a woman talking with a Sikh gentleman, she described how her experience was very powerful and frightening, I'm interested in people's actual experiences.
I also saw some videos about Father Lazarus who lives in a cave in the middle East. He was an atheist, but had a powerful experience with Mary. All those sorts of stories interest me.

There is a vast diff. in the Holy Spirit of the living God manifest, and such as a kundalini spirit for example that is from satan...if you truly are seeking the one and only true God of all creation, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob...there is none to compare to Jesus as He came to save the world from there sins...Jesus Christ came to save that which was lost..
John 3:16-18 King James Version
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Hi,
It's Christian experiences I want to know about. Christians seem to have different experiences. The woman I mentioned who was talking to the Sikh man, she was a Christian, so is the Fr. Lazarus that I mentioned. I'm interested in the experiences of ordinary Christians of the holy spirit.

Thank you Sherrill.

Is it ok to ask what your experience had been. Did you feel the spirit coming into you? Did you see or hear of sense something? What was it like?