Re: Hello from a newbie

["kxcorinth" <kxcorinth@...>]

Hi Uthlagus,

I cannot really address much of your letter as I am new to IIH also. 
But I wanted to comment on what the Buddhists told you about magick. 
I also have always wondered why Buddhists don't talk more about the 
mystical traditions in the religion. 

The Dalai Lama comes from Tibetan Buddhism, which as you certainly 
know, has an esoteric streak in it coming from its synthesis with 
Bon I suppose. But the Dalai Lama does not reference much magick or 
mysticism in his writings we get here in the West.

I think this is because, like Buddha, the Dalai Lama was very 
concerned with getting a message to the common person. The common 
person is not going to try to enter an initiation into any esoteric 
tradition. Because of this I think that the main thrust of Buddhists 
in the West is just to reach the common man with the core of the 
dharma. The core of the dharma requires no twist of the Western 
rational mind like magick does.

In the end, any special 'powers' you might develop will not 
enlighten you by themselves (I suppose), but that is not to say that 
they cannot be a sort of yoga, a method to experience being part of 
the whole.