Reddit reviews The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History

>It concerns me when you argue that those that have come to realizations are deemed insane.

There are two things I can say about this. First, Asian cultures, especially of Buddha's time, were much more tolerant of idiosyncratic perceptions. And second, yes, they were insane by our own standards.

Imagine walking up to someone and asking that person if they were a deva, and they say no, or a demon, and they say no, or a human, and again, they say no. Firstly, you'd probably never ask if someone were a deva, right? You likely don't believe in such a thing and don't take it seriously. Secondly, if you received a negative answer to a "are you a human" from an entity that looks decidedly human, wouldn't you think that person were insane or at least if not 100% insane, then at least not playing with a full deck of cards, so to speak?

Have you read a lot of hagiographies? I recommend a thick red book called "The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History." When you read it, assuming of course you do or already have, don't disconnect yourself from what you read. Instead always imagine yourself in the midst of the described events and ask yourself how you'd react and what you'd think.

I've read many hagiographies. I can say from myself that for sure many many so-called "saints" were absolutely insane from a modern/Western/physicalist POV. There is no doubt whatsoever about that.

I don't even need to go to a hagiography. Just talking with the Buddhists who rub shoulders with serious practitioners, I hear tales about what happened that in polite company would absolutely be taken as instances of insanity, psychotic breaks, you name it. Things like mind reading, are just the mildest forms of that. People tend to share such things with me because they know I'm not going to mentally crush them the way someone like you would. I am accepting of weirdness and so I hear lots of strange things. People subconsciously know I won't be hostile to a strange phenomenon just because it's strange, solely on that grounds, and they know I won't dismiss it out of hand just because it's not customary.

When you read about some of the deeds Maha Mogallana got famous for, tell me you don't think either the Suttas are joking, or Maha Mogallana was an insane lunatic. I mean, who can make a building shake by kicking it with a toe? Only people in straight jackets and only in their own minds.

>They do not strive for radically different perceptions

They do. Meditative absorptions and superknowledges are all radically different perceptions. Seeing the whole universe as if it were a nut in the palm of your hand is a radically different perception. Exercising any kind of unusual psychic power is a radically different perception.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was speaking from a Nyingma perspective. I'm not sure if there is Charya Tantra in Sarma, although I think there would be. One thing for sure, though, is that "Outer" and "Inner" Tantra is totally a Nyingma classification. I read about it in The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History by Dudjom Rinpoche. Charya Tantra is also called Ubhaya Tantra, does that ring any bells?

The Nyingma School... by Dudjom Rinpoche.