HarryWJYoung wrote:
>
> Hi David
>
> Thanks for your reply. Frankly, I find all of it puzzling
> because you say what you say with such certainty, and yet
> offer no evidence to support your argument.

Do you know of anyone who can supply proof of the inner worlds or reicarnation, or any metaphysical/psychic phenemona?
I have 30 years experience with a realized teacher, and more experiences inside than I can count. I have friends who can say essentially the same thing and corraborate my experiences. We can only prove these things to ourselves--not to others. Well, some people can but that's another story...
>
> There are still Buddhists who follow a forty nine day
> observance of dead friends and relatives, and while I think
> many of the originating truths behind modern religious
> observances are lost, there is a lot of symbolism connected
> to the number forty nine. I strongly suspect 49 was not an
> arbitrary number to the original writers/compilers of the
> Tibetan Book of the Dead which is a written treatise based on
> existing practised beliefs not the other way around.

Whether it's 49 days or 49 minutes, it's a ritual and rituals are the province of religion--not mysticism. Buddhism, like Catholicism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, are all religions and religions are dead mystic schools. The inner teachings of the founder have long been lost and the followers fall into superstition, idolatry. rules and regulations, feast days, etc.

> >the way some people gaze longingly at wolves, etc
>
> Sorry David, I don't buy this. There is a sentimentality here
> which flies in the face of reason.

Sentimentality? You've never heard of people who practically adore animals to the point of obsession? I have. It's not all that common, but it's not all that uncommon either. I'm not talking about loving animals, but about longing to be one... "Where your heart is, there will your treasure be"--Jesus said that. So best make sure that your heart is not longing to be a wolf or a dolphin or pretty bird, because you just might get your wish.
That's all I'm saying.
David