Zen students see themselves as athletes. Their competitive sport is enlightenment; only with enlightenment do we compete.

Initially there's absolutely nothing.

To feel that you are the Buddha of all times and places and that in some way the salvation of anyone, including yourself, depends upon you, I think there's a lot of ego involved in such a view, not much self-transcendence.

Buddhism suggests there are no elect. Everything rests upon your own self-effort, which is the good news because that means you don't have to wait around for some nebulous God to help you.

Reincarnation is not necessarily linear. Sometimes people actually become more immersed in darkness or illusion than they were in previous lifetimes.

If you are going to set out to develop mystical powers to impress your friends and do other things to your enemies, the difficulty with it is that you will not be moving towards enlightenment.

Our physical health is dependent upon energy. We have a short lifespan compared with past Yuga's. We are made up of energy lines. The reason people lived longer is because there was less negative energy in the world.