Questions tagged [meditation]
For general questions about what is meditation, what is it for and what types of meditation are.
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Is meditation really about right brain vs. left brain?
I kind of snuck up on the back door to meditation and mindfulness. It started with me reading "The Master and His Emissary" by Iain McGilChrist, about eight years ago while camping on the ...
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Metta Meditation
When we say the phrase may I be healthy may I be free from suffering? Isn’t that kind of not accepting where we are if we are suffering or in pain or not healthy? Can someone help me understand what ...
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Doubt regarding correct meditation technique
I have been doing meditation for around 20-30 minutes a day for 5 years. One thing I have noticed is I absorb my mind in both the awareness of my whole body (as in physical sensations such as pressure ...
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length vs number of times of meditation
Is doing 10 min meditation 6 times same as doing 1 hour meditation? Or is doing 30 mins 4 times same as 2 hour meditation ?
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Meditation to simulate Near-death Experience
Namaste, Namo Buddhaya.
I'm here in my personal pursuit to understand death and soul from various perspectives.
A few days back I was reading texts on life, death, and reincarnation and got to know ...
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In today's perspective is it possible to practice mindful meditation except bhikkhus?
Mindfulness: the Vipassana Meditation is a great methodology to reduce suffering, avoid attachments and gain pure happiness. But in present education, competition, living needs, relationships, ...
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Stiffness in body during vipassana
I am undergoing a strange period during vipassana meditation (sn goenka guruji tradition). When I am scanning my body there is an extreme stiffness that travels almost throughout the body as my ...
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Is it good for the mind to be excited?
Meditation can bring peace to the mind. And meditation doesn't end after leaving the cushion, so the peace of mind should be brought into daily life.
But I do not always want to feel peaceful, ...
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Are there any differences between living in a meditation centre vs a monastery?
With all due appreciation for all positive interventions and with apologies for a seemingly dilettantish question, does anyone have any insight on the differences as well as on the commonalities of ...
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Feeling scared/ having aversion to looking at "pretty" women
I have been doing buddhist practices and trying to keep the precepts for a few months, after an intensive retreat. I have been noticing recently that I have automatically started to avoid looking at ...
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Narcissism insights in Buddhism
I've been recently observing that I am surrounded by a lot of narcissistic people which include all kinds of relationships friends, family, coworkers and acquaintances. Having been surrounded by these ...
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“Working” meditation?
Is there a type of meditation which involves actively working or doing some task? Beyond just doing it mindfully, a type of meditation that requires you to be actively involved in some activity, and ...
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Stress and suffering felt when I touch the right frontal lobe of my forehead
I was wondering if this could be scientific or dhamma proof of the eminence of suffering coming from a physical and mental root. If you touch and rub the front right part of your forehead you can feel ...
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Different approaches to Metta Meditation
I'm interested in learning more about Metta Meditation, and wondering if there are different approaches to this style of meditation.
I understand that the history of this practice is quite long, and ...
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Inferiority and being judged by other
I have been all my life judged by people, especially women including my sister and mom. I have also been rejected badly by some women or at least I made wrong judgements to feel that way.
My question ...
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What is the difference between concentration and mindfulness practice ?
I am new to buddhism and meditation (I have been practising it for one month now), and despite finishing my fourth book on the matter, I am still very unclear about what a meditation session should ...
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Anyone experiences with psychedelics and meditation? [closed]
I know that the usage of drugs are a contradiction to the teachings the Buddha gave. But I wonder whether it could be helpful to use LSD or Psylocibin to gain profound insights. I read a lot about ...
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Where to go after Meditation apps
I’ve gone through quite a few periods of meditation everyday, but usually something happens and I tend to off the rails stop for a long period to bad effects.
I started learning with Headspace and ...
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Why do I have swaying/floating feeling after completing 10 day Vipassana course?
These sensations and a feeling that my whole body is swaying/floating started on the 7th day of the course. On the 8th day I had quite a surreal experience during one of the group sittings. My eyes ...
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Did the historical Buddha explicitly teach and/or endorse Kasiṇa (meditation)?
What are the Pali cannon references, if any, for the historical Buddha explicitly teaching and/or endorsing Kasiṇa (meditation of the type found in the Visuddhimagga or any type of Kasina meditations)?...
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Heart, mind, brain domination
What is effect of heart on mind in reality?
Is it the effect due to coziness felt across the walls of heart (similar to the one felt by a child sitting in the parent's lap) leading to the change in ...
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Who is the artist that painted the '9 Stages of Samatha Meditation' painting?
The following Tibetan Buddhist (thangka) painting is a visual representation of the 9 Stages (~11 stages) of Samatha meditation. Who painted it?
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Side effect of audio
How exactly, if can be defined exactly otherwise in parts & pieces, hearing to audio effects one's brain during meditation?
For the organisms/living-beings not having brain, how would they be ...
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Is there any buddhist meditation technique to connect to Nature?
There is a theory that our planet might actually be alive. The sun, moon, atmospheric cycles, geological plates, etc constitute the life of our planet. Or for that matter the Universe actually might ...
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Posture for meditation
Is cross-legged sitting better than chair sitting for meditation. If yes why ?
What is the reason to keep ur back straight during meditation?
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How to get away from the desire to become a Buddhist Teacher or some influencer followed by many?
My mind creates this desire or a dream that I will get enlightened and become some sort of Guru who teaches Buddhism to many, I will become someone like Bodhidharma or Milarepa etc.
I want some ...
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Experiences in Meditation: Am I stucked?
I meditate (Shamata) since a few years now. According to my meditation time I have 430 hours meditated. (Just for context related to my question). I stopped smoking weed a few months ago. Practicing ...
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Find the motivation to meditate
I know that when I meditate I become very efficient and quick in my work. Do you have any tips for motivating yourself to meditate during the day? I had thought about putting an alarm on my cell phone ...
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Can open monitoring meditation lead to states of Jhana?
I have read about the states of Jhana through Focused Attention Meditation by focusing on breath in Ajahn Brahm's book Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond. But I find it extremely difficult to focus my ...
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Will aiming for emptiness instead of awareness of breath help attaining meditative absorption states?
I am finding it difficult to focus on the incoming-outgoing breath. Whenever I become mindful of my breath, the Mind kicks in. I cannot even focus for 5-10 breaths, the mind activates. Giving the mind ...
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Can Meditation lead to Suicide?
Background - My sister's son did not work at all in his life and has been taking anti-depressants for many years now. My sister must be very sad and worried about him constantly, but she never talked ...
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Books on meditation?
I have tried meditating (by concentrating on the breath) but have not experienced any benefits from it. Are there any good books on meditation out there that can help me achieve a better meditation ...
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Building discipline & willpower from scratch
I have been smoking for about 5 years now. I never really 'started' one day, but it just made my day to day life more enjoyable, and it did so consistently, so I never had a reason to stop. Recently, ...
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Meditation and 'not trying to change anything'
I've been practicing mindfulness meditation for around three months now. I've heard many times that a key aim for meditation is to be with whatever thoughts and feelings are present, without trying to ...
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Focusing on a visual object
I was often discouraged in the past years attempting shamatha meditation, because it seemed fruitless. However, I noticed recently that if I focus on the breath, I have the impression that I am ...
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how do I let go of everything?
Is there practice that I can do that will help me dissolve my attatchment to the world, my family, my life any hopes and dreams, its all transient and causes massive suffering for me. How can I let ...
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How to begin to practice vipassana meditation?
I've been practicing meditation and studying buddhism for years, and I've always been curious about vipassana, but I never knew how should I practice it, on what should I focus, etc.
So my questions ...
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New to the site, new to Buddhism
New to the idea of getting external help, too. I have several questions about this path after read this Q&A:
New to Buddhism
How to get to Nirvana?
What attracted me to buddhism was
Meditation: ...
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How to apply Eight-fold path[Aaryashtangika marga] to each virtue action as a Vipassana Meditation? [duplicate]
How to apply eight fold path to the wholesome act as meditation of three marks of existence (Pali: tilakkhaṇa) of all existence and beings, namely impermanence (aniccā), non-self (anattā) and ...
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Why Buddhanussati practitioners seem so special?
Hardly a person practice Buddhanussati well. Yet those rare people seem very virtuous, wise and faithful than many others. I have seen few of them. What is the reason behind them to be so special and ...
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Feelings while meditating
During deep meditation, I start to feel waves of some sort of energy that's hard to explain, the best analogy I can find is "an electrostatic feeling, like an aurora borealis" around the ...
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How does one Realize emptiness?
Are there specific practices, meditation instructions, intended to identify and realize/experience emptiness? Is this different than realizing non-self, or the emptiness of the self? or the emptiness ...
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Best Meditation for Stress
I've been meditating using different types of meditation for years now. I've been feeling a lot of stress lately, and I want to calm down in the ideal way. I've been reading neuroscience studies ...
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How many types of meditation did the Buddha teach in the Pali Canon?
I read that he taught many different kinds and that there are contradictions in the Nikayas on these meditation types. What are these, how many and why different types?
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Meditation and Internal Tremors
Happy New Year to you! 😊
I suffer from internal vibrations and PPPD and I've been trying to use meditation to calm my nervous system. Could any of you please suggest what I could do to further this ...
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How to prolong post meditation emotions, feelings and thoughts?
Whenever I get a good meditation, meaning pleasant feelings arise, they subside after some time. I know that's not the goal of meditation and I should let go of anything, not cling to anything. But ...
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Does Abhidhamma explain how Attention Shift happens
Every cita has an Object associated with it. when we meditate on breath then the object of attention is breath.. and after some time suddenly a past memory image pops up..
can one explain in terms of ...
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Is repeating words in mind necessary to some meditations in Theravada? Why or why not?
According to Visuddhimagga, focusing on breath does't require repeating "inhalation, exhalation..." in mind (at least it seems that the book doesn't explicitly tell that) . However, the 10 ...
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What is "meditation on the deathless state (nirvana)"?
I have read in a Buddhist sutta that one should meditate on the deathless state. What does this mean? What is it?
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Normal Deep Breathing vs Buddhism Basic Meditation
What is the difference between normal deep breathing that recommended by all western Doctors vs Buddhism Basic Meditation ?
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