11
votes
How to disambiguate between various meditation practices?
I agree with Dhammadhatu in that the different meditations seem confusing when you don't know what it is all about.
When you know the underlying principle, you know how these different meditations ...
- 56.9k
8
votes
Does Shikantaza lead towards attaining Jhana, if not, is there any progression?
Of course you can. Think of the etymology - zen -> chan -> dhyana -> jhana. It's the same word bastardized and modified over the course of four languages. Zen is absorption practice. It's ...
- 231
7
votes
Accepted
Is Maithree meditation a recommended practice?
Metta meditation will help you to reduce stress caused by hatred. But it won't be much effective against stress caused by craving or clinging. Anapanasati meditation can be used to get away from all ...
- 25.7k
7
votes
Accepted
In the Anapanasati Sutta, what is the difference between mind and mental processes?
From the Anapanasati Sutta
"Mindfulness of in-&-out breathing, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit, of great benefit. Mindfulness of in-&-out breathing, when developed & ...
- 9,492
7
votes
How to disambiguate between various meditation practices?
OP: S.N. Goenka says if you practice Vipassana, you must not practice any other technique (but, even more confusingly, he also teaches Anapana and Metta)
What is said by Goenka is that you should ...
6
votes
Accepted
Is watching the heart beat (instead of watching the breath) a known form of meditation?
The only time I've seen the heart-beat mentioned in a similar context, is when Trungpa Rinpoche discussed beginner-level practice:
...Usually hinayana-level student works with reality using ...
- 56.9k
6
votes
Is watching the heart beat (instead of watching the breath) a known form of meditation?
The Wings to Awakening by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, on page 83 says,
There is the case where a monk—having gone to the wilderness, to the foot
of a tree, or to an empty building—sits down folding his ...
5
votes
In the Anapanasati Sutta what is meant by 'sensitive to rapture/bliss'?
I assume that by rapture and bliss you mean the Pali words Piti and Sukha.
Piti and Sukha are supposed to be comfortable and pleasant states of mind that arise whenever the mind is sufficiently calm, ...
- 7,413
5
votes
Can anyone recommend some guided anapanasati resources on the Web?
The best is to go to directly to the Sutta or what the Buddha directly had to say about it. There are 2 good translations by Piya Tan:
Anapanasati Sutta
Anapanasati Sutta, Trilinear edition
A more ...
5
votes
What does delusion feel like?
I think that 'aversion' and 'desire' are opposite/complementary extremes of each other.
Similarly I think that 'delusion' is (defined as) the opposite of 'truth' (sacca/satya, the four noble truths) ...
- 44.8k
5
votes
Can anyone recommend some guided anapanasati resources on the Web?
I used to think that "guided" meditation was a superficial thing. Now I know that that view isn't very true...There are some very "not superficial" guided meditations out there that are made by some ...
4
votes
What other suttas instruct how to do Anapanasati, apart from the Anapanasati Sutta?
MN62 Maha-Rahulovada Sutta is one of them.
"[1] Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or
breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' [2] Or
breathing in ...
- 399
4
votes
How can you see suffering in the breath?
The three characteristics are very deep and profound subjects, and often our understanding of them is very superficial. For example, people often think that they understand impermanence because they ...
- 7,436
4
votes
How can you see suffering in the breath?
How can one see suffering in the breath?
Is a personal opinion/answer OK?
There are different types of dukkha and I think you can see aspects of any/all of these in breathing.
Birth: baby's first ...
- 44.8k
4
votes
Accepted
What does delusion feel like?
Feelings associated with formations of the 3 more poison:
Ignorance - Neutral feeling
Attachment - Blissful, joy, fluid, cooling
Aversion - Burning, solid, gaseous vibrating (E.g. fear)
In breath ...
4
votes
Accepted
Being bored :anapanasati meditation
Boredom is a sign of restlessness. If you're bored, you want to try to do something else. You're not contented with the present moment. Please read this essay on the five hindrances to meditation by ...
- 36k
4
votes
In the Anapanasati Sutta what is meant by 'sensitive to rapture/bliss'?
Below are what I hope is some relevant material from several prominent teachers of jhāna.
Ajahn Brahm
Here are what I take to be some helpful comments from Ajahn Brahm's book, The Jhanas regarding ...
- 2,593
4
votes
Accepted
To what extent can Ānāpānasati be related to Vipassanā?
Anapanasati is divided into 4 tetrads which correspond to the 4 Satipatthana hence the pratice of Anapanasati is actually a forms of Satipatthana / Vipassana. A thorough introduction to Anapanasati ...
4
votes
Skillful ways to induce Rapture and Pleasure in meditation
You simply have to know the presence of the sensation, know it is arising and passing and be equanimous without getting attached to it. Attachment to pleasant sensation gives arise to the unwholesome ...
4
votes
Did Lord Buddha teach any other meditation technique than the Anapana?
You sit for two hours like a log and expect to reach samadhi? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but your expectation of meditation as "technique" is completely, utterly wrong. You can't achieve Nibbana, ...
- 56.9k
4
votes
Help Me Choose which meditation i Should do Anapanasati or Brahmaviharas?
Brahmaviharas is a lower type of meditation than Anapanasati. In Brahmaviharas you use your intellect, to make up suggestions or narratives, that condition your point of view a certain way. In ...
- 56.9k
4
votes
How to disambiguate between various meditation practices?
There are really just two aspects of meditations in Buddhism, as seen in Kimsuka Sutta:
"Suppose, monk, that there were a royal frontier fortress with strong
walls & ramparts and six gates. ...
- 36k
4
votes
Accepted
Anapanasati - are the 16 considered progressive sequence of steps?
Try not to overthink it. There is a clear path of progressive steps or progress, yes, but for each meditator it varies somewhat as they each have varied conditions. We don't control what arises, so we ...
- 345
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