11
votes
Accepted
How to disambiguate between various meditation practices?
It appears unclear to you because you have not comprehended the essence of the Buddha's teachings.
The Buddha did not teach any 'techniques'. The Buddha taught to abandon craving & other ...
- 40.5k
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 ...
- 58.3k
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
Mindfulness of Breathing, Mindfulness with Breathing
Mindfulness ('sati') means 'to remember'. The breathing as a meditation object cannot be 'remembered'. Instead the breathing is observed, which is called 'anupassi'.
The purpose of 'mindfulness' in ...
- 40.5k
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
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 ...
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 ...
- 58.3k
5
votes
Skillful ways to induce Rapture and Pleasure in meditation
If the meditator is trying to "induce" rapture & pleasure, as taught by some meditation teachers, the meditator is already caught up in them.
Buddhism is not the same as the consumer culture, ...
- 40.5k
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
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 ...
5
votes
Should one literally think "I am breathing in long, I am breathing out long."
It is not necessary to think: "I am". The mind should know the action of the breath being long or being short. Also, there is really no need to "focus". When the mind is quiet & silent, the mind ...
- 40.5k
5
votes
anapanasati: nimitta or ambient light?
We don't care about nimitta or ambient light. We care only the breaths.
The nimitta or ambient light is naturally appearing at focusing the breath. Thinking of light or nimitta is not thinking of ...
- 6,198
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
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 ...
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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
Accepted
Correct Version of Meditation
(1) Usually, I meditate, but discursive thought still comments on objects, perceptions, other thoughts. I usually focus on the breathing
with a commentary, i.e. "I'm breathing," "I should focus on ...
- 40.5k
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, ...
- 58.3k
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 ...
- 58.3k
4
votes
Accepted
Anapanasati practice: what’s the correct way to focus on breath?
There is no need to focus on the breath.
The practise of the Buddha is to keep the mind without craving, without attachment, without past, without future. Silent still mind.
When the mind is quiet,...
- 40.5k
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. ...
- 37.4k
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 ...
- 355
4
votes
Accepted
Please help me to better understand the simile of the turner for the first part of the anapanasati instructions
Ajahn Sona has a useful video pertaining to Breath meditation here . At 15:00 you can see a lathe worker performing his chore and Ajahn Sona relates how it pertains to Breath meditation.
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4
votes
Hard breath (intentional breath) in Pali
In the beginning, beset by wandering mind, it may be expedient to struggle with the mind, body and breath.
MN20:7.2: Tena, bhikkhave, bhikkhunā dantebhidantamādhāya jivhāya tāluṁ āhacca cetasā cittaṁ ...
- 9,336
4
votes
Does Shikantaza lead towards attaining Jhana, if not, is there any progression?
Ven. Ajahn Brahm is widely recognized as an expert of samatha meditation leading to jhana from mindfulness of breathing, with his book, "Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond".
I quote a part of ...
- 37.4k
4
votes
Does Shikantaza lead towards attaining Jhana, if not, is there any progression?
Stop craving attainment and obsessing about attainments. Shikantaza is just sitting, no jhanas, no BS. You know you have this thorn stuck deep inside your heart, you want to be special, your want to ...
- 58.3k
3
votes
During Anapana, why does the breathing become slower and slower as we progress?
At least two things cause this phenomena: (1) the mind not desiring & not thinking, which results in the restless energy of desire & thinking not making the breathing restless & agitated; ...
- 40.5k
3
votes
In the Anapanasati Sutta what is meant by 'sensitive to rapture/bliss'?
Towards the later stages of the meditation you come to a stage where you are fully concentrated on the breath. Your concentration is very high. Rapturous joy, calm, and peace of mind are incredible ...
- 9,695
3
votes
Anapanasati with Dhatu Manasikara
Q2. Also, can I know the simple explanation of what these actually mean
I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.
This is a mistranslation. It should be 'body fabricator'. The body ...
- 40.5k
3
votes
Anapannasati - Why the breath?
Seems that moderators are expecting a particular style in these answers, and so deleted my initial answer. I'll rephrase...
The reason that the breath is the most important meditation object is that ...
- 55
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