16
votes
What are the differences between vipassana and mindfulness meditation?
When Buddha taught meditation he did not explicitly separate it in different types. If you read Anapanasati Sutta, Satipatthana Sutta, Kimattha Sutta, Cula-suññata Sutta, and any number of suttas ...
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13
votes
What do you wish you knew when you started down the path of buddhism?
I am a Tibetan Buddhist, and have been for about 50 years.
I don't really know if I can help with that question - but maybe so.
Here are some things that might of use to a beginner.
Learn to develop ...
- 499
13
votes
Unpleasant side effects of meditation
My local Buddhist temple's resident teacher Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo has this beautiful metaphor of the "poop soup", highly relevant to yours (and the rest of ours) situation.
In this metaphor ...
- 57.2k
11
votes
Accepted
Sleep - What about it?
What are the proper relax / Sleep practices for a practitioner of meditation methods?
If you do Metta meditation before sleeping you are better off, as one benefit of Metta is you sleep well. ((Aṭṭha)...
9
votes
Is there some technique to surpass noises when meditating?
This sounds like perfect opportunity to practice insight meditation! If you watch your mind when these noises happen, you can notice how you become unhappy due to the mismatch between "is" and "should"...
- 57.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Which is the best posture to Practice meditation?
Bhikkhus, the bhikkhu following the practice of my Teaching, having gone to the forest, or to the foot of a tree or to an empty, solitary place, sits down cross-legged, keeping his body erect, and ...
- 5,616
8
votes
Accepted
Is there some technique to surpass noises when meditating?
You should watch this Youtube video, in which Ajahn Brahm speaks about his experiences with mosquitoes in Thailand, when he first became a monk. As a monk, he is not allowed to kill them and his ...
- 36.4k
7
votes
Accepted
In what way(s) does engaging in sexual activity affect meditation practice?
Sensual pleasure is one of the Five Hindrances which are like "canals dissipating the force [awareness/discernment strength] of a river current" as taught by the Buddha in AN 5.51:
"...
- 9,691
7
votes
Eyes in Meditation Practice
The guidance I got from one teacher, of Tibetan Nyingma school, is to let the eyes relax. In detail, this includes:
keep them open but not stare-open - don't strain to keep them half-closed either,
...
- 57.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Software programming/Art and Buddhist Practice - Pursuing creative activity
Yes it's a problem.
To some extent an impossible problem, in the sense that ...
The Difficult We Do Immediately. The Impossible Takes a Little Longer.
Quote Investigator also gives that as,
"...
- 45.2k
6
votes
Why does my mind feel slow to think nearly half day after my meditation?
Re: mind feeling "very slow", "very slow to think of anything" -- when someone tells you something, can you reply immediately without thinking? That's a sign of good meditation.
If your "very slow to ...
- 57.2k
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 ...
- 57.2k
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
What is the best way to practice humility
Good start is to do 100000 prostrations, say 100 a day.
Another practice is to identify and drop your attachments to intelligence, accumulation of knowledge, and making spiritual progress. Any time ...
- 57.2k
6
votes
Meditating with chronic illness
Giri-m-Ananda Sutta has details of how to overcome illness. At a superficial level you can start as following and go deeper as in the Sutta. Also there is a book Meditation on Perception: Ten Healing ...
6
votes
How to overcome the suffering of attachement to the body's continued existence (in Western modernity)?
In preparation for death you should:
accept the fact everyone must die and let go of the fear of death
not procrastinate meditation to develop wisdom
make your mind equanimous as possible to handle ...
6
votes
Unpleasant side effects of meditation
A couple of days is not enough time for your 10 minute meditation to have resulted in any change in your mood, feelings, or anything else. Were those panic attacks accompanied by difficulty breathing? ...
- 2,456
5
votes
Why focus below your bellybutton in meditation?
Many types of meditation focus on the breath entering and leaving the body or moving through the body as a main object of meditation.
In the tradition of meditation which I practice, (Mahasi Sayadaw ...
- 9,522
5
votes
Can't notice the breath
Hmmmm... interesting. Try this: do controlled breathing for a dozen breaths (count breaths on fingers and do a moderately-slow deliberate breath-ins and breath-outs), then for a dozen breaths let the ...
- 57.2k
5
votes
Why does my mind feel slow to think nearly half day after my meditation?
If "slow to think of anything" means less distracted thoughts then that's good. But if that means your overall awareness/mindfulness decreases instead of increases then you might want to check your ...
- 9,691
5
votes
Sleep - What about it?
Monks, eleven advantages are to be expected from the release (deliverance) of heart by familiarizing oneself with thoughts of loving-kindness (metta), by the cultivation of loving-kindness, by ...
- 534
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