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 ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
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14 votes
Accepted

Can a Buddhist truthfully say, "You insulted / offended / angered / hurt me?"

One could "say" anything but that would only be a relative truth. Ultimately one person doesn't cause another person's anger. One causes their own anger. It is hard to understand ultimate ...
Lowbrow's user avatar
  • 7,144
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 ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
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11 votes
Accepted

My short story with anxiety problems - could meditation be the cause?

Pleased to meet you Robert. It is very difficult to answer your question precisely however it is certainly likely/probable that practicing the meditation & the accompanying mental solitude is ...
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
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10 votes

How does one practice mindfulness during thinking - e.g. thinking about how to solve a problem?

A.K. It's not a foolish question at all, I think it's something everyone spends sometime trying to understand when they first start learning meditation and mindfulness. Mindfulness is being ...
Yetanotherguy's user avatar
9 votes
Accepted

New to the site, new to Buddhism

Some quick answers, which I may add to later: Buddhism is certainly not a religion because it states all of its teachings are to be known & verified by its wise followers. It is certainly a way ...
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
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8 votes
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What is the most “genuinely Buddhist” kind of mindfulness?

If you look at this article which describes The Noble Eightfold Path, Chapter VI: Right Mindfulness (Samma Sati) talks about "bare attention" Chapter VII: Right Concentration (Samma Samadhi) talks ...
ChrisW's user avatar
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8 votes

Taking care of our sexual energy

The "five mindfulness trainings" obviously correspond to the traditional "five precepts". So you can find more (by other authors) on that subject by searching for "third precept", for example ...
ChrisW's user avatar
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8 votes

If there is no self, why do anything?

It essentially doesn't change anything. If you look hard, that "I" was always an illusion. No matter where you try to draw a boundary - it is artificial: Does the body belong to the self or not? How ...
Dr. Hans-Peter Störr's user avatar
8 votes
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Is Mindfulness a poor translation for Sati?

Wikipedia does not accord with the Pali suttas and the PTS Pali English Dictionary entry at Sutta Central is confusing, given it includes numerous different English terms. Pali words can generally ...
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
  • 40.5k
8 votes

Which mindfulness technique should I choose?

The way I was taught, is that mindfulness is not practiced in-and-of-itself; instead it comes from a critical attitude to ourselves, which in turns comes from a certain goal that we set for ourselves, ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
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7 votes
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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, "...
ChrisW's user avatar
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7 votes

Are there things that one shouldn't be mindful of?

Yes there are. Being mindful of "signs" that turn the mind to anger (or lust etc.) is unwholesome. E.g. someone irritates you and you insist on attending (upaṭṭhāna) to that particular experience (a ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
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6 votes

Can a Buddhist truthfully say, "You insulted / offended / angered / hurt me?"

In any dialog you play two roles: the one who speaks and the one who listens. Buddha gave one common advice that applies to both roles, and two specific ones that apply for each of the two roles. The ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
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6 votes

Being mindful sitting/working on a computer

I find being mindful while sitting on a computer very hard. Being mindful of what you are going is good but not always the right mindfulness. What you can pratice in such a situation: Mindfulness ...
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Is practising mindfulness ever a bad idea?

Yes, practicing mindfulness can be a bad idea. When one practices mindfulness, he opens his eyes and comes to see more and more things that were previously unnoticed. That is the reason why beginners ...
Tenzin Dorje's user avatar
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6 votes

Breath mediation during daily acvities

Mindfulness and Awareness is not a concept only to be practiced during Meditation. Practicing Mindfulness and Awareness during the day, with Parents, Teachers, Customers ... and all other Beeings is a ...
Louis's user avatar
  • 469
6 votes

How does one practice mindfulness during thinking - e.g. thinking about how to solve a problem?

'Mindfulness' ('sati') is not 'observing' ('anupassi'). This common idea is a misunderstanding. 'Mindfulness' ('sati') is 'remembering' or 'keeping in mind'. For example, in formal meditation/...
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
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6 votes

How to improve mindfulness of thinking?

My understanding is the 3rd frame of reference (cittanupassana) does not involve observing thoughts (vitakka). It involves knowing whether the mind-heart (citta) is defiled or not. Defilements (kilesa)...
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
  • 40.5k
6 votes

Why does my mind naturally wander?

Every life form is born in the world due to craving. Within life forms, there are seeds, such as sperm cells, which are propelled by craving. Parents of children engage in sexual intercourse & ...
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
  • 40.5k
6 votes

Is there any benefit in abstaining from listening songs?

If you stop listening to songs, eventualy the odds of fragments of song poping in the mind would shrink, but is that realy what you are looking for ? A better way to approach this would be to let go ...
abernard's user avatar
  • 607
6 votes
Accepted

Is Mindfulness the Opposite of Multitasking?

Mindfulness(Sati) and one-pointedness(Samadhi) are 2 different things. Technically speaking, the mind cannot take multiple objects at once. So there is no such thing as multitasking with the mind. You ...
Sankha Kulathantille's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Mindfulness of Watching Youtube

The technology/internet makes things more complex, makes the mind more active. Youtube, Facebook, Twitter other social media platforms or other internet sites etc.(and now with digital things people ...
Murathan1's user avatar
  • 1,058
6 votes

Buddho : The one who knows which is above the mind? A Dhammatalk by Ajahn Chah

The key idea here is not whether there is "someone" who is above the mind. The key point is that it is possible to go beyond mind or above mind. We are so caught up in the experience created by the ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
  • 58.3k
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? ...
StillJustJames's user avatar
5 votes

Discernment vs. judgement in the labeling meditation

I guess the big difference between mentally noting vs judging what you are experiencing is the degree of objectivity. Noting helps you to perceive your experiences with clarity, which should in turn ...
Ian's user avatar
  • 2,651

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