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There is a lovely zen saying, a dialogue between new student and master:
"Master, if I put in great effort every day to attain awakening, how long will it take?"
The master replies, "20 years."
"What if I work really really hard?"
The master replies, "40 years."
Wanting enlightenment is paradoxical, because enlightenment is the absence of defilement, ...
23
What are the key aspects of Vipassana that are not present in Samatha?
samatha means tranquility - it is a necessary aspect of any wholesome meditative practice.
vipassana means seeing clearly or in a special way - it is a quality specific to Buddhist meditative practice.
Meditation for the purpose of seeing clearly requires one to focus on ultimate ...
20
The orthodox view is that samatha meditation was not discovered by the Buddha and vipassana meditation was.
On the origins of samatha meditation:
Besides the fact that other teachers at the time of the Buddha and before were practicing what appears to be samatha and jhana, we have the fact that the Bodhisatta went into the first jhana as a young boy, and ...
19
A simple explanation is, the goal of Shamatha is to calm down, while the goal of Vipassana is to see.
So in Samatha there is more effort, more conflict. Especially in the beginning, you are fighting with yourself, wrestling with your mind, training the monkey, taming the elephant and so on. Those brief intervals when the mind is exhausted from fighting ...
15
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 mentioning the Jhanas, you will see that the overall progression is to first learn to pacify the mind at will, then learn to gladden the mind at will, then develop ...
13
I second Andrei's Answer, but would like to expand, because the mechanics of both samatha or vipassana seem to differ as well.
With samatha you can use conceptual meditation objects like colours, the amount and length of breaths, the qualities of a Buddha etc. These objects tend to be stable and therefore calm the mind and develop concentration. As I ...
12
First of all, I think your question has gotten worse at explaining your condition through your edits (sorry!).
In Theravada Buddhism, and really I think I speak for all of Buddhism when I say, the object is to understand reality as it is. This means you actually have to understand the experience before you can "fix" it. Actually, it means once you ...
12
The Buddha himself gave the answer in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta—The Greater Discourse on Steadfast Mindfulness or the Great Discourse on the Establishing Awareness (DN22):
"Indeed, bhikkhus, whosoever practises these four satipatthanas in this manner for seven years, one of two results is to be expected in
him: Arahatship in this very existence,...
11
Geez, ya'll are crazy. 30 minutes?
I'd say WORK up to that maybe after a few months of practice but in the beginning it is best to LIKE MEDITATION and do PRACTICE PROPERLY rather than just loiter around and try to sit tight for 30 minutes thinking about Jane and Bob.
I have had 3-5 minute sessions where you would NOT believe how much baggage I dropped and ...
11
Call me an over-enthusiast but presently, the highest priority in my life is to achieve the object of Nirvana or moksha.
This is good! You need enthusiasm to stay motivated in your practice.You also have a sense of urgency which will help you progress.
By performing Vipassana, I want to achieve Nirvana and in this lifetime only. I'm prepared to do anything ...
11
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 actually approach same thing from slightly different angle, and you see how they try to explain something that is hard to explain in words, and emphasize what ...
10
Follow the following basic steps in integrate meditation to daily life:
Pay attention to fabrication and how they are created, i.e., when you react to sensations. Train to be equanimous to sensations. Understand the cause and effect with relation to what causes misery. Understand that to the reaction to sensations cause new fabrications. Actively clam the ...
answered Dec 17 '14 at 7:17
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
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10
The Buddha did in fact teach just this practice:
Bhikkhus, you should train thus: ‘We will be devoted to wakefulness. During the day, while walking back and forth and sitting, we will purify our minds of obstructive states. In the first watch of the night, while walking back and forth and sitting, we will purify our minds of obstructive states. In the ...
9
According to my understanding you can learn and start meditation (Samatha or Vipassana) using books and online videos. Of course there are some meditation practices which will be better to learn with a real teacher. Apart form that specially when you have any practical questions or troubles with the meditation or the practice, it is really helpful to get ...
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You should use the 5 faculties and 5 powers to balance you mind to dispel some the niwarana.
When restless this is because your have become too energetic but lacking in concentration. Best is to do Anapana to increase concentration
When sleepy this is because you have high concentration but lack energy best is to practice Satipatthana, or instruction in ...
answered Sep 12 '14 at 18:33
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
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9
Samatha is for calm, vipassana is for insight. But please don't get obsessed with separating the two. One is not better than the other. Right Mindfulness (for insight) and Right Concentration (for firmness of mind) both share the same objects and both fall under the path factor of Samadhi. In accordance with the Dhammawheel symbol, both lead to Right View ...
9
Vipassana is a compound of two words: vi - and passana. Vi means various, i.e. the three characteristics (transiency, unsatisfactoriness, non self). Passana means right understanding or realization by means of mindfulness of mentality and physicality. Vipassana therefore means the direct realisation of the three characteristics of mentality and physicality.
...
8
I will try to answer from my point of view as a Vajrayana practitioner.
I've been taught that one needs to have a relatively stable mind in order to practice insight meditation. But this doesn't mean that one has to spend years in Samatha meditation before trying Vipassana.
In Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition too much tranquility and so-called 'inert ...
8
I don't think you are alone in this. Susan Blakemore in her excellent book Zen and the Art of Consciousness describes almost this exact situation. She paid attention in her everyday life just as you have done and found it very illuminating. However after two weeks of this she reach a point when she couldn't cross the road. She was paralysed as you were. She ...
8
There are multiple stages of insight before you reach stream entry. Then there are the 4 stages of sainthood which follows which you can judge of the fetters and defilements that remain.
Taking Dependent Origination into account the main issue leading to the conditioned existence is when we sense any sensations due to, we react with with like or dislike ...
answered Sep 12 '14 at 11:09
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
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8
Things can go wrong in meditation. Some of the are as follows:
If you are not equanimous, i.e., you are reacting to different situation thus creating negativity. This can accumulate to an extent this might be very dangerous.
The basis of your meditation is greed, hatred or delusion. There are some techniques where the basis is this hence can easily go wrong....
answered Sep 25 '14 at 3:51
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
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8
I'm guessing it sounded better in the original Burmese. "Imagining" seems more reasonable than "meeting", since the latter is not real. On the other hand, it is not so important whether the experience is "real", but that the experience is occurring, so it could potentially be beneficial to remind yourself of what is going on in your head as "meeting". Still,...
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Since you are asking from a specific tradition, I can give a pretty specific answer:
Is this feeling expected at any meditation stage ?
Yes, it is expected at the stage of bhaṅga-ñāṇa (knowledge of dissolution). Though generally available texts don't mention this phenomenon, teacher manuals make reference to it. Here is the general state that leads to this ...
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While different traditions might emphasize one over the other, they all need a certain level of development for both:
"These two qualities have a share in clear knowing. Which two? Tranquillity (samatha) & insight (vipassana).
"When tranquillity is developed, what purpose does it serve? The mind is developed. And when the mind is developed, what ...
8
Dry insight or bare insight (suddha-vipassana) is the 'direct' way (Pali: ekayano maggo) to insight (nibbana), without jhana meditation practice (i.e. without 'upacara samadhi' or 'appana samadhi').
This direct 'momentary concentration' is called in Pali parikamma samadhi. This is the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw; U Ba Khin and S.N. Goenka and others. The ...
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