Given the wide variety of possible solutions from keyboard firmware to operating system specific solutions, I'd like to leave the question wide open in order to discover which solutions are actually most commonly used by people who have this need in 2021. I am personally most interested in solutions that work for the macOS and Linux operating systems. Although iOS and Android solutions are also of interest to me.

This is the version I am referring to: > Thus shall ye think of this fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble > in a stream; A flash of lightning in a summer cloud; A flickering > lamp, a phantom, and a dream.

I'm searching for this Jataka where a monk is brought by The Buddha to heaven, and then to hell, where the monk sees a vacant place(?) in hell and asks a hell officer about it. The hell officer answered that he was waiting for a heaven inhabitants who will reborn in hell. Hearing that, he monk was shocked and trained harder to be free from the samsara. Maybe anyone here knows about that Jataka? Thank you

When I first started meditating, the body scan phase confused me. For a long time, I imagined the shape of a body in front of me in the distance, and scanned down through it. More recently I’ve realised that you get much more out of it by scanning through the feeling of my own body “in place” — but I still sometimes get muddled about which perspective I am “seeing” or “experiencing” parts of the body *from*. I’ve had the same challenge with the visualisation of the white pinprick at the solar plexus. Sometimes I wonder whether I should be looking “down” from my eyes, through my neck and into my chest… or if my “eyes” should themselves move to the chest … or… something else? At the moment I am practicing with the visualisation of the red pearl / red lotus at the throat chakra, as recommended in the book *Dream Yoga* by Andrew Holocek. The same puzzle keeps coming up! Where should this shape be relative to my mind’s eye? What angle relative to my spine in three dimensions should it be in, where should the “camera” of my mind be in relation to it, and what should the resulting image actually look like? How should the feelings of my body relate spatially to this shape? Here’s another example, a simple description of a visualisation from this blog entry that puzzles me: > Picture the energy of your root chakra as a ball of ruby light centered on the base of your spine. With each breath, see this ball becoming larger. In this example, should I be “seeing” my body in front of me, like watching a mirror, so that I can look at the base of my spine? Or should I be feeling the base of “my” spine where I know it to be? In which case, “where” is the “ruby light”? My eyes can’t see the base of my spine when they are looking roughly ahead with eyelids closed. I feel *very* confused, especially as I have managed to feel very “in” the breath and body at this point in my practice, but visualisation always humbles me. I’d welcome any guidance about this, including simple steps and theoretical underpinnings. Am I somehow too attached to the position and perspective of the eyes in my head and, if so, how would you loosen that and what replaces it? Is this a known challenge of body visualisation? Nobody seems to talk about “where” in experience a visualisation should emerge. It’s a bit disheartening.

In the Simsapa Sutta the Buddha said; > "In the same way, monks, those things that I have known with direct > knowledge but have not taught are far more numerous [than what I have > taught]. I would take the meaning that there were many things that the Buddha did not talk about because they were not important for leading the holy life towards Nirvana. But then in the Maha-Parinabbana Sutta , the Buddha says; > ...I have preached the truth without making any distinction between > exoteric and esoteric doctrine: for in respect of the truths, Ānanda, > ***the Tathāgata has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher, who keeps some things back***... I would take this to mean that the Buddha says that He has not kept anything untold or unsaid...that, he has said everything that there was to tell to the monks. Why is there a seeming contradiction in these two suttas. Did the Buddha told everything or not...or I am misunderstanding something?

Mappō (a.k.a mòfǎ, mạt pháp) is a term used by the majority of Mahayana Buddhism branches in East and Southeast Asia. It was mentioned in the Mahayana Mahaparinirvaṇa Sutra, signalling the declination of Buddhism and corruption of society as a whole. The sutra painted a grim picture of Buddhism's future, where monks violate the precepts and preach a perverted version of the Buddha's teaching. Most of the times where this concept is mentioned, it is to achieve political purposes, e.g to gain legitimacy by demonising other people or sects. This has happened since more than a thousand years ago, in ancient China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and is still going on. Personally, I found the concept and its details unhelpful since it gives practitioners (especially beginners) the feeling that the world is falling apart. I'd like know why such description is necessary for Buddhists to know, and what is the optimal way to address it?

As I see and learn there are typically two different positions of palms and hand that I see people meditating in. One is keeping the palms turned up and kept on knees like this picture; which is a classic yoga pose and the other way is to keep the palms in your lap with thumb tips touching each other, like this; the classic zen pose. When I meditate I keep on changing between these two, as I feel comfortable. The two poses yield different mindfulness for me. I think, most of the Buddhist meditate like the second pose, but the first one also yields better meditative awareness. I want to ask are there any instructions in the suttas about this. Is there a Buddhist pose and Non-Buddhist pose?

When your mind is wandering during Anapana, you may use "Hard Breath" (intentional breath). What is the Pali word for this technique? What is the Pali text explaining this "hard breath" technique? This is a major technique we are taught in a 10-day Vipassana course taught by S.N.Goenka. There are several rules to use this intentional breath but we are advised to minimize the number of intentional breaths if it's not necessary.

I remember hearing that on one, two, or maybe more occasions the Buddha attempted pretty much unsuccessfully to intervene in war or battle. Maybe one had to do with fighting over water rights. I also remember arrows being transmuted into flowers, but unsure if this is related.

In advaita vedanta, consciousness is the self. Consciousness has 2 modes: it can be pure consciousness, and it is described as "being aware of being aware" or the "I that I am knows that I am"; while the other mode of consciousness is consciousness entangled in objects, like feelings and thoughts. Is pure consciousness, or being aware of being aware, the same as what the Buddha called the "unconditioned"? Or is the unconditioned the cessation of consciousness, as Buddhism sees consciousness as impermanent and not self? They said if consciousness was not aware of itself, none of us would know that we are aware. I have this problem, my friend had the same, so we wanted to ask you if you could help us out.

Every Buddhism believe in Eternity or Samsara . So, how can I imagine of **Samsara**?. What is the starting of it ? Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

I saw an article on the Internet about the fact that Buddhism is compared to solipsism or nihilism. In particular, they talked about Japanese and Chinese Buddhism, since the teachings of Yogacara are present there. On this I want to ask questions about these schools. My questions: 1. Do the schools of Buddhism Soto, Rinzai, Jodo-shu, Jodo Shinshu, Nichiren, Shingon in Japan teach Buddhists, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas any varieties of solipsism and any varieties of nihilism? 2. Do the schools of Buddhism Chan, Pure Land in China teach Buddhists, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas any varieties of solipsism and any varieties of nihilism?

In his book "Tibetan Buddhism from the ground up", Alan Wallace describes a part of the (human) rebirth process as follows: >"In [this vision] one sees (...) [the parents-to-be] in the act of sexual intercourse (...) and the bardo being is lustfully drawn to this event. Moreover, Buddhism says, this lust is directed toward the parent of the opposite sex of that being which is about to be conceived." I have some questions about this: - Is this the usual Buddhist view? If yes: What's the original source? - Do I understand it correctly that "lustfully drawn to" means sexual attraction? - If heterosexual attraction is a fundamental part of the human rebirth, how is this process supposed to work for homo- or asexual people?

I read here that on the night before the dawn of Buddhas Nirvana, the Buddha made a resolve that; > ‘I shall sit under this tree and meditate upon my questions. And I > shall not move until I have my answers. Even if my skin rots and my > body decays, I shall not budge till I see the light,’ he decided. Does this resolve go against the middle path that there should not be extreme asceticism and indulgence? I mean if He was not going to get up until He attained enlightenment then wasn't it extreme of asceticism.

Anki , is by far the most popular "spaced repetition tool" to enable long term retention of learned material in 2021. It does so using a scheduling algorithm which prompts the user to recall a piece of information at the time of optimal "desirable difficulty." Example: YouTube: Guide to Anki Intervals and Learning Steps In this fashion, it enables large amounts of information to be memorized (e.g. Pali language, Buddhist lists, Suttas, etc) with the optimal return on investment of time and energy. One advantage to having this information committed to memory, as the monks of 2500 years ago did, is that it can be instantly recalled and used in reasoning. In this fashion, memorization creates the conditions whereby deeper insights into the truth of existence can be extracted more quickly. I have a strong intuition that this might be part of the reason why arahats were more common at the time of the Buddha than they seem to be today. For this reason, I strongly suspect that spaced repetition practice would be helpful for those intent on mastering the skill of nibbana. I know that many Buddhists use this tool and that many shared decks exist. However, I have not been able to find any listing of Anki decks for Buddhism thus far. Where are the most common places to find Pali/Buddhism Anki decks in 2021?

I've heard of Vastu shastra, but what kind of dwellings are conducive to Buddhist practice and living and why?

It seems a significant and overlooked contribution of the Buddha, his redefining of various terms of his day into definitions more conducive to the ending of greed, ill-will and delusion/ignorance. What are (all) these redefined terms (if not listed elsewhere)?

From Wikipedia's Sutta Pitaka's list of ten fetters : > The Pali canon's Sutta Pitaka identifies ten "fetters of **becoming**". > > 1. sakkāya-diṭṭhi > 2. vicikicchā > 3. sīlabbata-parāmāsa > 4. kāmacchando > 5. vyāpādo > 6. rūparāgo > 7. arūparāgo > 8. māna > 9. uddhacca > 10. **avijjā** My best *guess* is that "becoming", in this context, has the same meaning that it does in the context of pratītyasamutpāda . > 1. **avijjā** > 2. sankhara > 3. viññana > 4. nama-rupa > 5. salayatana > 6. phassa > 7. vedana > 8. tanha > 9. upadana > 10. **bhava** 11. jati > 12. jarāmaraṇa Notice that **avijjā** is both (1) the last of the 10 fetters and (2) the first of 12 links of the dependent origination of suffering, This suggests that cutting the last "fetter of becoming" results in the dependent condition which gives rise and sustains the entire cycle of suffering to cease. Therefore, an understanding of avijjā and bhava and their inter-relationship will be of interest to many. Gil Fronsdal describes the first 9 steps of dependent of origination (preceding "bhava/becoming") thusly > 1: avijja: ignorance; the choice to ignore / avoid discomfort > 2: sankhara: intention > 3: viññana: attention > 4: nama-rupa: mobilization of "body and mind" in the direction of the attention > 5: salayatana: mobilization of the "6 senses" in the direction of the attention > 6: phassa: contact > 7: vedana: feeling tone > 8: tanha: craving > 9: upadana: clinging Source: 2009-06-21: Gil Fronsdal: Dependent Origination Notice that the choice to ignore / avoid the source of the discomfort conditions / shapes / influences our choice of intention. Our choice of intention, in turn, conditions / shapes / influences our choice of attention. Our choice of attention, in turn, conditions / shapes / influences how we are compelled to move in the world including our choice to believe that happiness depends upon the satiation of THIS desire for the THIS sensory experience. Our choice of what we cling to (updana), in turn, conditions / shapes / influences becoming (bhava) by creating the conditions for the formation of an identity capable of attaining the craved sensory experience to which we are clinging. For example, the pain of the perception of rejection might compel the formation of an identity to prove to ourselves that we are worthy of attaining the object of our desire. So the **meaning of becoming (bhava)**, in this context, is something like > *moving/acting with the aim/intention > to create the conditions whereby > our clinging to a craved sensory experience > can be satiated.* With regard to the last 3 steps of dependent of origination, quoting the comments under this answer : > “When there is acquisition, aging-and-death comes to be; when there is > no acquisition, aging-and-death does not come to be ... So long as > the choice to pursue the sense-desire via becoming and birth is > rewarded with acquisition, ignorance [AKA "avoidance"] is rewarded, clinging to “wrong > view” is rewarded and we remain trapped in the cycle of suffering. > > Only when the unskillful choice of ignorance [AKA "avoidance"] is not rewarded by > acquisition does the mind feel forced to search for an alternative way > to alleviate the suffering. Only then will it feel compelled to think > more deeply about its unskillful choice to ignore the discomfort which > is feedback to be investigated for insight. An insight the mind > desperately needs to find to break the cycle of suffering." Gil also suggests that jaramarana (aging & death) is short for "aging, death, sorrow, lamentation and despair". Source: 2009-06-21: Gil Fronsdal: Dependent Origination This suggests that even if we attain that which we were clinging to, new rejections will arise to fuel the fires of greed, hatred and delusion and hints and that the subjugation of conceit (mana) is not only necessary to end the cycle of suffering, it is in direct opposition to becoming (bhava) which seeks to strengthen the identity to attain the craved for sensory experience which is being clung to. **What is avijjā?** In this context and considering that **avijjā** is both (1) the last of the 10 fetters and (2) the first of 12 links of the dependent origination of suffering, understanding the meaning of avijjā is crucially important. Being consumed by "sorrow, lamentation and despair" is compelling us to "ignore/avoid" something important and it is THIS choice to ignore/avoid which sustains the entire cycle of suffering. Therefore, if the aim is to end suffering, understanding exactly what is being ignored/avoided is of some importance. **So what exactly are we choosing to ignore/avoid?** From neuroscience we know that ... The sensory-motor brain evolved because it enabled beings to respond to sensory experiences with moves that improved the probability of gene survival. It does so by constructing and continually refining a sensory-motor predictive model of the world to guide movement. It does this by "knowing and seeing". Whereby "knowing" is making moves in the world as if the model were 100% correct and "seeing" is verifying if the sensory experience predicted by the model is (1) correct or (2) a misprediction. In the event of a "misprediction", beings respond by ruminating to discover the error in the predictive model (insight), reformulating the predictive model to improve its predictive power. i.e. Greater understanding (panna) enables us to move through the world with greater equanimity (uppekha) because our predictive model is constantly improving to make better predictions. The problem is that mispredictions are accompanied with varying intensities of pain. The biological purpose of "pain" is to provide the sensory motor brain with strong feedback that its predictive model of the world is incorrect and to keep the attention focused on the sensory experience until the source of the error in the predictive model has been discovered and corrected. But the problem is, if the intensity of this pain (first arrow) exceeds our ability to hold it in spacious non-judgmental awareness and investigate it for insight, we will feel a compulsion to ignore it; to avoid investigating it; to leave the error in the predictive model unfixed; in favor of the pursuit of sense-desires. The entirety of the dharma is oriented towards correcting this single unskillful decision by training the mind to turn towards the suffering and to search for the insight which leads to the correction in the sensory-motor predictive model of the world. In this context, becoming (bhava) should be corrected. This would explain why it is one of the 4 āsavas: > 1: kāmāsava > 2: **bhavāsava** 3: diṭṭhāsava > 4: avijjāsava https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asava But this is only a strong intuition. I lack certainty in this meaning. If you possess insight that can contribute to a stronger understanding, please provide commentary.

There are the four noble truths and we know who and how he found and taught them. There are philosophical questions like where did the first Karma come from and so on, that are not quite conceivable to us beings. But out of curiosity I came upon another question and I don't know if there is an answer to it. Every being is born and feels pain and acts on it and more or less identifies with it at least in the way of "I am the one who feels pain". And by feeling, perceiving and thinking it learns the ways of the world and how to sustain itself until it dies. If this is the way the world is turning on and on how come there is a way to realize this and be free of it? If everybody is more or less caught up in it from birth how can one use this life to realize it is "fake"?

Been meditating for some years, been doing most anapana & also a bit of Goenka-vipassana. Have had certain experiences, samadhi states and jhana (although I'm still far from being able to stabilize and consistently maintain them). In recent years, certain things transpired in my life such that I began a daily mantra practice. I now practice the mantra but I wonder if theres a point to it if I can already attain to samadhi states via anapana. I've heard conflicting views regarding this; some say that mantra is just a way to concentrate the mind, and once you get samadhi you don't really need the mantra anymore. Others say mantra grant specific worldly benefits which make your practice in this human life more efficient, depending on the root deity/mantra being chanted. **Is there a value to mantra chanting over breath meditation?** If my goal is to go towards liberation (or at least stream entry) as a layperson.