Most theologies give no perspective on persons who are in "locked-in syndrome", minimal conscious states and persistent vegetative syndrome. Due to my own experiences I've pondered and explored but i would like to know your opinions on a modern age problem, where people survive more traumatic incidents on the body but show no or minimal reaction to their environment, this state is life or death seems almost like a modern to pheonomna but has the topic actually been covered before in the history of Buddhism? If so, which sources please.

If I am not wrong ,Buddhism denies God. But I am not sure what is the kind of God which Buddha denied ? My question is : According to Buddhism what is God ? ( Any scriptural reference would be great.)

If this was bone-obvious to everyone else, then silly me, but I just thought of it because I heard these two words separately long ago and connected them while answering another question... **Are "the Observer" and the process of being Mindful, in essence the same thing? Does one involve the other inherently?** I have used them differently and never connected them before, because I thought: 1. *The Observer* is a developed system within "me" (which is a collection of points of view of varying levels of awareness) and not everyone has an Observer or is aware of it all the time. 2. *Mindfulness* is something I *do* and is not the activity of another point of view within "me". But, trying to be mindful when I have only one point of view is not very possible, and who would be mindful, other than the Observer? Finally: is transcending the Observer (and the need for Mindfulness) the same as Nonduality? I think it is. (Don't worry about answering this question, it is just an idea.) **EDIT:** My Healing Teacher said that I have to get people to "define their terms", so here are my definitions: **The Observer** is the *experience* of being aware of myself. It feels like I am witnessing my own thoughts and actions. **Mindfulness** is the *process* of being aware of what I am doing. (To me, this does not require an Observer, but that is what I am asking.) **"Being aware of myself"** means... Well, that I know what I am doing right now. Different from the other two. **A Mind** - is something that *could do otherwise*, it exercises choice on some level. **Awareness** is the action of a sufficiently developed mind. **Consciousness** is awareness of being a self. **A Self** is something that knows it is a self, and that other selves know, etc. (Don't even get me started on the idea of Mind*full*ness being a way to *empty* the mind!) Has this made it any clearer what I am asking? Please try to use words such as these for an answer, supplementing with the appropriate Buddhist terms. **ADDITION:** here are some links which I hope can help people understand what I am asking: 1. This RYUC one is a bit of a muddle, but the Observer corresponds with what I am asking about, and also is similar to what I call a Neo state. The Witness is more like how I would describe nonduality. 2. This one about Energy Healing says that "In Buddhism, developing the witness/observer is a foundational piece of their teachings." Ha! 3. In this one , they use the words observer and witness interchangeably.

Envy is an explicitly unwholesome mind-state, according to Buddhist doctrine. Unfortunately I am experiencing strong envy lately. Can somebody please provide any and all resources to help understand and eliminate envious feelings?

In Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond , Ajahn Brahm writes - > The Buddha taught two types of satipaṭṭhāna. The **first type is supported by jhāna** and leads to enlightenment in a short time. Which satipaṭṭhāna is the **first type**, and where can it be found ? (By "two types" does he mean the two versions DN 22 and MN 10?) Please reference both types and specify which is the "first type".

Walking meditation : http://www.meditationoasis.com/how-to-meditate/simple-meditations/walking-meditation/ is considered as "just as profound as sitting meditation". If we were to extrapolate this idea into a situation where instead of walking you were on a bike, would an expert's opinion consider this meditating on the bike at the gym an effective practice of meditation?

I don't breath appropriately. Most of the time i hold my breath its like I'm tensed. When i was a child i started doing this when i was near people but today (40 years old) i hold my breath all the time even when i walk. When i am sleeping i breath appropriately. I have developed a lot of problems like Photophobia and Phonophobia . Is there any exercise that can make me breath appropriately?

Did the Buddha teach that a self or soul (whether permanent and fixed or impermanent and changing) cannot be found, did he teach that it cannot exist, or what?

The No true Scotsman fallacy is a rhetorical trick to avert criticism of a generalization by appealing to the impurity of counterexamples i.e., "no *true* Scotsman would do such a thing!" My question is whether or not a true Buddhist would ever appeal to such a juvenile rhetorical trick? I'm thinking that no true Buddhist would ever do this as I'm sure the Buddha would not have approved of such illogical argumentation. What's the community think?

This question may look like a copy of this question , but I am asking in a broader sense including age limit. The historical reference of a person attaining Nibbana in oldest age is Joshu , apparently, he became enlightened at the age of 80 and then settled down to become a master. But he looks like some kind of exception. Gotama Buddha attained Nibbana in His 30's, from scriptures all the others seem to be between 30's to 40's nobody is told to be very old. Neither was Bodhidharma, Zen patriarchs, Tibetan masters like Milarepa, Marpa all seem to be somewhere in 30's or 40's during their Nibbana, based on what all things they did after that. So, I am asking is there any biological limitation, age limitation, for Nibbana?

As I was meditating this morning I asked myself the question, "If I am destroyed would the universe also be destroyed?". I answered, "No." Then I asked, "If the universe was destroyed, would I be destroyed?" I answered, "Yes." My question: how are I and the universe one in the same if I depend upon it, but it does not depend on me? Disclaimer: I am completely new to Buddhism (less than 5 months of practice)

Somewhere I thought it was said that the practice of harmlessness was praised by the Buddha as the greatest form of generosity. (I don't remember where I read this.) Has anything like this been said in the Buddha's teachings or in any Buddhist texts?

The Bhaya Bherava Sutta (MN4) states the following: > ...I stayed in the sort of places that are awe-inspiring and make your hair stand on end, such as park-shrines, forest-shrines, & tree-shrines. And while I was staying there a wild animal would come, or a peacock would make a twig fall, or wind would rustle the fallen leaves. The thought would occur to me: 'Is this that fear & terror coming?' Then the thought occurred to me: 'Why do I just keep waiting for fear? > > What if I, in whatever state I'm in when fear & terror come to me, > were to subdue that fear & terror in that very state?' So when fear & > terror came to me while I was walking back & forth, I would not stand > or sit or lie down. I would keep walking back & forth until I had > subdued that fear & terror. When fear & terror came to me while I was > standing, I would not walk or sit or lie down. I would keep standing > until I had subdued that fear & terror. When fear & terror came to me > while I was sitting, I would not lie down or stand up or walk. I would > keep sitting until I had subdued that fear & terror. When fear & > terror came to me while I was lying down, I would not sit up or stand > or walk. I would keep lying down until I had subdued that fear & > terror. However, it does not say how the Buddha subdued the fear and terror while standing, sitting, etc. How could a practitioner understand and use this method?

Can someone explain to me this phenomenon that has happened to me? I am not a serious Buddhist practitioner. I used to do mindfulness practice daily (20–30 min on 90% of days), just observing normal breaths or maybe counting the breath. Last night I didn't get proper sleep so I just started observing my thoughts. Images started appearing and disappearing and also voices (as if I were talking or someone else was). Whatever we call reasoning is again a sequence of images and voices. The **'I'** existed in the images and in the voices (as in *I did this, I have this work, I had headache...*, something like that) and, at the same time, the **'I'** did not exist and everything was just a sequence of thoughts (voice or image). As a consequence, any egoistical thing like a superiority complex or that kind of thing made no sense – but this whole experience lasted roughly for 3–5 mins. I am slightly hesitant to use word **I** this morning but yet somewhat comfortable. Can someone explain this phenomenon to me?

I know this is a big letter but it is important. Would really appreciate your help. My spiritual path very much goes along with my career. I knew since my school days that I never wanted to be part of the herd. I never took an interest in studies. I recall one day – it was an exam day. I did not complete my answer sheet only because I was busy watching a bird through the window. It felt more important to me. I spent most of my time wandering in Babul Jungle near our house along with my dog. I used to get beatings from my teachers everyday, sometimes so vigorous that the bruises lasted for weeks with pain. Now I look back and feel the suffering my teachers were going through. After such violence, they were to stand up and teach Gandhi’s nonviolence and the laws of physics. My parents told me to at least complete my tenth year. I also had keen interest in drawing and painting. I wished I could do nothing but just paint in nature, but to survive in this society we need to have a source of income so decided to make my hobbies my career. Hence, after my school, I left the house and went to learn drawing for animation with a teacher in Pune. It was fun – we were only 9 students who were taught drawing for three years. While I was studying I also started to work: there were only 600 animators in India as the field was new to the country. Anyways, after finishing the studies in Pune and after that in Mumbai, I went back to Baramati where I established a studio. I had only one employee at that time, but on our first day of work I found a book by Osho in Hindi on his desk. My only employee was a seeker. I was impressed by the thoughts of Osho about society and spirituality etc. After reading many books after that in the years that followed he became my go-to place to find answers. Once I read that “Questions will lead to answers and answers to new questions”. I was left with a question mark: then what is suppose to be done? I figured out that Osho is pointing towards meditation. I had never done meditation before in my life.   One of my friends suggested I should do Vipassana, so I went to do 10 days' meditation in Goenka’s Vipassana centre in Gorai, Mumbai. The noble silence for 10 days and peeping inside myself revealed many things. The most important as Osho said was “Knowledge is the most deceiving thing”. I came to know why he said so. It was a hurdle between me and silence. The overwhelming Himalaya of thoughts did not seem to melt, no matter how long I watch. I also went to the Osho Ashram to see if I could try some other forms of meditations, but i was denied admission there. (I don’t know why.) Then I tried some meditations like Naadbrahma and Sufi whirling, from the internet. Work became more stressful. I needed to work without sleeping for two or three days to deliver on deadline, and so it also affected my meditation. I used to take out time however – an hour whenever possible. But it was done like work too, doing something. I literally went mad. Needed psychiatric help (lol). But this was the time when I had to take break from everything. I realised why I started this journey and why I had made my hobby a career: Only because I could drop this someday and do what I like. I decided to drop everything, to end this quest of becoming something I never signed for. Even in meditation I was doing something. Watching this, watching that. Fortunately, I did some financial investment which allowed me to finally stop working.   I went to back to nature: Started spending time in Sahyadri to drop all this gathering of knowledge, this quest to become someone and somebody, proving and trying to please others against my own nature, stopped planning things for the future, forgetting the past to be present in the present. **Meditation**: I just started to sit, sleep, and relax. Not to meditate on something, for something. Thoughts about career were gone long back. And after 1 year passed, something beautiful happened: “Nothing happened”. I was thoughtless for a moment. I just followed to be alert, just alert and witness. It came into my day to day activities, like walking and washing and so on. I now started to sit in meditation and it is enjoyment, effortless, no more a work to be done. Thoughtlessness came more often. Even though I had active or passive thoughts, I don’t get cling to them, as I don’t cling to silence either. Just witness. Meanwhile I also experienced some intense moments. My head would be pushed back, and it felt like I was plugged to something. It usually happened mostly while listening to music. The body would curve in shape of a half-moon pose. I could feel intense strain in neck and head, but after that I used to be fine. This happened 6-7 times in two months. **Currently**: Then I came back to the town where I roamed in the jungles of Babul. Here I am more relaxed. I had the same episode last month, so I read more books, watched videos, and listened to audio books by spiritual teachers. In one of them, Moojiji explains that after these awakenings you should not try to cling to anything, even the experience itself, and sail with complete trust without leaving any chance to hold back. That that night on the 2nd of July when I slept the same intense feeling happened. I did let it go. Everything relaxed: I would say I slept awake. I was sleeping but I could see that it was sleep. The next morning I was wide awake. There was a kind of confusion. I was feeling so fresh and still not wanting to do anything, not even get out of bed. Why act? I felt like richest and poorest man at the same time. A billionaire who can’t spend, if you like. In the days that followed I had these intense experiences for like 5-6 days. Time just flies, but I am so still with now. I sit on the balcony starting at trees and hours pass by. Sometimes I don’t remember what happened this morning, but when the time is right the past experience or incidence pop up, just for a reference. Situations in which I would generally be very angry now don’t have a affect on me. When I am challenged by the situation, the alertness grows with it. I won’t say anger or irritation don’t come, but I can see it coming and not react. In fact their very doer seems to have gone somewhere. Yesterday night, a dog was dying in front of my door and I witnessed it, just like the movement of the trees. There was sensitivity, but acceptance at the same time. Everything I see seems like it's for the first time. I couldn’t recognise my body at night. **Now**: Today I feel a certain energy in my head moving towards the chest and from my guts to the chest, a constant undercurrent. I can feel lag while I walk, like the body is following me or visa versa. It seems like my mind is far away, like you can see a monsoon cloud pouring far away on a plains. I also spoke to my childhood friend who is also a seeker and a better reader than me. He told me to write to you to find pointers of what's next. This is the best what I can put the experience in words right now. **The question**: What do I do? Do I stay witness? or do something? Thank you very much.

Could someone give me a breakdown of the form of Buddhism likely to be represented by Vietnamese and Cambodian? We have six Buddhist churches/Organizations near us and I've contacted them but because of a communications barrier I am unable to determine what form three of them are. There are two Vietnamese called Phuoc Vien & Tu Vien Hong Duc - and another one representing Cambodia just called a Buddhist Society. Thanks. :D

What happens to the five skandhas of a particular person after death? 1. Do they stay together, and cause birth of a one specific person (which can be called rebirth), or do they separate? 2. If they separate, do they separate just into 5, or does each aggregate split into smaller parts? 3. If they separate, do they cause births of many different persons? I'm interested in answers from many traditions, with references to relevant sources (scriptures, books, articles). EDIT: I didn't get unambiguous answers to my questions, but what Suminda and Prahlad write seems to suggest that all the aggregates arise and pass all the time, but when we look at them at a higher level, we can conclude that four of the aggregates (sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness) stay together and cause a new birth of one specific person, while the remaining aggregate (rūpa, matter) separates and splits into parts. **Can anyone confirm/disconfirm this?** EDIT 2: I was asked to specify what is exactly meant by "overall structure of the aggregates remain intact", when we know that the aggregates arise and pass all the time. What I mean is the continuity of the illusion called "self". I have the illusion that I'm the same person as a moment ago, even though my body, my feelings, etc. have changed. Does this illusion continue after death? **According to Buddhist doctrines, is there an illusion of the continuity of consciousness? Of the continuity of feelings? Of the continuity of the body?** I watched [Yuttadhammo's video about rebirth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxCEi4cQBA0) and understood that Buddhists believe in perceived continuity of the consciousness after death. Is this a canonical opinion that can be concluded from Buddhist scriptures? How about the continuity of other aggregates?

Often I hear above mentioned phrase in regards to sex, music, entertainment and basically everything else that is or seems important. Now the question is: Do we really have control whether we get attached to something or not? Isn't a little attachment good, i.e., attachment to the Dhamma or the five precepts in order to elicit faith and confidence? Regards

I'm often interested in the history of Buddhist texts and, being a Theravadan, I'm not very familiar with the Mahayana texts. Please help to educate me in this manner.

Could you try to formulate an answer to the above question, in line with the Pali Canon, using simple colloquial language, for someone who doesn't yet know Buddhist terminology? I'm asking because I want to try to explain this to a loved one For a run-of-the-mill sort of person, life would take the path of least resistance and indulgence in sense pleasures is what is long sought. It is the path of least resistance, the downward path or ‘Anusothagami’ while the traveler of this road less traveled is climbing in the opposite direction to the flow or ‘Patisothagami’. How can one get such a person to see this otherness?