When we come into this world, in a rebirth, how much of our situation is predetermined by our past Kamma? I think I have some understanding of the role of inherited Kamma in our personhood. But, are there teachings which indicate if our genetic makeup (good or poor) and our initial social/economic situation (born to rich or poor circumstances) are influenced by it? To ask in another way, does a person with negative Kamma have a likely-hood of being born with worse health and in poorer circumstances than one with positive? Or are these 'random' factors, uninfluenced by Kamma? Or is this an unanswerable question? I sense these are unrelated but I have not found guidance yet in this issue.

why is it mentioned in the pali canon that Without the direct guidance of a teacher, this practice can be dangerous, as the canon of Buddhist literature includes a story of the Buddha teaching this mediation to pupils, a lot of whom commit suicide while the Buddha is in retreat.does this mean that I being a layperson, can't perform this?moreover, how can I not develop aversion while practising this but still reap it's benefit?

In a Sutta there is a reference to imagine the body inside out, in which case you will be chasing animals from pecking at you. Also perhaps in the same Sutta or another you imagine what is beneath the skin. What are these 2 references?

Arthur Schopenhauer on his famed work titled “On the suffering of the world” relate as quoted below as to how he think Buddhism's doctrine describe how the world of suffering came into being. Are there any proper Buddhist reference to support his claims? Is in Samsara beginning-less cycle? And can there be any inexplicable disturbance in Nirvana? > According to the doctrines of Buddhism, the world came into being as > the result of some inexplicable disturbance in the heavenly calm of > Nirvana, that blessed state obtained by expiation, which had endured > so long a time — the change taking place by a kind of fatality. > > *Studies in Pessimism,On the Sufferings of the World*

Some people are more richer other others, some are more intelligent than others, some are more beautiful than others... Are all these predestined? I heard that one's karma in his/her past life affects his/her present life. So if one is not as intelligent/sucessful in the present life, can we attribute this to his/her bad karma in the past life?

In this article, **the writer of the article** claims, purports or alleges that Bhikkhu Thanissaro and Bhikkhu Bodhi state that the Buddha NEVER said that there was no self. The Buddha NEVER said that there is no soul. The views and opinions expressed in this article are contrary to many response given in this platform, for example response given for one of the most frequently vised question here is described as fatalism and NOT Buddhism. The question is, is the view presented widely accepted view in Buddhism or is it a new development?

I'm wondering about clarity within meditation. I seem to have diminished greatly the agitation I experience, but there is a degree of mental sinking, of mental tiredness which I have a hard time eliminating. This tiredness seemingly makes the meditation session a meditation on the feeling of lethargy and laxity, and I am having a really really hard time ridding myself of this dullness. I've tried antidotes of uplifting thoughts, I've tried having equanimity towards the sensations, and remaining with them. I've tried tightening the breath, focusing sensations more closely on a specific area close to the nostrils. Yet, I've not managed to rid myself of this dullness, and I wonder if I should keep meditating while it is within my mindstream. Any advice would be appreciated.

I meditate first think in the morning and every morning i have to face sloth and torpor.When i face sloth and torpor i make a mental note and i can see how is impermanent and uncontrollable and after a while it seams that i overcame it,so then when i go back to the raising and falling i can see it very clear from the beginning until the end and back again without interruptions.Then little by little thoughts and restlessness begin to disturb this clarity of mind,at this point the mind is very energetic and again i make a mental note and it passes away.Is like that there is not balance when the mind is concentrate i have to face Sloth-torpor and in the other hand and when is energetic restlessness come up. Before i was forcing to stay with the raising and falling and i began to see how aversion was coming up and i was just dealing with it,little by little i learn to don't force to much.there is not aversion anymore but seams that there is not balance.Is this just normal or i am doing something wrong? Sorry again for my english and i hope that what i write is understandable.

Yesterday one of my fiancé's friends had a heart attack at 25 due to alcoholism. She stayed with him all night. When he was discharged she was sleeping at his house because she was too tired to drive home and he made a very aggressive move on her. She ran away crying. It really hurt her, because he was a close friend and now things have gotten complicated. But for me I can't shake feelings of anger and hatred at this guy. Two days ago he was a funny, nice-enough guy who probably had a crush on my fiancé but I wasn't worried because I trust her. Now he's the guy who hit on her very forcefully. My fiancé partly wants to stay his friend. But I don't know how I can even look at this guy. I try to have compassion, remember he could've died and was in a scary place, but I think about what he did I'm filled with disgust. I don't know if he knows I know what happened. Should I talk to him? Or ask my fiancé to tell him and see if he apologises? Sometimes they work together, late at night and by themselves. I don't know how I could stand that. Please, I'll appreciate any advice you can give. I was once fairly rid of feelings of violence and anger. Now I'm not so sure.

Lord Buddha have access to unlimited knowledge, This information can be found in old Indian scriptures as well, that human body is capable to visiting to another planets with his/her Astral body (Suksham Sharir). Is there some particular way or do i need Guru for this particular thing ? Many Buddhist monk don't teach this, i am aware that Lord buddha himself have denied not to show any super powers. These Siddhi's (powers) may lead to Ego, But going in universe have always been an interesting thing for anyone.

I've read about the existence of mental lethargy, and have experienced it for myself. But, when it comes to physical lethargy, is there any meditative practice that counters it? Also, I'm saying this especially in relationship to willpower (avoiding attachment activities) and effort (practicing aversive activities). Ideally, I'm looking for the best practices to counter these things, and ultimately have more energy, willpower and effort in the day. While we're at it, can anyone give me their opinions on activities which involve attachment but which aren't necessarily so for everyone, e.g. facebook and junk food. These activities, in me, seem to create a strong attachment and consequently I'm trying to rid myself of them, but keep experiencing a failure of willpower and determination. Thanks

**SUMMARY** *(Note: I searched the group before posting and although there are several questions about habits, none are asking about this specific point. This is close, but it's not the same (and it's framed so as to allow personal opinions which I'm expressly not (here) interested in. So this is not, as far as I can see, a duplicate.)* Do the Buddhist texts say anything that could resolve the apparent tension between on the one hand the mindfulness involved in the paying attention to every passing moment that is part and parcel of a lot of meditation practice, especially Vipassana, and the useful mind*less*ness of even a good habit, whereby we train ourselves to do certain things *without* having to consciously pay attention? **DETAILS** There is a growing amount of modern writing on habits and habituation, covering both the scientific and theoretical aspects of the underlying brain correlates, and also the practical life-affecting aspects relevant to the challenge of how to form useful habits and break problematic ones (e.g. Duhigg , Babauta ). And that's not just recent material. Here's a condensed section from William James , written in 1890, dealing with that practical side. The general opinion of such writers is that (good) habits are a Good Thing, specifically because they lower the load on our limited brains by making certain decisions--Shall I floss my teeth? Shall I go out for a run? Shall I sit down to meditate? and so on--more or less automatic, and as a result let us focus our limited non-automatic "will power" where it is most needed. But the whole basis of habits seems to be the development of a kind of mind-less-ness, and that sounds fundamentally opposed to the mind-ful-ness needed for much of meditation. One possible way of resolving the apparent conflict would be to see habits as useful for establishing the boundaries that exist *between* the various activities throughout our day, but not for use *within* the activity itself. In other words, we make the act of sitting down to meditate as mindless/automatic as possible, but we then meditate mindfully. But then that too could be at odds with the view that over time what began as an occasional mindful state should eventually become just our constant state of being, so that we were effectively meditating all the time. Presumably at that advanced level there no longer are any habituated boundaries, and everything is under awareness. Perhaps the answer is that habits are to be seen merely as a learner's "prop"; training wheels we use until such times as we have no need of them because by then , and we have finally reached our goal. So what, if anything, do the established writings say about this? *To stress: although I've no doubt there are lots of good opinions out there (and for sure there are indeed **lots** of opinions!), I'm looking for answers with some backup from a source--old or current, either is fine--with at least a modicum of reliability. So the suttas and commentaries, obviously, but anything else of reasonable authorship including the modern.* Thanks!

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is an excellent book and is written with the spirit of mystery and wonder that also permeates most Buddhist teachings. >! At the end of the book, Siddhartha has attained what appears to be Nirvana. He is sitting with his friend Govinda. >!

Govinda has spent the entirety of his adult life seeking Nirvana, and he is lamenting about this to Siddhartha; practically begging for some guidance and teaching. >!

Siddhartha, feeling great compassion for his friend's suffering, instructs him to kiss his [Siddhartha's] forehead. Govinda finds this odd, but is compelled by a great love of Siddhartha to accept. As he does this; he attains some kind of enlightenment - and though it's always seemed to me to be less 'significant' or permanent than what Siddhartha has attained - it is still a profound and magical moment of transformation. Does anyone know what Hesse intended us to derive from this sequence? Specifically, has he spoken upon this issue, or written about it? It's always been completely mysterious to me. I'm looking for something more solid than unverified speculation. I'm not opposed to opinions, but I'd like that any opinion be informed by some source - either Hesse, or another writing about Hesse's works.

We've cling to nothing, no attachments and no bond to not to being suffered. But as a layman it's going through all and face sorrow and like mind is lost. It's same I loose my mind. I don't feel nothing for what things hurt me, feel barren. Don't feels normal. How can I become normal again and feel happy?

Each phenomenon (how impersonal and indifferent it is) is always looking to sustain itself. Am I right when I say that—in the same way—our habit patterns are obstacles that prevent/hinder us from seeing things as they really are because they fuel the fire of self?

Lord Buddha left the normal life due to frustration he got seeing those four instances of human life. In today when people get the same frustration they call it as depression, and motivate further to enjoy the normal life with lots of bonds and relationships. I'm confused in this scenario, what is the relationship between ordaining and depression ?

Where does the story appear about a monk who was born in a lower realm for breaking a leaf of a tree? Also there are some related stories (use generally alongside the above) where small transgressions leading to disproportionately large karmic results. What are they and where can I find references?

Different spiritual traditions, including, but not limited to Buddhism, emphasize that it is important to always keep in mind that one's thoughts and emotions do not constitute the essence of a person. That is: 1. When some thought crosses my mind, 1. makes me like or dislike something (emotion), 1. then these thoughts and emotions are not my true self in that they come and go like they want (similar to breathing, blood circulation and other bodily processes, which most people can't consciously control). The true self is the entity that observes them. Theory and practice shows that realization 3 often leads to an increase in happiness (e. g. I feel pain, I acknowledge the thought *I'd rather prefer to experience pleasure* and the emotion of sadness as inevitable by-products of the activity of my brain, which usually eliminates suffering despite presence of pain) and - as a result - higher productivity (less time and energy is wasted on useless thoughts emotions). Right now, I occasionally do the whole process (observe thoughts, observe emotions they've generated, remember that they aren't my true self), probably when the pain gets too hard. I want to develop a habit of doing this routine so that I'm automatically doing those 3 steps all the time (as frequently as possible). As a result I expect my stress resistance (ability to do productive work in suboptimal conditions) to dramatically increase. What routine can I use to develop that habit (apart from the process described below), ideally scientifically proven? Notes: 1. I need some practical, **actionable** recipe for developing the desired habit, which is better than the option below. I do not need some theoretical, philosophical stuff. 1. If your routine is well-suited for people with tendency towards premature action and ADHD , it's even better. **Standard habit formation process** 1. Install on your mobile phone an application, which vibrates every 20 minutes. 1. Every day in the morning, turn on the application. 1. Whenever you feel the vibration, do the three steps (observe thoughts, observe emotions they've generated, remember that they aren't my true self). 1. Before you go to sleep, turn off the application. 1. Repeat steps 2-4 for at least 40 days. **Update 1 (05.01.2016 12:13 MSK):** Below you can find a selection of techniques, which seem to help me observe the mind. I don't guarantee that they will work for anyone else. And I don't guarantee that it really helps me - it just seems to help. **Morning observation ritual** 1. Write out at least 10 thoughts that are running in your head. 1. For each of them do the 3 steps (observe the thought, observe the emotions it generates and remember that you aren't either of them). **Imagine the thoughts on a diagram** It helps to imagine the different thoughts as diagrams with time on the horizontal axis and the intensity of a particular thought on the vertical one. **Music** Some music seems to be more conducive to mind observation than others. I noticed it when listening to the Focus at will music, section *Focus Spa*. I'm not affiliated with Focus at will, I'm not getting any remuneration for this and you probably can get the same music in other ways.

Is it related to practice meditation ? Can I say that our respected individuality is a kind of 'self accepted and adopted' addiction ?

If one has cultivated a habit for countless lifetimes, how is it possible to reverse such habit? Is it possible at all? Is that person entirely at the mercy of external factors? (are we ever not entirely at the mercy of external factors? This is an entirely different question though). I have trouble understanding how habits are changed, and where that change originates. I figure the answer to this 'extreme case' question will shed some light. Thank you. EDIT: This question is a different way of phrasing these two questions https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/18716/what-allows-to-make-a-choice and https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/18738/what-is-volition/18762#18762