For example when I'm feeling a little anxious, I might *think* "I'm feeling threatened". These thoughts makes me feel like I am not actually being mindful, because if I actually were then I wouldn't need to **think** about it, you know? It's kinda hard to explain, but I feel like I'm just fooling myself into believing I'm observing myself, when it's actually all happening within my thoughts. What's going on here? Am I misunderstanding something?

I think somebody asked a similar question earlier and understand that this will likely be closed but hope not. Was wondering can practicing of Metta make you likeable? Or rather more approachable? Easy to talk to? This is a very strange world, there are some people who possess some kind of unexplainable magnetism, it's like people are generally attracted to them and people pay attention when they talk. They have never been out of the limelight. Is it something to do with Metta?

if I understand correctly, Buddhism is opposed to dualistic concepts: Us vs. them, beautiful vs. ugly, pain vs. pleasure. We should rather realise the emptiness of those constructs in order to see the things in the way they really are, i.e. see their real nature. How then, does that translate to the concept of good and bad? Because I think every Buddhist tradition teaches us that certain behaviours, acts or ways of thinking are beneficial and create good karma, whereas others are detrimental to our spiritual progress or to our own well-being and that of others and create bad karma. Examples of good vs. bad behaviour abound in many texts like the Vinaya rules but also in the Noble Eightfold Path itself. Right speech for example is considered good whereas the opposite - lying, denouncing, spreading rumors, careless speech in general are surely to be considered bad, detrimental, whatever you want to call it. How can I accept the duality of good vs. bad while accepting that other dualities are just hollow projections of the untrained layman's mind that keep me from seeing the true nature of things? I would also be greatly interested if somebody could shed a light on the different traditions' views on the subject. Thank you!

My parent seperated since I was young and I was rise by my mom. Right now my dad is not in a good condition and unfortunately my aunt and uncle from my dad's side doesn't like me much. Too be honest I don't wanna face with my aunt. I know she loves him so much and she hates me because I choose to stay with my mom. I don't know what to do. For example today I told my mom I will go visit my dad but mom said she needs me to have a dinner with her.so she told me to go visit my dad the other day... If I don't go visit him.. Will it be bad ? I know this is such a stupid question but it is hard for me to make up my mind. When I see my dad It is not so peaceful inside because of the people around him...

According to THIS , *"The bhikkhu should also not eat raw or undercooked meat..."* Should a bhikkhu, then, not eat sashimi (raw fish, such as it used frequently in sushi)?

It is often said that nirvana is bliss. What I'm struggling with, and have been for years now, despite reading a fair amount, is whether nirvana, being blissful, is not just objectively so. i.e. is nirvana good for the buddha or saint that achieves it? Because if it is, then I don't think it can *only* be an end to the causal series. Just like, when a fire has stopped burning, we don't say the fire is not hot.

Peace !! I am planning to invest some of my money in poultry stocks in the stock market and having second thoughts. As I understand Buddhism teaches not to kill any living beings although it does not say directly not to eat meat even for monks or laymen. However , I don't think humans can survive without destroying other species . e.g. Even if you take water it has bacteria or micro creatures in it . My intention is to make a profit , not kill animals . However I may have contributing to animal suffering by a proxy. I am in a grey area. Is this something morally wrong ?

Many people try to approach meditation and Buddhism from a scientific materialist perspective, despite the fact that Buddhism makes explicit claims about the after life, and despite the fact that Buddhism explicitly state that it is a Wrong View to believe in materialist Annihilation. I posted the following questions rhetorically as part of an answer to another question, but it was suggested to be moved to its own question: So, are there any materialist explanations to the following? 1. Why is meditation pleasurable and helpful in a materialist world that is run based on natural selection? 2. How is the possibility of experiencing states of joy and peace and realizations through meditation possible through an evolutionary model? 3. What evolutionary advantage would make the desire to end greed, anger and selflessness such the desire to become a monastic (not reproducing and passing on your genes) occur? What are the materialist claims by **other philosophies** with regards to meditation that you have seen? For example: (Evolutionary psychology) people are driven to help others because it enhance group survival. According to the same thinking though, people are also jerks because it enhance their own survival. What are the counter arguments from Buddhism to these claims?

If you take Jhana factors or the 37 Factors, many of them counteract one of the Hindrances. So if these factors (and perhaps other factors mentioned in the Tripitaka) are grouped with the hindrance they counteract or enhance, what would this grouping look like? I.e., - each hindrance - with the factors that counteract it - and the factor that enhance them either as a single factor or pair of factor being unbalanced An answer should minimally include the Jhana and 37 Factors, and references to the Tripitaka.

I was wondering if bodhisattvas are real life people we can encounter along our path. There seems to be literature on how these beings take vows, but I was wondering if it was common to encounter one of them along the path.

About the doctrine of the 31 realms of existence. I have a few questions, because science, especially the theory of evolution, makes a good argument for categorizing humans **as animals**. 1. Is this list of 31 realms *static* or can single realms vanish? Because due to science we know that this earth won't last forever. This would mean, that there are no animals or humans anymore, unless a similar species lives on another planet somewhere in this universe (which is very, very, very unlikely if you consider the set of condition it took of several billion years to evolve humans). 2. The theory of evolution proofs, that humans have evolved from animals and just use different techniques for surviving as every other species as well. So knowing that there was a time of transition, where there only existed primordial human beings, how could you at that time say if it was a human or an animal? How can you cross that line between one species (humans) and every other one? Because it is sure, that in the next few 100.000 years humans will have evolved to a totally different species according to the conditions in the environment. So how should you understand this classification of beings. Is it just a provisional and time-dependent concept? Or is it only related to the degree of suffering, which predominate each realm? I know on this topic are already many questions. But none of these related to this particular question. So please don't tag as duplicate.

From the meditation podcasts I have heard when a thought comes up acknowledge it by saying "thinking" and then try to gently return back to your breath. There is something else I tried experimentally. In this case I was not noticing my breath, but was noticing my thoughts. I did this by asking, "what's the next thought" and tried to observe my thoughts mindfully. Obviously more thoughts arose, but it felt like I was still practicing mindfulness. And it seems easier to do this type of mindfulness while in an environment with a lot of distractions. (Walking, running, etc.) I wanted to know if it is ok to do this? Also, are there other methods for handling my thoughts?

Can anyone provide me a Sanskrit (not Pali) translation of the Five Precepts?

I'm curious to know: how important is posture during meditation? Could someone meditate on public transport, or while walking in different places? Is there a difference in the necessity of posture between a beginner and an advanced practitioner?

I am new here and I would like some help with the issue of motivation. I am a 25 years old student in engineering in his last semester at university. I have been facing the problem that whenever I study, it becomes a huge source of stress. I have been a buddhist and meditating for the past 4 months now and I like of what the practice has done to me and my relationship with my parents and with people in general. The motivation of being in the path for the benefit of all beings really resonates with me and it really helps me, but I can't mirror that motivation to my studies. Secular knowledge used to be such a motivation for me when I was young and it has been missing for such a long time now. Now the only thing that motivates me is when I feel that I will be actively helping people, but I feel like I can't abandon my current state of life and just decide to do something else than getting my degree and pursuing something related to it. I don't know if it is clear, but I can study for a few periods of time (not enough for my course), but studying gets me sort of all pumped up. I get all this energy flowing, restlessness. I feel like I have all this attachment maybe to getting high degrees or to this illusion that I will only be happy if I am able to graduate now, or that my parents and people will like me better if I show that I know more, or if I have all this knowledge accumulated I will be more successful. It is clear to me that it was much stronger when I started meditating that it is now. It seems is obvious to me by my previous statements that studying has a lot of issues attached to it. :teehee: I feel like in the past months buddhism has helped me let go of a lot of my illusions and that helps me get on with my day without getting so frustrated, but I still have this issue. Do you guys think this anxiety related to studying will reduce after more months of practice? Actually, I know by the words of the Buddha that it will, but do you have any advice in regards to it? I hope I made sense writing in english beacuse I am from Brazil. Thank you!!!

I am trying for a long time to find motivation to practice meditation - i think i found a good general motivation finally after watching a dhamma talk but it still doesn't fully solve my problem : when i have the hindrance show up - how to overcome it ? hunger - tiredness - pain - cold ect now people can say : "just be mindful of it and let it go" BUT ..... **how do i find motivation to be mindful at that specific moment** ? i can be mindful for half an hour meditating being mindful but what should i do when i become very tired or very hungry - where its very hard to stay mindful - what gives me the power to overcome it than - how to find motivation to be mindful at that specific hard moment ?

A relative of mine did some kind of praying ritual in front of a Buddha where she had a canister of 100 or so sticks, and on each stick there is a Chinese number from 1 to 100. My relative started shaking the canister and eventually stick number 9 fell out. My relative and I both do not speak or write chinese. But apparently, she is supposed to read about 孔明點將, which is related to stick number 9. Where can I get an English description/story of stick 9 孔明點將 ? Also, we do not know anything about Buddhism. So if you can recommend any brief literature that might help with the context of stick 9 孔明點將 , that would be great.

Is doing contemplation of death auto-suggestion to meditate ? is it working on my subconsciousness ? maybe i should just do auto suggestion telling my self many times to meditate - maybe its more effective ? can i do my own version of death contemplation or should i say exactly the words in the sutta ? if i can what are the guidelines that i should follow when make my own version ? If i dont fear death and dont care to die - is it still useful ? can i do death contemplation about people i care about ? you can only answer some questions i asked or add something i didnt ask about which is related and can be helpful

Can someone tell me what's wrong? I am extremely new to the art of meditation in general. My mind, in general, is always cluttered with either office worries or personal worries. When I remove my worries slowly via meditation (i.e. emptying my thoughts), I tend to be peaceful. But, during this state, if I encounter a situation that irks or annoys me, my reaction is much rasher or blunt than if I don't empty my mind. For example, after emptying my mind, I saw my son standing in front of the TV, then I grabbed his arm and brushed him aside. I would not have done this if I had not emptied my mind. Also, I noticed that my attention and concentration is much stronger after emptying my mind, but my compassion or empathy also gets reduced proportionately. Can someone help?

Anatta and Sunyata doctrines from the Tripitaka and later Mahayana/Parjnaparimata sutras both have mentioned "not-self" or "empty of self" doctrines. I am still a bit confused, though, even after extensive reading and practice. Does Buddhism, in general, ever deny the fundamental existence of a self...or does it simply state to not identify with it? And if the "not-self" or "emptiness of inherent existence" doctrines stress non-identification with the aggregates (name and form)...then who would be the one or the "I" doing the non-identification? Would the aggregates not be identifying with themselves if there was no actual "I?" Or would there be someone/something deeper than the aggregates? Thank you to all~.