What kind of practices can one do to neutralise a hateful temperament? Can i please have specific techniques.Thank you. Edit: By temperament i mean a character or habit.

Should I believe what is said in the Buddhist text instead? Even though I can't prove it myself either. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html

Just like God created The Sims game and the Buddha as a character in it happened to discover how it works by somehow hacking into the program, perhaps by meditation?

In S. N. Goyenka Vipassana meditation you have to scan your body from head to foot and foot to head. Now I take my attention or [*ध्यान* *dhyaan*] at top point of my head, so it’s a 2d point now I move from this point in 2d on surface of my body and I can either go from my front side or from back toward my foot. I'm not getting how to scan my body in 3d? And if I scan in 2d its take too much time to scan whole body if I go inch by inch. People working in this mediation may get my point what I’m trying to ask.

This has happened to me a few times on Goenka retreats. When I have been practicing mindfulness of breath and body scanning for a while, near day 7 or so my attention will be moving quite quickly, rapidly, performing a scan of several points in the body every few seconds in a set pattern. By this point in the retreat my attention is flowing smoothly like water so it only takes a second or two for every cycle, which is very fast even if it can get quite tiring. At some point after this suddenly my attention gets hijacked by some autonomic process, and my attention will hit points in my body in a super complicated but precise pattern (I think it draws a mandala) that I can never hope to consciously replicate. It is ridiculously fast and precise, covering 50 or more points in the body in under a second. It happens only once, so a second later it is over, and now I note that my habitual set pattern I used to follow to scan the body is now in cruise control mode. I can actually sit back (metaphorically speaking) and let the body scan itself, or so it would seem. My mind will now go do other things, like contemplate dhamma or whatever, and when I return to attention of my body I would find it is still going strong, doing the auto pilot body scanning. This will usually last a few days, even after the retreat. The funny thing is the attention is spatial. If I get up from the half lotus, the body scan still happens, but it is now hitting empty space near my hip where my thighs and legs used to be folded. Often this means when I go to my room I won't lie down until I absolutely have to because it feels weird to have the body scan happen only to my upper body and not my knees and toes when I am lying flat. If I wake up from sleep the body scan is still happening. After day 13/14 slowly this auto scan will grow less and less pronounced until I can't sense it anymore. What is happening here?

How are people supposed to practice sitting meditation when there are so many distractions around like working, internet social media pages and other things like that?

Whenever the Buddha and his retinue were invited to the palace of a great King or a big merchant, the suttas don't forget to mention the feast was delicious and rich. > Then King Prasenajit, for the sake of his father, the late king, > arranged on the day of mourning a vegetarian feast and invited the > Buddha to the side rooms of the palace. He welcomed the Tathagata in > person with a vast array of superb delicacies of unsurpassed wonderful > flavors and himself invited the great Bodhisattvas. SS 1:121 Of course the Buddha was never attached to such things, as we are told he ate grass meant to feed horses offered by a stablehand with the same beatific smile as he ate palace delicacies. Yet, how is it that when high beds, and perfumes and all manner of luxuries are disallowed, throwing a feast or banquet is actually encouraged as a means of merit making for the lay follower? Especially when one considers how this sets apart the poor lay follower who can only afford to feed the occasional monk on his alms rounds. A casual analysis of monastic accounts over the ages reveals to me a general tendency for monks to even look forward to such feasts. I can imagine there are good reasons for this loophole - after all, a feast probably was a good source of much needed calories while living in the forest. Still it is one of those odd things - who in their right mind could think they could honor the Buddha with a feast? If anything, he probably favored the simple flavors of fruits of the forest over puddings and rich food.

Do Paramittas need to be part of Theravada Buddhist training, much like keeping the 5 precepts or the noble eightfold path? Or are they just results/rewards we get for practicing the noble eightfold path/keeping the precepts? And is there are specific order (eg.Dhana-->Seela-->Nekkhamma etc. ) or should all be concentrated on at the same time?

Over the course of my meditation practice I experience pronounced cycles or ebbs and flows. This has been a feature of my practice for several years now and doesn't seem to be lessening - if anything it is intensifying. The pattern is 1. Meditation goes well. Concentrated and experience vigour 2. Energy, motivation and concentration increase to a peak 3. Over the course of one or two days practice seems to fall apart. Poor concentration. Feelings of dullness and lethargy with meditation and lack of motivation. This can bleed over to time off the cushion 4. After weeks or even months meditation starts to become pleasurable again and the cycle starts again Sometimes the low point isn't too bad but sometimes it is so dominating that I can't recognize it for what it is. I've cleared my shrine away before now. The Buddha goes away and it's only after some days I remember what is probably going on. Does anyone have any advice about the best way to work with these kind of cycles. Is it a well documented phenomena or documented at all? I would find references to established texts or teachers on this subject particularly helpful.

I was reading yesterday this blog by a Zen nun and in this post she casually says in the third to last paragraph that we don't know in what posture the Buddha did sit under the Bodhi tree. I found that curious because I always assumed that the Buddha sat in a full lotus position. Is this claim true? Do we not know the actual posture in which the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree?

A lady at my work has a Buddha on her desk. She's on vacation an today and i had to work at her desk. I accidentally touched it and her friend said oh 'my don't touch that she prays to that Buddha for bad things to happen to you all'. Well let me tell you I'm more than upset about this. Is this part of this religion? I will be demanding this to be removed from our work place. This seems like voodoo. It also has my hair tie around its neck.

I am thinking about becoming a Buddhist, particularly a Theravada Buddhist but I must know about the lifestyle so I can change my lifestyle a bit. There is no Buddhist temple around where I am so I have nobody to ask. I do not wish to become a nun so the question are for more non-ordained Buddhist. So here are my questions. 1. What exactly is a lay Buddhist and what rules do they follow? 2. Are all non-ordained Buddhist considered a lay person? 3. Do certain things apply in Buddhism since I am female? 4. Can I handle money? (cash, coins, cards, etc.) 5. What time of day are considered inappropriate to eat? How many meals can I have a day? Can I drink liquid any time? (Milk, Water, Juice, etc.) No alcohol. 6. Do I need a shrine? What are considered luxury items? Should I not have luxury items? 7. Can I have entertainment? (TV, Computer, Phone, Music, etc.) 8. Do I fast? If so, when do I fast? 9. Do I need to wear certain clothing if I become a Buddhist? Do I need to shave my head? 10. Do I chant and meditate daily? 11. Can I meditate without a monk/nun and without a temple? That is all I want to know. I hope all my questions can be answered. Thanks you and all may be happy.

The ultimate goal of a Buddhist is to attain Nirvana, i.e., to stop the cycle of rebirth. Since a Buddhist is compassionate, she/he not only wants to stop her/his own rebirth but also wants that all beings will stop their rebirth. Now suppose this has happened: all beings have been able to stop the cycle of rebirth. Then what will be the picture of the world? There will be no life anywhere, let alone human civilization. The entire world will be like a land of the dead. Is that a desirable goal? If not, where is the fallacy in the above argument?

Do all people practicing Buddhism have difficulty answering questions like these: What gives your life meaning? What do you like about yourself? Somebody asked me these questions, and I am having a difficult time answering them. I don't know if it's just me and my circumstances, or if it is my Buddhist practice that keeps me from verbalizing the answer. In *Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind*, Shunyru Suzuki Roshi says a Buddhist should stay away from excitement which I agree with and try to follow. If I knew I wouldn't wake up tomorrow morning, I don't think I would be particularly upset. Is this a normal feeling Buddhists have or come to after they have been practicing?

At the Buddha's enlightenment, he pointed to the earth or touched the earth, meaning the earth (or world) was adequate witness to his spiritual accomplishment or new status, or, perhaps the only witness that would be acceptable to Mara. Mara accepted the witness. I do not understand the principle or truth of this event. Earth or the world seems to be personified in some way, or endowed with a capacity to accept or reject a plea for witnessing. Explanations and clarifications would be greatly appreciated. Thx.

I have read that Dharma refers to reality as-is (in this wikipedia article ). I have also read that it refers to the teachings of the Buddha. Does Dharma refer to both these things? The former seems more like "mindfulness of the present".

I came across the following image on China's Taobao online shopping site and was hoping someone could explain the content. (the seller could not) The central figure is Shakyamuni Buddha, that much is clear. I am unfamiliar with the rest of the setting.

I'm a bit confused about how, according to the Buddha, one is freed from suffering. I have read that suffering is one of the marks of existence. So can one be freed from it at all? If it's an aspect of existing, is it just something to accept? So the freedom is in accepting the suffering? I have also read that suffering is only caused by ignorance of the nature of reality. So to be free what does one have to understand? - No-self and impermanence? - Or does it mean to be mindful and see how things are at this very moment? Notice the breath, and your feelings, including the painful ones?

I´m writing an article about pictures of the afterlifes/havens in different religions. But I wasn´t able to find pictures/paintings/artworks that picture Nirvana on the internet. So my question is: Are there pictures of Nirvana?

I've heard it said that some observations in modern Physics effectively confirm some of the things the Buddha taught. 1. Is that true? 2. If so, could someone provide some examples?