Some explain that body language affects qualities like leadership, command, personality etc.: Your body language shapes who you are What is the Buddhist perspective on body language? Does body language affect mental qualities?

Body language (smiling) seems to be linked to meditation success as per Bhante Vimalaramsi: >smiling is an important aspect for the meditation. Learning to smile with mind and raising slightly the corners of the mouth helps mind to be observant, alert and agile. > >Source What are the mechanics behind this or how it works? ---------- In addition these talks through not related to make suggestion that there is a link between body language, smiling and our well being: - Your body language shapes who you are - The hidden power of smiling

Usually we use an anchor in meditation, the breathing being the most common. Sometimes when I focus on that I feel my heartbeat taking my attention, so I thought about using that as an anchor, does anyone know if there is a meditation technique that uses the heartbeat? PS: I'm aware this does not apply to all types of meditation

In daily life I'm trying to sense my body by directing my attention to a body part ( e.g lips , throat ) while still engaging with activities . I know when I feel a sensation on that body part my attention is there or that body part is now included in my attention . Emotions and thoughts are so fast and most of the time I get Identified with them . But at rare moments where I manage to keep my attention on part of my body, help me to view my emotion or thought without totally identifying . I really want to practice , so would like to start from most basic , Mindfulness of body . I tried mindfulness of breathing . I had following experience , When I pay attention to breath , its natural rhythm changes . Feel like I forcefully control the breath . Is there any teaching in Buddhism , that could use every day life to keep the attention on body? Instead of sitting meditation .

Is Jhana like a meditative absorption state? I've come across this term. Is Jhana like a barrier, once broken, you go onto the next barrier, and so on and so on. Is this process a permanent effect on the mind or a temporary effect of the mind? Do you basically start over from stage 1 every time, does your body ever become accustomed to it, and do you have to constantly renew the Jhana over and over in order to progress?

According to the Tripitaka how do you overcome distractions in meditation. Distractions can be including but not limited to: - Wondering mind - Pains - Hindrances - Defilements arising in the mind - etc.

Some meditation techniques use the nostrils as a point of concentration, others only mention that we should breathe via the nose. Many people have problems with that and can only breath through their mouths. Is this a problem for meditation? How serious is it?

Sometimes I catch my mind wandering and mixing up all the worst case scenarios for the future. Currently I have a problem that will, most likely, have a small or medium impact on my life, however my mind has proven to have this hability of finding the worst of the worst possible scenarios, a real chaos, and when I think about this remote scenario I suffer really bad, eventhough the odds are very small, the feeling is terrible. I try to use reason and use logic to show myself this scenario is highly unlikely, but it doesn't work very well, even the smallest possibility is a cause for strong suffering, so the question is: Is there anyway we can use meditation as a tool to calm ourselves AND show to us in a very effective way that this fear is unrational and this terrible scenario is highly unlikely? Can meditation enable logical thinking?

I have had bad posture for most of my life. I find that if I do not sit quite straight during sitting meditation, my body leans forward putting weight on my legs which becomes quite painful. However, when I sit straight, my "sitting bones" become painful. So, I tend to rock from side to side while sitting. It may or may not be visible to others, but I am aware of it. Perhaps "shifting my weight" might be a better way to describe it. My question is regarding mindfulness meditation. Do you think it is OK to rock side to side? Should I just note something like "rocking, rocking"? Should I wait until the pain is nearly "unbearable", and note "pain, pain", "disliking, disliking" before shifting my weight, or is it OK to do so pre-emptively?

Many people claim they feel better, like a strong relief, after letting the anger out, so they scream at the open air or punch a sand sack. Of course I'm referring ONLY to cases where there is no other person involved, so I'm NOT talking about punching a person or yelling at someone! I know the Buddhist view on anger is to see it for what it is and let go of it, but some people see it as suppressing the anger and keeping it in, so they claim that letting it out is a better way to get rid of it. It works for them. So, is there anything wrong with that from a Buddhist's standpoint?

On researching meditations I find several different aspects. One side tells me to be aware of all my actions ( Breath, Stepping, Thinking ) Then I see another type where basically you remove all Mindfullness like entering a void, Blankness and without thought but yet still sort of There. What is the type a Buddhist should practice? Or the benefit of the two?

Wikipedia's article on [Rebirth (Buddhism)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebirth_(Buddhism)#Rebirth_as_cycle_of_consciousness) says, > Buddhist meditation teachers suggest that observation reveals consciousness as a sequence of conscious moments rather than a continuum of awareness[citation needed]. Each moment is an experience of an individual mind-state such as a thought, a memory, a feeling or a perception. A mind-state arises, exists and, being impermanent, ceases, following which the next mind-state arises. Thus the consciousness of a sentient being can be seen as a continuous series of birth and death of these mind-states. Rebirth is the persistence of this process. Two questions: - The first question is about this definition/description/explanation of 'rebirth' - The second question is about this definition/description of 'consciousness and awareness' So: 1. Can you give any citations for this explanation of 'rebirth'? Which tradition[s] of Buddhism is this from? Is it described in any canonical suttas, and/or does this idea have any specific names/nouns (e.g. in Pali, Tibetan, and/or Chinese) associated with it? 2. Is consciousness inevitably always a sequence of moments, not a continuum of awareness? Is this also true during meditation?

What teachers of Buddhist meditation can guide students skillfully? I mean, teachers who are lay or monastic, teachers who are alive, teachers who have died but left skillful dhamma works to guide students and teachers of any tradition that follow the Buddha's words from the three baskets. *I am basically asking about teachers that might not be we'll known but the few students that do know always praise the teacher's approach as skillful. ________________________ Edited from: It seems there are some great and unique meditation teachers out there that aren't as popular as some teachers, possibly because they shunned publicity, didn't allow teachings to be recorded, lived far from the world in hard to get to places and so on. . So the questions are: 1- What tends to be the differences between the more charismatic or popular teachers and the less known but master teachers? 2-What hard to find master teachers of Buddhist meditation are out there and what is there approach to teaching? Thank you :) It seems there are some great and unique meditation teachers out there that aren't as popular as some teachers, possibly because they shunned publicity, didn't allow teachings to be recorded, lived far from the world in hard to get to places and so on. . So the questions are: 1- What tends to be the differences between the more charismatic or popular teachers and the less known but master teachers? 2-What hard to find master teachers of Buddhist meditation are out there and what is there approach to teaching? Thank you :)

Sometimes I tend to switch my attention from the nostrils to the "up and down" of the chest/stomach It depends on how well I'm breathing (I have serious problem with the nostrils, it can only be 100% fixed in a surgery) I do prefer the nostrils, however this change is commom everytime it becomes impossible to keep breathing throught them (so I swith to the mounth and focus on the chest) Is this switch not recommended for any reason, for instance, is this a problem to reach right concentration?

In the S.N. Goenka vipassana tradition the meditator tries to reach a 'freeflow' of sensations on and in the body. Is this 'freeflow' comparable with Pīti?

According to Satipatthana Mula (By Sujato Bhikkhu edited by Piya Tan) Dharmaskandha and Śāripūtrābhidharma versions of the Satipatthana contains a section of shortcomings. What are the shortcomings mentioned in these versions?

According to Satipatthana Mula (By Sujato Bhikkhu edited by Piya Tan) Śāripūtrābhidharma versions of the Satipatthana contains a reference to food. What exactly does it say about food and does Theravada sources have similar references else where? Is food referenced as one of the elements (Mahābhūta) ?

Recently during my meditation sessions I have been getting a vibrating sensation between the eyebrows sometimes it can be quite intense. I have looked online and from what I can find it suggests this sensation refers to the "third eye". Just wondering if this is mentioned in any buddhists texts and is sensation normal?

I found many personal book about Buddhism; witnessing; life story; spiritual encounter, experiences, meditation. I never found however a book that explain and summarize the classical Buddhism : a consensus clear that none Buddhist can read to understand that philosophy better.

Is there any evidence for Buddhist meditation practices increasing productivity for software developers? Just from my own experience it seems like it does but I'm just interested into other experiences or evidence, anecdotal of otherwise. If I can try to clarify this further 1. Is there any research on this? 2. Are software companies using meditation techniques at all to help their employees? If so, what reasons do they give for this? 3. Does anyone have reasonable compelling evidence for this from their own experience? 4. If I can broaden this a little - what about related professions? - ones that require sustained concentration and maybe a little creativity. Do they use meditation techniques at all? If I can just share my motivation for asking this. I'm considering giving a lightening talk at a local software user group on this topic and I just want a broader idea of what kind of evidence there is around this kind of thing. If it seems like there is something there then I will probably throw my hat it the ring and give the talk. If it just my own personal experience I probably won't. I don't want to give the talk it it is entirely unsupported.