Sometimes, when reading some Buddhist sutras, it happens that I feel strong vibrating sensations all over the body. On such occasions I 'know' that the best I can do is stopping the reading and practice vipassana. I wonder if this is 'normal'.

Is ditthivisuddhi (the 3rd purification) *only* the purification of the illusion of 'self'; 'I'; 'me'; 'mine'?

THe most successful cultivators and Buddhists cultivated in the forest or mountains where there are few people. In our day and age, this is less easy due to polluted rivers, overharvesting of resources, financial necessity, etc. and we all live in noisy metropolises. > "Go to a **quiet place without people**, sit cross-legged, with > correct body and correct attention, without any other thoughts, and > fix the attention on the nose:.." For a beginner, this is not ideal, although advanced meditators who are enjoying the fruit of their efforts are fully absorbed with their meditation object, not hearing any noise. How do you handle *loud*, *meaningful* and ultimately alarming family noises while trying to focus on meditation object? What are trains of thoughts that lead you to the state where you do not even understand what they are saying because you are so absorbed in your object? I experience this frequently, where I don't hear or feel anything and I am singularly focused on my object and this oftentimes happens when I do any type of noting (vipassana) practice. Any tricks, contemplations, ideas any experienced cultivators can give me? loud = clearly audible through a door, 10 times louder than the sound of your own breathing (which I like to use as a concentration object) meaningful = language and emotion, which we as social mammals are instinctively wired to respond to when hearing off-handedly, particularly our mirror neurons Basically I have an annoying, unhealthy family who watches TV with all their free time and never cultivates or does anything despite the many instructions, books given to them. I feel that they often do this to spite me due to my choice to ignore them. Please give solutions other than blocking out the noise through noise-cancellation, earplugs, or binaural beats (all of which are excellent suggestions) which I have success with and will continue to use but I do not like unnecessary pressure on my ears.

How you can explain in plain English the change of focus (from *puthujjana* to *ariya*) that takes place in this stage of insight?

On the altar when entering a Buddhist temple I see the Buddha sitting on a lotus, but frankly I do not understand the symbolic meaning of the lotus image? Everywhere you look in the temple you see lotuses. Can anyone explain this to us?

This isn't a Buddhist question per se, maybe better placed in a yoga or Taoist thread but anywhere here I go: When I am in the lotus position (classic right leg over left leg as instructed in all Buddhist guides) for the past 10 years, my right knee has always floated a quarter of an inch off the ground, even if I try to adjust my position by sitting offset on my mat. Anatomically speaking, I don't see how anyone can have both of their knees on the floor.. Although I feel energetically blissful whilst maintaining the posture, the posture feels uneven, imbalances my torso, and I feel uneven pressure on my right thigh and must end my lotus posture in about 10 to 20 minutes due to the pressure on my right thigh... Sometimes I switch reverse full lotus and that makes me feel more balanced. Am I doing something wrong or is this something all advanced lotus meditators must deal with? How can I remedy, deal with, compensate (et cetera) my lotus posture? Also, this is a separate question but are there any passages in the canon that speak about posture? Any suggestions in any realm, physical, environmental, or even mental are welcome.

Is there any stage, along the 'supermundane paths' to enlightenment, where the [Five Hindrances] [1] to meditation are destroyed forever?

Metta is benevolence towards all beings, without any discrimination, free of attachment and free of hatred. How we can develop metta for terrorists?

When I get angry with someone, I can usually calm this feeling after some time through meditation practices. But I'm wondering how can I overcome the **causes** of this 'anger' in a way that I don't get angry anymore with something?

During sitting meditation, I attempt to anchor attention to the breathe. I have read about anchoring on the sensation(s) of the breathe at the nostril, and I have read about anchoring on the rise and fall of the abdomen. Both techniques appear to be in concert with Theravada approaches. I recently read (Wikipedia article re Mahasi Sayadaw) that Mahasi Sayadaw taught attention at the abdomen. I need an explanation, please, of the two different approaches ... the impact of each on serenity and on insight. Perhaps one is "better" for serenity, and perhaps one is "better" for insight. Thx!

Is vipassana practice the same as insight practice? Are the terms completely interchangeable? I know there is the vipassana movement but this appears to be Theravadin so it makes me think that vipassana only applies to Theravadin Buddhism? However I'm sure it's broader than that - our [tag:vipassana] wiki says it is if that is anything to go by.

Is the experience of *bhanga* (5th insight - knowledge of dissolution) the equivalent of the destruction of the khandhas?

Is it correct that **only** the 4 lower jhanas (rupa jhanas) are useful for cultivating insight (panna) because the meditator's mind is too absorbed when he enters successively the immaterial jhanas (arupa jhanas)?

How did monks traditionally time their practice before the age of timers? Any sutta references would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking for an organic way to time my sittings.

I am looking for something unknown, not known to me very clearly. Maybe it is ultimate peace or harmony or empathy or sympathy or state of nirvana or supermundane advantage or all of these. Somehow I feel that I can get all of them by following the rules stated in Buddhism. So I want to know what kind of relation I should accept between me and Buddha? Who I am, a student or a master, and if death is somehow the only end then where, or at which level, do I need to be awakened?

What are the Three Trainings and how are they practical? Specifically how does one practice them?

Why isn't prostration considered as a rite or a ritual in the sense of *silabbata paramasa* (one of the fetters that had to be abandoned to become a stream-enterer)? I wonder how this practice can contribute to insight especially when prostration is done mechanically (as practiced around Buddhist pagodas in Birma; Sri Lanka and Thailand)?

I'm a spiritual aspirant who likes to practice meditation to attain the ultimate goal of nirvana or moksha. The trouble is I've read too many differing doctrines and theories regarding epistemology of the soul and spiritual science. Firstly, the Hindu doctrine advocates the existence of soul as defined by the scriptures/vedas. So, any meditation along these lines (such as Patanjali yoga sutras, Ramakrishna society, etc.) will mostly involve concentration on at least an object. I've practiced patanjali style of dharana-dhyana-samadhi meditation briefly in the past. On the other hand, I've also read about the Vipassana and Buddhist doctrines, having already done a 10 day vipassana course in the past. This view is diemetrically opposite to the former, as it clearly denies the existence of a permanent self. More importantly, it also says there is no absolute Brahman or God, so meditation along these lines will involve **NOT** having any mental objects including a *brahman*. Now, as a spiritual aspirant, I'm TOTALLY CONFUSED! I just don't know what kind of meditation to perform. As far as faith is concerned, I have faith in both - I have read the vedas and found them to be full of truth. And at the same time I don't find anything wrong with Buddha's teachings either. But as regards meditation, this has caused me a dilemma! Request advanced practitioners with experience here to suggest me what to do. **NOTE:** I'd practiced Anapanasati during my Vipassana course which was very helpful and tranquil experience. However, the patanjali style of meditation was also equally beneficial.

Has anyone got a good idea which benefits of mindfulness meditation have got decent scientific evidence supporting them. It would be great it someone could point to good publicly available research or authoritative sites and maybe summarise the research and perhaps the people/organisations doing it. I'm personally convinced of the benefits due to my own personal experience but I'm interested what the scientific community is saying. I'm sure there is a lot of research out there but I find distilling it overwhelming.

Every morning I set aside one hour for meditation -- primarily just counting breaths, but occasionally abdominal noting. My overall aim is to achieve some kind of basic tranquility so I can then decide if I should move onto something else. That is, I'm doing "samatha meditation" as preparation for "vipassana meditation". (Although I have asked about that apparent dichotomy in another question .) However, although I reserve a whole hour, at the moment I'm only doing 20 minutes (built up slowly over some weeks from 10 minutes). My current plan is to keep to that gradual build, but sometimes I wonder if I should just "go for broke" and sit for an hour at a time. One reason I don't is the same reason I wouldn't start out by running for an hour. Instead, I'd start with a shorter period, and build it up. But I don't know if my concern is valid for meditation. There are clear physiological reasons for not building up *physical* exercise too quickly. Muscles and tendons need time to build strength and flexibility, so even if I felt like running for an hour, I wouldn't. I'd force myself to increase only slowly. But does the same thing apply for "mental" exercise -- i.e. for Buddhist samatha meditation of the kind I describe? Should I "hold back" even though I'm keen to do more? Is it possible in any way to "injure" oneself by over-training when it comes to meditation. Note, I'm specifically interested in the mental/spiritual aspects. Im pretty sure it's possible to *physically* overdo it by, for example, trying to sit in full lotus too long in the early stages (or, in my case, ever).