Most Popular
1500 questions
8
votes
2 answers
"Switching focus"
When completely absorbed in a meaningful task, a friend or stranger passes by and says "Hello" or initiates a conversation. I now find myself not being as kind as I would like to be as my mind is still completely absorbed in the task at…
user5063
8
votes
5 answers
Stopping Tanha or craving
If one of the goals to becoming enlightened is to lose all craving, desire or Tanha how is one to do that without the craving, desire or tanha to do just that. In other words, is wanting to eradicate all craving and desires a craving or desire…
Troy Edwards
- 83
- 1
- 5
8
votes
5 answers
If the literal truth causes confusion, but a lie portrays the truth via a careful misunderstanding, is it really a lie?
Sometimes during everyday conversation, you can notice based on someone's subtle feedback, that they may be misinterpreting something you are telling them. For the sake of the question, please suspend doubt in the premise itself:
This literal truth…
Selfless Psychopath
- 153
- 6
8
votes
2 answers
Politics within the Sangha
Where there is a group of people, there will be politics and organizational dynamics. This should be no different with the Sangha.
For example, monks trying to cause dissent or schism, monks who disobey instructions, monks trying to gain power over…
ruben2020
- 36,945
- 5
- 31
- 94
8
votes
9 answers
eye movement during meditation
During my past several meditation sessions, which have been getting a little longer (approx 20 minutes now), I have noticed that my eyes twitch and move involuntarily -- it feels similar to the eye movements you can see when people are in REM sleep.…
Ian Taylor
- 635
- 1
- 5
- 10
8
votes
8 answers
Did the Buddha ever mention the Upanishads or the Vedas?
I don't know a lot about those two, but I hear that they are full of wisdom. Since they date farther back than buddhism, I was wondering if the Buddha ever mentioned them.
What did he think of them?
If he didn't mention them as such, he probably…
DLV
- 999
- 7
- 15
8
votes
7 answers
Isn't enlightenment the ultimate death?
Is it true that after you reach enlightenment you simply vanish into the vast space of existence, and you simply cease to exist?
Kind of like, when you have not attained to enlightenment you keep on returning and being reincarnated, but if you reach…
George
- 81
- 1
- 2
8
votes
9 answers
Scientific approach of Kamma
The concept of Kamma implies that information is stored in the mind (not the brain) and after the being is dead, this mind (or this data "storage") goes on and carries with it the current position of all accumulated Kamma from many previous life.…
konrad01
- 9,857
- 6
- 34
- 76
8
votes
10 answers
Is there any point in learning meditation from an unenlightened person?
If a meditation teacher is not enlightened, is there any point in learning from him/her? According to Satipatthana Sutta, the awakening should usually take some time between 7 days and 7 years. If somebody who devoted his life to teaching meditation…
michau
- 2,702
- 1
- 18
- 37
8
votes
5 answers
I want to understand the technicality of rebirth and what happens to conditioned self
Correct me if I'm wrong about my current understanding of Buddhism: There is no eternal self or essence in me, but I am just a conditioned-self, an illusion created by the interaction of the five aggregates. Each time I do something, or will…
Shinu Jacob
- 631
- 1
- 4
- 11
8
votes
8 answers
Can Buddhism give any justification for military violence?
In Buddhism can there be found any justification (whatever the perceived provocation) for war and military violence?
Guy Eugène Dubois
- 2,262
- 14
- 25
8
votes
3 answers
Is it harmful to the Buddha when we request he or she to continue teaching instead of entering parinirvana?
One of the ten things that Bodhisattva Samathabhadra says that a person on the Bodhisattva path should do is to request the Buddhas to continuing teaching instead of entering parinirvana. Given that a Buddha is fully compassionate and omniscient, he…
user126
8
votes
2 answers
Developing mindfulness doing complex activities like learning or programming?
It is easy enough to see the power of developing mindfulness through walking meditation, eating meditation, and any repeated task including cooking.
How does one develop mindfulness capacities when doing new things involving struggle like studying,…
Ahmed
- 5,153
- 11
- 31
8
votes
1 answer
How do you trade a career for a life geared toward becoming awakened?
I am a sales person according to my profession. I skip working and wander all over the unknown places, everyday. I just love doing that. But now that I am understanding Buddhist philosophy and am able to relate it to my real world, I am feeling the…
jitin
- 1,504
- 1
- 11
- 18
8
votes
10 answers
What does delusion feel like?
In his book Breath by Breath Larry Rosenberg writes about meditating on the three kleshas directly i.e. meditating on craving, aversion and delusion. He is talking in the context of the Anapanasati Sutta. I can understand how one could recognise…
Crab Bucket
- 21,051
- 11
- 62
- 173