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1500 questions
15
votes
2 answers
What is the difference between craving and clinging?
Considering the 12 nidanas
Ignorance
Mental Volitions
Consciousness
"Name" and "Form"
The six senses
Contact
Feelings
Craving
Clinging
Becoming
Birth
Suffering and Death
What is the difference between craving and clinging? They seem very…
Crab Bucket
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15
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8 answers
Does studying mathematics or science lead to a practitioner of Buddhism acquiring wrong philosophical views and mental afflictions?
Among the steps needed to attain enlightenment, a practitioner of Buddhism needs to abandon the wrong philosophical views that they acquired due to either wrong teaching or wrong study. In this sense, a practitioner that is less educated need only…
user126
15
votes
10 answers
If Buddha stayed unanswered on this matter, why do his followers preach that soul doesn't exist?
Almost every Buddhist I've met sincerely believes in non-existence of self or soul. Especially, the vipassana practitioners say that scanning the body and finding no atman or self in it is proof that self doesn't exist. But what about the…
Prahlad Yeri
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15
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15 answers
Will actors really go to hell?
In the Talaputta Sutra, the Buddha says that actors will either be reborn as an animal or go to hell.
When an actor on the stage, [he thinks that] after death, he is reborn
in the company of the laughing devas,' that is his wrong view. Now,
there…
Crab Bucket
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15
votes
4 answers
What's the value or harm of a literal belief in rebirth?
Whenever I examine the concept of rebirth in Buddhism, I cannot help it but feel great skepticism.
To put it in my own clumsy words, we have many fears and one of the greatest is to cease to exist. The solution that I have found in Buddhist…
back2dos
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15
votes
8 answers
How do I slow down and start living according to my values? How do I change the direction of my life?
For some time, I have been practising different types of meditation and yoga, and I have also tried to study a bit of Buddhism, from which I have got the main values that guide my life (I cannot say I am a Buddhist, but I believe the teachings of…
user13701
15
votes
4 answers
Is stream entry an unmistakeable experience?
I've heard stream entry described as a turning about in the deepest seat of consciousness. I've also read other accounts that make me think that there is something about the experience that is unmistakable. Is that true? If one were to attain stream…
Crab Bucket
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15
votes
12 answers
Why are Buddhist concepts so difficult?
Why are Buddhist concepts so challenging for people to understand? What do people who understand know that average people don't know? What are some of the barriers to the understanding of Dharma? What facilitates understanding of Dharma?
Lowbrow
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15
votes
5 answers
How to disambiguate between various meditation practices?
From what I understand, different schools of Buddhism teach different subsets of meditation techniques, or different variations of the same techniques. However, many meditation resources don't specify which technique is meant to achieve what goal,…
dkv
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15
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6 answers
Is there any benefit in learning Pali or Sanskrit?
Much of the Theravadan scriptures are written in Pali, so are a lot manuscripts written in Sanskrit, but is there any benefit in learning these languages while the Canon is already translated in other languages i.e. English?
Also:
Should one learn…
Jordy van Ekelen
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15
votes
3 answers
Was Vipassana discovered by the Buddha (Siddhartha)?
I read somewhere that samatha (and jhana) was discovered by the Buddha, but how about vipassana? Is there any evidence either way (i.e. suttas)?
The reason I'm asking is because I am more proficient at practicing vipassana meditation than samatha,…
Blaze Tama
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15
votes
7 answers
Why is meditation making me more angry?
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…
Varun
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15
votes
4 answers
Strange feelings after meditation and mindfulness practice?
I started to meditate half a year ago with my first Vipassana retreat in Bodhgaya. I'm trying to meditate every day since then. Around two months ago I started to practice mindfulness and try to bring meditation into my daily life and not to be…
asolodoff
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15
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11 answers
Can a non-Buddhist get Nirvana?
No religion teaches what Buddhism teaches at its core. A true Hindu or Christian or Muslim believes in God and soul.
Can a Hindu or a Christian or a Muslim, who is not aware of Buddhist philosophy, get Nirvana?
If yes, how? Otherwise, why doesn't…
Dheeraj Verma
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15
votes
10 answers
Why not kill animals to hasten their rebirth?
This may be primarily for the Tibetan style practitioners. Also, my question assumes that "rebirth" etc are not metaphors.
Since non-human animal existence is lower down in the six realms, why wouldn't killing them (painlessly) be considered a good…
tkp
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