I have been through 34 years of life and am beginning to understand some things I couldn’t before. Not everyone is good and not everyone is bad, at least some of the time. Time is a tourniquet for scars but what heals the injury? Is power good, bad or necessary for both? If you feel lost, you can just answer the title question, no problem.

Can one person's karma be affected by the karma of another person or other persons?

I am not geographically close to this woman, nor do I ever talk to her, she's just my teenage obsession that lingers on my mind. I am too much attached to my perceptions about how she is, and because I cannot be near to her geography nor can I talk to her because of a past issue, I feel emptiness inside me. I feel lonely and I crave presence. I satisfying this craving my visualisations and fantasies. How can I get rid of this from deep inside. I have gotten rid of this from conscious thinking, but deep inside it still exists. Currently I am practicing 32 Body part meditation, Vipassana and Anapana Meditation. Can you suggest any specific exercise that would help me with this particular issue?

Is it possible to know if you have bad or good karma? A lot of things have happened to me in life that is very negative. I believe partially it is my own fault because the way I am and how others perceive me, but a lot of it I don't think I deserve. I often contemplate what did I do to be on the receiving end of all my negative karma. As a result, I think negative and become very introverted and isolated. Question: Are all the bad things that happen to me are negative karma or is it "just me"? How can I change my thoughts to be more positive despite a tremendous amount of negativity in my life?

I am a father of a now 13 year old daughter. She was born with the genetic disorder Achondroplasie (Dwarfism, "small people"). At the age of 11 we decided that she should undergo leg-extension surgery. Everything went OK, she woke up after the OP and talked with us, was happy to see her feet beeing longer, was happy to get back home. 2 hours later, while back in the patient room, she was unattended and suffocated. My wife found her, started resuscitation and called the emergency team who then took over. They brought her back. At least some of her. Today, 2 years after this horrible incident, she is now in a state of reduced consciousness. She has her eyes open, can groan and moan, feels it when you tickle her toes, even laughs when you tell a funny story e.g. about her cats (she had 4 and loved them). She can not talk though, chew or drink or use her body parts (like moving any part of it on intention). She is lying in a bed 24/7 listening to audio CDs with books for children. If the audio runs out, she starts crying and moaning. My wife, my son and I myself are devastated. She was such an active, life-loving kid, although she had this genetic disorder, she was best in her class and wrote essays and made drawings you would not expect from an 11 year old girl. And now she is forced onto the wheelchair, damned to stay the rest of her life in bed or this chair. So my question is this: what would Buddhism say that happened to my daughter? What is she today? Where is she? Is she still my daughter or has reincarnation taken place? What is the purpose of her being damned to this state? Thank you for your answers! Best regards Palerider

We all know our last Lord Buddha Was Gautama Buddha. My question is, before him who was the Buddha? And what was the time gap between that previous Buddha and Gautama Buddha?

I used to think that the beauty of Buddhism laid within the absence of rules and restrictions. That you won’t be condemned for foing what you think is right. That there is more to see than just “here” and now. But seeing it as a quest also makes me sad that if it doesn’t make sense to my senses and comprehension anymore. I’m the kind of person who cannot obey as wanted blindly, there must always be a reason when it comes to rules rather than spirit. I don’t really stay if this is what is required of me. I don’t need rules, I need companionship, wherever they are or are not. But I’m 35 this year and already I fear the setting sun. I too will haggle more poorly because I am beginning to know that my questing days will become shorter and shorter. I know that I too will need a house of my own, made of rules and rituals and security. How can I say anything against that, though I can’t muzzle my dread? I am beginning to understand why older people don’t change much, though I wish I can be their gentle mare.

Every now and then i see claims that a particular practice of the noble eightfold path (or alternatively, the threefold division) builds on a specific preceding practice. Two examples of claims (right or wrong) is that right view is a necessary foundation for the other seven practices, or that panna comes last building on the two other thirds in the threefold division. I am interested in suttas as sources for claims like this, so my question is what specific references there are for describing this type of order of the practices. (Please note that i'm primarily asking for references, and not personal opinions).

When I was young I was told by a booklet that if I found a better religion, I can follow that one. I liked the idea of God centered, open-sourced religion back then so it was what kept me loyal and the reason I found out that there was more to know beyond it. Where else can a seeker go but yonder past a certain point?

I lost my interest in things,I just do only day to day life.Is it depression?This happened some months back. I think it is related to my vipassana meditation. Now in meditation saw the sadness and negative thoughts comes ,stays and goes. But only see the sadness not happiness. So what shall I do to pass this state?

I have been practising dharma and meditation now for more than 2 years and i feel a good progress within me. Does these 2 tools dharma and meditation alone can take us through to different levels of consciousness ?

Could the 4th satipatthana or dhammanupassana be, among other things, to remember Satipatthana in both heart and mind? Shouldn't viriya be focused on the focus towards satipatthana when worldly matters have distracted one down a wrong turn on the path? Do anything Buddhist scriptures talk about this?

In Theravada Buddhism, once a person dies he or she will be reborn immediately. Each person dies at a different time. How is it possible for a husband and a wife to meet again in the future consecutively for hundreds of times?

Or will human beings be magically reborn again in order to continue their journey to Nirvana?

My person thought of motivating, encouraging each other in supporting the foundation for meditation, complete Sila incl. right livelihood, if bound to house-life, viewing on the aspects of, planting food **without soil & harm**. Maybe some of you here like to share each other not only motivation like: **Why could this be a good livelihood?** **How could this be a good livelihood?** but also tips in how to do practical and simple without much material need and high tech. **How to do it for your own in least harmful way?** If wishing to share it foremost dedicated to the Sangha and it's devoted Noble followers, to have a change of higher merits, one can use the dedicated place [here](http://sangham.net/index.php/topic,9634.msg21210.html#msg21210) as well. *(Note that this is not given for trade, exchange, stacks... but for a way out of that wheel)*

Recently I tried to meditate in a moving car. I started seeing shadow like houses or roads with close eyes. It was followed by intense pain in eyes, nausea and dizziness. The headaches and nausea went away once I stopped meditating in the car. I have also reduced my practice from one hour to 20 minutes. One hour of meditation was giving me lots of benefits as I was more present throughout the day. Now I have come to know about the side effects of meditation and advanced stages like “dark night of the soul” and different psychological illnesses like depersonalisation caused by meditation. My question is that can an average person who is meditating for half hour or an hour a day get these side effects?

**What is the nature of a true cognition in Buddhism, or what Buddhism considers as truth?** Is it the same as what people consider a logical conclusion made with an empirical process? I feel it cannot be exactly that as various truths exist in Buddhism that aren't easily verifiable with mere deduction. In addition, **how important is truthful cognition/perception in Buddhism?** How far can you get practicing things like mindfulness, compassion, etc. without being capable of ascertaining things as 'true' for oneself. Finally, and I guess I should've asked this before, **what effects/qualities does true information have in Buddhism?** Is it timeless? Universal? Beyond doubt? So to clarify, these three questions are respectively asking **the nature, the importance, and the consequences** of truth in Buddhism.

Upon reading this post , I realized I always focused on the tip of the nose rather than the whole body, which may be less effective (for me). I was reminded of my Buddhist college teacher who said that meditation upon the body may cause psychosis or a mental breakdown for some. Hence, I wonder: **Is there any difference between mindfulness of the body (e.g. body scan) and focusing on the breath as it arises all across the body?** My teacher specified he believed focusing on the tip of the nose would avoid any such problems. **Is meditation on the breath as it arises across the body a variant or even partial form of body meditation?** Thank you

My best friend, business partner and lover died four years ago, and I’m struggling to find myself again. I’ve tried meditating before, but it doesn’t seem to work at 5 minutes a day. I have lots of time, please help me. Where do I start?

I've become interested in Buddhism a couple of months ago, and I try to meditate daily, which had very positive effects on my anxiety and overall feeling so far. I am prone to feeling overwhelming cravings for unhealthy, sugary food. Although the intensity of the cravings has been reduced since I started meditating, it is still a significant problem. I wonder if there is any specific practice which could help with that. I tried reading texts about the elimination of sensual cravings, but unfortunately they all focused primarily on sexual desire and not on craving for food. If someone could enlighten me on the topic, I would be very thankful. :)