I don't presume to understand Buddhism very well, but I'm trying to increase my understanding of the Dhamma, so please don't take what I write the wrong way. I'm not being disrespectful, because even the Buddha praised Sariputta for his unwillingness to accept teachings on faith alone, but rather from his own personal experience and understanding. I sometimes feel like Buddhist practice is a slow form of suicide. Gradually, all interest in life, the world, family, friends, romantic interests, sense pleasures and even love itself needs to be ultimately abandoned and renounced. Nibbana is considered to be the ultimate freedom and highest happiness because it ends all suffering by extinguishing the mind from all forms of existence forever. This is denied as being annihilation because its argued that since there was never a true self to begin with, there was nothing to be annihilated. Nevertheless, we still experience *a subjective experience* of a self, otherwise, there would be no point in practicing the Eightfold Path. Because only a deluded (unenlightened) mind could have any motivation to extinguish itself, craving Nibbana seems very much like a strong aversion to existence. Anyone who tries to logically extrapolate this to justify suicide as a means to accomplish the same result is denied because its argued that a desire for annihilation (via suicide) creates more bad karma which causes rebirth. Yet, desiring annihilation via the Eightfold Path is somehow exempt from this. If someone wants to remain in Samsara forever, it's very easy to do, no effort is required. But if someone craves to permanently self-destruct via Nibbana, they must be highly motivated and diligent in their efforts, perhaps spanning many lifetimes. Some people even abandon all worldly life to become monastics to accomplish this in the fastest and most direct manner possible. Thus, it seems that to remain in Samsara requires much less desire and effort than to seek one's own annihilation via the Eightfold Path. Again, I realize people will argue that you can't annihilate what doesn't truly exist, but this existence which all sentient beings experience as subjective reality is all a deluded mind can ever know, so seeking to extinguish that reality seems like a desire for non-existence which is supposed to create more bad karma and rebirth. I honestly struggle to follow the logic of this.

What are the best resources to learn about yogacara buddhism? Online resources, books, anything would be fine.

How is personal continuity (including continuity at rebirth) explained in Buddhism in the absence of a persistent, unchanging self? Do all Buddhists agree on a single explanation? I am reading the book, Foundations of Buddhism, by Rupert Gethin. He has provided some explanation, but I am not sure whether it is the original Buddhist explanation or his own interpretation.

I have a similar question about the Samādhirāja-sūtra. Is the Samādhirāja-sūtra, a mahAyAnA sUtra or does it occur in the nikAyas or somewhere else? What is the historically accepted date of this sUtra? Does this sUtra precede nAgArjuna or is it a post-nAgArjuna sUtra?

There are a few posts on the site asking for good introduction/beginner books on Buddhism, but I can't seem to find any that a child could read and understand. Although age range doesn't really matter to the answer that people might post, let's say someone between the age of 7 and 14, just to have some context.

(One of the reasons for asking this question is that I thought that maybe some people needed some extra/other knowledge/insight in order for the Noble Eightfold Path to become more accessible to them.) Not necessarily to be "better" in knowledge and understanding than the Buddha overall, but to have a better understanding or additional explicit knowledge of some things or see certain things in more detail or accuracy with regards to certain aspects about the way out of suffering, and that may also address particular, "extreme" types of ignorance, mental illness, psychosis. To be able to answer other questions related to the way out of suffering that the Buddha was never asked.

As far as I understand, Vipassana meditation trains **attention** and **equanimity**. Both sound as great skills to have in order to battle addictions. However, after having attended a 10-day Vipassana course, I still don't fully understand how this technique can be applied to overcome a strong addiction to *FMO and **PMO. I mean, the technique, as teached in the 10-day course, pretty much trains you to be equanimously aware of your breath and the physical sensations in your body through continuous body scans. However, I'm left clueless about how that technique can be somehow generalized and applied in the concrete case of facing strong, compulsive cravings of PMO/FMO. In fact, the 10-day retreat forced me to go in such an abrupt, extreme cold-turkey abstinence that the cravings started to build up and during the middle and end of the course I was multiple times overpowered by the urge to fantasize, during the breaks and even during the meditation sessions. Thinking in hindsight, the urges to fantasize became stronger because in those days I experienced a lot of frustration due to reasons which had nothing to do with sex. I experienced back pain and also annoying breathing problems due to nasal congestion, and I guess that made me lose motivation and made me vulnerable to the urges to fantasize. I want to make clear though that I didn't masturbate nor watched porn during the whole retreat, because it was pretty much impossible due to the inexistent privacy (I was surrounded by people all the time, and the bathrooms were not very private either), and of course I didn't have access to any electronic device. So I didn't break the shila, unless you consider sexual fantasies as shila breaking. After I came back from the retreat, I was immediately and magnetically drawn back to PMO/FMO, overpowered by the urges built up by my last day's constant sexual fantasies. On the bright side, though, this retreat was an excellent opportunity to learn more about myself and showed me how impressively strong my addiction to FMO/PMO is. In fact, even in a retreat environment and deprived of privacy and access to internet, I am still very vulnerable to sexual fantasies. So, I would be very grateful of any practical advices on how to apply Vipassana to overcome PMO/FMO addiction. Has any body faced this addiction and successfully managed to break free from it by applying Vipassana? Is Vipassana meditation enough to overcome the addiction or should I resort to other meditation techniques, or other life style changes for that matter? Any practical tips/suggestions/help will be deeply appreciated. *FMO = Fantasizing, Masturbation and Orgasm **PMO = Pornography, Masturbation and Orgasm I borrowed these handy accronyms from the NoFap community.

In other words, how do I know if I'm really being objective?

I wasted my youth. I am 35 years old. I had a toxic relationship with my parents, especially my mother. My career never started and am still looking for a fresh start and finding it humiliating at my age. What does Buddhism says about wasting your youth? Is redemption possible? Thanks.

If I remember this right I heard about the 4 infinitudes and the 6 coolnesses on podcasts. Not sure if I'm getting the names right and/or representing these properly. The question is, I'm looking for the textual source of these two lists in the scriptures. 4 infinitudes: - mind of a buddha - the mind in Jahna - space - world systems 6 coolnesses: - When the mind needs to be restrained you restrain it - When your mind needs to be exerted you exert it - When it needs to be encouraged to encourage it - When you should develop equanimity you develop the quality of equanimity - When there’s resolve on the mark of freedom you reserve on that mark - Delighting in freedom

Is the movie _Fight Club_, and the _Project Mayhem_ idea at all buddhist? Since it predicates [detachment from material possesions](https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/55824/is-project-mayhem-or-tyler-durden-buddhist/55825#55825) there's a neat point. I believe in the end it's not, but wanted to ask here for a more argumented answer

My father was mentally very unwell. As a result my mother worked to support her children. We grew up embarrassed by my fathers behaviours and effectively excluded him from our lives even though he still lived in the house with us. To be fair though, he was not capable of interacting, mostly staying shut in his room during the day, and living nocturnally. My mother who was a very kind person found solace by having a relationship with a married man whilst my father was at home . On leaving home, marrying and having my own children, I became reflective and angry and confused so for a short while I cut my mother out of our lives. Now, my own children grown, have done the same to me. Am I witnessing Karma in action? Does Karma that’s played out in the same lifetime mean that you won’t have to carry the consequences into you next lifetime? I see so many examples of direct cause and effect in my own life that I hope that if I deal mindfully with my feelings as a result, that I am paying Karmic debt now .. not in future reincarnations. Is this possible?

I have a very strong pull towards becoming a full-time monk but being a family person (a son/husband/father) it seems really tough to take-up robe. How do I go about convincing or communicating this thought to my family? What are the drawbacks if I just leave everything and walk away?

I noticed that if I set an intention to avoid some behaviour, I rarely follow through. I feel perhaps a mere intention based on willpower doesn't have much strength. **Is it more effective to direct one's thoughts to a virtuous object whenever fantasies and cravings, or worries and rumination, occur? Are these cravings/worries causing the problems?** Is *just* setting an intention mentally sometimes not adequate?

H.E Tsem Rinpoche says the following on his website. >"Through a lack of understanding of how things truly exist, we create and recreate an independent self entity called “me.” > >The whole of our experience in life can be viewed through this sense of self. In consequence, various cravings govern our actions. Cravings arise for sense experiences, for “being” or “becoming” (e.g. rich, famous, loved, respected, immortal), and to avoid the unpleasant. These cravings are the root cause of suffering." I struggle with this idea because from my perspective many great achievements and accomplishments only happen because people are driven and about things. This seems to be saying that we shouldn't bother trying to be anything because it's all dukkha, anicca and anatta anyway. Surely if everyone believed this we wouldn't even be here and evolved to the level we are in the world. We would have just given up. I can't see the point of doing anything creative. I do creative things because I want to create something great that can inspire others and that I can feel proud to have achieved. Many people who have struggle to achieve certain things like to become a successful actor for example say that they feel very fortunate to be able to wake up and do what they love for a living everyday. What exactly is wrong with wanting to become something? Responses quoting scriptures and linking to rambling repetitive suttas will be down voted.

What is the literal meaning of Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. Everywhere I read it says "The Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Lines", but that is not a _literal_ translation as far as I can tell. What is the literal translation or etymology? For example, [Sutra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutra) means "thread", but that is no where in that perfection of wisdom phrase. I read elsewhere, too, that: > The word Prajñāpāramitā combines the Sanskrit words prajñā "wisdom" with pāramitā "perfection". So we have the "wisdom perfecting thread" sort of thing. But what is the other word?

Can ultimate paramatha reality ever be observed or realized with only samatha concentration meditation on a concept?

The more I learn about the modern Vipassana movement the more I feel it promotes an incorrect or inadequate view. But I don't know the movement well so I thought I'd ask what others here think about this increasingly popular approach to the practice. It seems to discard much of the Buddha's teachings and focus on a quite mundane approach to living that has no metaphysical justification or philosophical significance, bringing some of the benefits of meditative practice without requiring the aspirant to commit to any particular idea of Truth and Reality. Is this the case? Have I got it wrong? What do you make of it?

Could anyone share your experience and knowledge? People who have attained strong concentration have the ability to read other people's mind. My question is, what is the 'knowing'? Do they read other people based on what they feel? For example, one person concentrates his mind on a person, when his mind is calm, other people's mind will be felt and reflected in his feeling. Is this correct? How do they know, based on what? Any reply would be great, thanks.

I know there are many types of meditation, but can someone help clarify the following questions on meditation: - What types of meditation is essential for the practice & why? - How do those types of meditation work (like what am I suppose to be doing)? - Why do we do meditation (why is it such an essential thing)? If you also have any extra information to add, it would be well appreciated! (And if possible, please cite sources in the Pali Tipitaka for your answer) Metta to all!