I have seen some videos in Youtube (here and here ) where it seems that just by standing in front of Papaji, people start laughing without control. Somehow it is implicitly said that this reaction is related to an awakening/realization experience. My questions are: - Is this true ? - How is it that just the presence of a teacher is enough for such an experience ? - Can we say that this experiences are real Enlightenment ? Answers with references are strongly appreciated.

Is there such a thing ? My guess is things like OCD etc. are extremes of concentration. Yuttadhammo Bhikku, for example, alludes to this excess concentration in some of his videos (I couldn't find specific mentions at the moment, I will cite the next time I find one). What are your insights on what is it? what are the pros/cons of it and what a person afflicted with it must do to overcome it? Thanks

I watched a video of the Dalai Lama and he seemed to be saying that afflictive thoughts cause suffering and that people need to control their thoughts and cultivate wholesome ones etc. Outside of a retreat environment I can't see how it's possible. Everything is moving so fast. Hundreds of thoughts are just coming and going all the time. It's not even possible to be aware of them most of the time. I find myself suffering and have no clue about the thoughts that got me there. I mean they must have already happened and gone. It's not like I chose to think them. I'm not sure what I should do. Should I just try to cultivate more metta? Also we are taught to not analyse the content of thoughts arising during meditation but to just note them and return to the breath. I'm wondering how I get to know what is wholesome and unwholesome if I don't analyse?

According to Buddhist philosophy, there are two Pramanas or means of valid knowledge: Pratyaksha or sensory perception and Anumana or inference. (This is in contrast to most Hindus who believe in three or more Pramanas.) My question is, what are the traditional Buddhist arguments for the existence of rebirth? Now at least ordinary humans don't observe rebirth directly, so I assume that these arguments will rely on Anumana. I've seen Hindu arguments that use Anumana to prove the existence of rebirth, but those arguments are about establishing the existence of the Atma or soul, which Buddhists reject. So I assume that traditional Buddhist works have a different Anumana-based argument than the one Hindus use.

During my sit today I remembered that on my last retreat two weeks ago I kept seeing this wooden box. It was like I was breathing into it. I wasnt sure at the time what it was. I asked the teacher but they didn't mention anything about nimitta but I just realised during my sit today that this was probably what it was.

To me, the “present” holds greater significance than both the past and the future. Why? Because the present is the canvas upon which I can actively wield influence. It’s where my actions ripple outward, shaping what awaits me in the days to come. And when this present moment eventually slips into the folds of history, it leaves behind valuable lessons—etched into memory—as I learn and grow from its tapestry of experiences.

I heard the famous Dhammapada's 183: “Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one’s mind, this is the teaching of the Buddhas.” tractated metaphorically as what one needs to do to have a beautiful garden: it must be protected from bad plants by a fence (not doing bad, precepts, etc), good seeds must be planted (cultivating kindness, generosity etc) and weed must be pulled (purifying the mind through meditation). Is this a classical simile which can be attributed to a source, or a meme of unknown origin? If it can be attributed, where does it come from?

How does the Nimitta occur? I mean does it come **all of a sudden (like torch turned on)** as a shining bright white light or does it come as light gradually increasing brightness of varied colors? I am able to see a faint glimmer of blue circular object but not getting anywhere with it. The brightness and color remains constant for few minutes and it vanishes afterwards. Is it Nimitta? What should I do to brighten it

Is making a true promise, on the dharma, good karma? Not asking about the precepts per se, but it was about precept centred behaviour (a lack of infidelity etc. from me): and now I feel blissed out, independent of how it was perceived etc.. Just curious.

In the book Mindfulness in Plain English , Chapter 5: The Practice , by Ven. Bhante Gunaratana, he says the following: > As you keep your mind focused on the rims of your nostrils, you > will be able to notice the sign of the development of meditation. You > will feel the pleasant sensation of a sign. Different meditators > experience this differently. It will be like a star, or a round gem, > or a round pearl, or a cotton seed, or a peg made of heartwood, or a > long string, or a wreath of flowers, or a puff of smoke, or a cobweb, > or a film of cloud, or a lotus flower, or the disc of the moon, or the > disc of the sun. Can someone please explain what is meant by this. I’ve been meditating for years and I’ve never experienced such things. Any idea why not? How important is it?

Stabilizing the counterpart sign (nimitta) isn't easy. Is there a 'technique' that leads to stabilize it? I.c. is there a 'technique' to develop/cultivate intensively the absorption factors (jhanangas)? With 'stabilizing' I mean: making the nimitta sharp, focused, completely free from tension (of the panca nivarana), so that absorption (1st jhana) can be attained.

I have been meditating for a while now and i found my way to get into jhana, well i haven't enter jhana but it was more me not fully in knowing how but now i think i understand. But one thing i keep getting stuck on is the signs. I haven't to my knowledge experienced a nimitta. Maybe cause i use visualization to enter the jhanas From what i gathered first you have initial & sustain thought. Then as time goes on you developed joy. Which brings this pleasant feeling. Then you move your attention from that to the pleasant feeling to enter rapture and the first jhana. So where do any counter or learning sign come in. Is that only for certain meditations

At the time of Tathagat Buddha, Hindu religion in its current form did not exist. However, there were Vedic teachings. These teachings were based on blind belief in the authority of the Vedas. There were many different schools of philosophy *opposing* Vedic teaching, e.g. Akriyavada, Niyativada (determinism), Ucchedavada etc. As far as I know, the Buddha opposed Vedic religion. He opened a strong camp against it and freed people from the exploitative teachings of Veda. He expounded equality as opposed to the Vedic teachings which discriminated between different classes. Is it true that Buddhism (since time of Buddha) opposed Vedic (and later Brahminical) religion?

Can emptiness due to dependent origination be logically connected to the "vast emptiness" of Bodhidharma and Huineng?
A possible connection is that "vast emptiness" of space is the ultimate source of everything that happens into it, which is insignificant relative to its vast and empty support (container).
In this way emptiness is something vastly more substantial than the little substantialities we perceive as such using our ordinary mind, including seemingly grandiose ideas like the cyclical ever-recurring universe or the self-referential ability of the mind that results in the ego consciousness.
So is this the main point of dependent origination? That it ultimately leads to vast empty space as the source of everything?

I need some advices about unwanted intrusive thoughts. I have been living a totally normal and happy life until last week. I got random thoughts about sexual images and other unsanitary activites which are very disturbing. Those thoughts would involve around the Buddha, Bodhisattvas and other stuff that are related around the religion. Even typing this out makes me uncomfortable. Everything I do at everytime will activate my mind in some way to automatically redirects it to Buddhist-related, which is disturbing and I just want it to stop. My mind is always alerted because I'm terrified that new thoughts would pop up. There are advices that told me to ignore them thoughts and move on with my life, but then I would think about the consequences of my thoughts and stuff around it, which make my anxiety worse. I want my old life back, just living normally without any issues. I want Buddha to know that I am not disrespectful about the religion or anything, it is the random thoughts that I just cannot do anything about it. Will these thoughts lead to negative karma? I am a teenager and still live with both of my parents. They are both Buddhist and so as their relatives, so I am sure that they won't be happy listening to my problems add I can't really afford a therapy. Any help and advices would be appreciated.

The [Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN2)](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/DN/DN02.html) had often been quoted as the Buddha’s objections towards relying on *“animal”* arts for a livelihood. If one is learned in Mathematics, one can be a Math teacher. If one is experienced in cooking, one can work as a cook. If one is skilled in the *“animal”* arts, is a **shaman** even considered a legal occupation? Reading a paper: [On Buddhism, Divination and the Worldly Arts...](https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=relsfac_pubs) , however, got me thinking deeply on the reasons and contexts of this position. Is there more to it than the grounds of wrong livelihood? Could there be other dangers? Conversely, are there really no benefits whatsoever? What if one used divination and was able to avoid a misfortune...perhaps, even physical harm? Going to a Thai monastery, I have often wondered when devotees bring amulets to the monks to get them blessed. If you worn a white thread after visiting, you will be familiar with the practice of “sai sin”. Similarly, I have known of some devotees who approached monks for divination on matters that falls under serious or mundane. Also, in the paper mentioned above, the Buddha himself, had been approached to divine the subsequent rebirths of devotees on many occasions. I could be wrong but does this mean as long as one adheres to some underlying restrictions, clauses or conditions with regards to the occult arts then one might not ended up on the ***“dark”*** side after all? If this is so, what are those conditions? If not, what are the dangers other than wrong livelihood?

Do Buddha statues exist that portray Buddha as a person of white or European likeness? Where would I find them? (Not sure what other than "white" or "European" to call it; you are free to correct me.) If not, why not? (I would like to explain in a few words why I am asking that question, but find it difficult to pin down the right words. It has something to do with the feeling of familiarity or likeness, and just plain fun of entertaining the idea that the Buddha can look like all the other people that are typically around me all day long. Plus, whatever drives people to make cover versions of songs, just seen as a "cover version" of the typical Buddha statue.) EDIT: Replaced the word "caucasian" with "white", because this should be less offensive.

It's said that after the Bodhisatta become Buddha, he was kind of surprised how himself came to that position, across vast amount of time, alternate views, other paths, misleading views. (basically infinite number/amount of spaghetti) **So, how he did it?** **What kind of thinking / practice oneself do in order to achieve / make that kind of determination?** **How oneself find it's way across this vast nonsense?** **How oneself fight against all odds, yet tell nobody?** Above all questions may seem different, but they all ask the same basic question. That's why they all are in same stack question. *I am not making this question up, that's what my heart is asking for few years now.*

studying the two, and reading the list of the 4 tetrads, in the Anapanasati - first breathe and body, second studying the two, and reading the list of the 4 tetrads, in the Anapanasati - first breathe and body, second feelings. third mind, fourth dhammas. in the Satipatthana it is the same. I have read Analayo's book on Sati a number of times as well as many other books - sat contemplating both practices, is it the fact that in the Ana they suggest which dhammas to sit with? where in Sati it is much greater? 4nt 8fp, awakening factors....

The Buddha said in an indirect way that if one practices consistently for 7 days, enlightenment is guaranteed. My question is if there are thousands of monks who live in monasteries and practice all day everyday who aren't enlightened, how on earth is an ordinary lay person supposed to attain it?