So, I have a strong hunch that there must be a root emotional cause of anxiety and not in a worldly manner (*like not related to one's life story). More like an error in judgment of relation to oneself & others. First candidate that comes to my mind is not being kind towards oneself which produces lack of confidence, which in turn produces anxiety given unfavourable external conditions (*like meeting new people etc.)*. I have witnessed meditation to ease anxiety, but only seems like a partial temporary solution. What would be your understanding of the root cause of anxiety, and any possible practices to resolve it on more permanently?

Let me paraphrase it as best I can. There was a youth named Shining Countenance who approached the Tathagata. He prostrated to him and circumambulated him 7 times. "My Lord I am going on a journey and I fear for my safety." The blessed one spoke. "There is a Buddha realm called "Shaking All Defilements." In that realm exists a Tathagata, an Arahant a fully enlightened Buddha named "Buddha Subsequent Conduct." Remember this Buddha, prostrate to him, pray to him and you will have no fear on your journey and your goals will be met."

This may be an unusual question but I'm wondering if any monk or scholar has written work or made lectures about the spiritual obstacles of Capitalism. Namely the atomization, alienation, crippling entertainments, omnipresent advertising, the uncertainty of holding jobs and fluctuating markets, the need to wage wars to reduce the overall wealth of the society and obtain resources. We are not living in the time of Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava or Athisha. This is a spiritually confused, decadent world. Our spiritual obstacles are more complicated and strange than the obstacles of previous times. Any ideas? Sadhu.

Recently, I was got cyberbullied by my schoolmate. yeah, I am not student. I'm depressed. I remove all contact and block them but I can't remove my anxiety and fear. Oh yeah, I feel that I am not sotapanna again because I was lying to those cyberbulliers. After lying, I am so anxiety.

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.

Basically this "Nice Guy Syndrome," as described by Dr. Robert Glover, refers to a pattern of behavior where individuals, often men, seek approval and avoid conflict by being overly nice, accommodating, and putting others' needs before their own. Ofthen, nice guys are seen as doormats/people pleasers and end up building resentment, unfulfillment, and difficulty in forming genuine connections. From a Buddhist perspective, which teachings or principles can help in understanding and addressing the root causes of this syndrome? Furthermore and more importantly, what are practical, small, and specific steps that I can take to gradually overcome this pattern of behavior and develop healthier relationship dynamics? I know general mindfulness helps, and probably alone is enough to fix it overtime, but I am looking for something more doable and more direct. Thanks for any answers

Before I ask this question let me tell that I know that attachment in Buddhism is very different from the one in psychology. Also, I understand that attachment in psychology is just aversion or craving for certain situations/feelings/experiences etc. That being said, I was wondering if anyone has successfully overcome anxious attachment (or knows how to)? I ask here because if I ask anywhere else I would get the standard response "it's something that you live with for all your life and it's something very deeply rooted, which cannot be overcome. So you should get better in learning to live with it." I understand the broad psychology etc. so please emphasize on any specific exercises and insights that have helped you. Feel free to add any other relevant info. Thanks

I am spending some time alone in a day (in solitude). During that alone time and during the rest of the day i am feeling itching and tingling. I can ignore both by just watching it as someone described in the below article about itching. However, both are really annoying and feels like i'm unable to focus on anything, as my focus then turn to the itch/tingling. Reference: https://zenhabits.net/itchy/

Health anxiety is defined in the quote below. A person suffering from it may mistakenly believe certain fluctuations in bodily sensations to be dangerous or a sign of impending critical illness, and this may cause them to become anxious. When they become anxious, they may get symptoms of anxiety (like rapid heart rate and chest discomfort) which may lead to a positive feedback loop, resulting in a panic attack, where they may think that they have a heart attack and go to the ER. That's the worst case. The best case is frequent unnecessary visits to the doctor. Based on Buddhist techniques, what could a health anxiety sufferer do to help himself or herself? On the other hand, if he really did have some critical illness, but convinces himself that it's not really the case, then it's not good for his health. So, how could Buddhist techniques help him find the balance? According to this article on health anxiety: > **The False Alarm** > > Health anxiety is the misinterpretation of normal bodily sensations as > dangerous. Healthy bodies produce all sorts of physical symptoms that > might be uncomfortable, painful, unexpected, and otherwise unwanted — > but not dangerous. Picture a car with an alarm system. It’s useful if > your car alarm goes off when a criminal is breaking in, but it’s > problematic if it goes off every time someone walks by. Your car alarm > would be misinterpreting innocent pedestrians as dangerous criminals. > > Normal physical symptoms that often produce fear and worry include > changes in visual acuity, heart rate and blood pressure, saliva > levels, depth of breathing, balance, and muscle tone, to name a few. > These are normal and harmless. But when a person misinterprets them as > symptoms of some terrible disease, it creates undue worry. This > explains why medical tests come out negative: The physical sensations > are real, but they are not symptoms of a disease. > > **Overestimating Danger** > > Misinterpretation may be due to assumptions about health and illness, > such as, “My cousin died of cancer, so it’s only a matter of time for > me.” Or, “Viruses spread quickly. Since people in Africa are dying of > Ebola, it could easily spread to the United States.” People with > health anxiety might hold rigid definitions of good health, perhaps > believing that any discomfort means bad health. > > If they hear a news story about a few cases of a serious virus, people > with health anxiety might start scanning their own bodies for symptoms > of the virus. Looking for symptoms makes you notice subtle sensations > that you might otherwise ignore. With uncertainty, the imagination has > room to create stories. And that’s when your body’s alarm sounds off > as you imagine the worst. > > **It Gets Tricky** > > Symptoms of anxiety produce very real physical symptoms: Dizziness, > stomachaches, rapid heartbeat, tingling in the hands and feet, muscle > tension, jitteriness, chest pressure, and the list goes on. These > symptoms add fuel to the fire. Now you have real evidence that > something is seriously wrong. Or do you? Perhaps it’s anxiety. So how > do you know if these symptoms are serious? You go to the doctor… and > then to a therapist. > > Health anxiety persists despite reassurance from the doctor. Seeking > reassurance from doctors, insisting on repeated medical tests, and > visits to the ER and urgent care are common if you have health > anxiety. This habit leads you to rely on such reassurance to obtain > relief from health worries. A vicious cycle develops of noticing a > sensation or learning of an illness in the world, misinterpreting it > as threatening, then becoming anxious, and finally going to the doctor > for reassurance. Reassurance from the doctor reduces the anxiety and > brings relief temporarily. Soon the cycle starts again.

I have moved to a big city from a suburban area recently. I hardly have to go outside home. Because of the current covid restrictions, I do WFH. I used to go cycling or walking everyday before. But now I am too afraid to go out not just because of covid but also because of the thievery, burglary, snatching incidents that get reported in the area everyday. I stay in one room all day. And mentally it's affecting me a lot. I understand that maybe I have attachment to my previous place of stay. Now how can I deal with my anxiety?

I struggle with anxiety and intrusive thoughts and I've found that meditation helps a lot to calm my restless mind. I am familiar with key concepts of Buddhism. I read a tiny bit about it directly and from Schopenhauer. I've been thinking about it for a while and I want to incorporate it into my daily lifestyle. Do you have any tips with starting to implement this on daily basis and maybe something more towards anxiety problems? Thanks in advance

I'm having a really hard time. Not just in my meditation practice, but in my life in general. I've established a habit of 20 minutes of meditation first thing in the morning, then another 15 minutes in the early afternoon. I also try to take mindful breaks, I regularly take mindful walks, and I will meditate when I need a break or I'm feeling very stressed. I started meditating probably 3 years ago, and my routine has been pretty strong for the past 2 years. I usually use headspace meditations, and sometimes I just meditate on my own in quiet. I've read a few books about meditation, zen, etc, but I've never gone to a meditation retreat or anything hardcore like that - and given my work and young kids, I don't consider that an option. I think I started meditating in a healthy way. I wasn't trying to solve any specific problems, I just wanted to be more mindful in my daily life. But I did think regular meditation would be a healthy habit to adopt, and that it would be a safeguard of sorts against other ills. However, I now find myself really frustrated because I've actually started to get more anxious, and I've barely slept for the past month. I've tried to mindfully just accept my anxiety, not fight it, and I think that's generally fine, but the insomnia is debilitating. There is no major life event that I can think of that's causing this, I don't understand it, but I'm very disappointed that my meditation practice hasn't helped more. I've tried to increase my meditation recently to see if it would help, but I just keep getting worse. I'm very frustrated and I can't help but think what's the point of spending all this time meditating? Could I be doing anything wrong? Has anyone had any similar experiences? Any advice?

i need guidance for a problem that i have for 5 years. I have a harm ocd, i keep having this extremely bad imaginations about killing family/holy beings and destroying holy stuff. The thing is, i REALLY REALLY do not want to do any of this, i love my family, i feel blessed knowing about dharma and stuff. But somehow, this dark bad repetitive imagination keep playing on my head. There is even this 'inner voice' who keep voicing things like "I want to kill X" even if I REALLY dont want to. Is this counted as bad karma? And what should i do? Just let it pass or maybe i should keep hurting myself so it will stop? Sorry if this sounds weird. May all of you have a great day ahead. Thank you

I suffer with Pure obsessive compulsive disorder. I regularly have intrusive thoughts of all different kinds and I can be pretty anxious sometimes. Although I know that thoughts are only just thoughts, I can't help but feel that the thoughts have a negative karmic effect. I never agree with such thoughts and do my best to just maintain awareness of them and letting them go. Although they sometimes do take over my mind, It's generally alright to deal with. However, earlier today, I was in the middle of a crude act. I.e masturbation. During the session, I had intrusive, blasphemous thoughts of a Bodhisattva. My mind had created a thought which involved seeing the bodhisattva in a sexual way. Even just typing this is making me feel extremely uncomfortable but I desperately need advice. It was obviously never my intention to think those thoughts. What are the karmic effects of this? I respect all Buddhas and all Bodhisattvas immensely. I respect all beings immensely. Have these thoughts planted a very negative seed? I have a huge fear right now of a hell rebirth. Although I know that I didn't intend for those thoughts to happen and I know that I don't agree with such thoughts and I know that thoughts are just thoughts, do these kinds of thoughts hold a stronger 'weight' to them? I know that a violent thought is bad. But is a blasphemous thought towards a Buddha or bodhisattva really bad? Please help. I'm grateful for any wise words.

The last few days I've been struggling with the fear of death. I really love life and I fear the unknown. I know it's inevitable but for some reason I can't accept it. I find it beautiful how in buddhism people actually want to achieve nirvana. I mean I know there's no suffering but also there is no happiness etc. I would love to hear some tips on how to accept the inevitable and enjoy the here and now more. Mindfulness helps a lot but sometimes the thought still jumps into my mind.

If one need to care about the well-being of another (physical health, mental health), one needs to constantly check their status to update information and act fastly. That makes one constantly worry. Therefore they cannot reach enlightenment. They can't even start meditation, even though one can temporary leave them a couple hours or even days to take care of yourself. Is that correct?

I started a new job, and when I get anxious my cognition turns to pure incoherence. I second-guess everything, doubt, double-check unnecessarily, make more errors, etc. **What is the best type of meditation to deal with such anxiety-related problems?**

**Does anyone know if the Buddha said anything about social anxiety and how to deal with it?** I believe social anxiety is common in our day and age because people are more isolated now, but may not have been as common in the time of the Buddha. So if there is nothing specifically about social anxiety, can you provide info on what the Buddha said about dealing with anxiety (in general) (Also as a related question: Is anxiety considered a mild form of fear or are they separate in the Buddhist teachings?) Please provide sources if you can, thanks!