If you are sane enough to read the Dhamma you are sane enough to practice it, & practicing it will remove whatever degree of insanity & mental illness you might have. Hi Dylan, I agree for the most part and this has been my experience. So this is why I was surprised by Ingram's warnings. In...

I am not familiar with the author you are quoting but any method where some of the practitioners end up in mental institutions sounds dodgy. [snip] Apart from the Corruptions of Insight i don't see what can go wrong if one is practicing correctly. Hi RightView, I am familiar with the basics of the ...

I live just outside the New York City city limits and so there is a Theravada Vihara even within more or less walking distance. I have been to it in the past often but I think for most of the laypeople it's just a token observance. I wouldn't be too quick to judge. Some of the lay people at my loca...

I think maybe I should take it easy a while and focus on sila, metta bhavana, trying to get more stable and healthy in more mundane ways, eg hobbies (in this case for me, computer programming is the field I'm majoring in at college), work, trying to be kind and helpful to people in different ways, ...

Hello Andrew: -I think the fact you are following the precepts and having interest in sila, its showing that you are having a mature approach to the practice, and its not a crazy intellectual esoteric pursue. -Take in consideration that metta bhavana (or Brahma Viharas) can take you all the way thr...

a few issues I have with the various technique schools. They often lead to people having intense experiences which they identify as some stage of vipassana or even higher. Imgram is an obvious example, but even lesser levels of delusion are not good. Then some people have experiences which are very...

Hello friends, I mostly lurk here but came across some reading material the other day that I'd like to share and ask your opinions about. A little history... I'm 35 years old and I have been in the (outpatient) psychiatric system for most of my adulthood with schizoaffective disorder, basically not ...

I want to thank you all deeply for your advice.

I will take this advice and think about it and perhaps post more of my thoughts on this subject in the near future.

[ You just have to choose: Do you want to give up this world, or do you want to live in it? The more you want to give up this world, the more you would give up money, I guess? If you are unsure, I think that means you are still layman-minded (like me). So just enjoy the world, until you can give it...

All, Thanks for your thoughts and insights. I guess for me it comes down to practicing mindfulness in everyday life. Ethics are a given but it's easy to fall into the regular worldly routine without mindfulness as it's taken up as something on its own. "A big important test today, homework toni...

Sam Vara and Dootdo, Thanks for helping me clear up some of my doubts. I had in mind previously a post https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?t=27671#p394210 by Bhikkhu Pesala about not being able to enjoy a completely normal laylife while still practicing but now that I found the post I think he mea...

On the one hand, according to Bhikkhu Bodhi's new translation of the Suttanipata and its commentaries, secular learning (in addition to Dhamma learning) is one of the 30 or 40-something blessings in the Maha Mangala Sutta. Indeed. However, what immediately occurs to me is whether this type of succe...

Hello friends, Today I want to ask whether, and to what degree, one can and ought to have worldly success (such as making much of school and work) and still practice Dhamma. I am now in my mid 30s and am a student at the local community college. I tend to be very intelligent with academia and capabl...

As I understand it, prayers have a different meaning in the Buddhist tradition, especially Theravada. As a previous poster mentioned, in theistic faiths, a prayer is usually expressing a wish to a diety or deities that he or she do something to help someone. In Buddhism, especially Theravada, a pray...

Hi Guys, I don't have much to say on this topic in general at the current time but I thought I'd share an essay by Bhikkhu Bodhi on the Kalama Sutta that I found interesting and should help clarify how it's commonly (mis)understood by many/most people and what it really means. It should have some re...