Well don't you realize the self is fictional, and your concerns are fictional. That is very true. But when one is in the grip of selfhood and the 'self' is causing a lot of Dukkha, for many just going, "I have no self, I refuse to feel bad" is not enough. You can tell your "Self"...

Whatever their philosophy, killing leads to low rebirth. Whatever anyone thinks, in other words. Will you not kill if an armed intruder/terrorist threatens life of your family, friends etc? Not being judgemental. Any answer you give is acceptable to me. :namaste: I would, and damn the low rebirth. ...

First of all, let me say that I feel great compassion for your family and this gentleman. It is a rough time, especially when it is not handled with grace. I think that all of us want to go out peacefully and with great equanimity. But I also think that it is no great crime to panic. It is just anot...

I Consider myself solitary, though that may soon be coming to an end. I usually have to drive an hour to the temple, and the hours that they keep makes it difficult for me to attend, with work and such. I usually go about once a month, or when I run into something that I really don't understand abou...

I did not say he should be left to freeze outside, i said if he was to disrupting the Sangha causing disturbance, upsetting lay supporters and forcing monks to leave the monastery it would not surprise me if it was worse for him than freezing. Ah, I see what you meant now. My apologies for misreadi...

I think if one was to let anybody stay at a monastery it will get overrun and monks would leave very quickly, lay supporters would likely get mad and definitely kick out the beggars in that case or at very least stop supporting with food. There are potential issues of bad kamma of disrupting the Sa...

I've always been of a mind that if you have a home, and someone needs a home, they have a home. For a practice that is supposed to be about getting rid of attachment, the idea of a Buddhist turning someone away makes no sense to me. If the place you stay in belongs to no one, how do you have any mor...

Welcome to the forum. ^_^

I do not mind. Modern life isn't 'empty' per se, it's just that in the past, community, religion, and tradition provided a strong framework for life, as you said. Today community has been replaced by rugged individualism, religion with possession and materialism, and tradition with pop culture. If o...

As others have suggested, you cannot change your mother, only the way you see her and her behavior. Practice mindfulness as much as you are able, when sitting, walking, standing, and laying down. Practice it all the time. It may be difficult, but eventually, when you have a conflict with your mother...

Hello, I'm 24 year old, soon I will be 25 (At June). How old are you? I am curious how old are the members. Metta :buddha1: :) I am 25. 26 in a few months. It's funny, when I was a child I thought I would never get this old. Soon I will be saying the same about turning 50, I think. :tongue: Wow, so...

That's rather fantastic. Thank you for educating me! I was completely unaware that Jedi meditated.

Thanks for the welcome, really enjoying all the information so far. Already learned so much in such a short time.

Yeah, I doubt the Dark Lord is anywhere near the fourth Jhana. He is too busy force choking subordinates to have any time to preform meditation. Unless he is starting his own school, wherein mindfulness training is focused on the force choke.

Decided to introduce myself. Found this site through its sister site on Mahayana Buddhism. I've always liked what I view as the purity of the Theravada tradition and made my way over here. I'm 25, live in the U.S., and have been practicing Buddhism for about 7 months now. After taking my time to get...