Buddhist solution to anxiety

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Sam Vara
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Re: Buddhist solution to anxiety

Post by Sam Vara »

binocular wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 6:21 pm
Sam Vara wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 2:45 pmGood point. Most of the responses so far have focused upon "seeing through" the conditions, and regarding them in a different way. But in addition to this, John should try anapanasati. Not only might he become calmer, but a level of tranquillity might be required for him to even address these states without reacting badly.
And before that, John should train in virtue.
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User1249x
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Re: Buddhist solution to anxiety

Post by User1249x »

No_Mind wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:28 am Is there a way that Buddhism and Buddhist meditation can help us with anxiety?

Example -

John is 50. John's wife has heart ailment. He needs to spend $150,000 out of pocket which he does not have. John takes a loan against his mortgaged house (I believe that is called a second mortgage) but worries about not being able to contribute enough towards kid's college fund since he will be paying of lot of debt. He is also worried what will happen if he is one day laid off or there is a recession like in 2008 etc.

John is anxious and worries a lot.

:namaste:
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santa100
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Re: Buddhist solution to anxiety

Post by santa100 »

No_Mind wrote:If John was a Catholic and went to a padre the padre would ask him to pray.

If John was a Musilm and went to an Imam or maulvi the Imam/maulvi would ask him to pray.

If John was a Buddhist .. what should John do ..
He should also pray... and do a few more things as suggested in the great posts above. Beside the usual benefits of cultivating insight, anapanasati, mindfulness, etc. there's an often neglected but quite obvious and practical benefit: keeping a cool head, an absolute vital prerequisite for effective problem solving. Simply recognizing this fact would already put John in the right direction and uses his mind to assess the situation and fix it. Brainstorming various possible approaches: doing partial incremental payments to avoid taking an extra loan; have the kids apply for scholarships and go to 2-year Community colleges while working part time at their college for extra cash; get extra income by doing multiple side jobs beside the main job, which should provide medical insurance and other types of insurances, etc. Since the situation is unique to him, he himself must come up with creative and flexible strategies to fix it. And he'd better remember that anxiety is one of the biggest hindrances to effective problem solving. Improvise, adapt, and overcome is the way to go.
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Re: Buddhist solution to anxiety

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

attend to the perception of relaxation
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binocular
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Re: Buddhist solution to anxiety

Post by binocular »

No_Mind wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:28 am Is there a way that Buddhism and Buddhist meditation can help us with anxiety?
An essay on the topic of anxiety by Bkikkhuu Bodhi.
Hic Rhodus, hic salta!
sentinel
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Re: Buddhist solution to anxiety

Post by sentinel »

santa100 wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:03 pm
No_Mind wrote:If John was a Catholic and went to a padre the padre would ask him to pray.

If John was a Musilm and went to an Imam or maulvi the Imam/maulvi would ask him to pray.

If John was a Buddhist .. what should John do ..
He should also pray... and do a few more things as suggested in the great posts above. Beside the usual benefits of cultivating insight, anapanasati, mindfulness, etc. there's an often neglected but quite obvious and practical benefit: keeping a cool head, an absolute vital prerequisite for effective problem solving. Simply recognizing this fact would already put John in the right direction and uses his mind to assess the situation and fix it. Brainstorming various possible approaches: doing partial incremental payments to avoid taking an extra loan; have the kids apply for scholarships and go to 2-year Community colleges while working part time at their college for extra cash; get extra income by doing multiple side jobs beside the main job, which should provide medical insurance and other types of insurances, etc. Since the situation is unique to him, he himself must come up with creative and flexible strategies to fix it. And he'd better remember that anxiety is one of the biggest hindrances to effective problem solving. Improvise, adapt, and overcome is the way to go.
:goodpost:

Anyway , anxiety came from money problem , meditation won't help .
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sentinel
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Re: Buddhist solution to anxiety

Post by sentinel »

No_Mind wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:29 am I have never been able to watch past first ten minutes of this video .. though I have tried a dozen times.

Ajahn Sona says .. there are no anxious thoughts but you feel anxiety while you are thinking thoughts (I may have misunderstood him) .. what does it mean?



:namaste:
When you are Anxious , there is agitation inside your mind which is a kind of experience and following it is thinking about it .
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Re: Buddhist solution to anxiety

Post by Spiny Norman »

binocular wrote: Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:48 am
No_Mind wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:28 am Is there a way that Buddhism and Buddhist meditation can help us with anxiety?
An essay on the topic of anxiety by Bkikkhuu Bodhi.
Thanks, a good read.

"But to go beyond anxiety we must let go now — not, of course, by a premature act of renunciation, which in many cases might even be harmful or self-destructive — but by wearing away the clinging, attachment, and acquisitiveness that lie within as the buried root of fear."
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