If I meditate...

[JC938]

Hi,

If I'm suffering mentally. And if I meditate, will my suffering goes away?

Thanks

[Sam Vara]

Hi,

If I'm suffering mentally. And if I meditate, will my suffering goes away?

Thanks

It depends on many different factors, especially on why you are suffering mentally. It might help to make your mind a bit calmer, and hopefully give rise to some insight as to why your mind is suffering, so that you are in a better position to do something about it.

Do you have a meditation teacher who can advise you?

[JC938]

Hi,

If I'm suffering mentally. And if I meditate, will my suffering goes away?

Thanks

It depends on many different factors, especially on why you are suffering mentally. It might help to make your mind a bit calmer, and hopefully give rise to some insight as to why your mind is suffering, so that you are in a better position to do something about it.

Do you have a meditation teacher who can advise you?

No, I don't have meditation teacher. I live in thailand and can understand thai, but I don't know which monastery to go, there are just too many monasteries, I want to be a monk, but I'm not sure, sometimes I think I can meditate as a lay person aswell, but I'm not sure, I don't like reading online and researching everyday and never do meditation also. Can you guide me which monastery I should go? Thanks.

[SDC]

Hi JC,

Please be careful when asking this question on the internet. Most people are not qualified to give you an answer that has your best interest in mind.

Having said that, I believe the teaching of the Buddha can ease suffering, and learning about the Dhamma and contemplating on it is very helpful. But meditation is not magic, it is deliberate and purposeful, and a simple following of a technique is not a guarantee of success.

So if you are suffering from mental illness that could be eased through counseling or medication, that may be your best route. Please protect yourself and be responsible around spiritual people who preach about meditation - it is no skin off their ass to make promises that can be hurtful to you, and meditating wrongly can, in some cases, make your mental illness worse.

I'm not telling you not to meditate, I'm just reminding you to protect yourself.

[Sam Vara]

No, I don't have meditation teacher. I live in thailand and can understand thai, but I don't know which monastery to go, there are just too many monasteries, I want to be a monk, but I'm not sure, sometimes I think I can meditate as a lay person aswell, but I'm not sure, I don't like reading online and researching everyday and never do meditation also. Can you guide me which monastery I should go? Thanks.

Sorry, I've never been to Thailand and, again, I don't have enough information about what is bothering you to offer safe advice. As SDC has said, if you think you need help with mental health issues, then a mental health professional or a counsellor is your best bet. Meditation is not a "magic bullet", and it's normally best to stabilise oneself and have some degree of well-being before making big changes.

[JC938]

Thanks, actually I shouldn't use the term mental suffering, basically I'm just depress, or should I say, just unhappy and not happy. But I call it mental suffering which may makes you think I'm mentally ill, which I'm not. But thanks.

[SDC]

Thanks, actually I shouldn't use the term mental suffering, basically I'm just depress, or should I say, just unhappy and not happy. But I call it mental suffering which may makes you think I'm mentally ill, which I'm not. But thanks.

Sorry for the assumption!!

[JohnK]

Without knowing any specifics of a situation, the "textbook answer" would be:
Meditation is only a part of the eightfold path to the end of suffering.
A good reference is Bhikkhu Bodhi's essay on the eightfold path:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... toend.html

That does not mean that meditation may not help alleviate some mental suffering in the shorter term through calming the mind and/or through repetition of recognizing and letting go of mental obsession to return to the object of meditation (and so being able to apply that off-the-cushion). But it is likely that meditation will be afflicted by the hindrances (and not be so effective even in these more limited ways) if the path is not followed more fully.

[paul]

These are the duties attendant on the four noble truths:

-This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended

-This noble truth of the origination of stress is to be abandoned

-This noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be directly experienced

-This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress is to be developed

Anyone who is suffering is comprehending the first noble truth, so they have already entered the path, provided they see their suffering in the right perspective, as dukkha.
Their next step is to practice the abandoning of the origination of stress, attachment to samsara.
The only thing guaranteed by practising the noble eightfold path is that suffering will decrease.

[SarathW]

If I'm suffering mentally. And if I meditate, will my suffering goes away?

I practice very little meditation.
However I take an effort to follow the Noble Eightfold Path.
I think it is as good as meditation.

[JeffR]

No, I don't have meditation teacher. I live in thailand and can understand thai, but I don't know which monastery to go, there are just too many monasteries, I want to be a monk, but I'm not sure, sometimes I think I can meditate as a lay person aswell, but I'm not sure, I don't like reading online and researching everyday and never do meditation also. Can you guide me which monastery I should go? Thanks.

Are you Thai? There' lots of good monks in Thailand who can help you, and lots that are not capable. Ask around, I used to work in Thailand and whenever one of my Thai workmates had problems they'd go stay in a wat with the monks for awhile and get the help they needed; this included those who are Catholic.

As others pointed out, meditation alone won't cure you. There's more to it than that, a monk who is well practiced in the dhamma that is willing to work with you will show you the way.