Vitakka and vicara — applied and sustained thought — are the two mental factors that carry the meditator into the first jhana. A close reading of the Pali Canon reveals their exact meaning and how to use them in anapanasati practice.
Please add to the list of Prof. Ian Stevenson, Dr. Jim Tucker, Dr. Raymond Moody, Francis Story and Thomas Shroder one other name: I found Prof. Erlendur Haraldsson’s website this afternoon. Have a look at these three cases from Lebanon:…
Do you have a favorite passage in the Suttapitaka?… Difficult question, there are so many gems. But this one is really special, IMHO. It’s a Zen master’s dream come true in the Pali canon: ‘Tasmātiha te, bāhiya, evaṃ sikkhitabbaṃ –…
How do the 4 jhanas and 4 arupa jhanas relate? You could say that the 4 arupa jhanas are a “modification on the topic” of the fourth jhana or a “variation on the same theme.” They bear its characteristics but…
Some people face these questions: My day-to-day life doesn’t allow me to meditate at all. I have the feeling that I do not progress in my meditation. The retreat was fine, but now all the calmness and serenity is fading…
Found this very nice Chinese film about the story of Bodhidharma: Bodhidharma (11 parts) The legend of Bodhidharma is a wonderful founding story for Zen a la Chan a la Dhyana a la “Jhana Buddhism”. But in the time of…
The following is an email I answered with regard to the last blog entry on the vipassana knowledges. I thought that many people might have the same reservations and would like to share my take on this with you: Well,…
This posting is going to be a bit cryptic…at least for most people. The chart which you see below is a compilation of many observations from the progress of Vipassana meditators on their journey from Samsara to personal experience of…
A Howto: Go to a secluded place Close your eyes, take up a meditation topic and concentrate, for example on breathing in and out. Repeat ONE thought, bringing back the mind and trying to “establish” it on this one topic…