July 12, 2020

Meditation Q&A, July 11, 2020

1 hour 13 minutes

This talk / Q&A was originally posted on Ven. Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu’s YouTube Channel. To watch it on YouTube kindly click here.

00:00 Start

08:46 What is the Buddhist view on whether or not I should turn myself in for crimes I've committed in the distant past? Even though I feel like a totally different person now. Thanks in advance.

11:21 I spend large portions of the day in a reclining position browsing the Internet. I am addicted. What are some things I can note about this experience that can help me break the pattern?

14:10 If someone is interested in the intensive meditation program you hold in Ontario how would they get in contact? Apply here: https://www.sirimangalo.org/courses/

14:46 How did you build a foundation upon patience and awareness? I'm lacking deeply in patience and getting frustrated easily.

16:15 What is a good greeting to start for a meditation session? I know we say Sadhu afterwards. I'm learning.

17:12 Is there a priority order to find a clear name for what you feel? For example, first to know if it belongs to body, emotions, mind, then if it is pleasant or not. Would it be useful to study cetasikas?

19:39 Should we force ourselves to meditate every single day just like we had to force ourselves to brush our teeth everyday in order for it to become natural so we don't even think about not doing it now?

21:50 Can you please advise me with this? I work hard to keep the five precepts but in the summer months, many flies get into my house and I resort to killing them.

28:55 Bhante, is it alright to do "rising, falling, sitting, rising, falling, touching, etc."? I find the space between falling and rising to not be big enough to do sitting, touching, rising, falling.

30:27 As I notice myself automatically setting intentions in my practice, are there things before intentions moving down that dependent arising chain?

34:05 How can I stop chatter in the mind thinking of unnecessary things that happened in the past and imagining the future? How do I stay focused and give the best to the present moment?

35:31 How should one take a step back and examine their practice in order to adjust it accordingly and stay on the right path? Are there any specific steps I can take?

36:56 I feel like I betrayed someone's trust, which brings me suffering. How should I approach that when meditating?

39:00 I work as a computer programmer so I tend to reason as such. I wonder which word list can be sufficiently complete for most of the practice and then use "wandering" or "noticing" by default?

40:58 Can the act of noting itself be an object of noting?

41:14 Celibacy has brought me a deep peace, is romance inherently a distraction of desire?

41:55 Is meditating in the forest or outside more beneficial?

43:49 A few months ago, a person who I thought I would marry ended the relationship. I observe, go back to the breath, and let them be, but it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. How can I end this suffering?

45:42 When I am imagining, I note “imagining” and “understanding,” then realize that I imagine scenarios I want, so I note “wanting.” How long do I note wanting?

46:21 Bhante, are there things taught in the at-home course that are different than what is taught in the booklet? Thank you.

46:57 Which do you think is more skillful to practice in meditation/right concentration? The "hard" visuddhimagga type jhanas or the "lighter" aware sutta based jhanas. Sorry if it was a bad question, Bhante, but this jhana debate causes a lot of stress. I was just wondering what your opinion would be on which type to practice.

49:42 I can't stop overeating no matter what I do. Please help.

51:49 As an effect of meditation, I feel not doing much as before as if I am becoming lazy. Like after a meditation session, I just sit, doing much seems stressful. Would it improve over time?

57:27 Sometimes when I do sitting or walking meditation I dont notice thoughts or notice them when they are already over. What should I do?

58:32 Are notings like "driving" too conceptual?

1:00:33 Can we practice your form of noting meditation in conjunction with other forms of meditation taught by the Buddha? Such as the cemetery or body awareness meditation?

1:03:17 I believe I should give up eating meat. Each time I try my performance at my physically demanding job suffers along with my income and the quality of life of my dependents. How can I best handle this?

1:03:48 How can I overcome the disappointment of my ex girlfriend who cheated on me’. I truly loved her and felt we had true love. I've just turned 30 one month ago and feel hopeless of making my own family.

1:06:27 I bought a live catch hand held small bug vacuum on line. It gently brings moths, spiders, wasps into the clear tube and you let them go outside by opening the tube. Harmless to them and kinda fun.

1:10:32 End

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By Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu