01:28 Meditate Together

18:07 Is drinking alcohol bad for meditation or mindfulness? Even irregular drinking, such as drinking alcohol only once a week or once a month?

20:45 What is the way to remove anxiety?

28:19 I know following Buddhism is good for me. It feels like I don't have the willpower to follow it appropriately. What can I do to cultivate willpower to follow Buddhism?

30:16 I have extreme tension during sitting. Is it OK to spend the whole sitting noting that tension and not the rising falling? It is much more prominent. Will it go away eventually this way?

31:19 Where should the mind be, during the stopping portion of walking meditation? Is saying to ourselves "stopping, stopping, stopping" different from noting?

31:58 If I pause meditation for few weeks, will it degrade or stop my progress?

33:18 I read that the Buddha asked Bhikkhus to see positive sensations as dukkha and negative as anicca.

35:28 Even after following a meditation schedule, I find my motivation to meditate waning most of the days from the week and I tend to skip practicing. Is it an ego thing? Would you please offer advice?

37:01 During meditation I barely notice when liking or disliking arises. How do I know when I’m liking or disliking something, and does it manifest itself also physically?

38:27 I did LSD five years ago, had very deep experience - "seeing" infinite conscioussness etc. After that visual things became fluid for me. I'd see colors merging, walls wobbling and so on. It decreased now. but still now, I can see visual movements like that but far less intensity. I wanted to ask, is delusion the root of this? Is it I'm not mindful enough..or is it physical brain related phenomenon?

40:23 Is there an increased risk of getting complacent once the practice eliminates the more intense forms of suffering, since suffering is such a powerful motivation to practice with urgency?

42:24 When meditating I sometimes get caught up in sounds like music or voices, but not necessarily thoughts. Should I continue to note thinking or would another word be more suitable?

43:01 Should the mind stay with the breath if there is no distraction, or should one intentionally go out of one’s way to note postures, feelings, mind etc if they aren’t immediately obvious?

44:11 I had an "awakening" at 16 -- made it to the shore with a boat, floated for a while, and gave it away. Now I'm lost in the forest again. How can i find a way back?

46:44 I am skeptic all of rebirth and the three characteristics are making me very depressed. How can noting help?

48:31 Whenever we note a distraction and return to the abdomen, do we just focus on that spot (like a body scan) and wait until the rising begins again?

49:06 If there is no concept of eternal self in Buddhism and there is only experience, then what is it that is aware of experience? What is the state of one who has attained final realization (arahant)? While alive, are they still in an experience only state (with no self) but without ignorance? On passing away if there is no returning for an arahant, then what is the nature of their existence after passing or do they cease to exist completely?

53:18 There is no divine purpose or plan. The I typing this question is a concept created by moments of experience just as everything else is that is not an experience of the six senses i.e. the computer used to type, the internet used to connect, Bhante our teacher, meditation, Buddha’s teaching etc. are all concepts. Yet somehow this conceptual I has come to the conceptual teachings of the conceptual teacher Bhante Yuttadhammo in order to be free from suffering & delusion. Difficult to grasp how there is no purpose/intention in this scenario. Could you please share your thoughts on how Buddhism explains this?

57:30 During some sessions I lose sense of the body to a cecrtain degree and noting the abdomen becomes difficult. I feel lost in that state. How should I note it?

58:54 Is it possible that when we crave, we are reinforcing a sense of self? Having seen anicca, dukkha and anatta, I find that I yo-yo back and forth with remembering the 3 characteristics, including not-self, and having difficulty not identifying with a self at other times. There are few cravings, and the few that are still there, I wonder if this experience of craving Is reinforcing a sense of self?

 

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