What Isn't Meditation

[@Hilalisoda]

I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for your teachings. Recently, I tried a meditation that is not traditionally praised by the Buddha, in which I contemplated past traumas and encountered many defilements and negative emotions. However, I soon realized that this was not the right approach for me at this time. Instead, I shifted to mindfulness and metta meditation, and found myself becoming more positive and peaceful. Thank you again for all that you do.

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure! Thanks for your story. 🙏

[@h.m.3-L]

Thank you so much for this talk on what is ‘not meditation’, It is the clearest explanation on ‘what is meditation’ that I have found after reading And practicing Buddhism for over three years. Much gratitude and metta.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Hannah, thanks for letting me know! Be well. 🙏

[@karlpatrickprias8185]

God day! any ebook you can recommend to me about Buddhism I want to learn and practice it.

[@janglestick]

ha ! i'm so glad I found this ! when I try to say these types of things to my friends, they treat me like i'm being way too exclusive. Now I can point them at your video and they can get mad you at instead ! oh boy !

[@DougsDharma]

😄 Well thanks for that janglestick ... I think!

[@oceanokelly8097]

Careful they bouta see this! 😂

[@Erdbeerheld1]

Hey Doug, I just wanted to thank you for your videos on Early Buddhism. I do not consider myself a secular buddhist but your videos are very helpfull and give me a lot of new asepcts to (pun intended) meditate about. So, I just got a Patreon and one again: Thank you

[@DougsDharma]

Oh that's wonderful, thanks very much Jo Nas! 🙏

[@yongjiean9980]

@@DougsDharma What I grasp from this video is that mindfulness and cognitive aspect of meditation is not unique to Buddhism. But what is unique about Buddhism is Jhana

[@rohinieweerasinghe169]

It is so great, I am a Buddhist by birth but I learn lot from you. I am so happy know how Dr Doug understood the Buddha's teaching so well and accurately and have experience some level of Jahana. I am trying but no where near. Thank you Dr Dough.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Rohinie! Keep practicing! 🙏🙂

[@paulinewqi]

This is exactly what I always wanted to know...what exactly is considered meditation. I never dare say that I am in meditation cos I don't really know how to call my state of mind...what qualifies as meditation... Thanks so much for this lecture...

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Pauline. Glad to be of help.

[@WolfeTone66]

Thanks Doug, I love your calming talks. You’re always so positive 💚

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Christophe! Be well.

[@penguins0392]

Where do you speak more on Charnel Ground Contemplations? Thank you for another great video!

[@DougsDharma]

Those contemplations occur in the first foundation of mindfulness, so I'd look in the video on that topic in this playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL0akoU_OszRjItCXmF-MMPdKwTdtGSxl-

[@community1854]

Love how Doug explains difficult concepts! Thank you!!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome!

[@SHurd-rc2go]

Thank you, Doug. Your talks are so welcome in these difficult times. June 2020

[@DougsDharma]

Glad you like them! Yes I agree Buddhism is particularly timely right now. 🙂

[@brimmedHat]

Thank you Doug

[@timbomilko5367]

What a very useful explanation of what is and is not meditation, Doug. I had to have a quick look at your video of vipassana and its acknowledgement of the ALSO 'cognitive' nature of meditation. I suppose these are all like pieces of a puzzle ... without having seen the image that results.

[@DougsDharma]

Glad it was helpful, Timbo! 🙏

[@jordanlay1741]

Thank you for your thoughtful explanation about what isn't Meditation from the perspective of a follower of the Buddha. With Metta, Jordan

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Jordan, thanks for your comment!

[@Thissapunyo]

Hi Doug, thank you for this video, your clarification is very helpful, I do feel that the idea absorption can only be reached during extended periods of meditation is a misconception and often takes the form of a sort of spiritual elitism, especially by those selling long retreats, my experience is that once you learn the milestones of the entrance to the Jhanas, you can enter in a short sitting.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for the clarification John. I'm not an expert on jhāna meditation myself but Leigh Brasington says that it usually takes a ten-day retreat for his students to be able to get to them. (I've been relatively lucky in having light jhānic experiences without that kind of retreat schedule). Once you get proficient at them then yes, they may indeed be attained more easily. But in my understanding it does usually take time to get that proficiency, at least for most people. 🙏

[@athenassigil5820]

Buddhist and Hindu meditation is a specific mindful practise. The western sense is more along the lines of reflection or pondering. At least that's my take on it......great video, by the way! .

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks, yes I agree that's the older sense of "meditation" in the West, though things are changing now.

[@attheranch4876]

“Is this cultivating a positive/ skillful mental state that will be beneficial in the long term“? This is the key.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@newpilgrim]

Thanks so much Doug! I greatly appreciate your channel. I'm on the road to my doctorate in media psychology and working in virtual reality. I've also had a central-to-my-life-experience Buddhist practice for over 25 years, and sit in concentration meditation for 30 to 40 minutes, every day. The Western messaging around mindfulness as it pertains to VR often suggests they serve the same fundamental function. In your view, do they?

[@DougsDharma]

Well I'd say VR could be used for certain kinds of visualization exercises perhaps, though really the point of visualization is to have *you* do the visualizing, rather than have an external "visualizer" that does all the work. I wouldn't say that VR serves the same function as mindfulness, it's more like a very advanced sort of immersive game or ride, providing curated sense experiences for us. Mindfulness is all about our internal attitude to sense experience, rather than about sense experience itself.

[@newpilgrim]

@@DougsDharma This may explain why I struggle to 'meditate' in VR. Thanks so much!

[@patrickacolifloresvillasen1731]

Thank you, Doug!

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure!

[@ConexionHumanaOficial]

Very good evening my great teacher. Thanks a lot for this Wonderfull class. I love to meditate and I'm trying to do my best practicing mindfulness. Your explanation -like all the time- it's really useful to me. Lotus for you. Evangelina Cortes.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Evangelina! I'm glad you're finding the videos useful in your mindfulness practice. 🙏

[@kunalgulati3358]

that example of dish-washing was really good, great video. thank

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, thanks to Thich Nhat Hanh, a wonderful teacher recently passed.

[@kunalgulati3358]

@@DougsDharma A great teacher he was indeed, he had a good life🙂

[@tasospanagiotou7823]

Hey Doug. In your opinion, these ¨wrong¨ types of meditation can have any benefits? I have heard, mostly from stoicist viewpoints, that meditating on negative scenarios and/or bad thoughts/emotions can help you in some regards. They can help you, for example, with being more mentally or physically prepared for negative scenarios or future incidents, being more grateful for what you currently have, taking countermeasures against negative scenarios or situations etc. What do u think?

[@DougsDharma]

Well I think this question turns on two different meanings of the word “meditate”. In stoicism, meditation is essentially thinking or contemplating. It can be useful to contemplate unskillful states for the reasons you mention. In Buddhism, often “meditation” means focusing the mind on a particular object or theme. Then to focus the mind on something unskillful risks cultivating the very thing one is trying to leave behind. But Buddhism does have a role for contemplative thought as well, as you suggest.

[@andreasterling489]

My experience of meditating is that the state of jhana gets more and more established as time goes by until it is the only state that is experienced internally and the mind just witnesses the outside reality such as the dishes and doing the dishes.

[@DougsDharma]

Interesting, thanks!

[@tobsternater]

sounds great!!

[@CARR0T1]

Thank you Doug for another excellent and informative video!!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Evangelos! 🙏

[@theo3030]

Hey Doug. Would you advise meditating on a persistent or frequent/repeated bad thought (pattern) or bad emotion we have been feeling? Just so that we can know it better or to make it look less dreadful? Would you consider that meditation? And even If it it's not considered meditation, and it prob doesn't, does this approach have some benefits nonetheless?

[@DougsDharma]

This would very much depend on the specifics of the case, but in general focusing on bad emotions or thought patterns risks reinforcing them. When they arise of course, it's proper mindfulness to be aware of them and acknowledge them.

[@matheusquirino4531]

Hello Doug, another incredible video as usual. I firt got in touch with buddhism when I discovered a book shop dedicated to buddhism, and there I bought a collection of books that I later found out to be from the mahayana tradition. At the time I didn’t even know that there was this kind of division. With your channel I learned about the different schools and that I actually identified muself more with early buddhism, but because I already have those books I’m reading them to see what I can take from them anyway. One thing that comes up a lot is a kind of really cognitive meditations, where you’re supposed to think about a subject and sort of argue your way to a conclusion, and hold on to the feeling that that conslusion may produce. I was wondering if that sort of practice falls into some category of if it has a parallel to early buddhist practices. Thank you.

[@DougsDharma]

Well it's hard to say Matheus, there are quite cognitive meditations in early Buddhism as well, such as the charnel ground contemplations we find in the sutta on mindfulness. I think there is room for all kinds of meditation, so that isn't necessarily a problem.

[@oldstudent2587]

We have (or maybe now have) many terms for meditation in English. We should understand that the Buddhists had many words for meditation as well, and that they don't always correspond. Smrti (sati) to remember or reflect, Dhyana (jhana) from dhyai which is thought or holding, Bhavana from Bhu to create, but is also used (bhava) as "to be". Kalpana to imagine or fabricate. Samadhi - depends how you break it, either to hold all, to conceive all, all or inclusive dhyai (as in dhyana). There are lots more. But the ones picked for the noble eightfold path were smrti and samadhi. That we now conceive of these almost exclusively in English as mindfulness and concentration is okay but they didn't start that way.

[@Octoberfurst]

I meditate every morning for 30 minutes. But I have a horrible time dealing with my "monkey mind". I have tried focusing on my breath but that doesn't seem to help. I'll be focusing on my breath and within 10 seconds I am thinking about something I need to do today, a conversation I had with a friend, or a dozen other things. Minutes later I realize I am not meditating and get frustrated and go back to my breath. This repeats itself constantly. I do have a better time if I just lightly focus on some object---such as a candle or a pattern on the wall. Fingering prayer beads also helps. If I just focus on touching one bead after another it helps keeps thoughts away. But is that real meditation? Any advice would be helpful. Thank you.

[@Thissapunyo]

Hi Octoberfust, Please dont let your monkey mind dishearten you, it is exactly that realisation of how busy your mind is that will lead to results, the aim of mindfulness of breathing meditation is not to stop your mind from wondering it is merely to learn to recognise when it does and to notice that if you do not engage with the ideas your mind presents they will evaporate on their own and you can go back to your breath, dont be hard on yourself if you are carried away with your mind, just go gently back to the breath once you realise it happened, over time you will find that this gets easier, you will find it easier to control your mind by concentrating strongly on a fixed object perhaps try a bit of both :)

[@DougsDharma]

John's advice is good Octoberfurst. Monkey mind is normal, indeed meditation is largely a practice of learning about your monkey mind and how to deal with it. That said, if you find your mind is calmer by using other methods such as focusing on objects or prayer beads, that's fine too. It can be good sometimes just to try new approaches and see how they work.

[@Octoberfurst]

@@Thissapunyo Thank you!

[@Octoberfurst]

@@DougsDharma That is good to know! Now I am not so anxious about my approaches to meditation. :-)

[@Thissapunyo]

@@Octoberfurst your very welcome! And be proud of yourself for achieving a solid regular practice!

[@samspeedy6473]

Strange. I thought tuning into the physical senses was a great way to drop into the present moment and interrupt the condition of being lost in thought; that is, tuning into non-judgmental awareness of sense-input (as opposed to judging sense-input as "pleasant" or "unpleasant" with the attendant desire and aversion). Certainly, many mindfulness teachers advocate this today, and I took it to be the point of Zen's famous "flower sermon" where the Buddha offers the sensory and wordless experience of the lotus flower. Is this all wrong?

[@DougsDharma]

Good question Sam. There is a key difference between say sense awareness and sense enjoyment. Awareness is an attitude of non-judgment, or at least that's what it aims at being. Enjoyment is an attitude of positive judgment, relishing the pleasure. These are subtle but key distinctions. It's the same with anger: just getting lost in the anger isn't really meditation. Non-judgmental awareness of the anger that arises is proper mindfulness practice.

[@samspeedy6473]

@@DougsDharma Thank you for the reply, yes that distinction makes sense.

[@clickbaitcabaret8208]

I meditate on the sound of monks chanting om. My brain is something of a jukebox with thousands of different songs perpetually running through it. My dreams have music in them too. Focusing my mind on the repetitive chanting of the monks shuts my inner jukebox off. It's about the only thing that does.

[@DougsDharma]

Interesting! Maybe you can just practice being mindful of the jukebox while it plays?

[@bartfart3847]

What would you say about the Japanese Tea Ceremony?

[@DougsDharma]

Well I think it depends on how we approach it. To me it seems more something we take aesthetic pleasure in than something that is simply meditation, but I wouldn't want to be dogmatic about that. I expect there might be a range.

[@gerhardbraatz6305]

That good feeling you speak of can be a problem because it can lead to craving.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, that's true. Something to be aware of!

[@eladsinger9215]

Is it possible that reading about and thinking about Buddhist concepts could be a form of meditation? Has anyone ever gotten nirvana from that? New to all this. Thanks

[@DougsDharma]

It’s complicated. Generally speaking, thinking about Buddhist concepts isn’t considered meditation, though some forms of meditation do include thinking about Buddhist concepts. And while it is possible that someone has attained nirvana simply from thinking about such concepts (this seems to have been the case with Bāhiya for example), it would almost certainly have been after a long period of practice.

[@gunndlewittlebaum]

Great video, Sir! I'm new to medetation and your channel has been very helpful. Is itpossibe for you (or anyone reading this) to recommend a biography of sorts for the Buddah? There are some nice documentaries on the subject but they are obviously a bit short on detail. Thanks again for the work!!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Gunndle! Unfortunately there aren't many good biographies of the Buddha that are available. Schumann's Historical Buddha is quite good but very expensive on Amazon: amzn.to/2JuwbpN . Anālayo has a Meditator's Life of the Buddha that looks at the Buddha's experience with meditation: amzn.to/2VUfqef . (These are affiliate links, you can use them or just look up the books yourself). But stay tuned, I am working on something ... ;)

[@gunndlewittlebaum]

@@DougsDharma Wow, exciting things coming down the pipes! I will save my pennies and purchase Schumman's book via your link. Thanks again!

[@DougsDharma]

You're welcome! I'd say Schumann's book is way too expensive over there, no clue why. It's a normal book after all.

[@nripeshbhusal2481]

sir, i am 16 and am starting to like buddhist culture and way of living and of course, meditation as well. i find it pretty difficult to manage my meditation cycles. Does it matter to meditate a good length at once or the sum total of the day matters . eg what is better 15 min of meditation in 4 times in a day or straight up 1 hr session? i am currently going on a 30 min session during the online school break and 15 min session after exercise . Thank you for the amazing content. Namu amida butsu .

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure Nripesh! As to meditation, I wouldn't overthink it. More is better, but how you can fit that into your day is most important. If you want to reach deeper states of samādhi then you will need longer uninterrupted periods of meditation. But mindfulness can and should be something we aim to attain throughout our days, so a little here and there is great too. But don't burn yourself out. Do what's manageable and enjoyable.

[@nripeshbhusal2481]

@@DougsDharma thank you so much for replying sir. I will stick to my cycle then, for it is best suited for me.

[@luizr.5599]

I like no-meditation from Dzogchen, removing the mystical bits. It's like the last exercise of sitting meditation in Full Catastrophe Living.

[@florindacollins864]

I really appreciate ur videos.

[@DougsDharma]

So nice of you to say Florinda!

[@nancypoopongpaibul5642]

Thank you for your sharing.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Nancy, thanks for watching and commenting! 🙏

[@sarathw5740]

Great video! MN 108 is a great reference. (you forgot to include it in the video)-( Every kind of concentration is a form of meditation but the result may vary based on the meditation object. A cat will catch a mouse. Tiger woods do a hole in one. Artist will draw a beautiful picture. Christian will see God. Hindu will be united with God. A Buddhist will attain Nibbana.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes there is a link to MN 108 in the show notes, so you can find it there. 🙂

[@Nikk82115]

Very good ☸🙏🙏🙏

[@gkk2215]

Doug, could you please let me know how to contact you???

[@TheKaanKar]

Thank you for the insights. I’m grateful for your work 🙏🏼🙏🏼 what do you think about TM or mantra meditation? Is it a replacement for mindfulness meditation for some? Is it accepted for the early buddhists?

[@DougsDharma]

I'm really not familiar with TM, though I think it stems from Hindu meditation practices. Either way, these are quite a bit later historically than the early Buddhist meditation techniques I'm talking about in general on this channel. That's not necessarily to say they are bad though. Some later techniques are fine, it just depends on what we need.

[@TheKaanKar]

@@DougsDharma thank you for being so responsive 🙏🏼

[@coldhart79]

Our mind is very strong if know how to really focus. Eg. Now I need to go from my home to point B(a place never been before, using GPS) And after point b back home. Normally will feel from home to point b unknown place will be far but when from point b back home, same route same distance but will feel the journey faster. This is also called mindfulness when u know the route back and that's why will feel this way?

[@alexpavlides2047]

I still have one question. You say there are two main types of meditation, mindfulness and concentration. That the first is focus on the breath and the other is about jhanas. Isn’t it necessary to reach Jhana to focus on the breath. Seems these are the same?

[@DougsDharma]

Jhana is a deep form of absorptive meditation. Once one is in jhana (or at least the higher jhanas) one cannot follow the breath anymore. Instead one uses breathing meditation to get oneself to jhana, or at least that's one way to do it.

[@simeondawkins6358]

Hve been mosty in the flow fow many years now it does not feel good or bad its just calm peace

[@safir2241]

is focused drawing and anatomy studies a form of meditation? cause ive been doing 10 - 15 mins of meditation per day, but also very often do plein aire paintings and things such as

[@DougsDharma]

I wouldn't call it meditation unless it was done with some purpose above that of simply drawing a beautiful picture or making an accurate visual study. But it's a hard thing to say for sure Safir.

[@earthisflat]

Can you meditate on a word or phrase by just repeating it to yourself in your head?

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, this is known as mantra meditation.

[@madjo23s]

very nice advice, i would suggest to wake up Sathi. then Consideration, regrading to Buddhism. when you start to catch up what happen inside your mine, now Cure it with กรรมฐาน 40 (Kammaṭṭhāna) after you apply Kammaṭṭhāna with every come up in the wrong ways, you will see the potential practise of Buddish :) at 12:30, contemplation(Jhon) has 4 leves, Samahi has 3 level, concentrater on worrkng = 1st levef of samahi clam of mine But no 4 feeling of Jhon = 2nd level of samahi (this level is normally of westerner does ex prof. sport player, mathmatician, ...) when you pass 4 feeling, you will get into 1 st contemplation(Jhone), now you will feel and see the difference between normal happy life and Supereme happy life, you are only observe the mine, no force to do thing here, i hope you get into this, after 1 st to 4th, is SAGE mode, your body will start to disaapeare from mine, at 4th NO body = you will know for yourself, no 6 senses to interfear you any more, you will learn body and mine are NOT the same thing. kzbin.info/www/bejne/omHEhJaifp5-gJo

[@yongjiean9980]

I asked Ajahn Brahmavamso meditation is mindfulness or concentration? He said you meditate to let go....

[@DougsDharma]

That's right, that's the final goal. Thanks Yong Jie An.

[@learningenglish9316]

Very very GREAT

[@opllars]

I really enjoy your videos and also this video, but it got me confused that Buddha taught not to meditate on anger and the rest of the hindrances. I have been instructed by a lot of teachers to do this whenever thoughts/emotions are too compelling. I can see that it is not a good idea if jhana is the goal, but if mindfulness is the goal then mindfulness consists of being aware of everything that is going on in the mind which imply restless impulses, angry thoughts, doubtful thoughts, sleepiness. And I think that I have got more benefit out of being mindful of the hindrances than peaceful meditations from just concentrating on the breath.

[@DougsDharma]

Hi opillars, yes I should have been clearer. When the hindrances arise it is indeed good practice to make oneself aware of them. This is an integral part of the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness. But we aren’t supposed to “do a meditation on” a hindrance in a way that would cause the hindrance (like anger) to arise when it is not present. I hope that makes it clearer. 🙏

[@opllars]

Yes, that clearer. Thank you for your answer :)

[@Theroadneverending]

Hi Doug So are you saying that meditation in a sense is, the act of “not” thinking? In the terms of Buddhist meditation. A state of which you have no mind?

[@DougsDharma]

It's not really that Austin. Take a look at this video of mine: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nImUYqB6nt2Cj80

[@RustyJoe]

If one is present in the moment, one can and will experience sense pleasures, and sense discomfort, but need not become attached to them, because one is now in the current moment, and no longer in that moment 😉

[@DougsDharma]

Yes exactly! One will have to deal with new sense pleasures or discomforts. That's life!

[@nsbd90now]

My initial education in these topics was in the Catholic tradition and was taught a distinction between "meditation" and "contemplation". Meditation was more along the lines of "thinking about things" and contemplation more of a silenced focus on the transcendent which seems more like the Buddhist use of "meditation". Later, I learned about what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called "The Flow Experience" which is the "being absorbed in a task". I guess I'd question how we distinguish between just non-ordinary states of consciousness and the actual goal of existential success and being an arhat.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, well the goal isn't simply to be in some non-ordinary state of consciousness. The goal is to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion by eliminating craving and clinging. That is the Third Noble Truth. We can for example gain wonderful states of non-ordinary consciousness through the jhānas (absorptive meditative states about which I've done several videos), but those aren't the same as enlightenment.

[@nsbd90now]

@@DougsDharma lol! I just watched about the jhanas again before this one. It seems like success would be more of a weird expansive dark kind of silence, or something... literally a no-thing no-self emptiness, but oddly still... being? I guess I'm using the presence of certain emotions, or temptations to certain emotions such as anger as a guide at this point. Kind of concerning that if I give up the idea of free will it seems like I'd move towards-- actually become-- a much greater kind of compassion for others. That seems the correct direction at this point, assuming compassion is so existentially foundational.

[@jaednhowlar2359]

9/10 people I introduce to meditation either never start or quit and tell me "Oh but I already meditate on *insert attachment here* so I am good!" I still love music, I get pseudo-jhana from good music, but it is still inferior to even weak jhana glimpses or brahma-viharas. They don't believe me usually, they think my description of the pleasure is abstract. When I say waves of bliss going through the body, hairs standing on end, an impossibly light coolness, I mean it viscerally. I only have one meditator at my meditation group after years of being willing to teach anyone. This used to upset me. Now that I'm more advanced I'm actually "afraid" (I don't know if theres a better word, trepidation?) to get more interest because then I'll feel compelled to face stress to teach more.

[@DougsDharma]

Interesting, thanks. Of course, you don't have to teach if you don't want to. 😊

[@jaednhowlar2359]

@@DougsDharma Its one of those push/pull relationships, knowing the benefit, the risks, and trying to get in the middle of it, lol

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

I passed the local wellness center today, and noticed an offer for a ' Meditative massage ' Now getting a massage can be a nice experience , but it can hardly be called a meditation 😅

[@DougsDharma]

😄

[@ajahnpadawan8812]

Was Buddha attached to dhyana, and do we all risk that? In my experience it can also be quite difficult to differentiate between dhyanas and sense pleasures.

[@DougsDharma]

Well if the Buddha were attached to anything he would thereby not have been enlightened.

[@monikadeinbeck4760]

Meditation in its broadest sense is a family of techniques to achieve certain states of mind. To take your example. I can wash the dishes with the intention to be all in the present moment. So when my mind starts to wander, I will return back to just washing the dishes. I could, however, also use the task of washing the dishes to let my body and parts of my mind wash dishes on autopilot and allow me to wander far and wide through my imagination, completely detached from reality. Once you realised that you can aim for any state of mind you like meditation becomes far more useful. I taught myself to achieve orgasm just by an act of will this way. Orgasm is just another state of mind. You can make a map of your mind and mark interesting states on this map and then go there whenever you wish.

[@davidknight7933]

🙏🏻thank you

[@DougsDharma]

You’re very welcome David! 🙏

[@gerhardbraatz6305]

I like to say that weeding my garden is therapeutic but now I understand it could be meditative.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, it could be both actually. I did a video a long time ago about weeding actually! kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmS7hZWVeMlgnMU

[@FlywheelAcademy]

What are you thoughts on Chanting? Great video!!!

[@DougsDharma]

Hi BossZen, I did a video awhile back on images and rituals in secular practice: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXW5q6h3jM9qebc , but my basic feeling is that chanting can be calming, so it can be a useful addition to practice. That said, personally I don't do chanting very much myself. 🙏

[@landflower9167]

@@DougsDharma what you chanting?🤔🇯🇵

[@Magnulus76]

I think that's why the east Asian Buddhist tradition focuses on mindfulness more than just jhana in meditation. Particularly combined with the concept of "sudden enlightenment". There is more space for using art to express or achieve enlightened activity (the shakuhachi flute is a good example of this, having begun with suizen, the practice of playing the shakuhachi meditatively).

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Magnulus. Mindfulness and jhāna are both important in early Buddhism, but arguably mindfulness most. And interestingly there are also examples of “sudden awakening” in the early texts, though they are preceded by long periods of meditative practice.

[@AbuSaud.Christos]

I don't think you have to do long meditations to get into the first jhana .. I got there in a 20 minute meditation.

[@DougsDharma]

If you're able to do that, you're very lucky!

[@justaname424]

Hello dear Doug, I am your friend and follower from Russia. I have a question without an answer. I would like you to make a video on the topic. If there is no self, which means there is no you and no me as identities, then who makes these videos and who watches them?

[@DougsDharma]

Hello Alexey, the thing is that the Buddha never said there was "no you and no me". For a playlist of my videos on non-self in Buddhism see: kzbin.info/aero/PL0akoU_OszRjA9n0-U24ZCpfEQVFxeGz2

[@Socrates...]

immerse yourself in the task

[@roshaniaf4212]

Very good.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@roshaniaf4212]

@@DougsDharma namo Budhay.

[@garynaccarto8636]

Meditative task can be used as a tool to help you get into a state of medition but doing a meditative task is not synonymous with meditation.

[@DougsDharma]

Exactly so Gary. I'd only say that doing a meditative task is not *necessarily* synonymous with meditation. We can for example do walking meditation, and if Thich Nhat Hanh is right we can do 'washing-dishes' meditation.

[@garynaccarto8636]

@@DougsDharma You got a point. The key word is "necessarily".

[@xfunktion]

Dhyana is from Sanskrit, right? Does Dhyana have exactly the same meaning as Bhāvanā? And is it right that Zen comes from Zenna which comes from Dhyana?

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, dhyāna is the Sanksrit, in Pāli it's jhāna. It doesn't have exactly the same meaning as bhāvanā, which means something more like "development" or "cultivation". It would depend on context. And yes, the word "Zen" does derive from dhyāna/jhāna.

[@xfunktion]

@@DougsDharma Thank you very much for your reply. It is valuable for me to specify that the words dhyāna and jhāna correspond to the same concept. Greetings from Poland.

[@engleharddinglefester4285]

Development or cultivation! Aha! Thanks!

[@DougsDharma]

👍 🙂

[@wendychang2546]

can you add subtitle

[@DougsDharma]

Hi Wendy. There are automatically generated subtitles from KZbin that are generally pretty good but not perfect. If folks want to add subtitles they can, I've made it possible to do so.

[@yongjiean9980]

"The Blessed One, brahmin, did not praise every type of meditation, nor did he condemn every type of meditation. What kind of meditation did the Blessed One not praise? Here, brahmin, someone abides with his mind obsessed by sensual lust, a prey to sensual lust, and he does not understand as it actually is the escape from arisen sensual lust. While he harbours sensual lust within, he meditates, premeditates, out-meditates, and mismeditates. He abides with his mind obsessed by ill will, a prey to ill will…with his mind obsessed by sloth and torpor, a prey to sloth and torpor…with his mind obsessed by restlessness and remorse, a prey to restlessness and remorse…with his mind obsessed by doubt, a prey to doubt, and he does not understand as it actually is the escape from arisen doubt. While he harbours doubt within, he meditates, premeditates, out-meditates, and mismeditates. The Blessed One did not praise that kind of meditation. “And what kind of meditation did the Blessed One praise? Here, brahmin, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhāna…With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, he enters upon and abides in the second jhāna…With the fading away as well of rapture…he enters upon and abides in the third jhāna…With the abandoning of pleasure and pain…he enters upon and abides in the fourth jhāna…The Blessed One praised that kind of meditation.” MN 108

[@DougsDharma]

That's right.

[@bodhisattvasvow2804]

hello teacher it's been awhile ☺

[@DougsDharma]

😄🙏

[@jimizxztheorginal]

I watch Doug's Dharma videos while washing the dishes...

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@manapatil2133]

Sir, I think you speech is most beautiful one. Till it need some corrections. Actually budha taught samyak samadhi. All form of meditation help in some way. But actully one must enter the samyak state of mediation in which one get the power of penetration of mind. This is important how you get either by samtha or mindfulness its not important. This inside is starting point of every individual.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Mana. 🙏

[@menosproblemos1410]

Do I get a wiser, kinder and calmer life by the act of considering the of subscribing? That new age af. 😆 Domino Buddah's Meta Teaching ftw! 😃😄 I know what you meant. I just caught a case of bad humour. 😀 Don't worry! It'll wash off by my next mindfullness 😄

[@DougsDharma]

😄🤪

[@anjalib2210]

If you are interested you should read The Buddha and His Dhamma written by Barrister Dr BR Ambedkar Because there are some books available with the wrong information Or you can follow Mr RajRatnya Ambedkar on KZbin Buddhism is the 2nd oldest religion in India after Jainism Samrat Ashoka had constructed around 84000 Buddhist monasteries in India along with Pakistan Afghanistan Bhutan Nepal Cambodia Myanmar Sri Lanka Namo Budhhay 🙏🏻

[@govindappa6143]

Oldest doesn't means anything. truth is important than all

[@artemisnite]

So meditating on remorse or doubt is not praiseworthy but meditation on a death is? Color me confused.

[@DougsDharma]

Well it has to do with how helpful the meditation would be to the path. If remorse or doubt is coming up naturally, then being mindful of it is of course important and even necessary.

[@yongjiean9980]

Someone from another religion told me that meditation is singing the name of God with music and vibrating with that. Is that meditation?

[@DougsDharma]

I’m not sure, it would depend how it was done I think.

[@yongjiean9980]

@@DougsDharma if it does not lead to calmness stillness and letting go, it probably isn't...

[@magichobbiest3425]

Thought I was enlightened once. Think I was stuck in jhanna and samadhi though. I left it and I became super delusional and ended up in a psyche ward . Reasons I was scared to start back up

[@DougsDharma]

Sorry to hear it! Yes, it's best simply to continue practice along the path and not get too hung up on enlightenment.

[@bodhisattvasvow2804]

A tree Planted next to a river flowing, dose not concern itself with where it is planted, nor dose it concern itself with is my position wrong or is it right, this is a view, so too the human should not concern itself with matters of is this or that right or wrong, in meditation.

[@Thissapunyo]

For what it's worth my experience in short: With eyes closed focus concentration on the strongest sensation of breath while breathing through the nose, hold firmly against any other sensations not like the gently return of mindfulness as your goal is concentration, after a short while you feel your attention settle, distractions fall away and your inner focus appears to expand, at this point you naturally become aware of the 'white noise' present in your visual field, this is the 'counterpoint' where you enter absobtion, move your attention to your vision while maintaining your breath and you will start to feel the energy of the first jhana build in your body, at this point make an effort to increase your in breath and the energy builds, this energy with fill your entire mind and body until it 'breaks' like a flower opening in your mind, into rapture.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks John!

[@simeondawkins6358]

dont try not to think lol or u may enr up thinking not to think its better just to watch and thoughts will calm down on there own

[@simongiles9749]

The scientist in me recognises that the pleasure of getting lost in a task is due to the neurotransmitter dopamine, which drives action/reward behaviours. Which makes me wonder what the neurological effects of the states of jhana are.

[@DougsDharma]

It's a great question Simon, I seem to recall that's being investigated somewhere now, though I don't know the specifics.

[@menosproblemos1410]

That's such a strange story about Vassakãra and Ananda. What did Gotama say that Vassakãra interpreted as praise to every type of meditation? "I spend the majority of my time meditating any and all meditation that comes to mind"? And Ananda said "No, he didn't praise EVERY meditation", which seems reasonable to me, since no one can know if he knows every meditation and thus it'd be unlikely that Gotama would praise every meditation. But then, to 'he praised', Ananda answered "What did he NOT praise?". That's weird to me. -- Mom wanted us to buy some nuts. - What kind of nuts? - Any is good. - No, any is not good. What nuts should we NOT buy? Do you see my point of reason? Even if Vassakãra listed EVERY SINGLE MEDITATION he knew that Gotama didn't SPECIFICALLY state by name, there's still many more meditations that neither Gotama nor Vassakãra knew about. And what the fuck does Ananda know about what was going on inside Gotama's head? Does ANY quote from Buddha say "Btw, I don't praise every meditation. Here's some examples of meditations that I don't praise...", passive aggressively degrading meditations that other people may enjoy? I don't know, because I haven't red the book, script or whatever, but I think Buddha seemed like a much chiller dude than that! And if he wasn't that chill of a dude pff okay what ever (sill handed out many nice wisdoms), but piss to that of his theoretical quote, I say. exaggerating. But I don't think Buddah would've "That's what I've always said" if he'd been alive to praise or not to praise that story.

[@digimonsho0123]

Maybe to linear, and logical.

[@DougsDharma]

Maybe so! 😀

[@simeondawkins6358]

its pure empty obervation watching listning the mind has a deathly silance to to a great peace that grows over time

[@25bmax]

Sometimes, I lost the feeling of my body that scare the hell out of me.

[@DougsDharma]

Interesting Ariey. I have heard that people sometimes have strange experiences when doing deep meditation. That’s one reason it’s good to have an experienced meditation teacher when going on retreats or the like. In any event I wouldn’t make too much of such experiences. They are normal. 🙏

[@ValKitsakis]

@Ariey please check out this guided meditation by Ajahn Brahm. He mentions the disappearing of the body a couple of times! It's totally natural. Nothing to be alarmed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIO7oYuMn9SKedk

[@mertefe4345]

Get into the jhana monks! Don’t go around heedless!! :)

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Mert, indeed that was the Buddha's advice to monastics! 🙂

[@Laossutra]

What is jhana meditation in Buddhism

[@DougsDharma]

Hi Danny, check out my video on Right Concentration, I describe them there: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYjGgJVnrpWrfc0

[@kanitchaisirisuroj848]

Concentration to drive your car Not concentration to do meditation Don't confuse

[@yongjiean9980]

I would define mindfulness more of pressence of mind (a faculty of memory) rather than non judgemental. Impossible for a deluded mind of a worldling to be totally non judgemental. Bare awareness does not exist.

[@DougsDharma]

Well non-judgmental does not mean that there is bare awareness. The mind still takes an object, it is simply "rid of desire and aversion for the world" and "independent, not grasping at anything in the world" while doing so. It is aware but without clinging or aversion. It may be difficult for us ordinary worldlings to inhabit such a mind with perfect purity, but we can at least make temporary gains in that direction.

[@kidkous]

Kinhin exists.

[@DougsDharma]

For sure! I’ve done a couple of videos on walking meditation.

[@t.tapopa8068]

MEDITATION SIMPLE EXPLAINED: sitting motionless without sound and (endlessly) attempting to smooth the vrittis in the citta to gain viveka and by this to gain knowledge (vipassana)... but every dump mind can meditate

[@t.tapopa8068]

MEDITATION as a term does not exist in early sanskrit and pali ... an invention of westerners ... early terms: attentiveness, clarity of knowledge, focusing attention, calmness in mind etc....

[@mwellmwell]

Sitting with nag champa and new age music is NOT meditation.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes probably not Maxwell, though it may be relaxing.

[@sonurawat7338]

Sir first of all Buddhist came from the Hindu branch ..u are throwing western world thinking....