I find the sweet spot is about one talk a day. If I listen to more, it becomes just a distraction and numbs the mind. Less, and I feel less connected to the teachings and let practice slide. I've often wondered whether I was listening to too many dhamma talks. Recently I heard a talk by Ajahn Amaro ...

Okay, next question: is there an online forum or group that's just for ariya? (where they can talk about what's going on for them without anyone going ape shit about it) If you want more open discussion about attainments, try https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/ and https://www.dharmaoverground.or...

If you learn Pali, you might improve your practice thereby. If you don’t learn Pali you might miss out on some practical benefits. If you learn Pali and don’t improve your practice, you will still have spent time entertaining and honing the intellect which is better than spending that time watching...

Hi boundless, The best instruction I have received was via this organisation: https://www.samatha.org/ The best option is to attend a class in person (I don't know where you are based) but you will see that they also do an online version. Failing that, Googling the title that you have given this th...

Dear friends, as I enter the next phase of my life, I will have more time for meditation. I hope you can share your experiences about meditation. Your success and "failures". What worked for you and what didn't. Hopefully this Info can help me and others who are interested in meditation. ...

My favorite approach to metta is Rob Burbea's:

https://dharmaseed.org/retreats/1084/
https://dharmaseed.org/retreats/1265

I also like Ajahn Achalo's guided metta meditations on Insight Timer or on his website:
http://www.peacebeyondsuffering.org/

Culadasa also wrote a meditation manual (The Mind Illuminated) that I found extremely helpful. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25942786-the-mind-illuminated And on his website he has available several series of audio teachings. One of these is focused on cultivating joy. https://dharmatreasure.o...

This is a very good realization. You admit that you cannot control your drinking. This is very fertile ground. This is step one: "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, and that our lives had become unmanagable." You seem to resist the idea of giving AA a good try. Maybe you can read...

I failed, it's game over. I give up the fight against Mara. This demon is invincible. I go to samsara, in my next life I will succeed. This is a very good realization. You admit that you cannot control your drinking. This is very fertile ground. This is step one: "We admitted we were powerless...

Hello oncereturner. I just skimmed through the thread. I'm in AA (in Belgium) and have been sober now for almost three years. When you say you are going to give it another thought, it seems to me that you are overthinking it (and trying to fix yourself). Go to AA. Give AA a chance while you are &quo...

I really like Upasaka Culadasa - The Mind Illuminated. It doesn't follow the sutta's very closely (in that he doesn't constantly reference sutta's) but it is very useful as a reference manual for samatha - jhana practice. He says quite a lot about insight too I think but I haven't gotten that far yet.

It does seem to depend on the country of origin, with teas from China generally being most contaminated: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... objectonly

I found the beginner's course of IMC very helpful: http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/programs/for-beginners/ It's a free, self-paced six week mindfulness course. Every year they also offer a similar course with daily emails and weekly skype sessions with a teacher (http://www.insightmeditationc...

You could send an email to Paul van Hooydonck who runs a meditation center in Antwerp, Belgium. He used to be a monk but he disrobed. Maybe he can point you to monasteries or monks. Om this website you can find an email address and phone number.

http://www.antwerpen-meditatie.be/contact.html

On a retreat I discussed something similar with a teacher.

He said: too much effort.