just tried raw sweet corn after seeing this post - it was very good

There are so many freely available books in Theravada that the problem is deciding on which I should be reading first

I think this is usually caused when blood flow to the foot is slowed down(its not completely cut off). The blood is pushed out to capillaries. It like when there is an accident on the freeway and everybody takes the side roads :) In time, new capillaries will grow and the blood will be re-routed to ...

This is why I don't have an altar. It does not feel right to me, even though I understand that the bowing is for respect, I don't want it to seem that I worship the Buddha, or possibly even slip into that pattern of thought myself.

As mentioned in Ajahn Lee's method 2 below, you should not focus on the nose if you have nervous problems. I would suggest whole body awareness with abdominal breath to maintain a centered but broad awareness . I would also suggest listening to a lot of Thanissaro Bikhu's talks (he teaches ajahn lee...

Both Buddhism and Atheism are trying to convince people to stop following any god, and not to rely on any god for their salvation. They do this using different methods (one says gods don't exist, while the other says gods are worthless), but both seem to have the same end result in mind - breaking p...

Thanks for the link cooran. Instead if refuting the existence of gods, the Buddha was teaching people not to believe in or follow any god. Seems to have simular objectives as atheism. http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha068.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; "The gods are all eternal sco...

Thanks Bikhu Pesala for the informative post. Recently, I was angry about something that happened at work. I got the mind well concentrated, and serene and realized that I was actually making myself suffer because my sense of self/identity had been insulted. Once I understood this, it no longer both...

Maybe its time get a wife, and grow out of girl chasing like the way kids grow out of playing with toys

Many Buddhists do not believe in God. Some do. Buddhism is atheist friendly :) My understanding is that Buddhism is not a belief system, you don't have to believe in gods (or anything else). Just to accept as a working hypothesis that you can develop the skills to end suffering, which is not hard to...

The only difference between my previous "Zazen" practice, and my current "Vipassasana" practice I see is the huge amount of free resources available in theravada to help me progress

Ajahn Lee's method 2 (below) discusses relieving pressure in the head (headaches/tension) by moving your focus from the nostrils to the abdomen. Focusing on the nose causes headaches and tension for some people. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/inmind.html" onclick="window.open(this.href)...

Hi ground, This reminds me of the story where a guy with an arrow shot through him first asks the doctor to explain what type of wood is the arrow made out of, what forest did the tree come from, who created the arrow, etc, before allowing the doctor to just remove the arrow :) Here's an Empirical T...

ground,

There are empirical truths and pragmatic truths.

If a teaching such as rebirth is put into practice and has positive results then it is regarded as a pragmatic truth

I agree that there is not a significant difference as far as the practice is concerned. I think it might take a bit more effort to get the mind settled down due to the different types of jobs and distractions in modern societies. In the balance between concentration and insight we may need to work m...