I disagree. The Buddhist lay householder life is not the monastic life. The Buddha advised lay people to have a wholesome living and spoke in praise of that. He did not advocate being lazy either for lay or monastic. I understand and respect what the Buddha advised. Laziness is a great obstacle to ...

A few questions and thoughts arise in the mind when reading this thread. A few may already have been raised, directly or indirectly, but I'll list what comes to mind. What is the criteria for an "advanced Buddhist?" Meditative attainments? Meditation experience? Theoretical knowledge? What makes one...

Hey! You can obtain a meditation visa on the same day you apply at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok. It costs about 65 dollars. If you can wait one or two days, it is cheaper. You need a sponsorship letter, a couple of passport photos, passport, and application. Near the embassy is a copy shop helping...

hi chi thats a good post - but just to clarify - that was just an example i did meditate for 8 hours a day for a long time at home - but for instance i have back pain - and while somtimes i did the 8 hours a day meditation ... ..sometimes i couldnt do 1 hour meditation without getting back pain aft...

for example : when is it that its to much time in meditation - cause i can start now and do 14 hours of meditation and then i wouldnt want to meditate again for half a year - when do i know its too much ? The underlying idea meditation is somehow painful or unbearable might be worth investigating. ...

Hello Wheelies! I am going on an indefinite retreat (tomorrow) at Panditarama Forest Monastery in Myanmar. Things happen to the body/mind on retreats because I (generally) eat less, eat healthier, lose body weight, move less, sit more, move more slowly, close my eyes, don't look arround, etc. Overal...

Thank you everybody for your honest biographies. I've been on here on and off for more than two years so it's about time I offer my background. I will be as honest and concise as possible, but will leave some things out both unintentionally from lack of memory and intentionally for other reasons. I ...

Welcome Yogya. Your enthusiasm is refreshing. The first time I came across this forum, I was blown away as well.

Be Happy!

Here is a quote by Ajahn Chah from here: http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Flood_Sensuality1.php When we are accepted into the Buddhist monkhood we live simply. And yet some of them disrobe to go to the front, where the bullets fly past them every day - they prefer it like that. They really want to go. ...

thank you both for your responses.. btw what is samvega ? I do find teaching fun actually, so I suppose if I ordain whenever I'm allowed to teach that would be helpful, probably not for many years. Guess thats something to look forward to :). Samvega: http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t...

I think it depends on how picky one is about the precepts. The precepts can go infinitely deep. For example, if somebody asks a sotapanna, "How are you?" and the sotapanna is not feeling well or is distressed, and he answers, "good" or "well," is he breaking a precept? Or if a sotapanna, or anybody ...

I feel out of place a bit in that I seem to be a minority in not caring to ordain over seas. I feel the dhamma and monastics are needed here in the west. I hope to visit Thailand and Sri Lanka one day, but I have little desire to be a monastic living there. I don't feel you are a minority. There ar...

As a monastic, I always felt like there was nothing to look forward to. Every week was basically the same as the last one: you work, you meditate, you go to bed and do it again. There's no real juice, if you get what I'm saying. Eventually that can take it's toll. thank you for sharing your experie...

I want to give an update on getting Burmese meditation visa in Bangkok. The process is simple and painless. The Embassy opens at 9:00 AM. I would recommend getting there at about 7:30 AM. When I got there this morning, there were already about 10-12 people waiting. By 9:00, I would say there were 75...

Hey Kevin,

Thank you for the well wishes.

I've been to the Burmese Embassy before, and am staying at the Nantra Silom Hotel nearby. It was close and cheap

metta,
Chi