Hi Kim. Sorry if my opinion insulted you in any way, this was not my intention. To everyone that is crazy. In fact, it is a strawman argument. Why do you think this is this a strawman argument? I don't see the difference between “owning” one note or owning a sequence of notes. In fact, if owing a si...

I think the idea of intellectual ownership is ridiculous. Lets say I were to “own” every single musical note. Then I could ban others from using these notes and be the only one in the world with the right to compose music. To me that is crazy. Ideas are also not unique, there are always others who c...

The most famous Buddhist is neither of these two. It is the Buddha! Just think of all those Buddha statues!

Ytrog wrote:Btw, your name suggests you are Dutch. Am I right?

I am guilty, but only in the conceptual universe!

Have a happy time at Cittaviveka!

Hi Olia  , Ajahn Yuttadhammo has a forum of his own at http://my.sirimangalo.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I understand he also gives online retreats via skype. Some other Bhikkhus also do this. You could try this and see if it helps you. How important is it to have a teacher? ...

Hmm, I don't know about the waiting list. Last year I stayed at Cittaviveka with a few other guests. They wanted to become Anagarika's and two of them still are. So my estimation is that the chances are quite high provided you are reasonably healthy in body and mind. I also noticed on the list of r...

Thank you, This is very helpful information to me!
If it goes wrong for me in the UK I can always get a quick ordination in thailand.

hermitwin wrote:jhana is definitely not required.
this is clear from many people who became arahants just by listening to the Buddha.

This is only true if you know that these people never attained Jhana before listening to the Buddha.

Hi ohnofabrications , I have stated this as my opinion in another tread, I did not intend to inspire doubt in others. I think you are correct in that such an opinion is related to curing ones doubt, but isn't curing our doubt part of the practice? The reason why I believe Jhana to be required is sim...

Hi Hanzze, Thank you for pointing out these dangers, I have heard about them before. I will certainly keep them in mind to make sure they don't become obstacles in my practice. For now I will continue my metta practice as I feel it is the most beneficial for me at this time because my greatest defil...

Thank you everyone! This is enough for me to study for a while.

I am practicing metta and am thinking about making this my main type of meditation. I read in some books about metta jhanas. I think that if you can get into Jhana with it, you can get enlightened with it. So is there any mention about metta Jhana in the suttas or is this a later addition? With mett...

I am interested in ordaining in the future and I like the Thai forrest tradition. I remember Ajahn Brahm saying he had a waiting list of people who wanted to ordain at his monastery. Is this true for the UK monasteries as well? Will they ordain you easily or is it difficult? And am I correct in assu...

It might be sometimes so "effective" that people even continue to act in their usuall habits. I would not recommend it before being a little seriouse trained in Silas. Hi Hanzze, Could you give some examples of people continuing their ussual habbits? What kind of meditation do you practice yourself...

Vimalaramsi say the Buddha recommended it more that anything else. Does he also quote any recources about his idea? Metta is a good protection for one self and others (if not just hypocratical) but at least not a factor of enlightenment. Hi Hanzze! :) It's been a while since I listened to his talk....