Search found 20 matches

by Madhyama Pratipada
Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:15 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Help Identifying Siddham Mantra?
Replies: 0
Views: 632

Help Identifying Siddham Mantra?

Not sure if this is the right subforum to ask this, but I was wondering if anyone could help decipher the mantra on this shirt, pictured below. Apologies for the poor image quality - my phone's camera has no focus feature. The mantra is written in Siddham script and the shirt itself is from Koyasan,...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Mon Aug 05, 2013 4:42 am
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles

My guess is that the logs would be public because people can use a notebook privately. So the purpose is to inform other people of how much you're meditating? The purpose is to encourage people to develop and maintain a regular practice by formulating a schedule that can be shared with others. Peop...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:46 am
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles

The idea of this is that you want to post instructions online for all these activities or create a venue for random people online to give instructions on these things as advice and support? That's not the idea. The purpose is to provide a list of meditation styles and other activities to help with ...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Sun Aug 04, 2013 3:31 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Dhyana and the brain.
Replies: 10
Views: 4084

Re: Dhyana and the brain.

No. The Mind and Life Institute and Dr. Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison focus their research on compassion-based meditation (not the jhanas/dhyanas), which has produced an entire industry of research with published articles surpassing the hundreds. Jhanas/Dhyanas (proceeding ...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Fri Aug 02, 2013 10:24 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Meditation Styles

We are looking for a list of meditation styles AND "other activities," as explained in the OP: In addition to meditation styles, we're interested in other activities people consider part of their formal practice, including but not limited to activities practiced on retreat. We also intend ...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Fri Aug 02, 2013 9:06 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Meditation Styles

To help clarify, let me rephrase the original question.

What would you call the practice (or set of practices) you do when you set aside time to practice?

For example, I practice zazen, shikantaza, kinhin, satipatthana-vipassana, anapanasati, and metta bhavana.
by Madhyama Pratipada
Fri Aug 02, 2013 4:45 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Dhyana and the brain.
Replies: 10
Views: 4084

Re: Dhyana and the brain.

It's important to keep in mind that diminished occurrence of discursive thinking does not necessarily correlate with an inactive brain. Rather, neural resources are diverted away from verbal processes and toward attentional processes, which require a fair amount of activity to maintain. Only one emp...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Fri Aug 02, 2013 4:22 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Meditation Styles

A friend and I are seeking to compile a comprehensive list of Buddhist meditation styles across traditions. Hi Madhyama Pratipada Apologies for butting in but I was wondering if the list you are compiling has a specific purpose more than say for personal interest ... Forgive me for enjoying list-ma...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Thu Aug 01, 2013 11:59 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Meditation Styles

Perhaps it would be more helpful to list practices/emphases under schools/traditions instead. Here's a rough outline (again, this is completely open to revision). Forgive me for enjoying list-making so much. :) Mahāyāna Tendai/Tiāntāi Zen/Chán Sōtō/Cáodòng Rinzai/Línjì Ōbaku Pure Land Jōdo Shinshū J...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Thu Aug 01, 2013 11:39 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Meditation Styles

From my own experience, I think it's safe to say that Visualization isn't practiced exclusively within the context of Tantra. For instance, I've practiced Visualization (in the context of Vipassana with a Theravada sangha and Zazen with a Soto Zen sangha) but I've never practiced Tantra. The followi...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:40 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Meditation Styles

Well, I must say you have quite a task ahead of you. At the retreat seminar I went to this year we learnt around twenty different techniques for shine (calm abiding) meditation. Would you mind sharing the twenty shamatha techniques you learned? This would be of great help in fleshing out the list w...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:36 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Meditation Styles

Do you have a working definition of "meditation"? So that it becomes possible to consider styles. Although the categories shamatha and vipashyanā are helpful for defining meditation, Buddhist practices in general are also of interest here. These can include anything from Zazen to Nembutsu...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:28 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Re: Comprehensive List of Meditation Styles

Meditation for the purpose of this list refers to formal practice, particularly within the categories of shamatha and vipashyanā. A few examples from the present Mahayana list of meditation styles are included below: Zazen Shikantaza Kōan Huatou Kinhin Sādhanā Visualization Tantra Tonglen Dzogchen M...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Thu Aug 01, 2013 3:19 pm
Forum: Meditation
Topic: Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles
Replies: 42
Views: 10788

Comprehensive List of Practices and Meditation Styles

A friend and I are seeking to compile a comprehensive list of Buddhist meditation styles across traditions. Consulting books, online resources, teachers, and personal practice, we have already encountered quite a few different techniques and approaches. Although we've created partial lists from our ...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:37 am
Forum: Sūtra Studies
Topic: Sutras by Length
Replies: 9
Views: 4320

Sutras by Length

I was wondering if anyone here could kindly comment on the lengths of the sutras. For this question, I'm mainly interested in the Mahayana Sutras, since the Theravada canon is pretty straight-forward. In fact, the Pali suttas are mostly organized by length: the Digha Nikaya containing the long disco...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:55 pm
Forum: Sūtra Studies
Topic: Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta: To Vacchagotta on Fire
Replies: 6
Views: 2694

Re: Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta: To Vacchagotta on Fire

The Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta is one of the earliest Buddhist references to the classical Indian logical system of catuskoti, the tetralemma (a four-way variation of the philosophical dilemma - the four options in this case being "is", "is not", "both" and "neither&qu...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:53 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: What was the first sutra you ever read ?
Replies: 19
Views: 4296

Re: What was the first sutra you ever read ?

For Mahayana Sutras, the Heart Sutra was my first. At the time, I am sure I did not understand it as well as I do today. After frequent reading, the meaning has become clearer. In spite of its brevity, there is always something new to learn.
by Madhyama Pratipada
Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:43 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Women in Pure Land
Replies: 62
Views: 17686

Re: Women in Pure Land

Also common to Buddhism are the five obstructions - 五障 (Japanese: gosho; Chinese: wǔ zhàng) – faced by women. They are limitations dependent solely on the body. According to the fifth of the five obstructions, a woman cannot become a Buddha. It seems that the only thing barring the dragon king's dau...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:36 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Trying to find a Buddha or enlightenment
Replies: 27
Views: 6873

Re: Trying to find a Buddha or enlightenment

"It is because you are running about seeking everywhere and cannot put your heart at rest that the patriarchs say 'My, the fellow with his head on his shoulders is looking for his head!' When on hearing this you turn your own light in upon yourself, and do not seek for anything special, you wil...
by Madhyama Pratipada
Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:21 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Women in Pure Land
Replies: 62
Views: 17686

Re: Women in Pure Land

The doctrine that a woman must be reborn as a man in order to attain Buddhahood - 変生男子之説 (Japanese: henjo nanshi setsu; Chinese: biàn shēng nánzǐ zhī shuō) - is not at all unfamiliar to Pureland Buddhism. To dwell in Sukhāvatī, the female form must be shed and transformed into male form. In the Sadd...

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