Talking to people, even if they are not meditators, shouldn't feel awkward if this talk has some meaning and is not mere chit-chat. Therefore, use conversation as another form of your practice, trying to be aware of what are you talking about, with what intention. Also, try to stay away of not so uncommon tendency among people who meditate to look upon to people who don't. This is another way of practice, developing compassion and understanding for all people, all beings, even when they behave differently. Since we are all in the same boat, we can't separate ourselves from them and we really shouldn't. Instead, just trying to look at them with more compassionate, more loving eyes. And sometimes that's not so easy. :)


Did the Buddha leave room for the possibility of a self?

Buddha did not teach that things exist (that's one extreme) or that things do not exist (that's another extreme). Buddha teaches that things exist to some extent, in some context, relative to some frame of reference – and do not exist in other contexts. It's the same with the "self".


In the Sigalovada Sutta the Buddha gives the following advice regarding wealth creation

He who acquires his wealth in harmless ways
like to a bee that honey gathers,
riches mount up for him
like ant hill's rapid growth

So the bee gains from the flower and the flower remains as radiant as ever after the bee has visited. The bee doesn't just buzz off leaving the flower an absolute wreck. From that I would suggest that the important point is that during the negotiation neither party is harmed at the end. Negotiation is a part of business and a part of life that many lay followers must engage in but nevertheless it is an activity that should not cause harm.
As an aside, Bhikkhu Basnagoda Rahula's book The Buddha's teaching on Prosperity gives much more of the Buddhas advice on wealth and wealth creation which you may find interesting.


Following may be good academic institution to learn Buddhism:

The Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka
The International Association of Theravāda Buddhist Universities
International Association of Buddhist Universities
Buddhist Universities and Colleges
Buddhist universities and colleges
List of Buddhist universities and colleges
Buddhist universities and colleges in the United States


Philosophical and Doctrinal Differences between Theravada and Zen, and its effects

The difference is an entirely different canon!  Theravada follows the Pali canon whereas Zen pulls most of its philosophical underpinnings from the Mahayana sutras and its own oral and written traditions (i.e. koan collections, writings of folks like Dogen and Hakuin, etc.).  That being said, I don't know how you would begin to explore what the effect on mindset would be.  I would also wonder if it even makes sense to make that investigation.  So much depends on the practitioner and their own development along the path.  I've known practitioners of Zen who were total, intellectualizing jerks and Theravadans who were oceans of compassion.

Outside of the obvious doctrinal differences, another rather ironic difference between the two camps is the practice of meditation.  Jhanas, as described by the Buddha in the Pali canon, don't often make an appearance in Zen.  I say ironic as the word Zen itself is a twice removed transliteration of the word jhana (i.e. jhana/dhyana -> ch'an -> zen).  In practice, Zen does not emphasize or pay much attention to being in, say, the third jhana over the second.

I'm a little taken aback by your statement that Theravada Buddhism doesn't emphasize compassion to the degree Zen does.  If anything, the opposite is true.  You find all sorts of meditations on the cultivation of compassion and loving-kindness in the elder tradition (the Brahmaviharas for instance) whereas Zen doesn't take the same practical, directed approach to its development as found in the Pali canon.

Lasty, emptiness does factor into Theravada.  See the Maha and cula sunnata sutta for just two, albeit less emphatic, explorations of emptiness.

And to reemphasize, so much of this depends on the practitioner.  I don't think it's helpful to view either school as monolithic.  Setting one against the other isn't necessarily helpful or, in my opinion, even possible.


No such thing! Consciousness(Vinnana) is present in all Vedana, Sanna, Sankhara. Intention falls under Sankhara.


Actually, Nirvana... is something beyond emptiness.
Emptiness (sunyata) is the stopping phase of cultivation.
Nirvana is the "seeing" phase, where you transcend even that stopping, which is a type of total non-existence, still dual.

Nirvana is beyond all dualism. It is not existence nor non-existence.
Heart sutra is reccommended.

Nirvana is a synonym for the enlightened state. The Enlightened state is beyond non-existence ("emptiness") and existence (experiencing the skandhas) and is capable of existing and exercising its function anywhere, no matter what, be it in hell or heaven. N onetheless, we must experience both sides fully, existence and non-existence before we can enter into the non-dual, indescribeable, open awareness of Nirvana.

Note: despite this, emptiness is still the first step, especially in this age where everyone is obsessed with materialism and existence. Finding emptiness IS the first step. You must make your mind empty and clear and must discover and BECOME emptiness, particularly through attainment of samadhi before you can truly succeed on the vipassana path.
Of course, others have differing perspectives saying that "dry insight" is enough to get to Nirvana but I don't think it's that easy or even reliable as a path.

Calm your mind (emptiness, samatha practice, focus your mind on clarity), and see (Nirvana, vipassana, let go of everything and just witness).


Why does Lama Atisha say those "observing pure conduct" shouldn't take (some) Tantric initiations?

Verse 64 mentions the secret and wisdom initiations.

These two initiations are taken only in the context of highest yoga tantra. Therefore, the three lower tantras are not concerned here.

From the point of view of highest yoga tantra, there are two ways of achieving enlightenment:

With an actual consort
In the bardo, after death

It is said that lama Je Tsonkhapa could have achieved enlightenment with an actual consort, but he would have to disrobe (or to ensue a defeat). Instead, he chose to achieve enlightenment in the intermediate state.

So, there are these two ways of actualizing the completion stage and upholding the secret and wisdom initiations. One them would be a defeat.

Other practices, such as the consumption of infinitesimally small dosage of alcohol, is not considered as a transgression of the pratimoksha. During Lama Chöpa Tsok, for instance, we dip our finger into alcohol and lick it. There is no practice where you consume more alcohol than that. In addition, we say that if you refuse to do it while you actually took a highest yoga tantra initiation, it is breaking your tantric commitments.


What are the different forms of nibbāna?

This talk may help answer the question: Nibbāna for Everyone.


I'll try to answer as broadly as possible and I hope it becomes a little more clear. But if you want more detail or deepening in one or more of you questions, I suggest you to post new specific ones.

  As long as i don't interact or engage the emotion, i am mindful and aware.

For me it seems the order is quite opposite. As long as I am mindful and aware, I don't get too involved with phenomena, and then no strong emotions takes over. If I don't get caught by what I see, what I perceive, my mood don't oscillate, my temper is even, there is equanimity.

  If i simply observe the emotion of happiness, should i not participate in it?

You don't need to choose to participate or not. When they happen you only observe them.

So I think the question is not whether you should or not participate in emotions. But how is you attitude towards what you perceive and how and why these feelings emerge. When it is told to observe, it is not to perceive just the emotion happening. But it is to see the whole process, from its origin and development to its end.

  If i am devoid of emotion and only an observer, am i not practising aversion?

It could be aversion, it could be disregard. If you can't feel, or you ignore your all feelings, how could you be compassionate? Equanimity isn't to be devoid of emotion, but to not have strong mood oscillations.

  Is staying away deliberately considered aversion? If someone had been abused and they stayed away from their abuser, is it aversion?

Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends on how you feel about meeting the other person. You could feel disgusted by just thinking about someone and totally refuse to meet that person. You could feel sad about that person and prefer to not meet him/her.

  Is not wanting to think about it aversion?

It really depends on the attitude towards the thought. Refusing it and fighting against it forcefully is one thing. Now, observing it while letting it be and letting it go is another thing.

  Is the 'loss' of memory and an understanding on the path of anatta?

If I understood your question correctly, no. Anatta is about perceiving the ultimate reality, there is a QA about it: What is the precise meaning of anatta? It isn't about "losing" memories, but more about not clinging to them and not getting overwhelmed by them. Anatta is perceiving that apparently there is a self with memories, thoughts, feelings, and so on, but none of these even the self are permanent or absolute. And it isn't much about intellectual understanding, but about perceiving, observing.

  Does this 'loss' of memory and thought as well as an understanding of the situation and experience lead to the path of equanimity?

Quoting the text you referred, "through the power of observation equanimity arises". Through observation you can stop feeding bad memories and undesirable thoughts, eventually if you stop feeding it, it won't be able to bear fruits.

Understanding the situation and experience is somewhat a dilemma. It could make you feel more comfortable, it would yield clearer understandings, but you are still feeding the memory anyways.

Equanimity happens when we don't cling on phenomena, when we relax our attitude towards phenomena - again - through the power of observation. When an emotion happens you observe it, let it be and don't get caught, don't get overwhelmed by it, don't let it take over. Stay calm and let it go away by itself.

Sheesh, I think you still got questions, so I suggest you to post specific ones, if you will. Try to find some key doubts that will help you lead your reasoning.


Is lack of doubt a form of self-cherishing?

The first part, "bold and confident claims", sounds like it might be associated with doctrines about "stream-entry".

I think that one of the characteristics of stream-entry is "confidence" -- for example SN 55.40

  a disciple of the noble ones is endowed with verified confidence

Whether that confidence is justified or deluded is another question -- which I think is a well-known problem/question -- i.e. "how can you tell whether you are or whether someone else is a stream-winner?"

Further to that subject, this answer says that a stream-winner might have conceit -- but only "true" conceit.

One of the way to avoid that problem -- I hope -- is to cite references. For example "a confident claim about what Buddhism is or isn't" might be accompanied or supported by a reference to a Buddhist sutta -- then the claim of whether something is "Buddhist" might rest of whether it is (accurately) based on "a Buddhist sutta".

Pali suttas begin with ...

  so i have heard.
  evaṃ me sutaṃ—

... which I like.

After a while -- after you learn some "Buddhism" -- you may or may not need or want to ask for references, when someone says something about Buddhism without citing a reference -- because you might recognise which sutta or other doctrine supports what they are saying.

Then there's also a matter of, whether you can "verify" a doctrine based on your own experience -- because the dhamma is said to be:

  ... well declared by the Bhagavā:
  visible here and now, immediate,
  inviting to come and see, effective,
  to be individually ascertained by the wise.

Another solution is to find a teacher of whose teaching you are confident.

The second part, "anything contrary to their view is asserted to be simply wrong", sounds more questionable to me. I think a lot of suttas warn that arguing might be papanca etc.

Translator's Introduction

  Three passages in the discourses — DN 21, MN 18, and Sn 4.11 — map the causal processes that give rise to papañca and lead from papañca to conflict. Because the Buddhist analysis of causality is generally non-linear, with plenty of room for feedback loops, the maps vary in some of their details. In DN 21, the map reads like this:

    the perceptions & categories of papañca > thinking > desire > dear-&-not-dear > envy & stinginess > rivalry & hostility

  In Sn 4.11, the map is less linear and can be diagrammed like this:

    perception > the categories of papañca

    perception > name & form > contact > appealing & unappealing > desire > dear-&-not-dear > stinginess/divisiveness/quarrels/disputes

  In MN 18, the map is this:

    contact > feeling > perception > thinking > the perceptions & categories of papañca

The third part, "developing contentment with the uncertainty of reality", sounds like basic right speech -- AN 10.176

  "And how is one made pure in four ways by verbal action?

  "There is the case where a certain person, abandoning false speech, abstains from false speech. When he has been called to a town meeting, a group meeting, a gathering of his relatives, his guild, or of the royalty, if he is asked as a witness, 'Come & tell, good man, what you know': If he doesn't know, he says, 'I don't know.' If he does know, he says, 'I know.' If he hasn't seen, he says, 'I haven't seen.' If he has seen, he says, 'I have seen.' Thus he doesn't consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world.

  "Abandoning divisive speech he abstains from divisive speech. What he has heard here he does not tell there to break those people apart from these people here. What he has heard there he does not tell here to break these people apart from those people there. Thus reconciling those who have broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord.

  "Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing & pleasing to people at large.

  "Abandoning idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter. He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal.

  "This is how one is made pure in four ways by verbal action."

Finally, all dhammas (including the dhamma) are supposed to be "non-self".

And Buddhists do I think "cherish" the dhamma.

So it may be "dhamma-cherishing" rather than "self-cherishing".

But one of the modern teachers warned against "Spiritual materialism" -- I don't know what exactly that might correspond to in the earlier doctrines -- and I haven't even read what "spiritual materialism" means exactly, I think it means something like, an egoistic tendency to want to accumulate spiritual attainment in the same way that other people like to accumulate material things like fame or fortune.

So, I guess, yes, it's sensible to be a bit sceptical.

I think there are people, though, who will teach the doctrine carefully and maybe step-by-step and also so on -- AN 5.159

  It's not easy to teach the Dhamma to others, Ananda. The Dhamma should be taught to others only when five qualities are established within the person teaching. Which five?

  The Dhamma should be taught with the thought, 'I will speak step-by-step.'
  The Dhamma should be taught with the thought, 'I will speak explaining the sequence [of cause & effect].
  The Dhamma should be taught with the thought, 'I will speak out of compassion.'
  The Dhamma should be taught with the thought, 'I will speak not for the purpose of material reward.'
  The Dhamma should be taught with the thought, 'I will speak without hurting myself or others.'(note)

  It's not easy to teach the Dhamma to others, Ananda. The Dhamma should be taught to others only when these five qualities are established within the person teaching.

  (note) According to the Commentary, "hurting oneself" means exalting oneself. "Hurting others" means putting other people down.


OP: Simultaneous vipassana & samatha - in this version of the question

(Yuga,naddha) Paṭipadā Sutta mention there are 4 types of practitioners:

  (1) “insight preceded by calm” - samatha,pubb’angama vipassanā

  (2) “calm preceded by insight” - vipassana,pubb’angama samatha

  (3) “calm coupled with insight” - samatha,vipassana,yuga.naddha

  (4) “a mind seized by dharma-restlessness” - dhamm’uddhacca,viggahita manasa

Practising Samatha and Vipassana together is:

  (3) “calm coupled with insight” - samatha,vipassana,yuga.naddha

Regardless of which practice you start with, both Samatha and Vipassana is needed to reach the ultimate goal:

(Mūla) Samatha Vipassanā Sutta

Also, it is best one allocate time for both:

Catu Kāla Sutta 1

Also, vipassana practises (body contemplation - breath meditation, posture, movement, body parts, elements, corpse) leads to Samadhi as per Kaya,gatā,sati Sutta:

  As he dwells thus diligent, exertive, resolute, his memories and thoughts of the household life are
  abandoned. With their abandoning, his mind steadies itself internally, settles, becomes one, attains samadhi [becomes concentrated].

  In this way, bhikshus, a monk cultivates mindfulness regarding the body.

Which intern leads to the 6 super knowledges:

Kaya,gatā,sati Sutta

Edit:

  OP: samatha after vipassana

This is:

  (1) “insight preceded by calm” - samatha,pubb’angama vipassanā

.

  OP: Can one correctly practice anapanasati when one is very used to vipassana?

Anapanasati is also a form of vipassana which takes you to the highest goal of Nibbana.

Source: Anapanasati

  Can one correctly practice vipassana when one is very used to anapanasati or any other samatha practice?

If you are skilled in Vipassana it is recommended to seek a Samatha teacher and practice Samatha:

Source: (Samatha Vipassanā) Samādhi Sutta 3

(Samādhi) Bala Sutta describes how one should develop skills in Samatha:

  OP: A person who is used to vipassana is supposed to turn off the habit of seeing things as they are?

No, not necessarily:

  Even this first dhyana is (mentally) constructed [mind-made], intentionally formed.

  What is
  constructed and intentionally formed is impermanent, subject to ending.

  If he is steady therein, he attains the destruction of the mental influxes.

Similarly in other Jhanas as given in Aṭṭhaka,nāgara Sutta

Here one sees the true nature of things while doing Samatha/Samadhi.

Also, Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta discusses the teachings in concise form, mentions the practice of mindfulness with Jhana ultimately resulting in full enlightenment:

  When, bhikshu, this samadhi has been cultivated, well cultivated by you, then you should train yourself thus:

  “I will dwell exertive, clearly aware, mindful,

  observing [contemplating] [body | feeling | mind | dhamma] the in the [body | feeling | mind | dhamma],

  removing covetousness and displeasure [discontent] in regard to the world.”

  Thus, bhikshu, you should train yourself.

  When, bhikshu, this samadhi has been cultivated, well cultivated by you, then, you, bhikshu,

  THE 1 ST DHYANA:

  should cultivate this samadhi with initial application, with sustained application;

  should cultivate this samadhi without initial application, with only sustained application;

  THE 2 ND DHYANA:

  should cultivate this samadhi without initial application, without sustained application;

  should cultivate this samadhi with zest;

  THE 3RD DHYANA:

  should cultivate this samadhi zest-free;

  should cultivate this samadhi attended by comfort;

  THE 4 TH DHYANA:

  should cultivate this samadhi attended by equanimity.

Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta

  OP: Can vipassana be useful during anapanasati or would it be more of a distraction to onepointed consentration?

Each triad corresponds to a Satipattana, which is Vipassana.

The last triad of Anapanasathis is explicitly to see things as they are which is vipassana:

Source: Ānâpāna,sati Sutta

Essentially one is doing Vipassana when one is doing Anapanasati.

The need of Samadhi in tandem is evident from the following Suttas.

Also, a meditation how can attain and also have a theoretical understanding of Samadhi is the foremost meditator:

Samādhi Samāpatti Sutta. Similar one who understands Samadhi can remain in Samadhi is the foremost:

Samādhi Mūlaka Ṭhiti Sutta

Similarly, one who understands and skilful in emerging from Samadhi is the foremost meditator. - Samādhi Mūlaka Vuṭṭhāna Sutta

Similarly, one who understands samadhi and is fitfor Samadhi is the foremost meditator. - Samādhi Mūlaka Kallita Sutta

Similarly, one who is understands samadhi and is skilled in the concentration object is the foremost meditator. - Samādhi Mūlaka Ārammaṇa Sutta

Similarly, one who understands and resorts to samadhi is the foremost meditator. - Samādhi Mūlaka Go,cara Sutta

Similarly, one who understands and has resolution in samadhi is the foremost meditator. - Samādhi Mūlaka Abhinīhāra Sutta

Similarly, one who understands and care about samadhi is the foremost meditator. - Samādhi Mūlaka Sakkacca,kārī Sutta

Similarly, one understands and is committed to samadhi is the foremost meditator. - Samādhi Mūlaka Sātacca,kārī Sutta

Similarly, one who understands and is skilled in what is suitable regarding samadhi is the foremost meditator. - Samādhi Mūlaka Sappāya,kārī Sutta

Following skills:

Himavanta Sutta. Also Vasa Suttā which includes theoretical knowledge.

And the following masteries are useful:


In the Anapanasati Sutta what is meant by 'sensitive to rapture/bliss'?

I assume that by rapture and bliss you mean the Pali words Piti and Sukha.

Piti and Sukha are supposed to be comfortable and pleasant states of mind that arise whenever the mind is sufficiently calm, abiding in itself. However, these states have degrees of maturity, and they are not always conventionally pleasant. Diarrhea or sensations of ants crawling for example are results of Piti that the commoner wouldn't enjoy as pleasures.

Piti and Sukha can arise both in Samatha and Vipassana, leading some to compare the nanas of Vipassana with the Jhanas of Samatha, and claim they are one and the same with subtle differences. However, this is not agreed upon by all, who think there's a big difference between khanika samadhi and jhana.

My own view is nanas & jhanas are equally beneficial, but different in character to some extent, yet not as different as the hardliners make it out to be.

However Piti and Sukha are false fruits - one may be captured by them, and remaining content in them, may return to them time and again without making more effort to enter higher nanas or jhanas.

There are five types of Piti with the final kind being the jhana factor Piti.

One can be practicing Vipassana, and from the final Piti depart to a Samadhi, or exit a jhana samadhi directly into a Vipassana nana.

Five kinds or types of Piti

  1. Khuddaka piti (minor rapture)

  This state is characterized by the following:

  The meditator may be aware of a white color.
  There may be a feeling of coolness or dizziness and the hairs of the body may stand on end.
  The meditator may cry or feel terrified.

  2. Khanika piti (momentary rapture)

  Characteristics of this piti include:

  Seeing flashes of light.
  Seeing sparks. Nervous twitching.
  A feeling of stiffness all over the body.
  A feeling as if ants were crawling on the body.
  A feeling of heat all over the body.
  Shivering.
  Seeing red colors.
  The hair on the body rising slightly.
  Itchiness as if ants were crawling on one's face and body.

  3. Okkantika piti (flood of joy)

  In this piti:

  The body may shake and tremble.
  The face, hands and feet may twitch.
  There may be violent shaking as if the bed is going to turn upside
  down.
  Nausea and at times actual vomiting may occur.
  There may be a
  rhythmic feeling like waves breaking on the shore.
  Ripples of energy
  may seem to flow over the body.
  The body may vibrate like a stick
  which is fixed in a flowing stream.
  A light yellow color may be
  observed. The body may bend to and fro.

  4. Ubbenka piti (uplifting joy)

  In this piti:

  The body feels as if it is extending or moving upwards.
  There may be a
  feeling as though lice are climbing on the face and body.
  Diarrhea may
  occur.
  The body may bend forwards or backwards.
  One may feel that
  one's head has been moved backwards and forwards by somebody.
  There
  may be a chewing movement with the mouth either open or closed.
  The
  body sways like a tree being blown by the wind.
  The body bends
  forwards and may fall down.
  There may be fidgeting movements of the
  body.
  There may be jumping movements of the body.
  Arms and legs may be
  raised or may twitch.
  The body may bend forwards or may recline.
  A
  silver gray color may be observed.

  5. Pharana piti (pervading rapture)

  In this piti:

  A feeling of coldness spreads through the body.
  Peace of mind sets in
  occasionally.
  There may be itchy feelings all over the body.
  There may
  be drowsy feelings and the meditator may not wish to open his or her
  eyes.
  The meditator has no wish to move.
  There may be a flushing
  sensation from feet to head or vice versa.
  The body may feel cool as
  if taking a bath or touching ice.
  The meditator may see blue or
  emerald green colors.
  An itchy feeling as though lice are crawling on
  the face may occur.

Sukha

  The fourth defilement of vipassana is sukha which means "bliss" and
  has the following characteristics:

  There may be a feeling of comfort.
  Due to pleasant feelings the
  meditator may wish to continue practicing for a long time.
  The
  meditator may wish to tell other people of the results which he has
  already gained.
  The meditator may feel immeasurably proud and happy.
  Some say that they have never known such happiness.
  Some feel deeply
  grateful to their teachers.
  Some meditators feel that their teacher is
  at hand to give help.

Source: http://www.vipassanadhura.com/sixteen.html

One cannot understand the meaning of these terms sufficiently by poring through a Pali dictionary; true understanding in these cases is experiential.

Not everyone attains these states in sequence, one's mind can skip some steps, or one's attention may not catch them when they occur.

If one is on a retreat, and only practicing Anapanasati for several days, one can certainly come very close to the textbook definitions, but that doesn't make the experience special. What makes the experience special is the several days of sustained practice.

  If all the Buddha's teachings are lost, one can recover all of them by faithfully following the breath.

I instinctively felt this statement arise in me with no doubt whatsoever when I first encountered the Anapanasati Sutta, which was the first Buddhist text of any sort that I had read. I was pleasantly surprised some days back to see the Buddha has said much the same - that one can reach enlightenment with just the Anapanasati practice.

Most monasteries in ancient times only had a few suttas at any one time, and this accounts for the great profusion of texts today which were each written from an individual's personal realization of the grand truths.

The ancient masters who took Buddhism to several distant lands had certainly not read every text there was on the topic - they couldn't have because many of them weren't yet written. Yet, their transmission was pure because their realization was personal - they had walked the same path as the Buddha, and seen the same things. That was enough.

Being flooded with various texts from several traditions today thanks to the Internet, the challenge for each of us is to find time from reading to actually practice. A foundational text like Anapanasati actually contains all the necessary elements of practice. All we need is the confidence to read no more, and lock ourselves away in the practice room.

UPDATE:

I think there are a few specific questions I forgot to answer:

Is it possible to experience these factors in meditation without being in the jhanas and maybe encourage them?

Yes

Can one encourage them by focusing on them and almost willing them into being?

I think this recent Dhamma talk by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Don't focus on Jhana, focus on the breath" (mp3 linked) answers that.

I was always told this was counterproductive.

Usually yes, because meditation becomes a strain, and goal oriented.

Presumably this part of the sutta is samatha.

It is a core meditation technique for mindfulness and concentration - both. It is mentioned in the Satipatthana sutta as such.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.than.html

  "There is the case where a monk — having gone to the wilderness, to
  the shade of a tree, or to an empty building — sits down folding his
  legs crosswise, holding his body erect and setting mindfulness to the
  fore [lit: the front of the chest]. Always mindful, he breathes in;
  mindful he breathes out.

The Buddha himself rarely made a clear distinction between Samatha states and Vipassana states, to him it was all meditation that co-existed, he  often called out the jhanas specifically.

A lot of the modern emphasis on Vipassana, and the resulting mindfulness movement is based on an excessive reliance on the Abhidhamma (itself a commentary), and the Visuddhimagga (which is brilliant, but has some controversial roots since Buddhagosa is said to have burned up ancient manuscripts that preceded it for reasons unknown).

  In the few instances where they do mention vipassana, they almost
  always pair it with samatha — not as two alternative methods, but as
  two qualities of mind that a person may "gain" or "be endowed with,"
  and that should be developed together. One simile, for instance (SN
  35.204), compares samatha and vipassana to a swift pair of messengers who enter the citadel of the body via the noble eightfold path and
  present their accurate report — Unbinding, or nibbana — to the
  consciousness acting as the citadel's commander. Another passage (AN
  10.71) recommends that anyone who wishes to put an end to mental defilement should — in addition to perfecting the principles of moral
  behavior and cultivating seclusion — be committed to samatha and
  endowed with vipassana. This last statement is unremarkable in itself,
  but the same discourse also gives the same advice to anyone who wants
  to master the jhanas: be committed to samatha and endowed with
  vipassana. This suggests that, in the eyes of those who assembled the
  Pali discourses, samatha, jhana, and vipassana were all part of a
  single path. Samatha and vipassana were used together to master jhana
  and then — based on jhana — were developed even further to give rise
  to the end of mental defilement and to bring release from suffering.
  This is a reading that finds support in other discourses as well.

Is it being suggested that you should be in the jhanas before going on any further in this meditation?

No, that isn't the intent.


What exactly differentiates Vipassana from Samatha meditation?

What are the key aspects of Vipassana that are not present in Samatha?

samatha means tranquility - it is a necessary aspect of any wholesome meditative practice.

vipassana means seeing clearly or in a special way - it is a quality specific to Buddhist meditative practice.

Meditation for the purpose of seeing clearly requires one to focus on ultimate reality; the only way to understand reality is to observe it. Any meditation practice that does not take ultimate reality as an object is called "samatha meditation", because it leads only to tranquility, not insight.

Besides the difference in meditation object, meditation for insight will also obviously have different results; it will be less tranquil on the whole, as one is forced to experience all the inherent problems with ultimate reality, specifically that it is impermanent, unsatisfying, and uncontrollable.

What is the main difference in the method from a meditator's perspective?

There is no difference in the method, necessarily; the only difference is in the object.  As the Visuddhimagga says:

  But one whose vehicle is pure insight, or that same aforesaid one whose vehicle
  is serenity, discerns the four elements in brief or in detail in one of the various ways given in the chapter on the definition of the four elements (XI.27ff.).

  Vism XVIII.5 (Nyanamoli, trans)

Meaning the methodology is the same, but one's focus shifts to ultimate reality.

Labeling emotions and feelings are part of samatha or vipassana?

Since emotions and feelings are a part of ultimate reality, this would be considered vipassana meditation. Many people say otherwise; I can't help but argue that they are wrong. The difference isn't the technique, it is the object.

Does Vipassana allows emotions to rise more freely to check it for what it is while Samatha tries to avoid paying attention to it by returning to the breath process?

samatha meditation has the potential to lead to avoidance, since it generally seeks out heightened states of concentration that are impossible when the focus is ultimate reality. The point is that one can only understand reality if one takes it as a focus; if you are unable to come to terms with reality, you will instead incline towards avoiding it because it is uncomfortable, preferring a single, stable, satisfying, controllable illusion to the harsh reality of the universe. This is a potential difference between the two types of meditation.

It is not that samatha meditation is bad or useless, just limited and posessing a potential danger, as the Buddha taught:

  “And what, bhikkhus, is the gratification in the case of feelings? Here, bhikkhus, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. On such an occasion he does not choose for his own affliction, or for another’s affliction, or for the affliction of both. On that occasion he feels only feeling that is free from affliction. The highest gratification in the case of feelings is freedom from affliction, I say.

  [same with 2nd - 4th jhanas]

  “And what, bhikkhus, is the danger in the case of feelings? Feelings are impermanent, suffering, and subject to change. This is the danger in the case of feelings.

  -- MN 13 (Bodhi, Trans)


I need an answer as to why i received a mother who makes me feel like an outcaste?

What mistake have I done in my past life to her that she is constantly taunting me to death.

If you are literally asking about your past Karmas, to figure out the reason behind your current life situation, then, it is impossible for other, you yourself have to reach that level of meditative awareness to remember your past life. The ways of Karma are not linear also the ripening of fruits is also not linear, you receive the fruits when the environment is right.

Furthermore, if you blame your past life for your present life, then you can again blame your past to past life for the deeds of past life, so the regression is infinite. So the first thing to solve the problem is that stop blaming past life or Karma or anything for that matter. The first step is to accept the situation. The first step is acceptance.

How can you solve this problem?

From a Buddhist context, you really have two problems here, one is Attachment and other is Expectations.

As much as I have studied human psychology I can tell you that hatred of mother for her child is usually dissociated, meaning she does not really hate you as a child but maybe she hated your father or something like that, but sometimes humans are not capable to locate the real reasons of hating somebody, so her nagging about your looks is simply her own misunderstanding of the exact thing that was bothering her about you. So the next step is to look at you mother as a human rather than 'your mother', this will free you from the attachment you have, and will be able to help you to solve the problem objectively.

Second is you stop expecting love and affection from your mother. This expectation is same as desires, which Buddhism talks of in great detail. The suffering here is caused because you desire your mother to behave in a certain way and she is not doing it, as the Buddha said, "not getting what you want is suffering". So this is the second thing you have to learn, to drop your desire.

The next step is to learn not to react, I suggest you should do a 10 day Vipassana  retreat of S N Goenka. Here you will learn to watch the sensations without reacting to them, you will have to apply the same to your relating to your mother. So whenever she insults you, you just watch, the unpleasant sensation arising in your mind and its impermanence. Ths will help you get rid of a lot of emotional trouble.

  she is making me depresses by saying no guy would like to marry me.

So you are depressed by her words that no guy will like to marry you. Well, you have to understand something here, if you are depressed then your mother's prophecy will be self-fulfilling because no guy will want to marry a depressed girl. So instead of feeling depressed, you fill your heart and mind with loving-kindness and compassion. If you are loving then love will come in your life, but remember the inherent unsatisfactoriness of everything. To accomplish this, I will suggest that you should also learn some Metta meditation. Ajahn Brahm is the best teacher for this, see his Youtube videos on this topic. If you could give Metta to your mother under your current situation, then you have won, girl.

Look at the bigger picture

You take my word for this, and I assure you, that if it would not have been your mother bothering you it would have been someone else, something else. The first of the Noble truth is, There is Suffering in life. So instead of thinking that it was your bad karma that got you an undesirable mother, maybe it was your good karma that the suffering you are entitled has led you to ask important questions in life about Karma and past life. Life's plots are complicated, your mis-fortune sometimes is your greatest fortune.

Think about the story of the Buddha, He had a perfect father, His father kept Him in utmost luxury possible, gave Him everything, but still, you can imagine His suffering that He had to leave His palace in the middle of the night, teary-eyed, to find the end of the suffering.

So think about this, that getting a good mother or good father is also not the solution to life's suffering. Those who got have their problems. Follow the Dhamma taught by the Buddha, that's the only true way out.

Contemplate on this story told by Ajahn Brahm and last thing I will suggest you read the book 'Who ordered this truckload of Dung' by Ajahn Brahm. Thit will change your entire perspective.

Metta to you.


Is Papanca (i.e., hindrance) always unwholesome?

With asekkhā sammāvimutti, or Right Freedom, there is no longer any need for a spiritual search. From DN33 we have:

  Ten qualities of an adept: an adept’s right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right immersion, right knowledge, and right freedom.

With the cessation (and therefore non-arising) of defilements, the work is done.

If you consider the spiritual search to be a hindrance, then the answer to your question is, "Yes."


Lamrim is a genre. It is a genre of spiritual literature that gives a thorough overview of the whole teaching, methodically progressing from somewhat crude and primitive concepts of basic levels, to more sophisticated and nuanced perspectives of the higher levels. Each school usually has their favorite lamrim text or two (one for beginning students, one for advanced students and teachers), but if you read them side by side they are all pretty similar in content and sequence, the biggest difference being that of depth and tone. It is not uncommon for a lamrim text to take form of a condensed poem for easy memorization, which then requires a commentary text to hydrate the meaning back to a comprehensible shape.

In Theravada, the idea of stages of the path is not very developed. I'm not talking about levels of mastery of one technique like the 16 stages of Vipassana (there are such texts in Tibetan Buddhism as well, but they are not lamrim) but rather the epic levels that almost completely supersede each other's frameworks, such that the concepts very important at one level look rather naive at subsequent levels.

It is hard to call Visuddhimagga a lamrim text, for two reasons. First, because its scope is limited to what in a lamrim text would be about one sixth of the full path. Second, because it delves very deep into topics that in Tibetan schools usually belong in specialized meditation texts.

The lamrim progression is roughly:

"folk Buddhism", with emphasis on faith and basic morality, six worlds, karma
the kind of stuff that's studied in Theravada: 4 noble truths, samatha, vipassana etc.
mahayana stuff: bodhisattvas, paramitas
hardcore madhyamika philosophy
the (lower) tantra levels. Yidam generation and energy yoga.
mahamudra and dzogchen
dzogchen is sometimes separated into its own level above mahamudra

Mahamudra is an advanced-level set of teachings in New Translation schools (Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug). In simple words we could say Mahamudra is the level where we finally get direct experience of what Buddhism is actually about, with no beating around the bush like on the previous levels. That said, for but the most talented students Mahamudra is incomprehensible without the foundation of the previous levels, plus practicing it requires a kind of deep emotional stability that can only be developed through the previous levels.

Dzogchen is a very advanced-level set of teachings in the Old Translation school (Nyingma). In some sense it is very similar to Mahamudra, but it tends to be even more abstract. This is because Dzogchen speaks entirely from the perspective of enlightened Buddha, unlike Mahamudra which still has residual flavor of the student attitude.

If you need a parallel with Theravada, I suppose we could roughly put Mahamudra at the level of Fourth Jhana and Dzogchen beyond Fourth Jhana. I guess I could also say that the practice of Mahamudra and especially Dzogchen is not that dissimilar from Zen although the style is obviously rather different.


Finding The Right Buddhist "Vehicle" / Sect For An Individual

Demographically the majority of Buddhists today (nearly 99%) are born in Asia into Buddhists families and would likely follow their family or local tradition.

But assuming your question is regarding those of us who have converted to Buddhism in primarily non Buddhist countries, there may still be no consensus on what the majority of these Buddhist converts do to select a tradition or sect.

One important consideration is whether one wishes to practice with a local group. If so, it might be more practical to gather information on local Buddhist centers/monasteries/temples and visit each to see where one might comfortably fit in and have an opportunity to study and practice along with other like minded local people rather than spending time learning in depth about traditions which may not be represented locally.

If one is more interested in studying and practicing alone or in online communities, the possibilities are far less limited and studying at least the basics of each of 3 major branches and the major sub sects within the major branches could give one enough information to see which branch really peaked ones interest to begin a more in depth study into a particular branch. This answer links information on the various canons used in different traditions.

Finding a teacher whom one really feels they can learn from, whether a present day teacher teaching locally, online, or through books/videos or a historical teacher teaching through their writings, can certainly influence an individual's choice of sect too. When teachings resonate, the energy to learn more grows.

Your question is interesting to me because it's the same thing I wondered when I first began learning about Buddhism. The information on the various schools seemed overwhelming. I started with a local group to make things easier for myself. Then spotted some interesting online resources which made me think beyond the local group. Then found the energy to begin to study the different branches in a basic way and eventually found the tradition that really resonates for me. But I think if I had just sat down and tried to read up on everything all at once, it wouldn't have made much sense. :)


Here are some good resources on how to mindfulness

https://static.sirimangalo.org/howto/HTM.pdf

http://seeingthroughthenet.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Seeing-Through-Rev-0_3.pdf

https://pathpress.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/notes-on-meditation-by-bhikkhu-ninoslav-nyanamoli.pdf


How can I respond to Christians' unpleasant feedback on Buddhism?

Just tell them:

I am not a Christian, and I'm not interested in becoming one.
My interest in Buddhism or any other religion is my own business.
Let's not discuss religion.

This answer would be in line with keeping the precept of abstaining from incorrect speech (including lying and speaking harsh words).


Mental illness and the Layperson's Practice

A while ago, i wrote this as an answer to a similar question. I suspect you are struggling with something a bit different than the poster from that previous question, but i hope that answer can shed some light regarding the mind-altering aspect.
I don't know how your particular medication is expected to work, but giving some thought on whether you'd have an easier/harder time meditating without your medication would probably give you a clue (I am not arguing for/against using medicine here).
Provided your healthcare givers aren't giving you the red light for meditation, the choice of meditation subject is likely no different than for anyone else starting up. You can never go wrong with anapanasati. If you have the time and energy, here is a good introduction text:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/ariyadhamma/bl115.html


Good method to start finding the core values of Buddhism?

I am going to recommend three of my favorite teachers and their most popular books. Keep in mind that each of these teachers comes from a different tradition but they are mostly in agreement as to the core values of Buddhism.

"A Path With Heart" by Jack Kornfield. He was one of the very first westerners to teach Dharma in the West beginning in the 1970s.

"The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching" by Thich Nhat Hanh. A famous Vietnamese monk who can trace his lineage back to the Buddha.

"Awakening the Buddha Wihin" by Lama Surya Das. An American who studied for many years in Tibet and became a Tibetan Monk and is a very popular teacher.

All of these books are accessible and you may be able to find them at a public library or certainly find use used versions for sale online.


the Buddha taught that there is unsatisfactoriness in this world and the way out of it which is more systemised as the 4 Noble Truths.

If these stories help you understand unsatisfactoriness and help you come out of it or inspire you in any way to practice and strengthen your faith, by all means use them. If not leave them aside without outright rejection and concentrate on what appeals to you.

What is most important is you follow the Noble 8 Fold Path divided into the 3 Fold Training which results in understanding the 4 Noble Truths.


How best to accelerate vast accumulation of merits?

Ways to earn merits:

Practice the Buddha's teaching.
Practice Dana.
Practice daily meditation and share the merits with all beings.
Support the Sangha or better yet, become a Bhikkhu/Bhikkhuni.

With every wholesome deed one gets closer to Nibbana.

With every unwholesome deed one gains distance to Nibbana.


"Lower rebirth" -- Are animals really "lower" than us?

Lower is not meant as a moral judgement nor a pejorative in this case. It is meant simply as a statement of the more dire predicament most animals are in compared to most humans. There certainly exist individual dogs, cats, horses, pigs, donkeys, monkeys, deer, sheep, cows, chickens, fish, birds, reptiles that are more compassionate and exhibit virtues superior to individual humans in this very life. However, generally speaking humans have a greater capacity for understanding dharma and opportunity to practice. Most animals are subject to base instinct and spend the vast majority of their time just trying to survive. In this sense it is called the lower or less fortunate realms.


Can it be immoral to kill a plant?

It's contrary to the Vinaya for monks -- I don't know whether you consider that as implying that it's "immoral".

  DESTROYING VEGETATION

  The common belief at the time of the Buddha was that plants (and even soil) were 'one-facultied life.' Today we have ecologically 'green' beliefs that are often equivalent — at least they seem to lead to much the same attitudes.[41] (In Thailand, forest monks are well known as the best protectors of the jungle.)

  The eleventh Confession offence concerns destroying plant life. It originated because a bhikkhu harmed 'one-facultied life' by cutting down trees. He continued to cut down a tree even when the tree-deva asked him to stop, so she went and complained to the Buddha. This led to lay criticism of such behavior and a rule was set down:

    "Intentionally damaging or destroying a living plant is [an offence of Confession.]"(Summary Paac. 11; See BMC p.294)

  Therefore destroying a living plant — for instance, felling a tree, uprooting a flower, burning grass — is a Confession offence; as is picking fruit from a tree, a flower from a bush, etc. It is an offence of wrong-doing (dukka.ta) to damage or destroy fertile seeds or pips, or viable seedlings. (See Kappiya).

  Bhikkhus who live in tropical forest monasteries constantly have to protect both the jungle and themselves. When paths are overgrown, snakes and other dangerous 'creepy-crawlies' can be trodden on — and bite back! There also may be a need for firebreaks. One way that forest monks cope with this is a daily routine of sweeping the paths. However they are not allowed to dig or clear the land.

  The tenth Confession offence arose when bhikkhus dug the ground and got others to dig, and the local people criticized them because they considered the earth to be 'one-facultied life.' The rule is phrased like this:

    "Should any bhikkhu dig soil or have it dug, it is [an offence of Confession.]" (Paac. 10; BMC p.292)

  Digging, breaking the surface of the earth, lighting a fire on it, pounding a stake into it are all disallowed. (If such 'earth' is more gravel or sand than 'soil' — and has no living creatures in it — it may then be dug.)

  It is, however, allowable for monks to hint to laypeople or novices about what needs doing as long as the words or gestures fall short of a command. When bhikkhus need paths to be cleared, necessary work done on the ground, firebreaks made, etc., any lay attendant wanting to help should listen out for hints and indications: 'A post hole dug over there would be useful'; 'make this ground allowable,' etc. What is needed can then be clarified.

  One practical and long term effect of these rules is that they have steered bhikkhus away from involvement in agriculture and land ownership. Such a development would also have isolated bhikkhus from the lay community because they would no longer have needed to depend on alms food.

See also Harmlessness to non-sentient nature and can consciousness (pure awareness) exist?

An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues says on page 175,

So "one-facultied" means "possessing the sense of touch". I guess that might imply non-sentient if it's incapable of thought -- or, it says, it's a "borderline" case.

It also says that people perceive them as alive and that it's therefore not seen as being harmless to kill them.

Whether they are actually sentient isn't stated e.g. by the Buddha, nor in the Abhidhamma.


If we take an Abhidhamma stand point, once the "consciousness" (last thought before experiencing death) is released from this body it doesn't come back this body rather it takes root in a new body. Dependant Origination states it that way.
Therefore all these near death experiences, in my view, aren't exactly near death experiences rather experiences similar to a person waking from a coma. This is my understanding therefore it could be wrong.


Lay arahants mentioned in the Pali Canon

Ven Bahiya.  Buddha proclaimed him great disciple of fast learner of Dhamma.  He reached enlightenment while was a lay person, however, he was killed while looking for personal items to join the Sangha.  Buddha classified him as one of the 41 great Bhikku.


Doing the opposite of not skillfull things

MN8 is a notable sutta that has a long list of skillful qualities, forty-four to be exact. Here is the first:

  MN8:13.1: Cunda, I say that even giving rise to the thought of skillful qualities is very helpful, let alone following that path in body and speech.  That’s why you should give rise to the following thoughts. ‘Others will be cruel, but here we will not be cruel.’ ...

I have found this list extremely practical and it requires no deeper knowledge. Indeed, the sutta remarkably starts out emphasizing that meditation itself (and therefore the deeper insight thereby gained) is separate from the exercise and practice of the listed qualities, the practice of self-effacement. Ethics, wisdom and immersion are all required. They are the three practices. MN8 directly addresses details of ethics, of skillful qualities.


The joy and happiness of spiritual development is considered to be far more superior than sensual pleasure, which is fleeting and bound up with suffering, as explained in MN 14. Also see SN 36.31 for further info.

Even though a disciple of the noble ones has clearly seen as it actually is with right discernment that sensuality is of much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks, still — if he has not attained a rapture & pleasure apart from sensuality, apart from unskillful mental qualities, or something more peaceful than that[4] — he can be tempted by sensuality. But when he has clearly seen as it actually is with right discernment that sensuality is of much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks, and he has attained a rapture & pleasure apart from sensuality, apart from unskillful mental qualities, or something more peaceful than that, he cannot be tempted by sensuality.


Did the Lord Buddha say anything about magic and fortune telling?

These are examples of wrong livelihood. The Kevatta sutta discusses fortune telling and magic

"Whereas some brahmans and contemplatives, living off food given in
faith, maintain themselves by wrong livelihood, by such lowly arts as:
reading marks on the limbs [e.g., palmistry]; reading omens and signs;
interpreting celestial events [falling stars, comets];
interpreting dreams; reading marks on the body [e.g., phrenology];
reading marks on cloth gnawed by mice; offering fire oblations, oblations from a ladle, oblations of husks, rice powder, rice grains, ghee, and oil; offering oblations from the mouth; offering
blood-sacrifices; making predictions based on the fingertips;
geomancy; laying demons in a cemetery; placing spells on spirits;
reciting house-protection charms; snake charming, poison-lore, scorpion-lore, rat-lore, bird-lore, crow-lore; fortune-telling based on visions;
giving protective charms;
interpreting the calls of birds and animals —
he abstains from wrong livelihood, from lowly arts such as these.


If there's nobody to get enlightened, why bother?

This linguistic terminology generally has caused a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding.

The notion of not self is that is there no:

unchanging everlasting component which we can identify as self. Other contemporary teachers tried to identify such a part which they called Atman
there is nothing to which any one can have absolute or ever lasting control over either externally or internally

Also the notion of self, self consciousness, ego, thoughts relating to oneself all is:

delusional
a source of misery

Since you do not have any control over any of the what make up this self you cannot have futuristes view of your self and destiny. Also since your influence to the external world is limited, you can get to own or control is also limited. But when we think about I will to this or that, there is a sense of absolute control of destiny or the environment. This is delusional as you cannot to things to absolute certainty and any deviation result is you becoming disappointed.

If you drill down more deeply when some tough or contact comes through your sense doors. (E.g. some one is scolding you or you remeber someone is scolding you.) 1st you recognise this is some one is scolding, then you identify this incident it is me who is getting scolded. At this point you get a bad feeling (literally) in your body. You have a mental reaction to this and then form volitional though like I will scold him back. Likewise if it praise you get an opposite feeling. Though this itself is subtle you lose the balance of your mind, as you might get puffed up, when some one does this type of talk. Also you cannot get the pleasantness of praise to last always which sometimes lead to subtle disappointments. Thus each time you get any notion of I, me, mine, etc. coming up in your mind some disappointment is bound to happen if you analyze it fully and realistically, thus not understanding this fast is a delusion. So the notion of no self, in this this context. If you you hold onto a notion of self (Pudgala - Sanna) misery arises, letting go of the notion of self your mind gets free from misery. Hence the linguistic rendering of no self.

Also the absence of anything upon which you can exert absolute control or any component which is permanent, to which you can reliably apply the label this is me or myself - the eternal me (this part of me never changes) or this is image of me (a good person, strong person, etc.) or belongs to me or in my control (this should be as I wish or will it to be) - viz. noting identifiable as self, me, mine, I. Since there is nothing we can use the word or label with the word self, considering either of the properties of everlasting, absolute control, we say there is no self.

This does not mean you do not exist in any colloquial sense or any sense outside the above definitions (permanent, controllable properties). So if you or any body practices to get you mind to be stress and disappointment free, the benefits are to be reaped by the person getting enlightened. So you should be be motivated to achieve it. So do not get some play on words deter you. (These are very difficult to understand concepts, thus should be careful of misconceptions using the same wording or rendering.)

Also developing this notion (any concept or notion is Manasikara) as a beginner (though you have to abandon this view also at higher stages of meditation) can help dissolve your ego, self consciousness, self awareness, concept of self in you mind. This can be an early stage catalyst in your progress (also helping you reduce stress and disappointment due to the concept of I, me, mine) than somethings reducing your motivation to practice

In Buddhism you should experience the peace within this lifetime and in each step you take. More you practice more powerful your peace becomes. Lesser mental reaction you have towards great, pleasant, unpleasant, hurt, sour, etc. feelings caused by external stimuli more balance your mind will be and more peaceful you will get.

Also remember Buddhist concepts are not easily explainable in words as the concepts are not really mainstream, thus the the language and ability to communicate them has not developed. When translating these into languages with not Buddhist or related culture, things are even more difficult.


Does Buddhism have a concept of blasphemy?

There are a few sources that suggest the importance of reverence for holy persons. It seems, however, that in the Buddhist context the sense of 'inviolability' usually attached to the idea of blasphemy in Western culture is not present in the same way. That is, all of the passages explicitly link the action to a negative result, either in future existences or, as in the final example, in the here and now; it is the fact that they cause suffering for oneself which makes them wrong.

'Reviling the Noble Ones' is part of a list of actions that are associated with rebirth in lower realms--i.e., animal, hungry ghost, and hell realms. The opposite, not reviling the Noble Ones, is listed as one of the elements associated with favorable results:

  'These beings — who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech &
  mind, who reviled noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions
  under the influence of wrong views — with the break-up of the body,
  after death, have re-appeared in the plane of deprivation, the bad
  destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings — who were
  endowed with good conduct of body, speech, & mind, who did not revile
  noble ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the
  influence of right views — with the break-up of the body, after death,
  have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the heavenly world.'

A few texts where this can be found are the Devaduta Sutta, the Potaliya Sutta (from which the above passage is taken), and the Sekha-patipada Sutta

There are also some texts that discuss the results of not being respectful:

  "Here, student, some woman or man is obdurate and haughty; he does not
  pay homage to whom he should pay homage, or rise up for whom he should
  rise up, or give a seat to whom he should give a seat, or make way for
  whom he should make way, or worship him who should be worshipped, or
  respect him who should be respected, or revere him who should be
  revered, or honor him who should be honored. Due to having performed
  and completed such kammas, on the dissolution of the body, after
  death, he reappears in a state of deprivation... If instead he comes
  to the human state, he is low-born wherever he is reborn. This is the
  way that leads to low birth, that is to say, to be obdurate and
  haughty, not to pay homage to whom he should pay homage, nor rise up
  for..., nor give a seat to..., nor make way for..., nor worship...,
  nor respect..., nor revere..., nor honor him who should be honored. -- from the Cula-dammavibhanga Sutta

Further, according to the Garava Sutta, even a Buddha would suffer because of not having appropriate reverence:

  I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly
  Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Nerañjara
  River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree. Then, while he was
  alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness:
  "One suffers if dwelling without reverence or deference. Now on what
  brahman or contemplative can I dwell in dependence, honoring and
  respecting him?" (Note: According to the text, the Buddha determines that there is no one more worthy/accomplished than he and so resolves upon revering the Dhamma.)

I hope this helps somewhat.


What's the sutta/source for Devadatta's attempt to kill the Buddha with the drunken war elephant Nalagiri?

Now at that time there was a fierce elephant in Rājagaha, a man-slayer, called Nālāgiri. Then Devadatta, having entered Rājagaha, having gone to the elephant stable, spoke thus to the mahouts: “We, my good fellows, are relations of the king. We are competent to put in a high position one occupying a lowly position and to bring about an increase in food and wages. Well now, good fellows, when the recluse Gotama is coming along this carriage road, then, having let loose this elephant, Nālāgiri, bring him down this carriage road.”

https://suttacentral.net/pli-tv-kd17/en/horner-brahmali


How to deal with people giving reviews to the teaching?

someone might get caught up in the wrong side of the isle after
  reading some person's foolish efforts

There will always be reviews coming from writers who are not comfortable with things like heavens and divine beings. People with materialistic views will be drawn to such articles naturally. If you get angry at them, you might be clinging to the Dhamma as "my religion" or "my belief".

Having everybody to believe in the same thing is not the goal and wanting that to happen will only frustrate you. The goal is to use the Dhamma to attain Nibbana. You can certainly help others to stay away from misinformation while doing that, but it should come from compassion, not clinging or aversion.


Vinaya Rule of a Monk saying he's an arahant

According to the Patimokkha rules:

  Should any bhikkhu, without direct knowledge, claim a superior human state, a truly noble knowledge and vision, as present in
  himself, saying, "Thus do I know; thus do I see," such that regardless
  of whether or not he is cross-examined on a later occasion, he — being
  remorseful and desirous of purification — might say, "Friends, not
  knowing, I said I know; not seeing, I said I see — vainly, falsely,
  idly," unless it was from over-estimation, he also is defeated and no
  longer in affiliation.
  Should any bhikkhu report (his own) superior human state to an unordained person, when it is factual, it is to be confessed.

But above, there are no distinctions made between fully ordained monks and novice monks.


The Theravada tradition recognizes forty meditation types for obtaining at least access concentration, found scattered throughout the Tipitaka and organized in the commentaries, as follows:

1-10: The Kasinas

These all lead to the four jhānas; they are practiced by creating a disk and focusing on it, while repeating, e.g., "earth, earth..."

1. Earth
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Air
5. Blue
6. Yellow
7. Red
8. White
9. Light
10. Space

11-20: Foulness

These lead to the first jhāna; they are practiced by contemplating a corpse in various states of decay

11. Bloated
12. Livid
13. Festering
14. Cut Up
15. The Gnawed
16. Scattered
17. Hacked and Scattered
18. Bleeding
19. Worm-infested
20. a Skeleton

21-30: Recollections

Body and Breathing bring jhāna (body only brings the first jhāna, breath brings all four); the other eight bring only access concentration; they are cultivated by reflecting on the object, e.g. "Buddha, Buddha"

21. Buddha
22. Dhamma
23. Sangha
24. Morality
25. Generosity
26. Angels
27. Death
28. Body
29. Breathing
30. Peace

31-34: The Divine Abidings

The first three bring about the first three jhānas; the fourth brings about the fourth jhāna; they are cultivated by taking beings as an object, e.g. "May all beings be happy"

31. Love
32. Compassion
33. Joy
34. Equanimity

35-38: The Immaterial States

These bring about the fourth jhāna; they are cultivated by using the fourth jhāna as a base, then expanding and refining the object

35. Limitless Space
36. Limitless Consciousness
37. Nothingness
38. Neither Perception Nor Non-perception

39. Perception of Repulsiveness in Nutriment

This brings about only access concentration; it is practiced by reflecting on food as one collects and eats it.

40. Defining of The Elements

This brings about only access concentration; it is practiced by breaking the body up into the four elements.

All forty meditation subjects are described and taught in detail in the Visuddhimagga; highly recommended for those interested.


I think you are mistaking servant for slave.

  In five ways should a master minister to his servants and employees

  (i) by assigning them work according to their ability,

  (ii) by supplying them with food and with wages,

  (iii) by tending them in sickness,

  (iv) by sharing with them any delicacies,

  (v) by granting them leave.

  - Singalovada Sutta

This neither fits the description of a master-slave relationship nor does it involve any human trafficking. Therefore, it doesn't come under wrong livelihood.


What are the suttas in which the Buddha provides instruction on how to meditate?

To straighten view before meditation: Samma,ditthi Sutta

Anapana

Anapanasati Sutta

Satipatthana

Satipatthana Sutta and Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta
Kayagatasati Sutta
Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta

Elements / properties

Dhātu Vibhaṅga Sutta
Titth’ayatana Sutta
Maha Hatthi,padapama Sutta
Bahu Dhātuka Sutta

Reflective / perception based

Giri-m-ananda Sutta
Indriya Bhāvanā Sutta
Amba,latthika Rahul’ovada Sutta

Metta, Karuna, Mudita, Upekka

Saṅkhitta Dhamma Sutta


Stillness. Whereas the other elements are also beneficial, sitting is about reaching the pinnacle of stillness. The methodology is very simple, because it's mostly one of letting go. Caveat: it always seems dubious until it proves it's efficacy, and then doubt is removed.


Seven 10-day and one 20-day Goenka Course but no "good results"

I would suggest you try another vipassana lineage. Goenka goes for body sensations only (AFAIK, later they add mind objects, but I only have 2nd-hand knowledge about it). Use a technique where all 4 foundations (body, feelings, mind, mind objects) are used from the very start could be useful; I am personally doing Chomtong-style practice (Ajahn Tong, a variant of Mahasi, dry-vipassana with lower concentration) and being exposed to e.g. difficult feelings and learn to acknowledge them and let go is extremely valuable for me. What I also find very useful is to have regular interviews with teacher on the retreat.

Meditation has good results if you have more clarity, understanding or yourself and others etc; in short, if your life is better. Experiences come and go and have little long-term relevance (despite the mind trying to persuade us this is it in that moment).


I believe this is the story you are referring to. It's a great story explaining the origin of the monks' rule to avoid alcohol. It also shows a bit of the Buddha's sense of humor.
This is from "The Bhikkhus' Rules: A Guide for Laypeople" http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/ariyesako/layguide.html

"The drinking of alcohol or fermented liquors is [an offence of Confession.]" (Paac. 51; BMC p.402)
The origin-story concerns Ven. Saagata who conquered a fierce naaga — a type of serpent with magical powers — by his meditation-developed psychic powers. The townspeople heard about this feat and wanted to make some sort of offering to him, upon which the 'group-of-six' bhikkhus impudently suggested that they all should give him alcohol. When he arrived on his almsround every household offered alcohol and he finally collapsed, drunk, at the town gate and had to be carried back to the monastery. He was laid down in a stupor with his head towards the Buddha but in his drunkenness he turned around so that his feet pointed at the Buddha.[97] The Buddha called attention to his changed behavior, remarking that he certainly could not oppose "even a salamander" in such a state.
The Buddha also said:
"Bhikkhus,... there are these four stains because of which samanas and brahmans glow not, shine not, blaze not. What are these four? Drinking alcoholic beverages... indulging in sexual intercourse... accepting gold and money... obtaining requisites through a wrong mode of livelihood." (A.II,53) (AB)

Again, this explains the monks' rule regarding alcohol. Regarding laypeople and the 5th precept, I'm not sure I understand your meaning of the significance of something having been created "later by the Buddha". Perhaps a Buddhist scholar could identify the timeline of the 5 precepts; but my simple way of thinking of it is that they were created by the Buddha during his lifetime and whether it was in the first years of his teachings or the last; it was a valuable teaching to help lay people make their lives simpler (less suffering) by avoiding bad deeds. And avoiding alcohol is helpful for many people to stay mindful enough to observe the other 4 precepts.
Whether observing the 5th precept means avoiding even a drop of alcohol or just avoiding drunkenness or "heedlessness" by laypeople varies by tradition.


Well, if you are a layman looking for free food, come to Sri Lanka during the Vesak or Poson full moon poya days. You will find many free food outlets. Usually you can get rice & curry, noodles, sandwiches, ice cream, various beverages etc.

If you are a monk, you can go on alms round on any day. You will be offered food in most cities.

If you're actually looking to do the dana offering to monks, just go to any temple and make your wishes known to the head monk: they will give you a date. Alternately, you can go near monasteries like Meethirigala and try to catch a monk who's going on alms round. Here's a recording I did in January: Pindapathe on Election Day


In Buddhism, there are two kinds of friendship: (i) ordinary friendship; & (ii) spiritual friendship.

In ordinary friendship, Buddhist principles ensure what is called 'false friends' or 'false friendship' does not harm us, including economically. The principles of 'true friendship' & 'false friendship' are listed in this link in the 2nd section, which begins with: "These four, young householder, should be understood as foes in the guise of friends...". You may read this thoroughly & thoughtfully to help provide perspective &/or guidance.

In what you described in your post, the impression of 'false friendship' does not appear to exist because: (i) you have volunteered to help him; (ii) you are not threatened economically; and (iii) you are not being taken advantage of sexually or illegally.

Therefore, your situation appears to be an issue of spiritual friendship. In Buddhism, spiritual friendship (metta-karuna) or 'altruism' is unconditional; it is not given to receive anything in return; it is selfless.

From a Buddhist perspective, since it appears you are not being threatened or harmed, your issues are those related to hurt from 'pride' or 'conceit'. This kind of 'egoism' the Buddhist path seeks to end or overcome because it causes suffering. A mind training verse is as follows:

  When someone whom I have helped, Or in whom I have placed great hopes, Mistreats me in extremely hurtful ways, May I regard him still
  as my precious teacher.

  Eight Verses for Training the Mind

Buddhism would recommend to continue helping your friend in a selfless manner & identify the problem as your 'pride' or 'ego' rather than your relationship being something inherently dangerous you must urgently end.

While his new girlfriend may not be ideal, ordinary people do often get possessive in relationship so you can give them some space rather than officially break your platonic friendship.

Ultimately, it is ideal the new girlfriend trust you and express gratitude towards you given you have helped her new boyfriend in an extraordinary & praiseworthy way. Give it time. His new love affair may not work out, anyway (since she sounds very possessive & controlling), thus he made need your help & support again when it falls to pieces.

In summary, true spiritual friendship & altruism cannot hurt or harm us. As long as the five Buddhist precepts are not transgressed (namely, physical violence, economic theft, sexual exploitation, deliberate lying & drug addiction/enabling) then we cannot be harmed or hurt; unless we ourselves are controlling & possessive, in which only our own pride & attachment hurts us.

My answer: keep a low profile! (but be prepared for when he needs you again).

In Buddhism, this is called 'upeka' ('equanimity'), which literally means: 'to watch over/observe a person in a detached manner until we have the opportunity to help'. An intrinsic element of 'upeka' is giving others the space to take responsibility for & learn from their own karma (actions).

Since you have genuinely helped him, you should be satisfied in your own virtue & goodness. One meditation in Buddhism is reflecting upon your own good altruistic deeds (cāgānussati).


I have attempted to examine the Pali in this verse. The key word appears to be 'ñattaṃ', which is said to mean 'intellectual faculty' rather than good knowledge (Ñāṇa).

  Ñatta
  (nt.) [nomen agentis from jānāti] the intellectual faculty,
  intelligence .

Therefore, this foolishness would not only apply to religion (such as religious people that seek worldly fame & material benefits from religion) but also to the worldly intellect in general (such as scientists, politicians & criminals that use their intellectual faculty to create harmful & destructive things & schemes).


The self proclaimed Arahant, Daniel Ingram & his book "Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha" is probably where the "hardcore" thing came from because the book covers supposedly "hardcore" and hard to find teachings like the "stages of insight" that are rarely covered in books. Dan seems very angry & ridiculous in certain rants in the book, I guess that is supposed to be some kind of "hardcore" teaching. I don't understand these rantings in an otherwise useful and informative book. Here's the link to his book that many have found useful:

Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha – An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book


To what extend should I keep doing useless stuff with my friends?

You are not causing suffering to others. They cause their own suffering if they want you to get drunk with them & you refuse. You should always have metta (friendship) towards old friends but this does not mean you engage in unwholesome actions with them.

Also get rid of this condescending attitude you have compassion for your friends and wish to help them. This is disgusting. Your friends are merely “ordinary people” who live ordinary worldly life.

As for your girlfriend, it is love & respect for her that you watch TV with her. It is only TV. You don’t have to attach or delight in what you are watching yet this should not stop you showing warmth and companionship towards your girlfriend.

I am typing this on an airplane because I am visiting my mother & sister. I watch TV with them even though I do not watch TV at home.  Watching TV can be a meditation upon the ignorance of the world.


Did Buddha explain Dependent Origination as an upaya or skillful means? If so, why?

If so, how approximate is it?

If by "DO" you mean "the 12 nidanas", I found the exposition of that in the suttas barely intelligible -- little more than a dry list of the 12 items, saying that each depends on the previous.

So for that and other reasons I think of those as like chapter titles (without the text), or items on a powerpoint -- i.e. I expect they're the topic or outline of (innumerable) more-or-less detailed dhamma talks.

This site (for one) has many questions about what each nidana is and how it relates to others.

And doctrine about specific nidanas and their near neighbours, is of course important (e.g. the four noble truths).

I think though that the basic principle of DO is central and crucial -- i.e. that conditioned things arise, perpetuate, and cease depending on conditions.

If not, in what way is the original better?

I think of "earth" for example as representing "solidity".

Physics analyses that in more detail -- "why and when and how and to what extent is a substance solid?"

IIRC the context in which it's taught in Buddhism is to have some understanding of what form is -- just enough of an understanding to not get enchanted by it.


Stephen Batchelor's current meditation practice

Found it! (Admins -- should I delete this now superfluous question?)

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/does-buddhism-give-us-answers-or-questions/

  Batchelor said [in 2003] he no longer meditated every day. "I am a meditation
  teacher who doesn’t meditate any more," he said, smiling sheepishly.
  Although he once found meditation "extraordinarily valuable," over
  time it came to seem like "a kind of evasion, really. It was a cutting
  off from experience, rather than a full-blooded engagement with all of
  its ambiguities and messiness." He tried to cultivate his existential
  awareness through writing now more than through meditation. "I write
  and think and struggle with questions. That’s my practice.


What is the connection between time and impermanence ? Are they different terms for the same thing ?

The two are very different concepts. Time can be thought of as the conceptualization of experience as a sequence of events. First this happens then this. Past, present, and future. Impermanence is a separate concept describing the fleeting nature of experience. Experiences such as emotion, the senses, material objects, and even life itself can be said to have a beginning and end and are thus, impertinent.

  I heard this from philosopher, "Nibbana is like a timeless space".

The speaker is trying to describe their experience of the ultimate nature of reality. They are trying to describe Nibbana, the experience that can only be had by seeing through the illusion of form.

In a very incomplete way, Nibbana can be thought of as the canvas on which all of the universe is painted. Imagine you are holding in your hands a photograph. When you look at the photo, you identify your favorite pocket watch within the image. In reality, there is no watch in your hands. You simply have a mental model of what a pocket watch is, and the paper and ink on the page has created the illusion that you are observing a pocket watch you have seen before. For the sake of explanation, one could say “the pocket watch arises out of the photograph”. Without the photograph, you would be unable to observe the watch.

Nibbana and time have the same correlation. Nibbana is like the photograph, and time is like the watch. In our experience, we believe we observe the past, present, and future. We see patterns that we identify as something real, creating a conceptual model that, when it becomes useful in predicting experience, we believe to fundamentally be a part of reality. In reality though, there is only Nibbana. For the sake of explanation, one could say “Time arises out of Nibbana”. Because of this, Nibbana can be described as “timeless”. When observing Nibbana, you do not observe time. For when you observe Nibbana, you are observing the universe before arising/creation occurs. All things that arise from Nibbana are impertinent, including time.

I hope my answer was helpful to you! I pray for nothing more than your liberation this lifetime. =]


Must one move through the various jhanas to realise nibbana?

Both Theravada and (Tibetan) Mahayana textual sources state that jhanas are not a hard requirement, but insight is.

That said, live teachers in both traditions clearly say that "insight" refers not as much to dry intellectual understanding as to practical real-life mastery of mind based on the first-hand insight into its key mechanisms.

In my understanding, jhanas ARE the stages of that mastery - especially if you interpret them broadly as stages of mastery of Emotional Intelligence - as opposed to concrete states. In this interpretation, nirvana/nibbana is a state of 100% inner harmony without any conflict between "is" and "should" whatsoever. While jhanas are progressive approximations of that state from coarse to finer, to finest, to transcendental.

The coarse stages entail coarser positive mindstates and coarser techniques of generating them - and the finer stages entail finer positive mindstates and finer techniques of generating them. If you look at it this way, you will see that jhanas are the very nature of the gradual path and are therefore required for anyone but the most talented practitioners who can skip to pure suchness right away.


What are the canonical texts for the Buddhisms of the world?

For Theravada there is the Tipitaka: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.html

This consists of the "three baskets"  of the vinaya pitaka,  the rules for monastics,  the sutta pitaka aka the sutta teachings,  and the abidhamma.

It is generally accepted that the oldest and most core part of the Tipitaka that is closest to what the buddha said,  are the four Nikayas

Digha Nikaya (long discourses)

Majjhima Nikaya ( middle length)

Samyutta Nikaya (grouped discourses)

Anguttara Nikaya ( numbered discourses)

There is also the Khuddaka Nikaya which is a collection of "little texts".  This is where the famous dhammapada  and Sutta Nipāta reside.


Yoniso manasikāra as such means “directing the attention to the roots of things,” that is, observing
  phenomena as they truly are, as being characterized by impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self.

Yoniso Manasikāra Sampadā Sutta

You should know the experience of the hindrances are also impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self.

  If so, would being moved and experiencing awe counter sloth as well?

Stimulating the mind may result in sloth on the downturn when stimulation is ending.


If there is no literal rebirth, why have samvega (a sense of urgency)

Why have samvega (sense of urgency that death may strike) without believe in literal rebirth?

You could argue it both ways. Why have sense of urgency if you will be reborn? On the other hand - Why have sense of urgency if you're not going anywhere?

Dharma is called "Safe Bet". Whether there is literal rebirth or not, Liberation is deathless. Whether there is literal rebirth or not, dying without Liberation is scary - because either you may go to some strange inhuman worlds, or you disappear forever.

Hence the sense of urgency to attain Liberation.


What do secular Buddhists say about Nirvana?

While there is considerable variety of views amongst people who identify themselves as secular Buddhists, they all seem to converge in rejecting what is often loosely called "metaphysics". This means that they reject all forms of belief that are not rooted in science and/or common sense. Thus they reject any and all supernatural entities, forces, or states, not so much from an ideological point of view, but because of a long history of such things being debunked; because of the exposure of many, many hoaxes; and because the theories of science are so very successful and the supernatural is ruled out by these theories.

Secular Buddhists seem to identify with the European Enlightenment which aimed to free people from the despotism of the Church, the oppression of superstition, and general ignorance. Secular Buddhists take nothing on faith, whereas traditionalist Buddhists take a great deal on faith.

Some answers to these specific questions can be found on the Secular Buddhist Association Website. http://secularbuddhism.org/. Doug Smith, who holds a PhD in philosophy, has written a number of essays on these and related subjects, for example he says:

  "Nevertheless from my limited perspective on the path it would seem as though nibbāna is not, should not, and cannot be entirely beyond our ability to comprehend. If it were, it would be of correspondingly scant interest to us. Therefore we are to take expressions of its ineffability as a kind of poetic attempt to express the extremity of its greatness. Nibbāna is the extinction — or perhaps the near extinction — of greed, hatred, and certain forms of ignorance. And parinibbāna does not amount to some “diffuse, indeterminate” way of being, but rather is the simple death of an enlightened person, without remainder." - Two Issues With Nibbāna.

Elsewhere (Can a Layperson Attain Nibbāna?) Smith discusses the traditional view that only monastics can attain nibbāna and gives a response from a secular point of view.

Perhaps the most prominent secular Buddhist is Stephen Batchelor, a former monk and translator of Buddhist texts. He has downplayed the issue of nibbāna

  I am a secular Buddhist. It has taken me years to fully “come out,” and I still feel a nagging tug of insecurity, a faint aura of betrayal in declaring myself in these terms. As a secular Buddhist my practice is concerned with responding as sincerely and urgently as possible to the suffering of life in this world, in this century (our saeculum) where we find ourselves now and future generations will find themselves later. Rather than attaining nirvana, I see the aim of Buddhist practice to be the moment-to-moment flourishing of human life within the ethical framework of the eightfold path here on earth. – Stephen Batchelor, “A Secular Buddhist,” Tricycle Magazine, Fall 2012.

Of course this rejection of the supernatural, and nibbāna in particular, has wide ranging doctrinal consequences. Secular Buddhists de-emphasise traditional Buddhist theories of the world which seem to revolve around supernatural concepts such as karma, rebirth, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, and focus on the experience of maintaining ethical and meditation practices.


The uncaring kamma will probably affect their life in ways such as problems with their relationships, etc, & also contribute to a bad world, which, if not corrected, will bring a worse world in the future. This is what is waiting for them, namely, hell on earth, either for them; for their family; for their friends; or for their children. As for the hell you seem to be imagining, this is only of the imagination.

But if you realise the results of kamma are felt within the heart & also manifest in the quality of relationships & the world, then you will understand a lack of care inwardly brings a lack of care outwardly. This present "weird world" you see is itself the result of the kamma of not caring. There is no requirement to "wait" because the results of uncaring kamma have already come to fruition.


References for not receiving alms in exchange for Dhamma teaching

An extended answer would probably result in getting aware that there are very, very less who do not maintain just a livelyhood in using the tripple Gems. Less who are actually not in the whole of a serious transgression, with less hope to find a way to get reconciled. While such would formally just touch those "bond" to Vinaya, from a kammic view it touches all of the many, regardless of their clothes.

An that is why even laypeople have been taught the matter, only traceable for those looking sometimes inwardly.

  One  should not make an effort everywhere,

  should not be another's hireling,

  should not live dependent on another,

  should not go about

  as a trader in the Dhamma.

  ud 6.2

One would even find the message in the Jatakas, that not even Gods and Devas practice generosity in exchange.

One should also not underestimate that there are four kinds of nutritions in this regard.

Turn on satipaṭṭhānā and you may face corruption and how it arises in one self, and then is no more need to seek Dhamma-Vinaya outside. Till there one is wise to listen and follow the Elders and those ahead in regard of letting go.

(furthermore: Read Iti 107 as what it actually says, without assuming anything in addition)

[Note: this is a gift of Dhamma, not meant for any worldly trade and exchange]


What is the meaning of the Datthabba Sutta?

MN1 states:

MN1:171.4: ‘Nandī dukkhassa mūlan’ti—

The happiness of nibbana is therefore empty of nandī.
MN1 also states the difficulty of this understanding:

MN1:172-194.31: But the mendicants were not happy with what the Buddha said.

Perhaps the clarification here may help, since there is identification in nandī:

MN1:148-170.24: nibbānaṁ nibbānato abhiññāya nibbānaṁ na maññati, nibbānasmiṁ na maññati, nibbānato na maññati, nibbānaṁ meti na m
aññati, nibbānaṁ nābhinandati.

MN1:148-170.24: But he doesn’t identify with extinguishment, he doesn’t identify regarding extinguishment, he doesn’t identify as
extinguishment, he doesn’t identify that ‘extinguishment is mine’, he doesn’t take pleasure in extinguishment.


Is there a moral aspect to financial debt in Buddhism?

If you have obligations like debt you might be forced to disrobe. You will not be able to do what you set out to do and any debtor trying to get hold of you will be doing bad karma.

Also you cannot practice properly as you will be afraid of debtors getting hold of you.

You and the Sanga will get a bad name due to your not fulfilling your obligation. This has a karmic implication towards people who might bad mouth the monk and the order.

This can be extended to other obligations also.

Regarding being disfigured or disabled it is the latter reasons. Also you need all your faculties in good condition to effectively do Vipassana.


What does 'Ignorance' mean in Dependent Co-Arising?

Is ignorance in the DO just referring to that sense of self?

No. The sense of self is 'born' at the 10th link of Dependent Co-Origination, preceeded by 'becoming/tendencies' (bhavā), that is, sensual becoming (kama bhavā), form becoming (rupa bhavā) & formless becoming (arupa bhavā)
Since the four noble truths are a condensed version of dependent-co origination, I would suppose that 'Ignorance' means lack of knowledge of the 4 noble truths, as follows:

Bhikkhu, not knowing suffering, not knowing the origin of suffering, not knowing the cessation of suffering, not knowing the way leading to the cessation of suffering: this is called ignorance, bhikkhu, and it is in this way that one is immersed in ignorance.

SN 56.17
This said, not comprehending the four noble truths also entails a lack of insight into the 3 characteristics (especially anatta & anicca), & obviously a lack of 'Right View':

The Blessed One said, "Monks, ignorance is the leader in the attainment of unskillful qualities, followed by lack of conscience & lack of concern. In an unknowledgeable person, immersed in ignorance, wrong view arises. In one of wrong view, wrong resolve arises. In one of wrong resolve, wrong speech... In one of wrong speech, wrong action... In one of wrong action, wrong livelihood... In one of wrong livelihood, wrong effort... In one of wrong effort, wrong mindfulness... In one of wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration arises.
"Clear knowing is the leader in the attainment of skillful qualities, followed by conscience & concern. In a knowledgeable person, immersed in clear knowing, right view arises. In one of right view, right resolve arises. In one of right resolve, right speech... In one of right speech, right action... In one of right action, right livelihood... In one of right livelihood, right effort... In one of right effort, right mindfulness... In one of right mindfulness, right concentration arises."

Note: This is just sutta knowledge, but no personal verification of Dependent Co-Origination.


Problem concentrating during Vipassana meditation

When you breath be mindful of the start to end of the in and out breath. For each breath in and out breath be mindful of whether your mind wandered away during this time. Also note the length of the breath in and out breath.

When scanning the body keep your concentration anchored on the breath and sensation on the base of the nose as well. If your mind wanders away bring it back to Anapana and then continue the scanning. For each in and out breath see if your mind has wondered away for that period. Also note the sensations that arise when your mind wanders to an alternative object and the sensation when it is with the chosen object.

In some parts stay for a while (but not too long) also focusing on the breath. Sometimes this helps sharpen the mind to see clearly the sensation arising and passing away in the particular section of your body.


What is the perspective of the western buddhist cannon websites?

OP: It's ok for that protection, but it makes the questions that why don't suttacentral and the other western buddhist canon websites
  put the losing resources into their website, although they already
  knew there were demands?

  OP: Another, why don't the western Buddhist canon websites make the function for easier reference such as highlight function?

SuttaCentral for example, has a discussion forum here. If you want new features. You can ask them directly. I'm sure other "western" buddhist canon websites have similarly reachable community or administrators. If they lack manpower, maybe they will focus on the canon first, which is itself huge.

Apart from the suttas, there's also translation of the Visuddhimagga online and also summaries of the Abhidhamma.

  OP: What is the perspective of the western Buddhist canon website to protect the Buddhist people from Atthakatha study?

I think this is largely due a lack of manpower, so they focus on what they think people need the most.

For example, you can see that not all of the Sutta Pitaka is available on AccessToInsight. Only the ones judged by the admin to be the most useful are there. Similarly with Piya Tan's collection at The Minding Centre.

On the other hand, SuttaCentral has grown to contain a far bigger collection of the suttas, perhaps hoping to cover the whole Sutta Pitaka one day. This is by itself a huge effort.

Comparatively, the Atthakatha is seen as secondary to the Suttas and less important.

But nevertheless you can read parts of the Atthakatha indirectly quoted by Piya Tan at The Minding Centre and other translators like Thanissaro Bhikkhu on AccessToInsight.

  OP: Why the western Buddhist canon website acts like "these words are from his disciple's mouth, but I don't want to hear his disciple's
  explanation because it's not actually his"?

I don't think this is the attitude. I think it's more like "I want to listen to the master's words first. That's more important to me. But if there is a disciple explaining it, I can refer to it, but it's less important or secondary."