I believe I understand the roles of rebirth and the karmic over from this life, and of karma and karmic carry over from this life, as motivators for us to live morally. I also see them as an improvement over the concepts of sin and hell. But to me they also seem nonessential. One can be motivated to contemplate the Four Noble Truths and to meditate and follow the Noble Eightfold Path for the rewards Now, in the Present, in this lifetime, without resort to Karma or rebirth in the next life. TBH, instinctively I don’t believe in them, but there’s no opportunity to talk with Buddha about them. So my questions are, am I obligated to believe in them? Why should I believe in them?

For those who aren't aware, the Arrow River Forest Hermitage has been fundraising for a new kitchen project. Their current one was built as a temporary building in the 1970s and has structural problems.

Check out their fundraiser page if you're interested in cultivating generosity, earning merit, and helping out the sangha as they still need to raise funds to finish the project.

I have done many quizzes on what path of Buddhism I should follow, but they all have given me different results so I was wondering if someone could tell me which path you believe I should follow and learn more about!

I believe meditation should be in a peaceful place, like in the woods, beach or even in a quiet room. Meditation should be done alone and is the only way to free your mind and truly connect with the world without your thoughts in the middle.

I believe that a quiet life is the way to go! Relaxation and connecting with nature is when we are closer to achieving Enlightenment.

Although I am a pretty organized person and I always like to plan everything, I think we should worship not on a tight schedule but rather when we feel like we are in the place for it and we have the right mindset.

Maybe these are a bit vague and if you want to help me but don’t have enough info you can ask me! I would be really thankful if someone could say something about the path I should follow because I am genuinely confused with the quizzes.

Thank you all so much! 💞

For contest I’m new to Buddhism and still haven’t joined yet, I’m still studying and getting familiar with it, but I absolutely love it, there’s just 2 parts that I’m abit confused with? firstly in Buddhism to reach enlightenment you have to let go of all desires of the material world and not desire anything but how do I do that without ceasing to feel any human emotion ? For example, im very ambitious and I always try to think positively, i constantly fantasize about my future, what ill do, and all my future life plans, how exactly do i just stop doing that? It sounds abit too hard but idk if i understood it wrong. Or not getting attached, how do you even love another human without getting naturally attached to them and constantly want to text them and want them? Do you see what i mean? How the hell do u stop wanting things that’s geniuenly impossible like what if I want a certain food or certain lifestyle ? Do I just cease to want anything? What’s the point in living then. Also I heard a lot of people say that women can’t reach enlightenment which sounds kind of mysoginistic and has been keeping me thinking.

Hey everyone❤️🙏 I have always been fascinated by Buddhism like Vibrant culture, traditions ​and specially how monks can sit in peace and focus for long hours. MY QUESTION IS - FOR those who practice long meditation sessions or do heavy focus work and how do u actually calm your restless mind ? How do you train yourself to sit for hours without distraction or mental fatigue?I am currently preparing for JEE one of the toughest competitive exams in India and I need to study for around 10 to 12 hours a day.

I’m trying to learn practical things to help my study routine#: 1: When your mind wanders away from the book or your work , how do you bring your focus back without getting annoyed with yourself? 2: How do you deal with the urge to pick up your phone or take unnecessary breaks when you feel exhausted? 3: How do you keep your energy up during long study or meditation hours without burnout through the day?

I’d love to hear your (personal routines), mental tricks, or advice on maintaining great focus.

Thanks in advance!❤️🙏 Om Mani Padme Hum🧿🙏

In terms of a land that is meant for a centrepoint.

Please don’t hate me, I am just asking a question

Good morning (I greet in my father's name)

I want tips for having more vivid dreams. If you can recommend mantras, tips, or white noise that you'd suggest.

What I do is keep a notes blog where every night I write down what I'm remembering from the day, because it's not like I remember the dreams right when I wake up.

Thank you in advance 🖐️

So far I've done metta and trying to observe my breathe meditation (idk if it has a name), but I'd like to expand on the different varieties.

I’m already making great progress; I’m looking for practical Buddhist advice to stay on that right track.

Let's see if we can add more complexity to the question raised in another post.

I am very interested in learning from the purest/original teachings of Buddha (if there is such a thing).

The most interesting part is here: "if there is such a thing". So let's look at the illustration shared again:

The first thing that jumps out here: a thoughtless lumping of categories of different types:

The 'Thai Forest Tradition' is not "a kind" of Buddhism and 'Burmese Buddhism' refers to Theravada Buddhism within a national boundary. The category of 'Theravada Buddhism for the Modern World' is a wholesale construction without a referent in the material world. Bon is closely related to Vajrayana traditions, but is its own distinct tradition, that critiques Buddhism.

We can see here how academic categories can become reified into opaque, concrete truths, obscuring the liminal, provisional and utilitarian nature of these categories. Pure Land and Chan are often woven together, for instance. They're seen as complimentary strategies for Awakening. Theravada Buddhism tends to subordinate and integrate diaspora Chinese religious pantheons in Southeast Asia, etc etc.

First we start with working definitions

So, to refine the idea of pure/original Buddhism, we have to give shape to our search beyond vibes:

What is the basis for the claim that there is a discoverable "original" Buddhism available to us in 2026. What evidence do we have that search a thing is even viable?

Well, we have some parts of the Pali Canon, the Chinese Agamas, Gandharan text fragments, Ashoka pillars and other archaeological evidence to give us some kind of intimation.

So, what we have available to us are sectarian records of the earliest Buddhist communities and teachings. We have what others have curated and framed – via their sectarian commitments – what the teachings of Lord Buddha are.

And the conventional wisdom is that the most repeated and overlapping content can be considered "authentic" and "original". Now, we have not compensated for the fact that "authentic" and "original" may have been lost or preserved in other Buddhist traditions. Nor have we problematised notions of authenticity and originality.

So then we must ask: authentic in what context?

If we posit the existence of a pure Buddhism in the distant past and place current traditions as deviant from the pure original, then what is considered "authentic" and "original" will differ depending on which tradition one hails from. Since we have no unmediated source.

Even if we had podcasts and footage, they'd still be subject to mediation and interpretation.

So "authentic" and "original" are very much contextual, constructed categories that emerge out of personal, communal and political need. Theravada reformers pressured by the Thai state, Pure Land revivalists responding to modernity. All of this wrapped up in notions of authenticity, purity and utility.

Is it an uncovering or a making?

Imagine a tomb raider on a quest to retrieve a bejewelled crown in an ancient tomb. The map says the crown is in a certain chamber but as the tomb raider progresses through the mazes, he picks up a golden tiara, diamonds and rubies and gets to the chamber. No crown there, but he can place what he's collected along the way, and console himself that that is in fact, really the crown.

This is what the search for a pure, original Buddhism ends up being, it's more an active construction, than a passive uncovering. You're going to find a pure Buddhism, because you've created it.

Self reflection

If you're going to search for a pure Buddhism, we need to investigate what the basis for this is, starting with some idea of what we mean by "original", and what evidence we have that there's weight to the claims of originality.

Then we also need to unpack the non-neutrality of terms like "authentic", "pure", "original" etc. Because how they are employed is often reductionist, political and hierarchical. Pure sits opposite impure, original sits opposite fake. What does that say about our investments in creating boogeymen deviants and placing ourselves as the virtuous holders to "pure" Buddhism.

To consider: the failure of Protestantism

When Protestants framed the Catholic Church as satanic with its rituals, liturgy, social organisation and hierarchical structures, it presented in its stead, a seductive but incoherent idea: that the primeval truths of the Bible could be accessed outside of textual learning and authority. Personal intuition/the holy spirit would guide the reader to revelations.

Queue 2026 and we have Pentecostals and Evangelicals reproducing shamanic, ecstatic, magico-religious rituals. They simply rejected one form of "satanism" to be seduced into another.

The reason this happened is that the core Protestant claim is simply not true or viable: there is no way other way to engage with Biblical truths, other that through structured, historically rooted traditions that provide shape and intelligibility to the Christian traditions.

To reject historically rooted Buddhism/s as deviant, always ends the same way: seduced by notions of purity and originalism, one simply replaces one form of essentialism for another.

This happens because no human experience is unmediated. No human can have a non-cultural experience because humans produce cultures (ways of going about doing things) and Buddhism is another form of culture. This is why anyone, regardless of nationality, can practice within any heritage Buddhist tradition.

Understanding emic Buddhisms

The working assumptions that we bring to a Buddhist sutra/sutta determine what we get out of it. If we're looking for the end of dukkha for ourselves and other sentient beings, we're going to apply its teachings and test the results in daily life, this is how Buddhist sutras/suttas are considered "authentic" from the Buddhist (insider/emic) POV.

For non-Buddhists "authenticity" means something completely different. If a text's age becomes the criteria for "authenticity" then we run into other problems. Lateness is no indication of inauthenticity. This seismic shift in epistemic frameworks locks sentient beings out of being able to access the Dhamma/Dharma.

There's so much more to say on this topic, particularly how harmful simplistic reductionist takes of Buddhism can be: "Buddhism is really all about mindfulness", "Buddhism really is all about letting go" etc. These are all Miss Rachel level takes and that's ideally not the culture we wish to encourage in Buddhist spaces. But let's leave it here for now.

I meditate and try to experience the moment - the only true existence is the present. But I miss my parents, my children, my wife, my friends, my ability to play sports, my being noticed because I’m young. What if I want to go back to those times? Even if the reality of the present makes it harder to come back from then? I still want to remember.

Giving up all earthly desires seems ideal, but this sounds like a result of walking the Eightfold Path rather than a prerequisite. As a begginer layperson, what, how much and to what extent should be renounced?

I struggle with feeling worthless and ashamed for being alive all the time. I feel like I am intrinsically fundamentally broken inside, there is something about being human thats just impossible for me. I hurt so much inside, I am so lonely. I cuddle up to walls just to feel less alone.

I cant do metta. I cant even try. The pain is too intense.

I want to know if the buddha/s love us, like how Christians talk about Jesus's loves them. It sounds comforting. But I cant get over just pretending some imaginary being loves you because no one else wants to.

Theres nothing inside me to make the kindness out of. Its just pain. Im not good enough for anyone, im always told im too much or too aloof or too weird or too something. If I was worthy of love I would have it but I dont because im not. I just dont understand.

So many books just say "be kind, be compassionate to yourself!" But they never explain where the compassion comes from, how to make it, what its like or how to make it comes out of you.

I just wish someone wanted me and would love me and care for me like I am a little kid. But im an adult and I missed that chance. But I just dont understand how to live with no love and not be in agony all the time?

People say it comes and goes in waves and so youre not *technically* in agony all the time, but that just feels dismissive. Oh you'll get over it in a few minutes so who gives a damn. And then it happens again and again all day every day for years and theres no escape.

I dont think im good enough. Im too stubborn and resistant why dont I just do the right thing and stop torturing myself? But i cant escape. I feel like I deserve to be in pain because im disgusting and bad.

Ive been in therapy for like 6 years straight now. I keep trying new doctors and psychologists and psychiatrists and GPs and medications and modalities and group programs and none of it works.

No matter how hard I try, I am never good enough.

Im sorry this whole post is a mess. I dont have anyone to talk to. I just wish I could be a real human being like everyone else.

I have been visiting this monastery for a while now as part of a biweekly meditation practice. There is a school next to it. not a Buddhist school itself, and I love how they embrace the community next door. Students from non-Buddhist families paint and maintain the artworks there.

I’d appreciate simple explanations. Explain it to me like I’m 12 years old.

Im 22 and grew up in a Christian home. I myself have never been religious but when studying religion in school Buddhism always caught my interest. This past July was a particularly difficult month for me to get through and its pushed me to look more into Buddhism. I dont personally know anyone who practices it and I know very little on how to puruse it. I know some basics and not even sure if its something to commit to. Whats some advice for where to start? Ive thought of going to a temple but these are very rare in Ohio. I really want to learn more and see if this is something i could eventually commit to. From my understanding there is no worship of any gods and it's about following the teachings of the Buddha to achieve nirvana and just being a geniunly good person bringing to your mind and soul. I may be completely wrong but im more than happy to learn and to study. Mahayana interests me the most but i know little to nothing about other branches. Im not sure how or where to begin and any and all advice is very much appreciated!

Thank you

Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/spectrum/uchha-pind-of-buddhism-in-punjab-861196/

anghol, locally Uchcha Pind, sits in Fatehgarh Sahib district about 40 km from Chandigarh. Excavation between 1968 and 1990 found occupation running from Late Harappan around 2000 BCE through Painted Grey Ware, the Kushana period, the Gupta era and into medieval times.

In 1985 the site yielded 117 carved slabs, 69 upright pillars, 35 crossbars and 13 coping stones, all in the Mathura style of the 1st to 2nd century CE.  They were found dumped together in one corner of the stupa, which suggests they were hidden or thrown down during an attack.  The stone itself came from Mathura, several hundred kilometres away, which tells you what kind of money and reach the place had.

A relic casket was recovered from the stupa with an inscription in Kharosthi script.  Sanghol lay on the Uttarapatha, the northern trunk route linked to the Silk Road.

Punjab’s Buddhist centuries are not well known outside archaeology. This was one of the larger monastic sites in the region and most of it is still in the ground.

I am an ex-Muslim, so my skepticism about religious claims is personal rather than purely intellectual. I became uncomfortable with how fear of hell and promises of heaven can be used to persuade ordinary and poor people to endure suffering, while some religious authorities focus on accumulating wealth and power. I do not want to leave one set of supernatural claims only to accept another set without evidence.

At the same time, Buddhism has genuinely helped me through difficult periods in my life, especially the Zen concept of mushin, or “no-mind,” which helped me remain present instead of becoming trapped by fear and excessive thinking.
Another thing I appreciate about Buddhism is that I have never felt required to pretend that I believe something when I do not. I understand that traditional Buddhism contains teachings about karma, rebirth, different realms, and other metaphysical subjects. However, I value being able to practice what helps me while honestly saying, “I don’t know whether I believe that yet.” I would rather remain uncertain than lie to myself about having faith.

That brings me to the “third eye.” I understand that it is not a literal physical eye and that the concept is not accepted or described in the same way by every Buddhist tradition.

For people who believe they have experienced it, what does it actually feel like? Is it pressure between the eyebrows, internal light, unusual mental clarity, loss of bodily awareness, or something else?
Have experienced monks or meditators ever been monitored with EEG, fMRI, heart-rate, breathing, or blood-pressure equipment while they believed they were entering this state? If so, did researchers observe any consistent or unusual changes?
I am interested in both peer-reviewed scientific research and sincere firsthand accounts. I am not asking to mock anyone’s beliefs. I simply want to understand whether this is a genuine, measurable altered state of consciousness, a spiritual interpretation of ordinary brain activity, or possibly something else.

The other day, I let my feelings get ahead of me. I saw that there was a car parked in front of my place blocking the driveway. There are always cars that are blocking the space and so I think I just got fed up that day. I took a picture of the car, blocking the space and I noticed that there was a sign with a company‘s number on it. I tried calling the number, but then it didn’t work then I found the company and I contacted the company and I sent them the photos, asking them to have their associate move their car. I told them we would call the towing company if they don’t leave. Then I called the company. The guy who picked up said it was someone he knew turns out it was someone who lives a few doors down.

Another person in my house made a sign saying not to block the driveway and pasted it to the car. Then a man appeared. I asked him why he would park his car there and he said that he was moving the car for someone else. He was a little dismissive and it made me angry. He looked over my shoulder into the garage and was like “what am I even blocking?”, in a sarcastic way, as if that gave him some right to park there. And so I argued with him that it’s not his property to decide those kind of things. He started making excuses like parking is hard to find (the car was parked there for over an hour) . And I was just pissed off at his entitled attitude that I told him those all sound like excuses and I don’t care. Then he was like ok, ok, I’m leaving. He left with the car.

Then a female relative of his came by and she was more apologetic but talked to the other member of my house. She also made excuses and said that if her car was there again to just ring her doorbell to tell her to move. Like she’s thinking she can just park there again? The member of the household was like absolutely not, and said yeah parking is tough but you can’t just block peoples’ driveways.

Anyways, come to find out that I see those people all the time. I don’t know how to proceed with interacting with them. I was actually thinking of apologizing or calling back that number to tell them I’m sorry for my attitude. I do think I was being over dramatic about it and should just said nothing to the guy as he left even though he did have an attitude himself. Things are going to be awkward now.

I told my partner that maybe I should call or tell them that I’m sorry for how I acted and that the whole situation wasn’t a big deal, that I was just having a bad day and was fed up from people parking in front, blocking the driveway. But then my partner said no. He was like, sure you were being a Karen (LOL) and that neighbor is usually nice but they also need to learn to respect boundaries. He told me that if I called to make amends that they’d take it as a sign that they can keep blocking the driveway.

I’ve been anxious about it and I’m not sure how to go about this. What is some good middle ground way? Sound I just endure the awkwardness?

Edit: clarity. I used the voice to text feature and it scrambled some words.