Amanaki

stop seeking enlightenment, if you want it that badly it will never happen Personallyi have meditated for 20 years and not a singel moment has been to become enlighten. only meditation to calm the mind toward empty mind

Enlightenment is bliss enlightenment means blowing out. what you experience when enightenment happens is pure joy because you no longer clinging to earthly living. it is purly spiritual

meditation is only a part of the spiritual"path" toward enlightenment, you ust also recieve propper teaching, in Theravada Buddhism it is the historical Buddha Sakyauni that gave the teaching we follow. and to become closer to understand what enlightenment is and how to become enlighten one must let go of all human attachments like greed, anger, likes. dislikes, envy, sadness and so on, it does not mean one become cold it means one accept the life as it is no matter what comes your way. But in a short post like this it is impossible to explain fully what enlightenment is

Guru or teacher are many times someone who have long experience within a spiritual path or religion. But when you sit and listen to him/her you will understand soon if the teaching is rightroues or false. Example is if before your lesson the teacher ask for money or the tutorial cost a lot of money you can mostly think it is fake taching and you will not gain any inner wisdom. But if you gain free teachings and the teachings does help you in your practice the Guru is mostly real. But unfortunatly in todays world there are a lot of fake spiritual teachers.

If you trying to become enlighten thru meditation you will not succeed when you stop trying and you realize what you seeking is empty you will see that with forcing you self toward enlightenment it will never happen When you sitting in meditation you dont seek, but you only observe with no thoughts not intention then you open up to inner wisdom So my advice is stop trying, only sitt in silence and observe. if a thought comes "look" at it and notice the emotions that may arise, then you let go of the tought. in time you will experience that your mind will go empty and all there is is emptyness you exist but you do not cling to anything

When you get an sensation anywhere in the body or in mind, make a mental note to you self, example " pain in forhead" then let it go After some time you do not need to make mental notes then you sit with no thoughts in mind, you become observer. In meditation you dont look for an answer the outcome of the meditation is the answer, ultimat bliss. But there is nothing in meditation only silent

I have noticed that when someone who are not familiar or maybe just begun their meditation journey ask me How does it feel when you meditate? Or, what do you see in your meditation. And i think for my self. It doesent feel and it is nothing there to see. How to explain that what you in the beginning seek is not there to find It is empty and silent...it is hapiness but not in a emotion like happy in physical life. Have you ever tried to explain to other how you meditate? or what form of experiences you have?

The "I" that the OP is thinking of is the Ego, that because i experience the world there must be a peronification of "ME" And when thinking with the Ego one does not see the physical realm in a true/real way. Example: If you put your body under a big enough mircoscope you will, if you zoom in far enough see that the "solid" you are full of holes empty space. And the other way, if you look at cosmos there are space between planets and stars. there is no difference in you as a person and you as the cosmos. In this physical realm you for lack of word is cosmos. everything is you and nothing is you as person. Think of cosmos as a body and you as a body. planets go around starts (sun) neutrons and protones go around a cell. But when you let go of the attachments to a self this become clear, no words is needed to see it then

maybe you dont know that each buddha (meaning enlighten being) has aswastika on their body when they are on earth to teach. a Tatagatha like Buddha Sakyamuni has 1 swastika but those Buddhas who has transended to even higher has more swastikas on their body. But only those who have the third eye opened can see this when looking at the person who are enlighten. You may have seen a buddha statue with the swastika on their chest? this is the true mark of a Buddha a enlighten being.

Beauty does not matter, if the inside is beautiful then outside will be to

What is the sign of a Buddha in your understanding?

Practicing meditation is not only sitting down but can be done in every situation in life Awardness arise when one have done sitting meditation daily for long time Sometimes i can sit 30 minutes other times i can sit 3 hours.

Very welcome

Yes since i do not think of future i have all the time i need to finish projects and winthin the spiritual path i have highten my inner wisdom so that when i do study (buddhism) i see more clear what the text actually mean. On the non spiritual area of my life i feel more confidence and am helping those around me without being feeling left out of my own life. I am here on earth as a helper of some sort, But at the same time i cultivate mind and body

The meditaton have open me up to see the world in a different way, i dont cling to the worldy things like i used to do and now i live in the moment with no worries about past or future. i do not get angry or upset because my mind is calm and relaxed.

I have experienced this many times too, In the beginning i normally answer honestly and try to explain the question with how i see it, But if i understand they only looking for making a fool of me, then i tell them how i see the situation and the response is either they get mad and walk away or they laugh and joke it off.

I have done vipassana meditation for nearly 20 years but i can tell you that there is a lot to still grasp, meditation is in my experiance a slow prosess if one does not dedicate the life to only this (monastic life) My experiance is that a lot of my attachments has been faiding away because of the medittion practice. You ask about desperate way to control your life? in meditation there is no controlling of life, it is letting go of the old habbits and attachments to physical and mentally hindrences Example can be if you craving something and you must have it day oafter day. that is a hug attachment that with practicing meditation can be reduced or even faided totally away. As a Buddhist my meditation practice is a way of letting go of all the attachments to physical life. But not everyone can go this path

WinterKnight. Can you explain your view of what enlightenment is?

Vipassana/insight meditation is the "activity" that has open up the understanding of life the most for me.