Publications by Kumāra Bhikkhu

Open Awareness Meditation: a quick introduction    What You Might Not Know about Jhāna & Samādhi    20 Meditation Tips   Meditation Is Like Riding a Bicycle   Meditation Is Seriously Like Riding a Bicycle   Meditation Is Like Doing Business   Meditation Is Seriously Like Doing Business   Why We Should Stop Bringing Youths to Buddhism

By Kumāra Bhikkhu’s students:

14 Stories of Growth & Freedom [7 in English, 7 in Chinese]   11 More Stories of Growth & Freedom [2 in English, 9 in Chinese]   

Note: I’m setting up a place called Spiritual Retreat Centre, where people can step away from the pressures of daily life and devote to cultivating themselves. See https://web.facebook.com/SpiritualRetreatC/

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Popular Posts in last 30 days

How to Meditate if You Have Mental Illness

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Some peope say you shouldn't meditate if you have mental illness. They are partly right. You shouldn’t do concentration meditation, as that can easily worsen your condition. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t meditate at all, or can’t benefit from meditation at all. Meditation can relieve you of mental illness if you do the right kind of meditation correctly. People with mental illness have an unsettled mind, which exhausts them. In this situation, you need to find a way to settle the mind. Let me suggest a way: Breathe in. Feel the body. Relax the body as you breathe out. That’s it. Yes, it’s that simple. No need to close your eyes or sit cross-legged. For some people, no matter how many times they try the above, they just can’t relax. That’s okay; let it be. Here’s something else you can do. Walk to and fro. As you do that, feel your body. After walking like this for a while, check whether the body is relaxed. If it’s not, that’s okay; let it be. Just continue to feel your...
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6 Ways You May Have Misunderstood or Mis-practised Buddhism

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Buddhism is meant to reduce—and even end—suffering. Yet, its teachings have been misunderstood and mis-practised as coping mechanisms to avoid facing suffering, thereby preventing its ending. Here are some insidious ways this can happen: 1. Focusing on Making Merit for a Better Next Life Some Buddhists believe they can’t change their present life unhappiness because it’s the result of past karma. They think their only hope is to accumulate as much merit as possible in this life to secure a better next life. This view discourages them from seeking help and making necessary changes to alleviate suffering now. Worse, this mindset has been exploited by unethical ‘Buddhists’ for personal gain. 2. Justifying Escapism Some misuse Buddhist concepts to justify escapism. They call their escapism “letting go” or “detachment”. With that, they avoid difficult conversations, withdraw from relationships, or neglect personal responsibility—creating a false sense of peace. 3. Avoiding Painful Emo...
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What You Might Not Know about Jhāna & Samādhi

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What You Might Not Know about Jhāna & Samādhi Author: ​Kumāra Bhikkhu Do you wonder about the conflicting teachings on Buddhist meditation?   Are you uncertain if you should practice jhāna ? Have you tried to practice concentration and found it stressful ?   This is an invaluable contribution to the modern discussion among both practitioners and scholars concerning exactly what jhāna, samādhi and related terms mean. Confusion about these terms has been endemic in the Theravada tradition, probably for many centuries. Āyasmā Kumāra extracts the relevant passages of the earliest texts, the Buddha’s discourses, and—with particular sensitivity to the semantics of the Pāli—argues that the original intent of these terms is quite different from how they came to be most widely understood in the Theravada tradition. The result is persuasive if not conclusive. This is a must-read for all practitioners and students of Buddhist meditation. Bhikkhu Cintita D...
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How to Free Yourself from Unwise Thoughts

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To progress spiritually, we do need to learn how to stop behaving unwisely. However, that is not enough—we also need to learn how to stop thinking unwisely. While unwise physical and verbal conduct can be stopped directly, the same is not true for unwise mental action. Why? Because trying to stop a mental action directly is itself another unwise mental action. Let’s take thoughts of self-criticism as an example. If you try to stop them, that’s another unwise mental action. Doing this is not only unlikely to work, it also causes you to suffer even more. Not clever, is it? So, instead of trying to stop such thoughts, try this: Accept the fact that these thoughts are happening. Regard them as “just thoughts”. Don’t resist them—or at least notice the resisting. When you’re no longer resisting, notice how having those thoughts feels: Are they peaceful or stressful? Imagine: how you would be without these thoughts? Do this every time such thoughts come up, and their st...
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Respectful Exorcism: The Ghost Who Needed a Nudge

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In 2009, I went with some monks to a house that had been haunted for four years after a man died there. The occupants reported that cupboard doors would open and close on their own. A light dimmer would adjust itself. A strong smell of hospital chemicals remained in the bathroom. And, a relative of the deceased was slapped on the butt by something unseen. After we did some chanting, I gave a talk to the departed man (who apparently hadn’t really departed), telling him that the living occupants were afraid, and explaining how clinging is painful and letting go is happiness. A few days later, I asked the woman who invited us there about the situation, and again weeks later. Both times, she reported that things had turned fine. Interesting, isn’t it? I like this way of dealing with spirits: with respect. Note: This is not an advertisement for exorcist services.
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The Importance of Being Yourself

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You’ve probably heard of this advice: Be yourself. But what does it mean? Are you supposed to look for a “self” to be? Of course not. To put it more clearly, it’s saying, “Don’t pretend to be different from how you really are.” Let me give some examples: You’re not feeling confident. Then don’t act as if you’re confident. You don’t know. Then don’t act as if you know. You want something. Then don’t act as if you don’t want it. You’re offended by a joke. Then don’t act as if you’re okay with it. Does this mean that you should always act out your inner world? No. It simply means don’t act as if the opposite is true. By the way, this advice also doesn’t mean that you should do or say whatever you want. That’s acting impulsively and recklessly. So, now, why should we be ourselves? It’s simple: Not being oneself is pretending. And pretending is stressful. One might say, “In this world, we sometimes do need to pretend.” Yes, sometimes . But that doesn’t take away...
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How Open Awareness Meditation Leads to Ending Suffering

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Open Awareness Meditation (OAM) has slowly but surely gained following in the Buddhist meditation world. As that happens, some people wonder if it is a new kind of meditation, and whether it leads to ending suffering. First of all, OAM is not something new. It’s just a modern name for satipaṭṭhāna (establishing of mindfulness). It’s a helpful new name to counter the popular misconception that meditation is necessarily about concentration. Instead of increasing concentration, OAM is about increasing awareness. Think of awareness as a light, and the mind as a room without windows. The stronger the light, the more we can see in the room. What we eventually want to see is the whole room, so that we can see all that is there, so that we can remove the useless stuff and clean out all the dirt in the room. To do that, we need to have a bright light. In the same way, we need to have a bright awareness, so that we can see all that is in the mind, so that we can remove the useless stuff and c...
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A Monk’s Airport Predicament

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It was year 2000. I, as a very young monk, travelled with a group of monks and laypeople to Thailand. Almost all of them left after a week, while I stayed for a month. On my way back alone, while transiting through Bangkok’s airport, I found myself in a predicament. After long hours of waiting for my connecting flight, I finally got my boarding pass at the check-in counter. When I got to the security checkpoint, I showed the official there my boarding pass, and she asked, “Airport tax?” “Airport tax?” I asked in return. “Please pay at the airport tax counter and get a coupon.” “Uh-oh….” Anxiety began to rise within me. I told the nice lady nicely that I didn’t have any money, hoping she would think, “Oh, silly me. He’s a monk. He’s not suppose to have money,” and let me through. It didn’t work. The matter was plain and simple: no money, no entry. She suggested that I return to the check-in counter. “Ah, good idea,” I thought, since I had no idea what to do. Back at the counter, I expla...
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How to Reduce ADHD Symptoms Through Meditation

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As a meditator and a person with ADHD, I’ve learnt that the proper kind of meditation can reduce ADHD symptoms. The following are steps based on my personal experience: 1. Learn Mindfulness Meditation First, you need to learn how to practice mindfulness meditation. See here: ADHD-Friendly Way to Meditate . It’s a direct way to strengthen your working memory. 2. Relaxation Exercise Once you can be mindful about 30% of the day, you’re ready for the next step: Sit or lie down. Feel your body. Breathe, and relax. Bear in mind that the point is not the breathing, but the relaxation. Wherever you notice tension in your body, see how you can allow it to relax naturally as you breathe in and out. The mind and body are connected; so when the body calms down, the mind calms down too. 3. Observe the Subtle Manifestations of ADHD Once you have mastered the two steps above, you will begin to notice the subtler signs of ADHD—the physical restless energy, the mental un...
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