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This is a “good teachable moment.”
TripleGemStudent wrote: ” I believe it depends on the person and as well what the goal of the meditation is for. For instance, there’s meditators out there that meditates on Kasina objects.”
– Those meditators who meditate on kasina objects are NOT Buddhist meditators. Buddhist kasina meditation does not involve any “objects” belonging to this world. This is why breath meditation is also not a Buddhist meditation. See, “Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga – A Focused Analysis” and “Is Ānāpānasati Breath Meditation?”
– There are no “worldly objects” involved in Buddhist meditation. It is all about removing greed, anger, ignorance from one’s mind.“Some athletes might meditate (or visualize) repetitive motions or techniques, while others have their own goals and objectives when it comes to meditation.”
– Again, that is a mundane matter. However, the premise is correct. Having the ability to visualize better would help those athletes.“For example, I believe Aphantasia can be beneficial for us Pure Dhamma meditators, but it could be a hindrance for artist, athletes, etc . . .”
– Yes. It depends on whether one wants to stay engaged in the rebirth process or whether one wants to seek Nibbana. In this website, we are not interested in improving athletic skills.“Now that I think more about this, having Aphantasia can possibly be a hindrance for those who does Metta bhavana trying to recall people’s faces or past events.”
– That is not fully correct either. One does not need to cultivate Metta towards one person. One should cultivate metta towards all living beings.
– However, if one is trying to get rid of animosity towards a specific person, it is true.A quote from TripleGemStudent’s post: “Might be a good thing for us Buddhist practitioners, but for ordinary people, it might cause them depression and mental health issues . . Especially of those who require imaginative skills for work, such as artists, etc . .”
That is what I thought too.
– But it would be good to see comments from those who don’t have Aphantasia (i.e., those who CAN see memories in color) whether it is a hindrance to meditation.Thanks. I have spent some time looking into this interesting phenomenon. The following are my thoughts.
1. While “aphantasia” is interesting, it does not seem to be a drawback. As I will explain below, it may be beneficial to have “Aphantasia”.
2. While some people have it from birth, others have lost their ability to visualize in the mind’s eye after heart operations. Therefore, it may not have anything to do with the brain.
3. This phenomenon was discovered only in 2010. We may learn more about it in the coming years.
Here is a video with more information:
4. Having Aphantasia could be a good thing in the following sense. This is what is keep coming to my mind, and I hope someone without Aphantasia will comment on this.
– When all those vivid pictures in color coming to the mind, would not that be a distraction while meditating?
– Some people have the ability to recall memories in great detail. The person in the following video says it is a “big burden.”The reason that it is a “big burden” could be what I mentioned above. Imagine a “virtual TV” that constantly “ON”!
– That video and that particular phenomenon (HSAM) is discussed in the post:
“Recent Evidence for Unbroken Memory Records (HSAM)“I do have aphantasia.
– I cannot automatically “see” any memory in vivid colors in my mind. But there is a sort of “black and white” kind of imagery that I recall. Again, I have no difficulty recalling memories.
– If I try hard, I can form a red apple in my mind’s eye. That is all.Here is another informative video, where the presenter seems to have aphantasia just like me.
Thank you for bringing up this topic. I had not heard about it.
Just watched the following youtube video. It seems to explain “aphantasia” well.
I need to think about this. But I may have aphantasia, at least to some degree.
– In the meantime, I hope others will comment on this issue and also comment on whether they have it, i.e., whether they can vividly recall imagery in their minds.
– Note that it is NOT about being able to recall memories. I have no problem recalling memories, but forming vivid images with the eyes closed? I feel the same as the lady who describes her situation in the video. I need to go back to sleep. May be I will do better during the daytime.Lang asked: “I’m assuming that a gandhabba can stay in the gandhabba form for thousands of year straight, without birth (jati) as a human with a physical body.”
– Yes. It is possible that a suitable human womb may not be available for thousands of years!
Lang asked: “One ghost they saw was of a girl who was near her own portrait in a palace/museum they visited.”
Is this an example of attachment (tanha)? i.e. attachment to the previous physical human existence?”
– Yes. The mental body or the gandhabba, in some cases, can stay close to the last birth with a human body. Yes. That happens because of the attachment to that existence with that physical body.
– This is why there are reports of people saying that they saw the “ghost of their deceased relative.”The “maximum timespan of the Gandhabba state” is the duration of the human existence for a given lifestream.
– In Brahma and Deva realms, that Brahma or Deva is born just one time for the duration of that existence.
– But in human and animal realms, the “mental body” (or the “gandhabba body”) lasts for the whole duration of the human or animal existence. That time is NOT a fixed time period. It could be many hundreds of years to many thousands of years. During that time, one may be born with a human body many times. In between those births with physical bodies, one is in the “gandhabba state.”So, the answer is that the “maximum timespan of the Gandhabba state” can be many thousands of years.
– That is why “this person saw ghosts from the Renaissance era while in a vacation to Venice” is possible. That is not a ghost, but just the “mental body” or gandhabba. It is human without a physical human body.If you type “gandhabba” in the search box and it will show many relevant posts:
“Search Results for: gandhabba“Yes.
1. This is the same as cultivating Samma Sankappa and discarding miccha sankappa.
– It is also the same as cultivating the correct version of Anapana and Satipatthana meditations.
– P.S. It is also the same as cultivating punnabhi sankhara (punna kamma) and discarding apunnabhi sankhara (apunna kamma).2. That is done at two levels:
– First is the mundane level (cultivating normal “good thoughts” like giving, helping others, etc., and abstaining from greedy, angry thoughts).
– The higher level is to see the fruitlessness and dangers in craving for worldly pleasures (kama raga).3. Again that second level is also two-fold: First is “seeing” and the second is “getting rid of remaining wrong perceptions”. The first step involves learning/comprehending the fruitlessness/dangers in sensual pleasures and the second involves constantly contemplating on the drawbacks of sensory pleasures.
– #2 of the recent post, “Icchā, Taṇhā, Kāma – Root Causes of Suffering” discusses an analogy of an alcoholic.1 user thanked author for this post.
Good question.
I just revised the following post, which addresses this issue in detail:
“Myths about Meditation““Lal wrote: “yōniso manasikāra means the “understanding of origins”: One with yōniso manasikāra knows the causes that lead to births in various realms, i.e., “bhava” and “jathi” are according to one’s gati;”
One way to see the origin of suffering is to see that it is the “craving for sensual pleasures (kāma)”.
– An average human thinks that sensual pleasures are worth pursuing.
– The Buddha taught that that mindset arises because of avijjā, not realizing that WILL lead to eventual suffering.This is the “previously unheard teachings of the Buddha.”
-See the recent posts: “Paṭicca Samuppāda – Essential Concepts“The description of saññā vipallāsa was not complete in #2 and #3.
– Revised those two and a minor error in #8.We have gone from discussing sakkaya ditthi and anatta to pancakkhndha.
Posts on the latter subject are at, “The Five Aggregates (Pañcakkhandha)“
I have mentioned previously that some parts of the English translations of Waharaka Thero’s discourses are NOT correct.
– Please don’t post any more of these “translated” videos.
– Translations are as good as the understanding of the translator.
– I am sure that most parts are OK, but I don’t have time to make corrections for incorrect/incomplete translations.It is not correct to say, “Once the five aggregates disintegrate, the perception of the “I” disappears from there.” as quoted by the TripleGemStudent above.
– The five aggregates DO NOT disintegrate. I am not sure what the translator meant by that statement.
– Only the craving for the five aggregates is stopped totally at the Arahant stage., i.e., there is no pancupadanakkhandha for an Arahant.
– As I explained in my detailed response above, the “past component” of the five aggregates cannot change. They have become namagotta or memories. They never change.TripleGemStudent: If you go through the two subsections that I provided links to, you should be able to clarify these issues.
– If you don’t understand any given bullet # in a given post, please quote that and ask a question. It is pointless to describe the same things again and again.P.S. The comments by Lang are correct.
Thank you, Lang!
– Yes. The post that you quoted explains the difference between sakkaya ditthi and anatta.It is one of three related posts on the subject:
“Sakkāya Diṭṭhi and Paṭicca Samuppāda”It is a good idea to read all three posts.
Sakkāya Diṭṭhi arises in those who do not understand the Paṭicca Samuppāda process.
– I had discussed Paṭicca Samuppāda in detail. But in the new series, I discuss the Paṭicca Samuppāda process from another angle:
“Paṭicca Samuppāda – Essential Concepts“
