I'm incredibly new to buddhism but..it resonates with me. Right now as cheeky as it sounds your videos are my daily way of learning more about this lifestyle and religion bit by bit, it's such a good starting point for me

Metta + Morning meditation. Great combo to “perfume” the day!

Thanks Doug! My daily practice usually starts with reflecting on my intention to cultivate enlightenment for the benefit of the world, as well as gratitude for the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. I make on offering of fresh water, which symbolizes the merit from practicing that “cleanses” or renews this mission. Then I meditate using a mala by touching each of the 108 beads for each mindful reflection on the five precepts, the eightfold path, the noble truths, the worldly concerns, and antidotes to greed, delusion, and anger. Then I reflect on specific unskillful actions from my past to strengthen motivation, and finish by dedicating merit to loved ones, strangers, and all beings. This might be too much for most practitioners…but I like to work in as much as possible lol. Using the mala keeps me focused and prevents my mind from wandering :)

Good question, good answer ...no need to re-invent the wheel, the Buddha has already done it for us, and it has eight spokes.

Thank you for being part of my new journey. I have never found so much peace in life than when I found Buddhism. I am finally happy, after 29 years. Your channel has helped me dive into Buddhism.

8:14 I recently read that Japanese children are taught be aware of their anger and to slow their breathing ( to a slight air hunger ) - which physiologically is greatly relaxing / calming.

im really new to actually learning about buddhism but have felt a connection to it since i visited the temples in japan :) thank you for making these videos!

Thank you! I am very new to Buddhism and wasn’t sure where to start with meditation or what to focus on and this was very helpful

Thank you Doug.

Thanks for this Doug.

I like to read a little bit before and after meditation practice. A short Sutta before, a chapter of the Dhammapada at the end. Five Precepts once a week. Perhaps find seven short Suttas, one for each morning of the week. Just a suggestion.

Lovely, rounded set of recommendations. Thanks for this.

Thank you, Doug!

Thank you!

Very helpful video Dough 🙏🏼🌴

Hi Doug, i find your videos very helpful that strengthens my practice and improves my understanding. Many thanks for the work you do for the good of the seekers of dhamma. Metta.

Thanks 😊

Thanks alot!😃

I have this book "In the Buddha's words", I have read it only less than half but loved it.

I'm a Buddhist ( well I try) Thank you so much for your clarification and keeping it real. w/ Metta

Very useful - thank you.

Doug . your info clear many of my confusion of dharma

You are a good scholar with a good knowledge of history and credible.

A good book that has been helping with daily practice focus as well as just helping with all areas of life is The Urban Monk. About 3/4 way through. So good, so far.

Doug thanks so much for all you do. I find it helpful to do a little breathing throughout the day as a way to become more aware of my emotional state, particularly if I am in a work or personal situation that involves conflict or negative emotions. It helps me keep from getting triggered and to be more deliberate in how I react to the other person(s).

Thank you, Doug, for the reminder, I am as ever grateful for the clarity of your teachings. I would enjoy a wee bit of bodywork such as yoga, Qigong, even a simple self-massage and a wee bit of chanting, to warm the intention. Kind Regards and a wee poem I can't see it not yet without regret held in my hand china blue white the cup already broken

this is a really interesting video and have subscribed. I mix stoicism with your mentioned practices and also have a daily meditation. This has helped me so much and I'm really not sure what I would do without this now. Thank you!

I like to create a visualization of the Buddha in my mind and steadying the inner vision eventually releasing it and then holding that stillness in the mind.

I like it when you say “ coming right up” 😂

I definitely agree with learning from other sources outside of Buddhism! Although I am very new to Buddhism, I have been learning philosophy for a few months. I highly recommend the podcast “Philosophize This” for anyone new to philosophy, it’s very good quality!

I like your metaphor of perfuming the mind.

Thanks a lot Doug. I hope you are doing better I want to advance in Buddhism but my life is chaotic and I am lost so I needed this video. 🙏🙏🙏

Really enjoyed learning all of this. Very Happy to embark on this new journey and your presentation is very crisp and clear. Thank you! Love and Peace from India :)

Last night I decided to become a Buddhist after spending 2 years sort of...lost spiritually. I practiced kaballah for 3 years and shamanism before that for 4 years. But the zenful simplicity of buddhism brings such a peace to my soul, it seems to be the way.

Hopefully refelcting on change , will help us love better . Losing materialism but enriching our interpersonal relations .

Meditation & a teaching, ideally in the morning.

Thanks Gordon Freeman

You and I sound like uncannily similar people, Doug. I'm glad to have found you 😊 Hope you are well

Great video. I just began watching your contents. Just here to share my daily practice. For a short background, I came from a Catholic background and I just recently started practicing Buddhism this 2023 (although I started studying Buddhist teachings and suttas since 2016). My orientation are more on Theravada and early Buddhism. My daily practice consist of reciting short chants, particularly Tisarana (Refuge in the Triple Gem) and Panca-Sila (5 precepts). I also do 2 hrs. of daily meditation (Samadhi and Vipassana) 1hr in the morning and another in the evening. I do 40-minute Brahmavihara meditation weekly, usually every weekends (i consider this as my metta meditation practice). I also practice Uposatha (following the 8-precept instead of only the 5-precept) every New moon and Full moon. So far I can follow my daily practice, however, due to the demands of everyday life my meditation schedules are sometimes affected, making it only 30-minute sessions in the morning and evening. Practicing Buddhism is surely a life changing decision, wishing everyone taking this path to be well and achieve Nibbana. Edit: I forgot to also mention that I also try to connect with other practitioners in my area (Manila, Philippines). When we are free (usually once or twice a week), we meditate together virtually and talk about suttas and our practice. We also meet in various Buddhist retreats.

Great idea to meditate after exercise. That never occurred to me. I’ll try it! In an Ayurvedic way of naming things, I find exercise brings out my Pitta side a bit too much. I’ll bet meditation after exercise would help restore balance too. Thanks!

Taste your coffee every morning, each mouthful without concepts .. Start there

สาธุ! สาธุ! สาธุ! 🙏🙏🙏

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I would recommend chanting from the Pali theravada tradition. Wearing Buddhist amulets and jewlery to remind you of your practice.

another great video! In my late teens I took an interest in stoicism and still often carry a copy of Marcus's journal or Seneca's letters in my ruck to keep myself busy and remind myself of their principles, which are often strikingly similar to buddhism's. I'd love to see a video on the precepts, similar to the one on non violence, that also explores new and old opinions on them. I'm particularly curious about intoxicants: where does buddhism differentiate medical use and pleasure? Has medical advancements changed the view of intoxicants

Chinese Martial arts are often very connected to Buddhist teachings so that is my recommendation. Through the hard work you need to put in you automatically prepare your body for longer meditation. Of course you need a good teacher to guide you.

A video on Bodhisattva Avlokiteshwara and his similarities with Abrahamic description of Lord..I would suggest

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Very interesting video Doug, thank you very much for sharing all your knowledge and time :D!. What kind of books on ancient greek philosophy do you recommend as a support for daily buddhist meditation practice? Thank you

love your channel

Meditation is not something different from daily life. Life is meditation. 🙏🙏🙏

Hi mate, I'm really appreciating these videos. I've spent a long while feeling somewhat lost spiritually and emotionally but after beginning to learn about Buddhism, I really feel like it suits me really well. I'd be lying if I said I've stopped feeling lost overnight but hey, everything is a journey and I have to accept that even if I'm taking the longer route. I have a sort of two part question for you. I've just had possibly the most horrible and frustrating meditation session. It's honestly crazy, the previous one was just so right as in everything clicked into place and it was quite moving. And then suddenly on the next one it was the opposite. Right from the first breath I just couldn't get into it at all. I was restless, agitated, tensed up etc. You name it, I was it. I know I'm just starting to find my way so I have to expect this a little but that doesn't help the frustration. So do you ever get like this? And if so, do you have any advice? Thanks in advance. And sorry for the long comment. I'm really enjoying your work here and you seem like a great guy :)

Much like a diet. If you set a Mindful Spritual plan...and stick to the plan...and trust in the process of the plan...More than likely...your Spiritual practice will work...to some degree. The more you practice...the better you will get. Adjustments may be necessary. But a good plan...made thoughtfully...taking into consideration the myriad of elements that will pop up...you put yourself in a very good position for success.

I would highly recommend using and carrying THE DHAMMAPADA ......THE SAYINGS OF THE BUDDHA (SHAMBHALA POCKET CLASSICS). It is tiny, fits into a wallet, handbag or pocket easily. It is written in very good and clear English. Incidentally this is not an advert and I have no commercial interests in promoting this book. I do love it though.It is always with me. I can read it at anytime, anywhere.

I pretty much do the same thing aside from loving kindness. Last week I was taking a break from practice, but I'm looking forward to starting again. I also use essential oils to make mindfulness practice more interesting and easier. I also use music to make calming meditation easier. I know that the Buddha probably didn't recommend that, but it's something to consider. I know that other forms of Buddhism use incense, but I don't think that was mentioned in the early texts. I could be wrong about that though.

"Touching Bottom" wow Yes.

Right on time :) I was about to ask you yesterday about this topic - how do you construct your practice and more precisely the mixing of metta with the mindulness and/or calming maditations. But as you say a person should find his/her own way to make use of it. I started doing metta regularly cause i am am kind of an angry type and it does help me to deal better with intense situations. Sometimes when i am calm i start with metta and finish with mindfulness, other time when i am restless i start with calming breathing meditation and then do the metta or just split them one in the morning and one in the evening. I curious about the way you practice metta? I watched you wonderful description of the brahmaviharas and i wonder do you have a particular type of metta or you change and mix the different variantions (the radiation and the one with the different persons)? May be it is a matter of personal mind construction and different people start feeling the benevelonce under different approach. Thanx for the wonderful videos and shareing your knowledge and experience. Greetings :)

Then how do you practice metta if you decide to add it to your meditation?

I am new to this and in need of finding inner peace and how to deal with life, emotions, etc in a better way. Which video do I start with 1st?

What about meditation on the certainty of our death?

What do you think about standing meditation? I've been trying and trying and trying to sit in meditation in easy pose on the floor. With all kinds of aids in form of mats and pillows and what not. But its so uncomfortable for me. I especially has to use so much much muscle in my pelvis and core, that it's more of a workout than a meditation... finding it hard to meditate because it takes all my focus to sit with an uptight spine, ignore the ache in the muscles, and concentrate not to tip backwards..... So I can only really stand, or sit in chair /, couch... is that OK?

It's been a month I'm away from my casual practice of meditation because I complicated it too much... I related 12 mudras to twelve values I have chosen in my psychologist - and I've drawn them like gods. Whenever I meditate I try not to think about my hands, but the thoughts related to the mudras just come. On one hand I find it easier to meditate like this, on the other hand I've been feeling it's harder to do mindfulness meditation the way I could previously. I even have created a neutral mudra, but I kept focusing in "how neutral it is" lol

I've searched and asked to many but still can't understand what suttas are... What are suttas? What do we get from using them? What can we learn from it?

That line - 'This cup is already broken' - really resonates with me. I have indeed attachments to certain things, like my computer and its Internet connection. So, thank you. Question, however. How does one avoid falling into despair or pessimism when considering all things to be temporary and sort of falling apart?

If I don’t take refuge in triple gem & tipitaka but only on noble eightfold path, is there any problem?

Hey Doug, when do you feel one can call themselves a "Buddhist" I'm still fairly new to this way of living, and I'm trying my best to learn and grow, meditate daily, and put into practice what I'm learning. When people ask my "religion" or what I believe in, I'm not quite sure how to answer it. I feel like a fake saying I'm a "Buddhist" when I'm still learning and don't know all I should yet. What are your thoughts? Thanks.

What about mantra meditation?

What if your on medication for depression?

2 hours a day would be too much? I already want to sleep in the lotus position. After time you might feel the desire, of not letting your back horizontally, but to holding it always straight. As far as I can not do any breathing meditation, I started with concentration on mantras and relaxation. It's pretty weird for those who have dissociation, I can hypnotize my self to everything. Its no problem for me watching myself breathing from aside, but that has nothing to do with meditation, I just hypnotize myself. It is very difficult after some minutes I need to lay down, because I simply fall asleep. I feel that I could stop my heart from beating by my mind. I think in the end it is better to find your own meditation practice, especially for those who don't want to agree with their life situation.

heres a silly question. Can you drink coffee if your a Buddhist? I mean it is a simulant but I feel I cant live without it! lol

Do you recommend veganism ??

Hi Mr.Craig,I love your videos ,these so important heads up for the fellow buddhist laymen to habituate the Buddhist principles for daily cultivation. May i get your email id .I wish to invite you for your talk on the dhamma ,i live in Dubai and connected to a Buddhist sangha here. Appreciate,Arhant

The problem I see with Secular Buddhism is not in the philosophy itself but rather in that it seems to produce some aggressive practitioners who want to destroy traditional Buddhism. I don't they SB should call itself Buddhist. What for ? If their practice can stand as it is, they do not need to appropriate the name.

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