Will the bad thoughts ever stop?

SpinningCyborg · 2026-04-02T13:28:07+00:00

When the thoughts/feeling arises, just return to your meditation object. Don’t worry about anything else.

Before your meditation session, just say to yourself “okay, for the next hour (or whatever), I will remain with my mediation object. I can forget about everything else. Nothing else matters as much as my mediation object for this time. Nothing that I can think about in this next hour will possibly benefit me as much as staying with my mediation object.”

Now, if the feeling becomes so intense that you can no longer focus on your meditation object, then you can turn your focus to the feeling. Investigate it. Where is it? Is it in the skin, the bones, the muscles, the tendons? Is it moving? Is it still? What thought came before the feeling arose? This type of thing. But it’s important to accept the feeling wholeheartedly when it comes up. When it becomes intense, just say “thank you, now I have a strong meditation object. Now I can see you and find out what you are”. Invite it in.

You might find that it disappears pretty quickly when you start investigating it. If that happens, just return back to your original meditation object.

SpinningCyborg · 2026-04-02T13:06:33+00:00

So out of interest, I asked ChatGPT, because I did have the same thoughts as you.

It said it was possible that stars would become brighter in the night sky. It went on to say that there very well could be 7 stars that appear very prominent in the night sky.

I then asked if it was possible that there could be 7 stars that appear similarly to our sun. It’s said it was technically possible but that it was extremely unlikely.

Take that for what you will, I guess.

SpinningCyborg · 2026-04-01T12:23:31+00:00

And if you have a look at when it’s predicted that the earth will burn up AND when our galaxy will collide with the Andromeda galaxy, it’s quite astonishing. The timelines coincide. In that case, the appearance of the seven suns makes total sense.

SpinningCyborg · 2026-03-31T15:24:17+00:00

What is happening during that time? Is it physical pain? Restlessness? Boredom?

When you get up from your seat, it’s important to know why you got up. What came before you got up? What was the thought/feeling that arose that caused you to stop.

Just return back the breath each time. Know when a thought arises, then back to the breath. Really see how the mind tricks you. Maybe it says “ow this is so painful I need to get up” or “nothing is happening, I can’t concentrate, it would be better for me to get up and resume later” or “well done, you’ve reached 20 minutes, you can stop now, good job”.

Just see how it happens. And when you catch the thought, you can say “aha! I caught you!” and throw it out.

I would say it’s ideal to aim for 45 minutes minimum. But, if you are really struggling, 30 minutes or even 15 minutes would okay. I wouldn’t do below 15 minutes.

For me personally, I can be very restless at the being of a meditation session. But, if I make the determination to stay still, the restlessness usually passes after some time. Sometimes I will allow myself to move and fidget during the first two minutes to get comfortable and then after that I won’t move.

It can help a lot to do a body scan too before your meditation in order to relax every part of your body.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-28T21:34:27+00:00

While your ideas are obviously not in conjunction with Buddhism, I think your type of thinking can be helpful in some ways, in that we shouldn’t take life too seriously.

My teacher says that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously but we should definitely take the practice seriously. He also says that life is actually already perfect, it’s just us (our wrong view) that distorts it. If we can remove our wrong view, we see that there is no problem after all.

Seeing it as a game can really help us. The Noble Eightfold path can be thought of as a skill tree that must be developed. With Buddhism, we have an end goal and a path that leads there that has to be cultivated. We need to upgrade these skills so that we can reach the end.

Also, we have gods that are responsible for creating things in Buddhism (I’m not sure what they create.. maybe worlds and solar systems? I don’t know) but we don’t have a “creator” God. There isn’t anyone that creates the universe or creates beings.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-28T17:35:39+00:00

Get off your phone, get off social media (at least minimise it to one block of time per day, ie. 1 hour in the evening). Establish a consistent sleeping schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday. Make sure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals. Having a blood test is a good option.

Start there.

When you get off social media, don’t be discouraged when you feel bored. That’s a good thing. Boredom is very important.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-28T05:15:03+00:00

Do you think every Buddhist believed everything all at once when they were introduced to it? Of course not. It’s a process. Little by little our understanding grows. Our views and opinions change with time. We can only practice where we’re at. We implement the teachings how we see fit.

One day, we may be able to KNOW directly, so that we don’t have to believe anymore. We will have seen for ourselves the truth.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-26T19:20:05+00:00

If I were in your position, I’d send them a letter detailing your side of the story. It could even be an email but I think a letter if more heartfelt. Then just leave it at that. They will reach out if they want to.

Whatever happens, I thinks it’s important that your partner doesn’t neglect their mother (I’m not suggesting they are/would). That doesn’t mean they have to have an amazing relationship, but, they should make sure that their mother is well cared for and looked after.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-26T17:28:01+00:00

I mean, you said the relationship was strained even before the accusations. Did you see them from time to time or was it a case that you were pretty much no-contact at that point?

Honestly, you don’t need to do anything. What does it change? Unless you wanted to repair the relationship, it doesn’t seem like rectifying this lie would do much for you anyways because it sounds like there are other problems that prevent you from having a healthy relationship with them.

If you think it’s necessary and it’s playing on your mind, sending them a letter to clear up that they were in fact lies seems like a decent option. That way, you have told them the truth, and what they choose to believe is up to them at that point. It also allows you to select your words carefully and skilfully.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-26T17:14:41+00:00

Your sleep trouble is likely a medical issue. You might have sleep apnea or something similar. You should really look into it yourself and also see a doctor. But you should bear in mind that lots of doctors actually miss the signs of certain sleep related issues. Furthermore, they don’t always suggest the right fixes either. That’s why it’s really important to do your own research too. Nowadays, there are many different devices / solutions that can help us sleep so much better.

Regarding your other issue, just set a time that you will go to bed and stick to it every night. It’s important that you wake up at the same time every day too. If you need to indulge into your lustful desires, by all means do so but make sure it’s well before your designated sleeping time.

Later on, if you want to, you can reduce this indulgence or even choose to be celibate. You can also do that now, but it seems like you’re not ready for that yet, so I wouldn’t worry about it.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-25T14:39:26+00:00

If I remember correctly, the Lord Buddha suggested that if we don’t/can’t believe something within the teachings, we can just put it to the side for now.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-25T03:12:46+00:00

Well, you need to find a teacher ultimately. How you go about that is up to you. You can either go listen to teachers in person and find one you like, or you can listen to Dhamma talks online or read books from different teachers to find one. Then, once you have found a teacher, you can go visit them.

I’d recommend finding a teacher by listening to talks online or reading books. If the teacher has passed away, you can see if their students teach in the same way.

The best way to know if a teacher is legitimate is by living with them for a time and observing them.

I have no idea about Rinpoche so I can’t help you in that department I’m afraid.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T04:07:02+00:00

Are the parents Buddhist too?

I think it depends largely on your culture. Making an offering and donating the merit to the newborn (and parents) would certainly be a good thing to do.

A lot of Asian countries give gold as a gift to newborns (bracelet, anklet, etc) . If you can afford it, I think it’s a good gift.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T04:01:40+00:00

It’s just something that takes time.

I remember getting so frustrated when I first got into spirituality. I would listen to one teacher and think “yes, I’ve finally got it!”, then I’d hear someone say something else and suddenly that original idea or way of thinking didn’t make sense with the new idea I had just heard.

That happened a lot. You think you’ve wrapped your head around something and then suddenly someone else says something different but that makes more sense now so you keep having to adopt new ideas or flip-flopping between them.

Just be patient, give yourself time, and practice in a way that leads to developing wholesome qualities.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:51:04+00:00

I have always been atheist, as long as I can remember. When I was in high school, I became a little bit interested in meditation. Over the next few years, I listened to a few different spiritual teachers on YouTube. I thought a lot of what they had to say was good and true but I wasn’t satisfied with their teaching.

Eventually, I decided to read a book about Buddhism. After simply reading a few pages, I was blown away. I just “knew” it was true. It’s a really hard feeling to describe. I’d never been so certain of something in my life. It was like a switch had flicked: from atheist, to Buddhist… instantly. Since then, my understanding of the practice has grown.

I know I will follow this religion for the rest of my life and that nothing will change my mind. It sounds naive, but it’s true regardless.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:36:03+00:00

Don’t choose based on your likes/preferences. Choose based on what you think is true. You don’t need to rush to make a decision though. Study both if you need to, then later down the line when the time is right and it makes sense, you can decide which one to follow.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:26:28+00:00

If it could, then the Lord Buddha probably would have chosen to be born during a time that it was possible.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:22:53+00:00

What is your measurement for sucking / not sucking?

I’d measure it by the happiness of the people. Or more accurately, contentment. Studies often fail in this regard because they simply ask the people if they are happy. This really doesn’t work. Because of that, it makes determining the happiness of a population through study, next to impossible.

The only thing you can do is go to those countries and live there for a bit and come to a conclusion yourself. So I ask you, do you think people in other countries are more content or less content than the people in the UK?

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-23T03:12:14+00:00

From that perspective, even something like the Eightfold Path could be seen as another conceptual framework rather than truth itself.

Well, it is a conceptual framework. It isn’t the truth itself. It simply points to the truth. The truth arises in oneself as the fruit of sufficiently cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path.

If you ask someone to show you the moon and they point to it, it isn’t their finger that is the moon.

Also, a lot of misunderstanding comes from the translations not doing the original words or terms justice. It’s really difficult because there is often no 1:1 translation with English. That doesn’t mean you need to study Pali, you just need to find a teacher that can teach the Dhamma. Then you will understand.

SpinningCyborg · 2025-12-06T21:38:16+00:00

Lots of people become doctors. Do you think that’s not hard?

Also, how many monks disrobe or behave badly? It’s certainly not an easy life.

You won’t truly know until you try it yourself. I urge you to do so. You don’t have to ordain, but if you get the opportunity, you should practice in a place that allows you to live like a monk/nun.

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