Meditation is NOT the "doing," not the technique that takes us to stillness. Doing assumes time. To realize "being," just being, is instantaneous. There is no need to travel there, no need for time, no need for an action or doing. If we could just "be," that would be NOW. The Power of Now is to realize what is true right now, as Eckhart Tolle tried to explain it. We need to suffer until we realize that it is no longer necessary.
Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry
Psychotherapist Jennifer Shannon LMFT and illustrator Doug Shannon have 4.6 out of 5 stars (with 1,327 reviews) helping readers deal with monkey mind.
The very things we do to try to control anxiety can make anxiety worse.
This unique guide offers a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based approach to help
recognize the constant chatter of anxious “monkey mind,”
stop feeding anxious thoughts,
find the personal peace craved.
Ancient sages compared the human mind to a monkey: constantly chattering, hopping [discursively] from one branch to another—endlessly trying to move from fear to safety.
For the millions of people's lives affected by anxiety, this process is familiar. Unfortunately, we can’t switch off this “monkey mind.” But we can stop feeding the monkey—stop rewarding it by avoiding the things we fear.
Written by psychotherapist Jennifer Shannon, this book shows how to stop anxious thoughts from taking over using proven-effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness (sati) techniques, as well as fun illustrations.
By following the exercises in this book, learn to identify anxious thoughts, question those thoughts, and uncover the core fears at play.
Once we stop feeding the monkey, there are no limits to how expansive life can feel. This book shows how anxiety can only continue as long as we try to avoid it. Paradoxically, only by seeking out and confronting the things that make us anxious can we reverse the cycle that keeps our fears alive. More
Solitude: Its advantages and drawbacks in Buddhist practice
(Doug's Dharma) June 9, 2025: The Buddha praised solitude [well undertaken as temporary withdrawal, mental seclusion, peaceful isolation, private intensive meditation, accompanied by piti from samma-samadhi] as highly beneficial.
00:00 Intro
00:48 The benefits of solitude
04:26 Dangers of solitude
07:06 Finding the balance
10:07 Cultivating solitude in lay life
11:47 Buddha's wisdom on solitude
He also warned of its dangers [when not well undertaken, done without the jhanas, the meditative absorptions, "right concentration," the stabilizing inner-stillness of samadhi].
How can we best balance solitude and community in our practice? How can we cultivate solitude [mental seclusion, temporary withdrawal] even in our busy everyday lives?
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Imagined debate between ordinary person and one who sees what the Buddha meant by "no-self"
Imagine a Mini Me driving this body to act.
Okay, if the Buddha himself said "there is no self," he himself must be cr*zy! How could there be no self? Anyone (any self) who thinks there's no self ought to have his (or her) head examined. The SOUL (Pali atta, Sanskritatman, Spanish alma) is right here, in the chest, standing next to the heart with his arms crossed, a little homunculus who sometimes takes the backstairs of the spinal column into the cranium and looks out through the eyes of the head while manipulating levers and switches, which is how we live.
Driver's seat, where he steers the body
Who's inside of that guy?
Beg your pardon?
Who is driving the homunculus?
Well, um, there's an even smaller "mini me" homunculus driving that one.
And that one?
And that one what?
Who or what is driving that one?
And so on, ad infinitum! There's always a smaller one until we get down to the level of the cell, which has a mitochondria seat where the mini-mini-mini me homunculus sits to drive the cell.
And what's smaller than a cell?
An atom, of course.
Each with its own homunculus, I suppose.
Now you're catching on!
I'll knock the homunculus out of you, mofo
Well, it sure feels that way, that a homunculus is driving the human body, but have you ever known a guy to get punched in the head so hard, like a Pantera album cover (Vulgar Display of Power), that his homunculus gets knocked out of his seat and flies out of his ear and now doesn't have a big homme (Hummer) to drive?
Well, no, of course not. He would die.
And his body would disappear?
No, of course, not. Why would it disappear?
Because we don't find homunculi during autopsies.
Well, that's because they disappear, yes, disappear right out of existence once the car is undrivable, dead as it were, stuck with the levers and switches not working...
In a coma or vegatative state?
Vegatative state, yes, no longer functional and then, vamoose, homunculus goes to Heaven or the great beyond where all the homunculi gather and have parties by drinking and singing and dancing in circles until they're reborn into another body.
No hell?
Well, of course there's a hell, but, I mean, the homunculus has had to have gotten up to some pretty high hijinks to go there. Class dismissed!
Just one more question: You KNOW this to be true?
Just one more answer: I FEEL this to be true...
But that...
No more questions! Class dismissed! Get out, get out!
The Buddha never said, "There is no self"?
O, poor little homunculus self
It seems to us the Buddha did say such a thing, not to everyone. Nearly no one can understand this liberating truth. Even fewer can accept it. The entire practice is to bring about insight (clear seeing) so that we can see what is and is not true in order that the Truth set us free.
Liberation from all suffering takes insight, and long before insight arises, one needs calm, stillness, silence, serenity, samadhi (superconsciousness deriving from mental purification by "concentration" in the form of meditative absorptions called jhanas (dhyanas, zens, chans) -- overcoming the Five Hindrances and attaining equipoise, composure, equanimity, balance, brightened faculties now that everything has become coherent and gone online without hindrance and obstruction, a temporary state that serves as the foundation for the arising of insight (vipassana).
Insight cuts off the mental defilements at their roots and results in awakening, the experience of enlightenment (bodhi), which results in ultimate liberation known as a glimpse of nirvana (complete peace or ultimate bliss, the highest happiness), a thing so different it cannot rightly be called a "thing" at all because it is unlike all we have ever known in this world of things called samsara (the Cycle, the Wheel of Life and Death) or this simulation we have been endlessly cycling through due to karma (deeds) and delusion, i.e., ignorance of Dependent Origination).
Does the Buddha say there's a self? Yes but only because he is speaking conventionally. How does he define this "self"? He does so by the Five Aggregates clung to as "self." This is when he is speaking in conventional terms. However, when he is speaking in ULTIMATE terms (in terms of what is ultimately true), he points at what insight will reveal to anyone who develops it: There is, ultimately speaking, no self.
(The question "Is there a self?" is wrong because it is full of assumptions. We assume we have a self -- that is to say and speaking more correctly, the impersonal aggregates cling to the misunderstanding that a self is present -- even from the standpoint of asking the question. Form forms (the body bodies), feelings feel, perception perceives, mental formations will and intend, consciousness is conscious so that it seems as if Self is the Asker, the Thinker, the Doer, the Worrier, the Watcher (the Atman or Immortal Soul), the One who practices and will or will not be enlightened/awakened).
There is an "Immortal Soul" in a way. That is to say, there is something mistaken for a soul, ego, essence, heart, personality, individuality, a "self," who persists through time unchanged as its perfect self, the Doer, the Knower, the Experiencer, but it is not what it seems. This is what the Buddha is pointing out. We are certainly more than we know, but all those things we cling to will ultimate frustrate, disappoint, and prove mistaken. Even if we (or these aggregates) cling to the exalted notion, "I am the ALL," "I am Brahman," or "I am that I am," Tattva, Tat Tvam Asi, all of these exalted Vedic, Brahmanical, Hindu, and later Judeo-Christian ideas,
There is a better way to ask and find an answer: "What is there?" There is Dependent Origination (the 12-link chain of causality, its elements each giving rise to the other in a causal chain), which is how all "things" come to be, how "self," that is, the illusion/delusion of self, arises and originates and seems to exist.
Some wrongly say, "There is no separate self." This is true, but some are wrong because they misunderstand "separate," imagining as Hinduism does, that there is unity (of Atman and Brahman), Union with Brahma or Brahman, a raindrop returning to the sea, plunging into its home again after a roundabout journey, now merged and losing itself into the ALL, the Whole, the Ultimate Reality)
The Five Aggregates clung to as self
IN BRIEF: All of reality, in this dimension and universe or any other, is marked by three universal characteristics: All "things" are (1) impermanent, (2) unsatisfactory, and (3) impersonal. These are the Three Marks of Existence. Nirvana is the only non-thing (non-composite), for it is not dependently originated, whereas everything else is. Therefore, the Path to Freedom the Buddha taught leads to nirvana, complete freedom.
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One (the Buddha) was living at Benares (Varanasi), in the Deer Park at Isipatana (the Resort of Seers). There he addressed the wandering ascetics known as the group of five:
"Meditators, form [this body] is not-self. Were form self, then this form would not lead to affliction, and one could will: 'Let my form be thus, and let my form be not thus' [Let my form (body) be this way and not that way]. Since form is not-self, it leads to affliction (pain, distress, disappointment), and no one can will: 'Let my form be thus, and let my form be not thus.'
[The body (form), though treated as one thing as if it were singular, is actually four things -- the Four Great Elements or four characteristics of materiality. They are condensed for simplicity into one because they are regarded as less worthy of note than the mind, which is treated in detail as the remaining four aggregates. "Mind" is not one thing but about 50 distinct processes -- feeling, perceiving, determining, and consciousness, all of which are mental formations; the remainder of the 50 are packed into the category of "mental formations" (sankhāra), of which the most important in the category is determination (cetana = intention, volition, impulse, will, motive). The Buddha considered these five the most important to single out for the sake of liberation by wisdom, that is, to gain insight (vipassana = clear seeing) that all we are, all "self" is, are heaps of these impersonal processes, not an actual "self" (soul, atta, atman, essence) that goes on unchanged and immutable through time and experience as philosophers and other religions hold the view. All that we are, all that we cling to as ourselves, is radically impermanent, ultimately disappointing (never able to fulfill us), and most unbelievably impersonal or not-self.]
"Meditators, feeling is not-self...
"Meditators, perception is not-self...
"Meditators, mental formations (determinations) are not-self...
"Meditators, consciousness is not-self. Were consciousness self, then this consciousness would not lead to affliction, and one could will: 'Let my consciousness be thus, and let my consciousness be not thus.' Since consciousness is not-self, it leads to affliction, and no one can will: 'Let my consciousness be thus, and let my consciousness be not thus.'
"Meditators, how do you conceive of it: Is form permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, venerable sir."
"Is what is impermanent painful or pleasant?"
"It is painful, venerable sir."
"Is what is impermanent and painful (since it is subject to change) fit to be regarded this way: 'This is mine, this is me, this is my self'"?
"No, venerable sir."
Did the Buddha teach that there's no self?
"Is feeling permanent or impermanent?...
"Is perception permanent or impermanent?...
"Are mental formations (determinations) permanent or impermanent?...
"Is consciousness permanent or impermanent?"
"It is impermanent, venerable sir."
"Is what is impermanent pleasant or painful?"
"It is painful, venerable sir."
"Is what is impermanent and painful (since it is subject to change) fit to be regarded this way: 'This is mine, this is I, this is my self'"? — "No, venerable sir."
"So, bhikkhus any kind of form whatever, whether past, future or presently arisen, whether gross or subtle, whether in oneself or external, whether inferior or superior, whether far or near, must with right understanding how it is, be regarded this way: 'This is not mine, this is not I, this is not myself.'
"Any kind of feeling whatever...
"Any kind of perception whatever...
"Any kind of determination whatever...
The Middle Path leads to complete freedom
"Any kind of consciousness whatever, whether past, future or presently arisen, whether gross or subtle, whether in oneself or external, whether inferior or superior, whether far or near must, with right understanding how it is, be regarded this way: 'This is not mine, this is not I, this is not my self.'
"Meditators, when a noble [enlightened] follower who has heard (the Truth) sees thus, that person finds estrangement in form, finds estrangement in feeling, finds estrangement in perception, finds estrangement in determinations, finds estrangement in consciousness.
"When one finds estrangement, passion fades away. With the fading of passion, one is liberated. When liberated, knowledge arises that one is liberated. One [intuits] understands: 'Rebirth is exhausted, the supreme life has been lived out, what can be done is done, of this there is no more beyond [to come].'"
That is what the Blessed One said. The meditators were glad, and they approved of his words.
During this utterance, the hearts of the meditators of the group of five were liberated from the taints by letting go and renouncing clinging. Source
Buddha Face - Etsy; Bhikkhu Jayasara, Student of the Path, Dhamma Short (anatta); Dr. Doug Smith (Doug's Dharma); Ven. Ñanamoli (trans), Anatta-Lakkhana Sutta (SN 22.59); Dhr. Seven and Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
Quiet Day is observed in the U.S. every year on February 25th. As the name clearly suggests, Quiet Day is about taking a pause and appreciating the magical sound of silence.
Noise is everywhere — on the road, in the sky, in the office, at the bar, in the classroom, even at home. Turn down the TV, Sport, Mama's gardening in the kitchen window! Modern life is noisy; it seems like there is simply no way to get away from it.
Being in the constant presence of talking and noise can be overwhelming. It is important to take a break every once in a while (preferably every day).
We know that quiet is good for body and mind (and the spirit loves the heck out of it). Peace calms us and helps us re-center ourselves, regaining balance and poise, inner peace and insight. More:
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One (the Buddha) was staying near the City of Sāvatthī at Jeta's Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery.
There Ven. Mahā Moggallāna [1] addressed the others, "Friend monks!"
"Yes, friend," the meditators replied.
Ven. Mahā Moggallāna then said, "Friends, once as I was withdrawn in seclusion (deep in peaceful meditation), this train of thought occurred to me:
"'Noble silence, noble silence,' it is said, but what is 'noble silence'" [1]? Then this awareness arose in me: 'There is the case where a meditator, with the stilling of directed thoughts and evaluations [1], enters and abides in the second meditative absorption (jhāna) characterized by rapture and pleasure born of stillness (samadhi, coherence, concentration), unification of mind free of directed thought and evaluation -- internal certainty. This is called noble silence.'
"So with the stilling of directed thoughts and evaluations, I entered and abided in the second absorption that is characterized by rapture and pleasure born of stillness, unification of mind free of directed thought and evaluation -- internal certainty.
"While I remained in that [mental] dwelling, I was assailed by perceptions and [acts of] attention connected with directed thought.
"Then the Blessed One, coming to me through [psychic] power, said: 'Moggallāna, Moggallāna, Brahmin, be not heedless of noble silence. Instead, establish the mind in noble silence. Make the mind unified (single-pointed) in noble silence.
"Still (calmly concentrate) the mind in noble silence.' So at a later time, with the stilling of directed thoughts and evaluations, I entered and abided in the second absorption characterized by rapture and pleasure born of stillness, unification of mind free of directed thought and evaluation -- internal certainty.
"If one, speaking rightly, would say of anyone, '[This is] a disciple attained to greatness in direct knowledge through the assistance of the Teacher,' it is of me that one speaking rightly would say." Source
NOTES
[Kolita is Maha Moggallana's name, and Kolita Sutta translates as a "Discourse by Kolita." The Buddha's two great chief male disciples, the counterparts of his two chief female disciples, Ven. Khema and Ven. Uppalavanna, are the monks Sariputta (Upatissa) and Maha Moggallana (Kolita), who along with Ven. Uppalavanna were designated "foremost in psychic powers" just as Ven. Sariputta and Ven. Khema were called "foremost in wisdom."]
Noble silence (not responding but keeping silent because answering would be misleading, or because the question is wrongly put and full of assumptions, or because there is no way to improve upon silence) should not be confused with the meaning here. Here "noble silence" clearly refers to the silence of the noble ones, the characteristic of mental peace free of words, concepts, thinking, or reckoning, which is replaced by direct knowing not mediated by words. This is how enlightened disciples prefer to abide, with peaceful minds and heart now no longer disturbed by the defilements that gnaw at ordinary, uninstructed worldlings (those of us not yet attained even to the temporary liberations of the jhanas or the permanent liberation of the paths-and-fruits of noble attainments, referring to the stages of enlightenment.]
According to MN 44, directed thought and evaluation constitute verbal fabrication, which is why the second jhāna -- the level of absorption (blissful concentration) in which these fabrications (formations) are stilled -- is called noble silence.
Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī at Jeta’s Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.
There Venerable Mahā Moggallāna addressed the other meditators: “Friends, mendicants!”
“Friend,” they replied. Venerable Mahā Moggallāna then said: “Just now, friends, as I was in private retreat this thought came to mind: ‘They speak of this thing called “noble silence.” What then is this noble silence?’
“It occurred to me: ‘As the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, a meditator enters and remains in the second absorption, which has rapture (piti) and bliss born of immersion, with internal clarity and mind at one, without [intentionally] placing the mind and keeping it connected. This is called noble silence.’
“And so, as the placing of the mind and keeping it connected were stilled, I was entering and remaining in the second absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of immersion, with internal clarity and mind at one, without placing the mind and keeping it connected.
“While I was in that meditation, perceptions accompanied by [intentionally] placing the mind beset me due to loss of focus.
“Then the Buddha himself came to me with his psychic power [of projecting himself] and said, ‘Moggallāna, Moggallāna, Brahmin, do not neglect noble silence! Settle the mind in noble silence; unify the mind and bring it to immersion (meditative absorption) in noble silence.’
“So, after some time, as the placing of the mind and keeping it connected were stilled, I entered and remained in the second absorption…
“So if anyone can rightly be called a disciple who attained to great direct knowledge [enlightenment] with help from the Teacher, it is me.” Source
Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson (trans) based on Ven. Sujato ("With Kolita," Linked Discourses, SN 21.1) and Ven. Thanissaro translations of Kolita Sutta: Discourse by Kolita (SN 21.1 PTS: S ii 273 CDB i 713), Wisdom Quarterly
The Wanderer Vacchagotta went to visit the Exalted One (the Buddha) and said:
"Master Gotama, is there a self?" At these words the Exalted One was silent.
"Then, Master Gotama, is there not a self?" Again the Exalted One was silent.
Then the Wanderer Vacchagotta rose from his seat and went away.
Not long after his departure, Venerable Ananda said to the Exalted One:
"How is it, venerable sir, that the Exalted One gave no answer to the question of the Wanderer Vacchagotta?"
"If, Ananda, when asked by the wanderer, 'Is there a self?,' I had replied to him: 'There is a self,' then, Ananda, that would be siding with the recluses and Brahmins who are Eternalists.
"But if, Ananda, when asked, 'Is there not a self?' I had replied that self does not exist, that, Ananda, would be siding with those recluses and Brahmins who are Annihilationists.
"Again, Ananda, when asked by the wanderer, 'Is there a self?,' had I replied that there is, would my reply be in accordance with the knowledge that all things are impermanent?"
"Surely not, venerable sir."
"Again, Ananda, when asked by the Wanderer Vacchagotta, 'Is there a self?,' had I replied that there were not, it would have been more bewilderment for the already bewildered Vacchagotta.
"He would have said, 'Formerly, indeed, I had a self, but now I have not one anymore.'"
Anatta according to Theravada Buddhism
Anatta is the third of the Three Universal Characteristics of Existence (ti-lakkhana) or general characteristics (samanna-lakkhana). Like the teaching of the Four Enlightening Truths, it is the "teaching unique to Buddhas" (buddhanam samukkamsika desana, M. 56/vol. i. 380).
The most usual English rendering, which will be employed here, is "not-self" (or "not self"), though the words "soulless," "egoless," and "impersonal" are often used. (The rendering "Self" with a capital is not justified owing to the absence of capitals in Indian alphabets). More
The "Be Quiet" group are young mindfulness enthusiasts aged 18-35 who meet once a month with a Buddhist monk or nun to practice and have inspiring discussions inspired by Buddhist teachings, while being inclusive of everyone’s spiritual practices. No registration required.
When: 1st Saturday of the month (except during the Rains Retreat)
Silence + Celebration: A New Year’s Eve Meditation Retreat (Online) Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023: 6:30 pm-12:00 am through SHAMBHALA LOS ANGELES (ONLINE MEETING)
This New Year’s Eve, can we pause, take a breath, make a cup of tea — or glass of vegan eggnog — and celebrate the sadness/joy of our beautiful world and our precious lives?
If anyone aspires to meditate more this coming year — or to learn how to meditate — it's a good time. It's not too late. Everyone is welcome to join this online mini-retreat as we transition from the old to the new.
Come for the entire evening, or for any part of it, to meditate and celebrate with old friends and new ones.
Throughout the evening we will alternate between sitting and walking meditation with a break to watch a video Dharma talk. There will also be a brief “live” talk closer to midnight.
6:30-8:00 pm: Alternating sitting and walking meditation.
Guided group instruction given at the beginning.*
8:00-9:00 pm Video showing of talk followed by Reflection Circles
9:00-12:00 am midnight Alternating sitting and walking meditation
10:00 pm Brief talk sometime after ten
*After initial group meditation instruction, individual instruction is available upon request in break-out rooms at all times during the evening. No prior meditation experience required.
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