#budhdism

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Superficially, [the] notion of mindfulness as bare attention would seem tied to a view of the mind as a sort of tabula rasa or clear mirror that passively registers raw sensations prior to any recognition, judgment, or response. The notion of a conscious state devoid of conceptualization or discrimination is not unknown to Buddhist exegetes; indeed, later Buddhist philosophers associated with pramana (logic) and yogacara  (mental construction) systems posit a “nonconceptual cognition” (nirvikalpajnana) that operates by means of “direct perception” (pratyaksajnana), and these authors use the imagery of the mirror to illustrate the relationship between pure mind and defiled object. This state is sometimes understood as preceding (or undergirding) the arising of conceptualization, or as an advanced stage of attainment tantamount to awakening. But while the notion of non-conceptual cognition became important in some yogacara systems (not to mention Tibetan Dzogchen), it remained at odds with the Theravada analysis of mind and perception.

Relaxation Meditation With Sitar Music Every Monday

The translation of atman as "self" (and anatman as "no-self") is not in itself inherently bad. In fact, self tends to be as serviceable as any other word. What we are faced with, however, is the problem of translation on a larger scale, the translation not of words but of ideas. To translate an idea one must understand it. According to Buddhist doctrine, to understand anatman, or no-self, is tantamount to enlightenment.