I think Kasina meditation normally taught to monks and they practice it in seclusion.

I came across a sutta where the Buddha gave an advice on graduated training to a lay disciples (upasaka) and recommended him to undertake Loving Kindness meditation , and if possible the best is to do Vipassana. (gain insight). I can't remember the sutta's name, but it goes something like this

"good to do dana to the Buddha, better to the entire Sangha, better than that have confidence in the Tripple Gem, better than that undertake sila training (morality), better than that Loving kindness, better than that gain Insight."

Can anyone find this sutta?

p/s I think basically we do Metta and Vipassana, we won't be very wrong in our practice within this lifetime. and maybe this is why metta/vipassana is taught widely to the lay disciples.

agree with above.

especially if a person has been taught how to meditate by a different master.

one case i saw was a girl started crying uncontrollably after meditating, me n my friends could do nothing to help

agree with above.

especially if a person has been taught how to meditate by a different master.

one case i saw was a girl started crying uncontrollably after meditating, me n my friends could do nothing to help

both of them are safe bets but many masters have advised holding back meditation if you suffer from mental illness as it amplifies it. So i heard.

Metta is a very safe meditation. I have heard of people doing kasina , due to their past kamma, they cannot switch off the kasina nimitta in their mind....   

They keep seeing the kasina even not in meditation.. 

last time when i joined a novitiate program i knew one guy.

he seemed ok but after awhile he turned different.

i would theorize he forced meditation on himself and meditated wrongly.

i remember one case where he was in the meditation hall for quite sometime, got out of meditation and saw there was another person still in the meditation hall still meditating.

i can only assume he's kiasu as he went to that lady and tapped her shoulder (breaking her out of her meditation) to tell her that he was going out from the hall and asked her to close the doors when she got out.

D:

lol yep thats why kasina meditation can be quite....dangerous and so is vipassana when done unsupervised

last time when i joined a novitiate program i knew one guy.

he seemed ok but after awhile he turned different.

i would theorize he forced meditation on himself and meditated wrongly.

i remember one case where he was in the meditation hall for quite sometime, got out of meditation and saw there was another person still in the meditation hall still meditating.

i can only assume he's kiasu as he went to that lady and tapped her shoulder (breaking her out of her meditation) to tell her that he was going out from the hall and asked her to close the doors when she got out.

D:

agreed. but some people do it on their own after reading from internet.. i don't dare .. even I know a bit of the theory of Kasina..

lol yep thats why kasina meditation can be quite....dangerous and so is vipassana when done unsupervised

kasina yes very much so. vipassana 50-50 but rarely see people go bonkers unless they have an unstable mind to start with. on normal circumstances, it is most often than not the guilt/regrets of past actions being played over and over again when one tries to do vipassana. dats why metta to oneself and other living beings is so important. if we cant forgive ourselves, we cant go beyond the threshold of meditation progress.

kasina yes very much so. vipassana 50-50 but rarely see people go bonkers unless they have an unstable mind to start with. on normal circumstances, it is most often than not the guilt/regrets of past actions being played over and over again when one tries to do vipassana. dats why metta to oneself and other living beings is so important. if we cant forgive ourselves, we cant go beyond the threshold of meditation progress.

major schools?what do u mean?
as long as the teachings are based on the 4 noble truths..then it is real Buddhism..

Which one is more older - Hinduism or Buddhism?

What's the meaning of the chants that you guys repeat on?