text:
Is it counter productive to accumulate a lot of ideas while meditating?
I'm not particularly into Buddhist style meditation but wasn't sure where else to ask. I tend to accumulate a lot of random ideas that filter in and after my session I jot them down - is this counter productive to an effect meditation? I use the Muse brain sensing headband and still stay in a fairly calm state of mind.

i did this on retreat and immediately forgot them all. probably best to do so, even if you can't help thinking

mind and brain are not synonyms.

There are two types of meditation available in Buddhism. Samatha and Vipassana.
In Samatha, you should concentrate your mind into one target sense. The target sense can be inhale and exhale witch is popular as Anapanasathi. There are more Samatha meditation methods which are targeting difference target senses. Kasina meditation and Asuba meditation are some of them. There you continually get that target sense into mind without allowing any idea, sense or feeling other than that. Then you will feel your mind become more powerful and very high state of calmness. actually Samatha is like sharpening your weapons against a war.
As Buddhists, our main intention is to attain Nibbana. So after performing Samatha we look at the uncertainty of the body and mind. Here what we are doing is not generating ideas. but perform root cause analysis on uncertainty of body and mind. actually wipassana is like use your weapons against enemy.
you cannot get good results if you are not following sila, at least five precepts. My friend, Use five precepts not Headbands.

Talking from a Zen perspective and Zazen meditation, one should just sit and stay with whatever comes up, and accept without judgment whatever rises in consciousness. Having a measure of how good or bad your mental state is, is judging what is coming up in the moment, so not supportive of Zazen.
Also as someone has mentioned and related to what I just said before, judging your mental state will lead to clinging to "good states of mind" and aversion of "bad states of mind" which will lead to suffering, see the 2nd Noble truth:

Dukkha, and repeated life in this world, arises with taṇhā, "thirst,"
  craving for and clinging to these impermanent states and things. This
  craving and clinging produces karma which leads to renewed becoming,
  keeping us trapped in rebirth and renewed dissatisfaction

Citation from Wikipedia
About accumulating ideas, in Zazen the invitation is be aware of thoughts but not to engage with them and let them pass,so I believe there is nothing wrong with jotting them down after the session, some people even keep a log of notes, etc to discuss with the teacher.

Accumulating ideas is what happens when we meditate. When we distance ourselves from the mind, we can watch these ideas in a detached way. For that we have to step back from all the influences inside our mind. When you have reached a place within where you can be quiet, then you can observe these voices to see what they are. Watch them in detachment. If you know Buddha’s teaching on not‐self it will be easier for you to step back and do the watching. Not only ideas but feelings of pleasure and pain too will come and go.
Another kind of ideas is perceptions, or thought‐ constructs. You can observe these too, to see the influence they have over the mind.  Then you will know what type of ideas to encourage, and what to get rid of. Again if you know the Dhamma it helps. Dhamma contains all sorts of useful and encouraging ideas. You can broaden on the ideas of loving kindness for example. You can start with goodwill for yourself, then expand into goodwill for other people etc.
What has to be gotten rid of are the burdensome ideas - the burdensome notions the mind,  Such ideas will make you react this way, to think that way. Once you identify them, you can let go of them. You do not have to entertain ideas of greed or anger that come in to the mind. Also never allow lustful or angry or cruel ideas to arise within you. With earnest effort, you can straighten out any crooked and bent and shifty ideas.
Thanissaro Bhilkku once had the following to say about ideas:

”We hold on to ideas even though they have proven themselves again and again and again that they don’t work. It’s like that famous story about Nasruden eating a whole bushel full of peppers and crying. Someone asked him, “Why do you keep eating peppers when they make you cry?” And he responded, “Because I’m looking for the sweet one.”
  You may have some ideas about what should work, but when you find that they don’t, you drop them. You’re not attached to them. “

What kind of ideas does Thanissaro Bhikkhu mean? I mean sometimes they work. You can have all the ideas in the world and still not worry about them i.e., attach.

control your mind..

@BlackFlam3 It depends on the type of meditation that you do. For Breathing Meditation (Anapanasati) it is counterproductive.  For others – it is about ideas. Eg. Sanghanussati , Dhammanupassana, Maranasati, Asubha, Buddhanussati, Metta, Karuna, Upekkha, Mudita, Ayatana, Walking Meditation, Nava Sivatika, pancha nivarana, Caganussati, Silanussati, Anitya, Dhathu Manasikara, Vipassana, Iriya patha, Devatanussati, panca upadanaskanda, etc. These are about 'Yoniso-manasikara' - thinking through (Contemplation on) Dhamma.

This person (@user8717) is not into Dhamma. That is why I was careful not to mention in a bit more detail about these other meditation types such as...  reflection on the qualities of the Sangha, Meditation on the recollection of death, Nine cemetery contemplations, Meditation on five groups of clinging, Meditation on postures of the body, Altruistic-joy meditation, Meditation on loathsomeness, reflection on the qualities of the Buddha, Loving Kindness Meditation, meditation about heavenly beings, meditation about generosity, meditation about virtue, etc. etc.

I looked up Muse Brain Sensing Headband and have to say that you cannot practice Buddhist meditation while using such a device for at least two reasons:

You should always try to be as secluded from sense impressions as possible (in formal meditation). Listening to sounds or music while sitting is counterproductive and not a Buddhist style of meditation.
As I understand it this device generates pleasant sounds when it senses less movement in the head (not in the mind!) and unpleasant sounds when the activity in the head increases. This is problematic! You're reinforcing judgement, thinking it is good to have a calm state of mind, bad to have an agitated state of mind. And also mixing up bodily and mental sensations (by mistaking the activity in your brain with the activity in your mind).

Since you asked about accumulating ideas, I guess that you don't have a clear and comprehensive instruction to follow. And since you asked this question on the Buddhism Stackexchange, you'll get the Buddhist explanation of meditation :). In Buddhism, the meaning of the word 'meditation' may differ from what you associate with it. A common misunderstanding is that you practice meditation in order to get calm. You don't. You practice in order to get wisdom. This can be done by using a calm mind, but only as a means. The following is a good, practical instruction based on the original Buddhist teachings (over 2500 years of people practicing it has proven it works):  How to meditate.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with accumulating ideas, especially if they turn out to be useful. And if the head band helps you do that, why not use it? But there can be no doubt that you are not practicing Buddhist mindfulness meditation as it is described in the Satipatthana Sutta. Indeed, the meditation you describe prevents mindfulness from doing its job. I have just published a book called "How Mindfulness Meditation Works". It will be available in a month or so.


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Awake mind after meditation
Recently I have started meditating on my own, by observing my breath and rise and fall of abdomen. Half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the night before going to sleep. Sometimes sleep takes over and I go to sleep immediately after meditation. But when I try to concentrate more during meditation, my mind becomes charged and even when I sleep, my mind is awake , although body is resting. I aware that my mind has not shutdown. Is this normal? am I doing correctly? This wakefulness is there till next day. Is this some kind of alpha state of mind? Please help.

But when I try to concentrate more during meditation, my mind becomes charged...
If what you are describing here is concentrate with more effort (rather than meditating for a longer duration) then what you have described is a common symptom of concentrating with too much power & effort.
While beginner meditators often meditate with mental force to counter (suppress) discursive (habitual) thinking, ultimately, Buddhist meditation is based on letting go & emptying the mind (rather than pushing the mind with power & effort).

Your answer helped  improve my last meditation imediatly. Thank you!

(thīna-middha) is one of the 5 hindrance of mind. I too experience the same way.  I feels more alert after a good session of meditation.  5 hindrance and mediation are polar opposites.  I think we are doing good, where Buddha compare self monitoring to being a great chef who watches king at his dinner table to figure out his personal palate and adjust the next meals accordingly.  This kind of chef will reap rewards.
thīna-middha-heaviness of body and dullness of mind which drag one down into disabling inertia and thick depression or could even be sleepiness.

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Lay arahants mentioned in the Pali Canon
Following are the instances of Lay Arahants that I'm aware of;

Uggasena the acrobat
Santati the King Pasenadi's Minister
King Suddodhana [Looking for reference]

 What are the other instances of lay arahants (excluding Paccekabuddhas)  in the  recorded history?

By "What are the other instances?", I guess you mean, other than the three which you listed, and other than the 21 which Dhammawiki says are listed in AN 6. Or are you asking, "What are the 21?"?

I checked in AN 6.12 and it lists 21 names who became sotapanna, not arahants. So I changed my question. Thanks for pointing out.

Ok, so you're saying that Dhammawiki is wrong: and that this list of 21 (including Bhallika) is a list of sotapannas.

Yes Obviously. It lists Jīvaka Komarabacca, Anāthapiṇḍika, Mahanama the Sakya etc who are well known as sotapannas.

Ven Bahiya.  Buddha proclaimed him great disciple of fast learner of Dhamma.  He reached enlightenment while was a lay person, however, he was killed while looking for personal items to join the Sangha.  Buddha classified him as one of the 41 great Bhikku.

Thanks, but he was not a lay person. He was an ascetic.

Bahiya Sutta Ud 1.10

oh thats right.. my remember his story before he had gone forth, as a merchant with now south-east asia.  But you are right.. he became ascetic after final failed expedition.

Sutta says that he was in seashore of Supparaka; it's now called Nala Sopara near Mumbai in west India.

In the Soṇa Sutta 1 (S 22.49), the Supreme Buddha  teaches Soṇa the houselord‘s son of Rājagaha, a teaching usually given to monastics. At the end of the discourse, Soṇa the houselord‘s son becomes an arhat .
https://suttacentral.net/en/sn22.49
Laymen arhants are very rare. No sooner they attain Nibbana, if they do not join the order of Sangha, they are unable to live as lay disciples and they attain parinibbana.  In the The Gilāyana Sutta (S 55.54), Buddha tells how a lay follower in his/her deathbed can become a Arahant.  And the lay followers liberation (while in his deathbed) is no different to that of a monk.
http://www.themindingcentre.org/dharmafarer/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/4.10-Mahanama-Gilayana-S-s55.54-piya.pdf
Also I have heard of a mention in one of the suttas, as to how a king became an Arahant while resting. His queen (wife) was fanning him first and gives the task to a servant girl. It was the rhythm of her bangles was the trigger that awakened him. No sooner I find the reference to this, I will post it.

Are you sure, at the end of the discourse, Soṇa the houselord‘s son becomes an arhat?

Thanks but the sutta does not imply that Sona became an arahant.

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Is it possible to "naturally" reach the first three jhanas
Is it possible, having been taught meditation by a zen master, to naturally enter the 1st three jhanas. By that, I mean through mental effort which is not really meditation as we normally think of it (seated or walking, all effort being applied to that).
I ask because the 1st three jhanas seem, potentially, much more mundane than the rest, worldly. e.g. I feel pretty strong sensations of pleasure most of the time, as long as I'm not there and then planning to do something.
If that second paragraph seems super delusional, then how close is dhyana to a pleasure in which you can't identify why you feel good?

All dogs are animals but all animals are not dogs. Similarly, each of the 1st three rupa jhanas has pleasure as a factor however all feelings of pleasure are not jhana. Each jhana is characteristized by ekaggatā (one-pointedness; stillness; unmovingness) rather than by feelings of pleasure.
That said, jhana is not reached by 'effort'. It is reached by 'letting go', as quoted below:

And what is the faculty of concentration? There is the case where a monk, a noble disciple, making it his object to let go (vossagga),
attains concentration, attains singleness of mind.
SN 48.10

Therefore, when you say: "I feel pretty strong sensations of pleasure most of the time, as long as I'm not there and not planning to do something", this is the 'natural' path to jhana the Lord Buddha described in SN 48.10.
This is similar to the Zen masters, for example:

The Supreme Way is not difficult If only you do not pick and choose. Neither love nor hate, And you will clearly understand. Be off by a
hair, And you are as far from it as heaven from earth. If you want the
Way to appear, Be neither for nor against. For and against opposing
each other This is the mind's disease. Without recognizing the
mysterious principle It is useless to practice quietude. The Way is
perfect like great space, Without lack, without excess. Because of
grasping and rejecting, You cannot attain it.
Hsin Hsin Ming

Buddhadasa, Thai teacher, who fancied Zen, spoke a lot about natural concentration:

As for samadhi, an empty mind is the supreme samadhi, the supremely focused firmness of mind. The straining and striving sort of samadhi
isn't the real thing and the samadhi which aims at anything other than
non-clinging to the five khandas is micchasamadhi (wrong or perverted
samadhi). You should be aware that there is both micchasamadhi and
sammasamadhi (right or correct samadhi). Only the mind that is empty
of grasping at and clinging to 'I' and 'mine' can have the true and
perfect stability of sammasamadhi. One who has an empty mind has
correct samadhi.  Heartwood from the Bo Tree

Also refer, here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an11/an11.002.than.html
http://www.buddhanet.net/budasa10.htm

I think one can conclude that there are other activities, apart from the classic meditation, which may lead to states similar to the lower jhanas. Long distance runners often speak of getting into unrestricted states of mind. Where thinking is moved to the background and concentration is unwavering but not tense, there are feelings of deep joy, rapture, loss of all doubt, loss of hindering self conscious. The runner feels as if he can go on forever. (Similarities with The Tibetan Lung gom pa, trancerunner, comes to mind)
Other athletes than runners also describe kicking into similar states of "flow". These states mainly appear after longer repetitive tasks that requires keeping the mind on one place, so to speak.
Artists, and especially musicians move in and out of states that are very similar to the first levels of jhana. One might suggest that they enter even higher levels. The difference being that the musician is bodily active playing an instrument. And since he/she also utilises parts of the active mind to do so, it cannot get passed that level of absorption.
So, yes. I would definitely say that other activities, more or less mundane, indeed can trigger states that in comparison are quite the same as the Jhanas.


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Has there ever been a systematic persecution of Buddhist heretics?
I was reading about the Cathars, and was really struck by the scale of persecution by Christians of Christian heretics.
Obviously there are reasons for that besides not meditating well enough. But in the 2,500 year history of Buddhism all I can think of in those terms is some political manoeuvring in Tibet, and arguments.

Has there ever been a systematic persecution of Buddhist heretics

King Asoka liked the Dhamma so much that he lavished the monks with robes, food and medicine...
This attracted many fake monks...
Monks were beheaded in an effort to find the imposters but that didn't work.
They started the third council to purify the monastic order by questioning monks to find out who knew the Dhamma and who held heretical views so they could  expell the real imposters   from the Sangha.

I think the post of @Saptha Visuddhi is related to the question because it is very difficult to avoid this departure into why Buddhism became extinct in India when asked a question about heresy.
Generally, 'true believers' do not persecute others & it is the 'true heretics' that persecute others.
I would speculate King Asoka was related to the distortion of the teachings that gave pre-eminence to creating populist reincarnation & Brahmanism-directed (conversion) teachings, which ultimately lead to the extinction of Buddhism in India.
I would speculate Buddhism was a victim of its own anti-Brahmanism-directed propaganda.
If we read the Pali suttas, what became to be 'Hinduism' (eg. Tri-Murti of Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva or moksha after reincarnations) did not exist during the Buddha's life but, in fact, was possibly distorted adaptations of the Buddhist teachings.
For example, the Pali suttas contain suttas (MN 1, AN 4.124, etc) that equate each meditation jhana with a Brahmanistic god but then state attachment to being a Brahmanistic god leads to hell.
While such suttas appear to be a form of anti-Brahmanistic propaganda (not spoken by the Buddha), most Buddhists believe the Brahman cosmology to be a true & real Buddhist cosmology.
This shows how Buddhism was possibly a victim of its own anti-Brahmanism-directed propaganda & shows how monks with the True Dhamma were probably treated as heretics (while monks with the false teachings that were indifferentiable from Hinduism got absorbed into Hinduism) .
One has to ask what heretical atmosphere prompted Nāgārjuna to compose so many treatises in an attempt to expound a pure & genuine Buddhist doctrine of emptiness & cause-&-effect?
For example, last century in Thailand, there was a young monk, who named himself Buddhadasa, who began publicly teaching supramundane Dhamma, which resulted in the Thai religious authorities (for a short time) accusing young Buddhadasa of 'heresy' & seeking to disrobe him.

He was opposed by conservative monks and laymen such as those from the Abhidhamma Foundation and Anan Senakhan who strongly disagreed
with his interpretation of Buddhism to the point of accusing that
Buddhadasa devalues Buddhism by explaining it simply and that tried to
match the ultimate truth of Buddhism with the ideas of modern man.
Buddhadasa was even accused of being a heretic and communist.
In his book he wrote the title "What is Paticcasamuppada" (1971) showing the distinction between what he considers the interpretation
of Buddhist teaching using Hindu concepts and in the Buddhist sense.
He is convinced that uncritical adherence to the Buddhaghosa orthodoxy
has obscured a real encounter with the Buddha's dhamma. The criticism
of Visuddhimagga implies that Buddhadasa goes against the belief and
understanding of not only most Thai Buddhists but also Buddhists in
general. Consequently, he is condemned by some groups of monks and
laymen as an ungrateful and heretical person who destroys
Buddhism. On the other hand, his book has became an important
reference which most of Buddhist students have to take into
consideration.
Buddhadasa's Movement: An Analysis of Its Origins,
Development and Social Impact

There is a lot more to what @Uilium mentioned in the earlier post. It was the moguls that did most of the killing of Buddhist Monks, and the process of decline continued until Buddhism got fully wiped out in India by the end of the 12th century, when Somapura Mahavihara (in the present day Bangladesh) was set ablaze. In 1199 CE Odantapuri Mahavihara close to Nalanda was burnt down after killing all the monks. Buddha’s place of Enlightenment, Bodhgaya too was attacked. If only the Mughals and other Muslims of yesteryear, were not like the present day ISIS, we would be having a lot priceless idols, monuments, original scriptures of Asoka era that were there at Nalanda and elsewhere.  Let me now tell you’ll in brief how it all happened from the time of King Asokha.
As @Uilium mentioned, the third council got underway to purify the monastic order of the bad monks.  These other monks who used to practice ‘Buddhism’ according to their own interpretations rose up again. It was a death blow to those who practiced the true dhamma. Their first act was to translate the Dhamma into Sanskrit. They rejected attaining of the Margaphala.
At the time only the Brahmins’ Veda was written in Veda and Sanskrit languages. Brahmins never felt that other religions will be a threat to their own since Veda as it was the only religious script written in Sanskrit. However, after the translation of the distorted scriptures into Sanskrit by the falsified monks who were thrown away from the third council, the Brahmins started to argue pointing out its content. In trying to defeat these Brahmins, these other monks built large universities like Nalanda with the aim of learning the Veda. The language used in these universities was Sanskrit. They tried to outdo the Brahmins. They tried to argue with the Brahmins. This is in contradiction to the Alagaddūpama Sutta, which states that “if anyone tries to learn my teachings to argue with others, then he will be destroyed like the man who tried to catch a snake by its tail.”
When the monks won an argument the monks got the king to make the Brahmins their servants in the Nalanda University. The monks were beheaded when Brahmins won their arguments. The Brahmins went for the kill, because of the change that these monks have made to the Brahmin society. An extremist Sothern Indian Brahmin called Sankarāchārya rose up to break the power of these monks. The  Musālman invaded India at this time. The Brahmins got them to first destroy Buddhism, or at least what was left of it. This was how the Buddhism got wiped out from India.

I guess the OP was asking about persecution of "Buddhist heretics" by "Buddhists".

There is no record of any buddhists being killed by other Buddhists. Since “Chandasoka” or Asoka the Wicked was transformed into “Dharmasoka” or Asoka the Righteous after the Kalinga war in the tenth regnal year he never let any killings to take place in all of his kingdoms. The killings took place after his time, by other kings, when 'adhamma' took the upper hand. Whenevr the Brahmins won a debate, they got the king at the time to behead the monks.


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Sexual misconduct, what is it
What is it? Is sex just for pleasure with your partner breaking a precept? Eg with a condom. And is being circumcised bad over personal preferences/ (hygiene,aesthetic)? is oral and anal sex bad? Is masturbation bad? And is circumcising your sons bad?

See also related questions; "How is sexual misconduct explained in regards to the five precepts?" & "Masturbation: Does it break the 3rd precept?"

Sexual misconduct is defined in the Pali scriptures as having sex with someone else's partner or fiancee and with those living under the protection of their parents or an institution (in the case parents, if the parents disapprove).
The purpose of refraining from sexual misconduct is to not harm/damage existing relationships.
Therefore, having sex for pleasure, using a condom, circumcision, masturbation & oral & anal sex are not, in themselves, sexual misconduct (even though some of these things can be unwholesome & unskilful).

In general, the Pali Canon is quite exoteric and seems to equate sexual misconduct with various kinds of adulteries. Of course, for a monastic any sexual activity at all with the sole exception of involuntary nocturnal emissions is forbidden by the Vinaya.

Ideally, sexual pleasure should be avoided since it is craving. But Buddha knew that this was difficult for the laity. Therefore, he suggested that the laity should avoid sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct is simply sexual behavior which is outside social acceptance. And you can interpret that according to your own society.

Actually it's sought of independent of the society. A main property of Buddhism is independence from time place etc. If told sexual misconduct is implicit sex or rape, I think it's correct. Please refer to the answer of Dhammadhathu. It's about not breaking existing human relationships without their consent.

No, in this case its not really independent of society. Yes, Buddhism is timeless, but at the same time there are things which are shared by all of humanity. And while there is a basic understanding of what consists of sexual misconduct, there are also different opinions as to the extent of sexual misconduct. These extents seem to be socially biased and that is what I am referring to. For example, homosexuality may be considered immoral in some societies but not in others.

Generally speaking, sexual misconduct means any sexual conduct that involves violence or lying.
One kind of sex is no worse than the other. It all leads to suffering.
I have never heard of anything on circumcision in the Buddha's teaching but there is a rule that monastics can't cut the penis clear off.

But does sex with your wife, to pleasure her  and yourself(not pregnate her) create negative karma, and is the removal of foreskin a neutral thing to do for hygiene

Yes, sex with one's spouse is negative karma and it creates furthur negative karma. Just "wanting to exist" is negative karma as well.

@Uilium.  The Pali suttas state the duty of monks is to show laypeople the path to heaven (rather than the path to Nirvana). Thus, the suttas never say to laypeople that having sex with one's wife is negative karma. For many people, who are unable to eradicate instinctual sexual lust, to not have sex would be negative karma. Sex in marriage is a method to manage instinctual sexual drives that would otherwise cause oppression & suffering. There are many monks that disrobe due to affliction by lust.

The Pali suttas are not cookie cut statements but rather teachings that were first meant for certain individuals or audiences. For another audience another teaching about the same thing would be taught creating apparant  contradictions and redundancies.

"Thus, the suttas never say to laypeople that having sex with one's wife is negative karma."? The suttas never say many things. However,  they do state over and over that to chase sensual desire is negative karma.


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How should a disciple of the Buddha with great samadhi verify that rebirth occurs after physical death?
I asked my teacher how somebody should see for themselves that rebirth occurs, he (a Theravadin monastic) said that with great samadhi one should watch the twelve nidanas (the process of dependant co-arising) to see the eleventh nidana (becoming leads to birth).
I can accept that if one watches the nidanas then one would see that becoming leads to birth. However, seeing birth occurring during our (biological) life is separate from concluding that (re)birth occurs after physical death. I think that the most simple way to put this is that the process of becoming leading to birth is not dependent on the body. If one can see the eleventh nidana then how would they confirm that the eleventh nidana does not require form?
Perhaps I am on the wrong track entirely and the proper action is to watch some other process to see that the mind (instead of just the nidanas) does not require a body to sustain it.

Yes. This question is on the wrong track because Dependent Origination is only about the 12 conditions that result in suffering, i.e., sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief & despair. To quote:

And what is dependent co-arising? From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabricators. From fabricators as a requisite
  condition comes consciousness. From consciousness as a requisite
  condition comes mentality-&-materiality. From mentality-&-materiality as a requisite condition
  come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite
  condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes
  feeling. From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving. From
  craving as a requisite condition comes clinging. From
  clinging as a requisite condition comes becoming. From
  becoming as a requisite condition comes birth. From birth as a
  requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain,
  distress & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this
  entire mass of stress & suffering.
Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising

In other words, the 12th nidana is not about physical death. The following quote states aging-&-death cease when 'the eye sees a form', i.e., while the physical body is still alive:

On seeing a form with the eye, he isn't infatuated with pleasing
  forms, and doesn't get upset over unpleasing forms. He dwells with
  body-mindfulness established, with unlimited awareness. He
  discerns, as it has come to be, the awareness-release &
  discernment-release where those evil, unskillful qualities cease
  without remainder. Having thus abandoned compliance & opposition, he
  doesn't relish any feeling he feels — pleasure, pain,
  neither-pleasure-nor-pain — doesn't welcome it, doesn't remain
  fastened to it. As he doesn't relish that feeling, doesn't welcome it,
  & doesn't remain fastened to it, delight doesn't arise. From the
  cessation of his delight comes the cessation of clinging.
  From the cessation of clinging comes the cessation of
  becoming. From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth.
  From the cessation of birth, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation,
  pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this
  entire mass of stress & suffering.
MN 38

When someone or something you love & are attached to dies, you suffer. This is because the mind previously took 'birth' ('jati') via becoming ('bhava') as a 'self-identity' ('sakkhaya') attached ('upadana') to the sense object ('ayatana') that passes away ('marana').
For example, you identify yourself with a sense object that is a woman that you call 'my wife' & you call yourself 'her husband'. If your wife physically dies (by physical death) or the legal status (convention) of 'wife' socially dies (by divorcing you), your self-identity as a 'husband' also 'dies', which is suffering.
Or when you look into a mirror & see your skin wrinkling, your hair becoming grey, your teeth rotting, etc, you suffer due to the thought: "I am aging, I am going to die". These thoughts produce suffering because those five aggregates that appear in the mirror the mind regards to be "I", "me", "mine" & "myself".
For example, you may watch TV and see 10,000 Chinese people die in an earthquake but suffer more if you see your pet dog, pet cat or pet goldfish die. You may suffer more if your favourite pen is stolen. This is because the mind identifies with & is attached to the pet dog, pet cat, pet goldfish or pen but not attached to the 10,000 Chinese people. The death of 10,000 unknown Chinese people do not cause suffering but the death of a pet cat causes tremendous suffering.
Aging-&-death in Dependent Origination refers to the aging-&-death of 'beings' ('satta') and the various orders of 'beings'. 'Beings' ('satta') is defined in the suttas as states of attachment & identity (rather than physical life forms). 'Satta' is merely a 'view'.
The relationship between the nidanas of birth (self-identifying) & aging-&-death (suffering due to loss) is explained simply below:

He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing
  consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in
  consciousness. He is seized with the idea that 'I am consciousness' or
  'Consciousness is mine.' As he is seized with these ideas, his
  consciousness changes & alters, and he falls into sorrow, lamentation,
  pain, distress, & despair over its change & alteration.
Nakulapita Sutta

You may ask yourself when suffering: "Why am I suffering?". The general answer is because of change & loss, i.e., aging-&-death. Then ask: "Why did aging-&-death cause me to suffering?" The answer is because I ignorantly regarded the lost or deceased object to be "I", "me" & "mine"; I took birth as the 'owner' of those objects.
Below is what famous Thai monk Ajahn Chah had to say about this:

Now, how do we know that it's a bhava? It's a bhava (sphere of existence) because of our clinging to the idea that those trees are
  our own, that that orchard is our own. If someone were to take an ax
  and cut one of the trees down, the owner over there in the house
  ''dies'' along with the tree. He gets furious, and has to go and set
  things right, to fight and maybe even kill over it. That quarreling is
  the ''birth.'' The ''sphere of birth'' is the orchard of trees that we
  cling to as our own. We are ''born'' right at the point where we
  consider them to be our own, born from that bhava. Even if we had a
  thousand apple trees, if someone were to cut down just one it'd be
  like cutting the owner down.
http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Flood_Sensuality1.php

This taking 'birth' as the 'owner' of sense objects is explained in the definition of 'birth', below:

And what is birth? Whatever birth, taking birth, entering, coming-to-be, coming-forth, production of the the various beings in this or that group of beings via the manifestation (distorted perceptual appearance) of the five aggregates & acquisition (taking ownership) of sense media (objects), that is called birth.
Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising

Again, the same Pali term for 'acquisition' is used below:

yāyaṃ attabhāvapaṭilābho yasmiṃ attabhāvapaṭilābhe attasañcetanā
  kamati no parasañcetanā, attasañcetanāhetu tesaṃ sattānaṃ tamhā kāyā
  cuti hoti
...in that acquisition (paṭilābho) of individuality (attabhāva;
  self-becoming) in which one's own volition (attasañcetanā) operates
  but not the volition of others (parasañcetanā), it is by reason of
  their own volition that beings (sattānaṃ) pass away (cuti; shift;
  vanish) from that group (kāyā)
AN 4.171

The sutta below states whenever objects of consciousness are appropriated or 'stolen' to be "I", "me" & "mine", there will be inevitable punishment or suffering.

"And how, O monks, should the nutriment consciousness be considered?
  Suppose, O monks, people have seized a criminal, a robber, and brought
  him before the king saying: 'This is a criminal, a robber, O Majesty!
  Mete out to him the punishment you think fit!' Then the king would
  tell them: 'Go, and in the morning strike this man with a hundred
  spears!' And they strike him in the morning with a hundred spears. At
  noon the king would ask his men: 'How is that man?' — 'He is still
  alive, Your Majesty.' — 'Then go and strike him again at noontime with
  a hundred spears!' So they did, and in the evening the king asks them
  again: 'How is that man?' — 'He is still alive.' — 'Then go and in the
  evening strike him again with a hundred spears!' And so they did.
"What do you think, O monks? Will that man, struck with three hundred
  spears during a day, suffer pain and torment owing to that?"
"Even if he were to be struck only by a single spear, he would suffer
  pain and torment owing to that. How much more if he is being struck by
  three hundred spears!"
"In that manner, I say, O monks, should the nutriment consciousness be
  considered. If the nutriment consciousness is comprehended,
  mind-and-matter are thereby comprehended. And if mind and body are
  comprehended, there is, I say, no further work left to do for the
  noble disciple."
Puttamansa Sutta: A Son's Flesh

Perhaps I wasn't clear but I'm quite aware of what birth means (not rebirth but the birth that leads to suffering), this is different to the rebirth which occurs after physical death but the two concepts are relatable which is why the monastic suggested that this was the way to see that rebirth occurs after physical death. If you don't think this approach is valid what approach would you suggest?

I personally have found no evidence that dependant co-arising relates to anything that happens after death. I am aware there are sectarian views about dependant co-arising occurring over 3 life times but I cannot find any evidence of this in the Pali suttas. Imo, a person must choose one viewpoint over the other (rather than attempt to reconcile both). My explanation of dependant co-arising comes from my personal meditation experience, which I have happily reconciled for myself with the Pali suttas. I share it with you, which you are free to consider, accept or reject. With metta


text:
Does the Nihilism view (natthika-dithi) actually deny rebirths?
Is the Nihilism view (natthika-dithi) actually denying rebirths?
In Fuller's The Notion of Diṭṭhi in Theravāda Buddhism: The Point of View, in the translation of the Sāmaññaphala-sutta, natthika-ditthi is formulated like this:

Nothing is given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed; there is no
  fruit or result of good and bad actions; no this world, no other
  world; no mother, no father; no beings who are reborn spontaneously;
  no good and virtuous recluses and brahmins in the world who have
  themselves realised by direct knowledge and declare this world and the
  other world.
The person is composed of the four great elements; when
  he dies, earth returns and goes back to the element of earth, water
  returns and goes back to the element of water, fire returns and goes
  back to the element of fire, wind returns and goes back to the element
  of wind, while the senses disappear into space. [Four] men with the
  bier as a fifth take up the corpse, the funeral orations last as far
  as the burning ground, his bones are a dull white, his offerings end
  in ashes. They are fools who teach alms-giving. The doctrine of
  affirmation (atthika-vāda) is empty and false banter. Fools and wise
  alike are destroyed and perish at the breaking up of the body, they do
  not exist after death.

The following statements are related to 'rebirth':

Denying the "fruit or result of good and bad actions" -- which, except this-life fruit or results, are rebirth-related.
Denying "the other world" -- if it's not rebirth-related then it would be interesting to understand what "other world" is actually supposed to mean.
Saying "they do not exist after death" -- description of death as complete destruction (without rebirth).

@Dhammadhatu What is a point of down-voting this question?

About the question, the 2nd quote from the Samaññaphala Sutta is not a teaching of the Buddha but a teaching of Ajita Kesakambalin. The Buddha's view in the same sutta is: "With mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects...he discerns: 'This body...is endowed with form, composed of the four primary elements, born from mother and father...subject to impermanence...dissolution and dispersion...this consciousness...is supported here and bound up here.' Thus, here, the Buddha says again there is no independent consciousness.

FWIW the reason why King Ajatasattu said he was dissatisfied with the quoted answer from Ajita Kesakambalin, was that the king had asked him to point out  "a fruit of the contemplative life, visible in the here and now": but the quote doesn't seem to answer that (doesn't mention a fruit visible in the here and now). I guess the reason why you are discussing this sutta here is that (e.g. in the Kaccaayanagotto Sutta) the Buddha says that nihilism (and eternalism) is an extreme and a wrong view: and this sutta gives a detailed description/example/definition of what the 'nihilistic view' is.

Nothing is given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed; there is no
  fruit or result of good and bad actions; no this world, no other
  worlds; no mother, no father; no beings who are spontaneously born;
  no good and virtuous recluses and brahmins in the world who have
  themselves realised by direct knowledge and declare this world and the
  other worlds.

I have amended the translation above.

The word 'beings' ('satta')  is defined in the suttas as mental states of attachment & identity (rather than physical life forms). 'Satta' is merely a 'self-view' held by Mara.
The very fact that 'beings' are 'spontaneously' or 'immediately born' ('opapatika') due to acts of karma into the other worlds (heaven, hell, animal & ghost) show it is not related to after-death-reincarnation or a new physical birth, as explained below:

32. Sariputta, there are these four kinds of generation. What are the four? Egg-born generation, womb-born generation, moisture-born
  generation and spontaneous generation (opapatika).
Maha-sihanada Sutta

For example, the very moment the mind gets angry, it is spontaneously born as a 'hell-being'.
'This world' ('loka') refers to the human world of good morals & conscience. The 'other worlds' ('paraloka') refer to the heavenly (bliss), hell (torment), animal (immoral, emotionally reactive & unreflective) and ghost (addiction) worlds. For example, MN 79 refers to the 'world of only pleasant feelings':

Kiṃ panudāyi, atthi ekantasukho loko, atthi ākāravatī paṭipadā
  ekantasukhassa lokassa sacchikiriyāyā
Udayi, is there a world of only pleasantness? Is there a course of
  actions to realise that world of only pleasantness?
Here, Udayi, the bhikkhu secluded from sensual desires and thoughts of
  demerit abides in the first jhana: Overcoming thoughts and thought
  processs and the mind in one point internally appeased, without
  thoughts and thought processes abides in the second jhana. Again with
  equanimuity to joy and detachment, feeling pleasant with the body too,
  abides in the third jhana. To this the noble ones say abiding in
  pleasantness with equanimity. Udayi, this is the course of actions,
  for realising the world of only pleasant feelings (ekantasukhassa
  lokassa).

The person is composed of the four great elements; when he dies, earth returns and goes back to the element of earth, water returns and
  goes back to the element of water, fire returns and goes back to the
  element of fire, wind returns and goes back to the element of wind,
  while the senses disappear into space. [Four] men with the bier as a
  fifth take up the corpse, the funeral orations last as far as the
  burning ground, his bones are a dull white, his offerings end in
  ashes. They are fools who teach alms-giving. The doctrine of
  affirmation (atthika-vāda) is empty and false banter. Fools and wise
  alike are destroyed and perish at the breaking up of the body, they do
  not exist after death.

This quote from the Samaññaphala Sutta is not a teaching of the Buddha but a teaching of Ajita Kesakambalin. In many places (eg. MN 115, MN 62, etc) it is taught life is only composed of elements (dhatu), which accords with Emptiness (sunnata). That is why the Buddha's response to the doctrine of Ajita Kesakambalin is similar but different, as follows:

'This body...is endowed with form, composed of the four primary elements, born from mother and father...subject to
  impermanence...dissolution and dispersion...this consciousness...is
  supported here and bound up here.'

There are two primary reasons why the doctrine of Ajita Kesakambalin (quoted) is 'nihilism'.

The quote denies the efficacy (consequences) of kamma (actions). Thus, Buddhists who believe in present-life kamma-vipaka are not nihilists.
The quote holds there is a 'person' or 'self' that ends at death. This is the precise definition of 'nihilism' found in the suttas. In other words, 'nihilism' is not the view of 'impermanence' but the view that a 'self' is impermanent. Thus, 'nihilism' is a wrong view because it is a 'self-view'. To quote:

Herein, a certain recluse or a brahmin asserts the following doctrine and view: ‘The self (attā), good sir, has material form; it is
  composed of the four primary elements and originates from father and
  mother. Since this self, good sir, is annihilated (ucchijjati) and
  destroyed with the breakup of the body and does not exist after death,
  at this point the self (attā) is completely annihilated
  (samucchinno).’ In this way some proclaim the annihilation (ucchedaṃ),
  destruction (vināsaṃ) and extermination of an existent being
  (sattassa).
Brahmajāla Sutta

~~~

And how, bhikkhus, do some hold back? Devas and humans enjoy being, delight in being, are satisfied with being. When Dhamma is taught to
  them for the cessation of being, their minds do not enter into it or
  acquire confidence in it or settle upon it or become resolved upon it.
  Thus, bhikkhus, do some hold back.
How, bhikkhus, do some overreach? Now some are troubled, ashamed and disgusted by this very same being (bhaveneva) and they rejoice in (the
  idea of) non-being (vibhavaṃ), asserting: ‘In as much as this self
  (attaṃ), good sirs, when the body perishes at death, is annihilated
  (ucchijjati) and destroyed (vinassati) and does not exist (na hoti)
  after death (parammaraṇā) — this is peaceful, this is excellent, this
  is reality!’ Thus, bhikkhus, do some overreach.
Iti 49

~~~

What you, Kassapa, first called ‘suffering caused by oneself’ — this amounts to the eternalist theory (vadaṃ sassataṃ)….and ‘suffering
  caused by another’ — this amounts to the annihilationist theory (vadaṃ
  ucchedaṃ).
Acela Sutta

~~~

Don’t say that, friend Yamaka. Don’t misrepresent the Blessed One. It’s not good to misrepresent the Blessed One, for the Blessed One
  would not say, ‘A monk with no more effluents, on the break-up of the
  body, is annihilated (ucchijjati), perishes (vinassati) & does not
  exist (na hoti) after death (parammaraṇā).’
Then, friend Yamaka, how would you answer if you are thus asked: A monk, a worthy one, with no more mental effluents: what is he on the
  break-up of the body, after death?
Thus asked, I would answer, ‘Form is impermanent… Feeling… Perception… Fabrications… Consciousness is impermanent. That which is
  impermanent is unsatisfactory. That which is unsatisfactory has ceased
  and gone to its end.’
Very good, my friend Yamaka. Very good.
Yamaka Sutta

In summary, often unenlightened people (puthujjana) falsely accuse Noble (Enlightened) People of being 'heretics' & 'nihilists', as also occurred to the Lord Buddha himself:

37. "So teaching, so proclaiming, O monks, I have been baselessly, vainly, falsely and wrongly accused by some ascetics and brahmans: 'A
  nihilist is the ascetic Gotama; He teaches the annihilation, the
  destruction, the non-being of an existing individual.'
"As I am not as I do not teach, so have I been baselessly, vainly, falsely and wrongly accused by some ascetics and brahmans thus: 'A
  nihilist is the ascetic Gotama; He teaches the annihilation, the
  destruction, the non-being of an existing individual.'
"What I teach now as before, O monks, is suffering and the cessation of suffering.
Alagaddupama Sutta: The Snake Simile

In summary, I think you're saying that: nihilism is a wrong view ...but what makes nihilism a wrong view isn't exactly the fact that it "denies rebirth", and especially, this sutta is not trying to teach that reincarnation-after-death is right view ... what makes nihilism a wrong view is that it denies kamma; and the other thing that makes it a wrong view is that nihilism is a view-about-self (every view-of-self including also eternalism is "wrong" because all such views lead to suffering).


text:
How to meditate, lower parts of Dependent Origination?
How to meditate, lower parts of Dependent Origination with five aggregates ?

The 'meditator' is 'nama-rupa' (4th link). 'Nama' is defined as 'feeling, perception, intention, internal contact & attention' and also includes mental functions such as 'mindfulness', 'effort', etc. 'Rupa' is the physical body.
The breathing is 'kaya sankkara' (2nd link).
When the breathing arises into awareness, this is consciousness (3rd link).
When the breathing is 'felt' & 'perceived' as 'long', 'short', 'smooth', 'rough', 'calming', 'agitated', etc, this feeling & perceiving is 'nama' (4th link).
When the mind drifts away from the object of meditation (breathing) and then makes the decision to return to the breathing, this wholesome intention is 'nama' (4th link).
When the mind sustains attention (4th link) on the breathing (2nd link), this is nama (4th link). Knowing the breathing & nama is consciousness (3rd link).
You must meditate continuously on the method described above until you can clearly distinguish between the 2nd, 3rd & 4th links & their role.

If the breathing (2nd link) feels (4th link) agitated, this agitation is due to ignorance (1st link).
If distracting thoughts (2nd link - vaci sankhara) and perceptions & feelings (2nd link - citta sankhara) arise in the mind, these are produced from ignorance (1st link).
When the drives or moods of the five hindrances (sensual desire, ill-will, sloth, restlessness, remorse, doubt, fear) spontaneously flow out (asava) of the mind, this outflow of hindrances is the 1st link (ignorance).
When the nama (4th link) generates intention (4th link) to calm or remove the distracting thoughts (2nd link) & hindrances (1st link), this intention & application of wisdom is the 4th link (nama).
When the nama perceives (4th link) the ignorant thoughts & perceptions arising at the 2nd link, the right perception (4th link) of the wrong perceptions (2nd link) is mindfulness & clear-comprehension (4th link)

If the nama-rupa (4th) link is overwhelmed & controlled by ignorance (1st link), the nama-rupa will generate intentions (4th link) to seek external sense objects (5th link) and make contact with the external world (6th link). From this, the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th links will lead to the generation of dukkha (suffering).

The above is meditation upon the first 4 links of dependent origination.
When the sankhara (2nd link) are all calmed & clear, this is samatha.
When ignorance (1st link) is reduced or eradicated due to seeing the four noble truths & the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness & not-self of the five aggregates, this is vipassana.

Meditating Ignorance, Volition, Consciousness, name and form belongs to upper parts. Meditating lower parts below six sense bases are easy for beginner. To achieve some level of Right View and concentration meditate, birth aging sickness and death at first.
1. Birth Aging Sickness Death
Suppose you have born in all worlds such as Hell, Peta loka, Animal world. Hell exists and hell beings are suffering. Burn their bodies, uproot muscles, cut hands legs and gore with spikes. In 'Preta Loka', some Preta's are burning and they are suffering in hunger for millions of years. In animal world, animals are always in fear of their lives. Animals like bulls are being killed by people violently. As a human we were in mother's womb nearly 9 months. It was very painful to stay in a same posture for such a long time. When we were young we learned with lot of difficulties sometimes in hungry and other times uncovers to rain. When doing jobs we meet lot of similar difficulties with people to fix problems. We have suffering from lot of diseases. With getting older we will have to suffer more than that with the weakness of our faculties. Think about the suffering.  In heaven, gods have similar works like us since they are living on a society. After getting tired, they have a drink by smelling stink 'SAL' flowers. Brahma also has mental distress when they loose their concentration level. Everybody is dying. Every world is suffering. (If you understand this you will have great level of concentration with pleasure. Because suffering is the first noble truth.)
Then do death meditation. Imagine a person who died. Think about you are dead as him. What happens to your body with the time passes? Body outgrows. Moisture comes out of all nine halls such as mouth, nose, and ears. Then the whole body putrefies until the Skeleton. Then the Skeleton decays and emptiness remains. Then one will understand mind and body is not my or mine.
After the death meditation when the concentration level is higher, you have to think lower part of dependent origination as taught in "Samadhi Bhavana Sutta". We do not think highest part at first because it is too much complicated to meditate at first.
2. Arising of five aggrigates
Think about this yourself like you teach this to somebody. That is Vipassana meditation. Take an example such as food or watching television. We enjoy those things. In Dhamma that is called welcome form. We welcome form. Accept and see with your experience. Then we seek delight form. We say in our mind "that food is very tasty or this film is good". Sometimes we say to others. That is seeking delight.
Then we remain holding. We are clinging on to particular food or TV program again and again. That is called remain holding Above process generate pleasure. We are clinging onto that pleasure. Then clinging cause becoming or existence. Becoming means craving exist for food and TV programs this case. What happen if we die at this moment? We need food and TV this case. We need rebirth as quickly as possible where we can find this food and TV programs. We look for rebirth. After birth we have this form (body). Birth cases aging sickness and death. It is suffering. (Not only the form, one can meditate feeling, perception, volition... as above.)
3. cessation of five aggregates
Then think about the cessation part. (How does one end suffering)
We do not enjoy form. We don't welcome form such as TV program or food. If we take food for maintain our life. Don't take food for enjoyment. If we don't seek delight food or TV program. If we don't remain holding food or TV program. Then we don't have pleasure. We do not clinging onto that pleasure. (Merely see this during meditation. don't try to stop taking food or anything. Just see and understand the process.)
Then cessation of clinging ceases becoming (existence). Craving does not exist for food and TV programs this case. What happen if we die at this moment? We don't need food and TV this case. We don't need rebirth.Then Cessation of birth occurs. Cessation of Birth cases cessation of aging sickness and death. Cessation of suffering.
Question yourself, What cases suffering? Then you will have answers such as 'craving,  becoming'  yourself.
Then spread Metta to all beings. (NOT SELF. Self does not exist. The case and effect only exists.) If you are intelligent enough and concentration is strong, you will be able to understand cessation at this moment.
After meditating this Sutta one should understand impermanence nature, suffering and no self. Aging and death process exist. This is process, and nobody has created us.

lower meditation of Dependent Origination meditation is chapter 1st - 18th of path of purification.
But if you would like something brief for recite, before study path of purification, you can recite chapter 9th of abhidhammatthasaṅgaha.
But if you want something in tipitaka, you can recite paṭisambhidāmagga mātikā 1st-3rd and study paṭisambhidāmagga niddesa 1st-3rd, too. Then study  path of purification.
Recommend to study pāli version at pa-auk monastery.

All the links in Dependent Origination arise together. I'll give you a way how to isolate them in order to see each link clearly.

7th and 6th link (Feeling and Contact)
Close your eyes.
In your mind think about a static image of any object you desire. See it in your mind. Look at it. Observe it.
You perceiving the object is Contact (Phassa 6th link). You feeling a pleasant sensation, unpleasant sensation or neutral sensation because of Contact with the object is Feeling (Vedana 7th link).
Let's move lower.

5th link (Six Senses)
Close your eyes.
Completely empty your mind, until you reach the point of total cessation, a state where there is neither perception nor non-perception and this same state and any other state cease.
This is the absence of the six senses (Salayatana 5th link).
Then, in your mind think about a static image of any object you desire.
You perceiving anything about the object is due to the arising of the mind sense (Salayatana 5th link).

4th link (Nama-Rupa)
Close your eyes.
Think about anything you wish or direct your perception on anything you wish.
Whatever you'll perceive, that will be Nama (Feeling, perception, intention, contact, attention).
Then, think about your body or direct your perception on the place in space your body is occupying.
The perception of the form of your body, that will be Rupa (four great elements).

3rd link (Rebirth-Consciousness)
Close your eyes.
Completely empty your mind, until you reach the point of total cessation, a state where there is neither perception nor non-perception and this same state and any other state cease.
This is the absence of the Rebirth-Consciousness (Patisandhi Vinnana 3rd link).
Then, with your eyes closed, look at the blackness behind your closed eyes. This state is Rebirth-Consciousness. Whatever happens afterwards, comes out of Rebirth-Consciousness (Patisandhi Vinnana 3rd link). NOTE: rebirth-consciousness is not the blackness behind closed eyes. Here blackness behind the eyes is used to isolate rebirth-consciousness.
For example, observe the blackness behind your eyes and search for a big pleasant spot of solid color. Really strive to search for that pleasant spot. Once you find it, strive to enlarge it so that it engulfes you with pleasure. No matter if you enlarge it or not, the spot will give you a pleasant sensation. This is "coming into existence" (birth). While the spot is present, it will give you a pleasant sensation. This is "beeing existent" (clinging). Sooner or later the spot will vanish. Once it vanishes, craving for the spot will remain. This is "non existence" (death). Due to craving, the spot will sooner or later appear. This is "coming into existence" (birth). The cycle will continue for some time, each time less and less, until also this very same cycle stops.

2nd link (Activities, fabrications)
Activities, fabrications (Samkhara 2nd link) is exactly what you've done above, while exploring the 3rd link and the other links.
To isolate the 2nd link do this:
Close your eyes.
Completely empty your mind, until you reach the point of total cessation, a state where there is neither perception nor non-perception and this same state and any other state cease.
In your mind very very slowlyyyyy think about a static image of any object you desire. The very moment when you start doing this "thinking", this is activity, fabrication (Samkhara).
Then, if you observe carefully, you'll also notice the following:
The very moment when you start doing this "thinking", this is Rebirth-Consciousness (Patisandhi Vinnana 3th link). The very moment when you start doing this "thinking", perception of "thinking" will arise - this is Mind and Matter (Nama-Rupa 4th link), the sense mind (Salayatana 5th link) and Contact (Phassa 6th link). The very moment when you start doing this "thinking", a pleasant feeling will arise, or an unpleasant or a neutral feeling - this is Feeling (Vedana). The very moment when you start doing this "thinking", craving (Tanha 8th link) and clinging (Upadana 9th link) can arise.
The very moment that craving (Tanha 8th link) and clinging (Upadana 9th link) arise, the above process becomes fueled by them. This means that after the above process ceases, you will make it arise again. This is Action of Becoming (Bhava 10th link). Etc.

1st link
Ignorance (Avijja 1st link) is not knowing that the end result of all the above links is always suffering. Not knowing the end result is suffering, you don't see a reason why to stop the links from arising. Thus, you don't care, you don't explore them, you don't even know they exist and live your life in ignorance.
Then, ignorance (Avijja 1st link) is not knowing the cause of all the links. Not knowing why they arise and the way to their cessation. The way to their cessation is to explore them and know them in their entirety.


text:
How important is the surangama sutra in cotemporary buddhism?
How important is the surangama sutra in contemporary Mahayana Buddhism?
As far as I know there's never been any "school" which based itself on its interpretations, unlike the Mahaparinirvana, hua-yen, lotus, etc.
Where can I find out about its historical and contemporary use?

Very good question. You can see that no scholars here can answer this question.
It really depends on which school you follow.
In the Theravada school, the Surangama Sutra does not exist: the Surangama Sutra exists only in the Mahayana school. Many of those here are answering questions based on the Theravada school, and in a scholarly manner.
The Buddha's Teachings is not about being scholarly or showing off your knowledge! I am not here to write great answers but to clarify.
The Japanese said that Surangama Sutra is not real and written by someone. The someone must be highly wise. The reason for Surangama Sutra being accused of not being  genuine is because it contained a lot of actions that we should not do and precepts to follow. The Japanese did a lot of those forbidden actions.
Welcome to the Kali Yuga period or Dharma Ending Age or Apocalypse.
In the Kali Yuga period, the Buddha's Teachings will become an academic exercise like what is happening here. How scholarly with your knowledge.
The Surangama Sutra will be the first sutra to disappear in the Kali Yuga period.
Inside the Surangama Sutra, there is the Surangama Mantra which is now separated from  the Sutra as a standalone. This is the daily morning recitation mantra, that all Mahayana Buddhist temples in the world recite (when sky is still dark).
It is the most important part of the Surangama Sutra in contemporary Mahayana Buddhism.
However, the Surangama Sutra is losing its importance in contemporary Mahayana Buddhism. The reason being it is a long sutra to be recited, and it is not easy to understand if it is in Chinese.
The best book on Surangama Sutra is Surangama Sutra translated by the late Charles Luk K'uan Yu (he died in 1978).
The late Master Hsuan Hua and his disciples did some translations. It is available on their web.
The Warning to practitioners section really tells you what will happen when you reach a certain stage. It is a good warning.
In order to recite the the Surangama Sutra, the person must be a full time vegan without eating the 5-6 pungent items -- some Mahayana monks said. I am not sure about being a full time time vegan only you can recite the sutra. Don't try reciting it unless you want to invite demons and devils to fight with you in the first place. Read it first.
Not many can do so, then it is losing its appeal.
So Surangama Sutra and Mantra only exist actively in temples. Externally it is just another book with a few that will recite.
As far as I know there's never been any "school" which based itself on its interpretations, unlike the Mahaparinirvana, hua-yen, lotus, etc.
All schools are the same -- upekkha or equanimity.
Hua Yen-Avatamsaka sutta a great book that I will fall asleep reading.
What is there to interpret about? It is a straightforward book. Use it in your meditation and daily life.
Where can I find out about its historical and contemporary use?
Read the whole book. The Surangama Sutra is about Ananda and Matangi: yes, Matangi. The mantra is about breaking breaking evil spells like Atanatiya.
Contemporary use -- it is not about theory and exorcism. It is all there.Read it.
Usually more suited for monks and upasakas who had been monks before.
If you don't understand, please seek more clarification from me.
The cult endless attacks on Nalanda University put the Surangama Sutra existence only in Chinese after Chinese monks brought it back to China before the 12th century. The destruction of Nalanda University dealt a big blow not only to the Buddha's Teachings but to the Sanskrit Surangama Sutta existence. All important knowledge destroyed and later claimed by the cult.
Many cult students attended the Nalanda University before they informed their blood brothers to destroy all the knowledge that should be left to us.


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The Dangers of an Extended Meditation Session
The Buddha was said to have meditated 40 days and 40 nights in a single sitting which begs the question is it possible to sit this long without any physical or mental injury?
As an example, my meditation sessions vary in discomfort. Sometimes when it's good, I wish the alarm hadn't rung  and then sometimes my foot falls asleep in 5 minutes.
There's this theory I have that when meditation is done properly (i. e. you are not fighting yourself), the body will begin to self-regulate itself and the mind will begin to heal.
Elsewhere, I have read that its good not to sit more than 40 minutes. Is this more of a legal disclaimer to prevent novice meditators from injuring themselves?
What I really want to know is that if you're comfortable and physically able to sit 40 days and 40 nights, is it OK to sit that long? I guess there's a chance you may be stuck in that meditative state. Have there been reports of meditators who don't return to their consciousness? Are there any reports of people who have tried it?

According to Empty Cloud The Autobiography of Master Xu Yun (famed Chinese monk of the 20th century usually with name transcribed as Hsu Yun).

One day I cooked taro in a cauldron and sat cross-legged while waiting
  for my meal to cook and involuntarily entered the state of samadhi.
MY 63RD YEAR (1902/03)
Master Fu-cheng and others who stayed in nearby huts were surprised
  that I had not called on them for a long time and came to my hut to
  present their New Year greetings. Outside my hut, they saw tigers’
  tracks everywhere with no traces of man. They entered my hut and
  seeing that I was in samadhi, they awoke me with a qing (a musical
  instrument made of stone, the sound of which is subtle but
  penetrating). When I returned to self-consciousness, they asked me,
  ‘Have you taken your meal?’ I replied, ‘Not yet, the taro in the
  cauldron should be well cooked by now.’ When its cover was lifted, the
  cauldron was covered with an inch of mould. Fu-cheng was startled and
  said, ‘You must have been in samadhi for half a month.’ We then melted
  ice, cooked taro and ate our fill. They joked with me and left.

Now you can take this story with a grain of salt, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of hibernation-like state for deep meditation...

I googled Master Xu Yun. Wonderful (deep) photographs. Died October 13, 1959, aged 119.

From a physiological point of view, the body is not designed to remain fixed and stationary for long periods. After two hours there is a risk of blood clots. This can be ameliorated by doing a period of walking meditation every two hours. Such practices are also bad for the lymphatic system, which is probably why diet has been emphasized by many yogins, to reduce toxicity in the body. On the other hand, the great Korean master Seongcheol (1912-1993) is reputed to have remained seated inside a very small area (too small to lie down in) for eight years without sleeping. A fellow monastic who disbelieved that Seongcheol was actually doing this spied on him, verified that he was in fact doing it, and tried it himself; his teeth fell out! From a psychological point of view, there is some evidence that there is about a 10% chance of precipitating a latent psychosis as a result of fairly short periods of meditation retreat. In one case I read about, after two days a female experienced a psychotic break which required ten years of psychiatric treatment to rectify. So meditation is not something to be undertaken casually. It is a serious spiritual quest no different from the shamanic quest. We have an idea that it's just a relaxation exercise. This is grossly naive. There are cases where people in the West have died as a result of extreme Buddhist practices. What is your reference to the Buddha sitting in meditation for forty days and forty nights? According to the Pali Canon, the Buddha remained sitting in meditation for seven days and nights after attaining nirvana. My fellow Torontonian Tim Ward wrote a book called What the Buddha Never Taught in which he discusses "samadhi suicde," a Theravadin ascetic practice in which one intentionally meditates oneself to death. Of course, such a person immediately ceases to be a member of the sangha for violating the first precept (third defeat or parajika offence) against killing. Anyone who advocates such practices is also automatically banned. The Buddha forbade such practices after discovering an outbreak of suicide amongst the monastics while the Buddha was on retreat.

I believe it's more of a legal disclaimer, or due to ignorance.
I have met monks who sat straight for days (2 to 3 days) under recommendation of their teacher - this is in the Chan lineage. In Chan, you get all sorts of affliction and pain but if you don't quit and be vigorous, you will progress quite fast. It is said long sitting produces Chan. You have to be patient.
If by any means you get stuck in a state, your Master should be able to spot that and help you.
Please see Master Hsuan Hua's texts, it has some reports of monks sitting days straight in samadhi.

It is unlikely Gotama/The Buddha sat for 49 days in a single sitting as the legendary stories claim. For example, the Maha-Saccaka Sutta explains how Gotama nearly died due to not eating food and his enlightenment only occurred after eating food.

...that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities...is not easy to achieve with a body so extremely emaciated...Suppose I were to take some solid food: some rice & porridge.' So I
  took some solid food: some rice & porridge. ...So when I had taken
  solid food and regained strength, then — quite secluded from
  sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities, I entered &
  remained in the first jhana:

It is doubtful, after nearly dying, that only one meal would sustain Gotama for another 49 days.
The Udana states, for 7 days after enlightenment: "at the foot of the Bodhi Tree, having just realized full enlightenment, the Lord sat cross-legged for seven days experiencing the bliss of liberation". A 7 day single sitting of a fully enlightened Buddha may be possible & is not as unlikely as 49 day sitting of an unenlightened Bodhisatta (seeker of enlightenment).
When considering for the rest of his life the Buddha generally ate one meal per day, the stories or fables about a 49 day single sitting appear exaggerated, similar the the 40 days & 40 nights of Jesus in the desert.

See also Buddha meditation under the bodhi tree -- I read it as saying that he meditated for a whole night, even for seven days ... and several weeks "near" the Bodhi tree, including alms-going.

Very appropriate reference there in MN 26. Thank you.

It is not about the Physical dimension.
Suppose if you do not have physical body, what is the problem in sitting for 10,000 years, vedic rishi's were able to remain in samadhi for 300 years.
In Deep meditation you are separated from your physical body (which is not you)
Try to think that way.


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Why worship Buddha?
How do Buddhists worship Buddha. What is the purpose of Buddhists in worshiping and making Buddha images?

See also e.g. Tradition and purpose of prostration practice and What is the best way to practice humility (and probably other topics on this site).

For me it is not ‘worship’ of the Buddha when I put my hands together and bow in front of a Buddha Statue. It really means paying homage at the Buddha image to pay my respects to the Buddha in remembering His nine supreme qualities. The image is a visual aid that helps me to recall the following qualities:

Araham Firstly, we must understand that our great teacher was an “Arahant”. An Arahant is one who has eradicated all bad conditions of the mind, which include: passion, lust, desire, hatred, ill will, delusion, and all other defilements of the mind. There should be an unshakeable confidence about that quality or our Great Teacher. That unshakeable confidence if developed by knowing that in this world, and throughout all worlds, there is no other teacher with this Arahant quality.
Sammâ-sambuddho This second quality of our Teacher “Samma Sambuddho” means that our Great Teacher understood the Four Noble Truths without anyone’s help. So our Great Teacher is really the one and only Teacher. What is the significance of the Four Noble Truths? These Truths explain the realities of life. Our Great Teacher understood the realities of life, without anyone’s help. By knowing this, we can establish an unshakeable confidence based on this second quality.
Vijjâ-carana sampanno The third quality is “Vijjacaranasampanno”. Vijja means ‘true knowledge’. There are three kinds of knowledge. Firstly, the Supreme Buddha, our great teacher had knowledge of the past lives of beings. Through this knowledge the Supreme Buddha knew that this is a long journey through samsara (the cycle of birth and death). The second knowledge our Great Teacher had was passing away and the reappearing of beings. There should be a confidence based on both these kinds of knowledge. Because of that knowledge, we can be sure that if we do not try to achieve the Stream Entrant stage in this life, our next destination will not be a good one. The third knowledge that the Supreme Buddha had was knowledge of the destruction of all taints (the destruction of all defilements. So, with this true knowledge, our Great Teacher had excellent virtue, excellent concentration, excellent wisdom, and excellent liberation. And that is called vijjacaranasampanno – the one and only Teacher in this world.
Sugato The fourth quality is sugata. Su means ‘the correct path’. Gatha means ‘followed’. Therefore, sugata means ‘following the correct path’. Supreme Buddha followed the best path, the Noble Eight fold Path, and achieved the bliss of Nibbanna (ultimate liberation).
Lokavidû The fifth quality “Lokavidu” means ‘knower of the worlds’. It is one who understands the origin of all worlds, understands the cessation of all worlds, and understands how to escape from all the worlds.
Anuttarro Purisa-damma-sârathi The sixth quality is “ Anuttara Purisa-dammasarathi”. Anuttara means ‘excellent’. It means ‘exalted’, there is no one else. Purisa-dammasarathi  means ‘Buddha is the Teacher of the people to be tamed’. What is the way of taming? The Supreme Buddha’s way of taming is with virtue, concentration and wisdom, and without any weapons. Even today, we are tamed by those great qualities. We are following the Path of virtue (precepts and good discipline), we are following the Path of concentration, and we are following the path of wisdom.
Satthâ deva-manussânam The seventh quality “Sattha devamanussanam” means ‘the Teacher of gods and humans´. We have to clearly understand that our Great Teacher is not only the Teacher of humans, but also the Teacher of gods. If we are able to achieve the Stream Entrant stage in this very life, Supreme Buddha explained that we will be re-born in the heavenly world. The Dhamma, the Teachings of the Buddha, exists in the heavenly worlds.
Buddho The eight quality “Buddha” means The Enlightened One - ‘the one who has understood the Four Noble Truths without anyone’s help, and is able to proclaim the Dhamma to others’. Buddha means one who teaches without holding anything back; with great compassion and with great loving kindness, so that others may understand the Four Noble Truths and achieve real happiness.
Bhagavâ The ninth quality, Bhagava, means ‘the blessed one’,  The Exalted One. This means that our Great Teacher, is the one and only teacher who held all these qualities. These are the great qualities of the Supreme Buddha. Because of these qualities, we can develop an unshakeable confidence in the Supreme Buddha.

Arahant also means one who is worthy of offering, hence worthy of worship.

Sammâ-sambuddho is also the one & only self-enlightened Buddha (Arahant) in a world system that starts the Buddhist religion.

Yes, @Yinxu, in the same way I pay homage to the Noble Disciples of my Great Teacher, I 'worship' the Sangha. The ideal community of Noble Ones (Ariya-Sangha)  is the third of the Three Jewels in Buddhism. So it is important that we know the meaning of Supati-panno, Ujupati-panno, Ñâya-patipanno, Sâmici-patipanno, Âhu-neyyo, Pâhu-neyyo, Dakkhi-neyyo, Añjalikaraniyo, Anuttaram puññakkhetam lokassâti. Sangha is the community of people who have attained at least the first stage of Awakening. So we pay homage with equal reverence.

The Buddha did not recommend making Buddha statues. The Buddha said: "What is there to see in his physical body? He who sees the Dhamma sees the Buddha".
However, ancient Greeks of Persian Bactria embraced Buddhism & were particularly influential in the development of making Buddha statues.
If Buddhists, particularly in the former Persian-Greek lands did not make Buddha statues, it is possible Buddhism may have survived both the growth of good Islam in Persia and the onslaught of violent Mongol 'Islam' (but unlikely) since Muslims regarded Buddha statues as 'idolatry'.


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what is the purpose of the Buddhist marriage ceremony?
A fundamental tenet of Buddhism is freedom from attachments. If that is so, what is the purpose of the Buddhist marriage ceremony? It seems to be a contradiction, a celebration of attachment within a philosophy that avoids attachment.

Why do you think Buddhism should not celebrate marriage?

Buddhism has teachings for both monks & laypeople. If there were no lay people with worldly attachments, the monks could not be supported with food & other requisites.
Marriage is praised for laypeople, as follows:

In five ways, young householder, the parents thus ministered to as the
  East by their children, show their compassion:
(i) they restrain them from evil, (ii) they encourage them to do good,
  (iii) they train them for a profession, (iv) they arrange a suitable
  marriage, (v) at the proper time they hand over their inheritance to
  them.
Sigalovada Sutta

~~~

Husband & wife, both of them  having conviction,  being responsive,
    being restrained,   living by the Dhamma,   addressing each other   with
  loving words: they benefit in manifold ways.  To them comes bliss.
  Their enemies are dejected    when both are in tune in virtue. Having
  followed the Dhamma here in this world,   both in tune in precepts &
  practices, they delight in the world of the devas, enjoying the
  pleasures they desire.
Samajivina Sutta

They are just secular affairs in Buddhist countries, and nothing what-so-ever to do with the Teachings.  The newly wedded couple and the assembly may recite the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha Vandana, the Tisarana and Pancasila at such an occasion. They may obtain the blessing a from monk at the local temple. There are similar Buddhist funeral rites too, but they are all cultural, and nothing to do with the Doctrine or practice.
There are no instructions anywhere in the Vinaya or the Suttas (The Doctrine) as to what one should do at such an event. Whether to marry or to stay a bachelor are personal and individual concerns. You are not duty-bound to do one way or the other. But there are a set of fundamental rituals that have been accepted and followed in a Buddhist marriage.


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How to emotionally cut free from an individual?
My friend meditates daily (non-Buddhist). He finds that from time to time a very annoying person tries to seemingly drag power and energy from him like a magnet.
Can any one explain how he can escape from this seemingly difficult situation? How can I advise him to emotionally cut free from this individual in his life?

The problem described here is all within the mind of your friend. The Sigalovada Sutta explains, in our lives, we will encounter 'true friends' & 'false friends'. The Sigalovada Sutta describes in detail the characteristics of 'true friends' & 'false friends'.
The method of escape is two-fold:

Discern clearly with wisdom the other person is a 'false-friend'.
Ensure this clear discernment is free from hatred & established in equanimity & concern (compassion).

I had a situation like that. I tried to turn it into a practice to strengthen my patience and compassion(for both of us).


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How to practice without a teacher?
I'm going to join buddhist group which is in another city so I'll have few occasions to meet sensei especially because she is from USA and she arrives only few times a year to my country. So how should my practice look?

would help what tradition you will be meeting :)

I guess that "sensei" might imply Japanese.

Zez soto mixed with rinzai

Ask your questions (about how to practice without a teacher) to the Sensei when you meet her.
Since you appear to be taking refuge in the Sensei, her advice would be the most appropriate (in the near term).

Sutta-vinaya is your ultimate teacher. It is found in the books written by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk from New York City. Ven. Bodhi has many important publications such as: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya , The Connected Discourses of the Buddha — a New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya , In the Buddha’s Words (An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon), Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy.. to name a few. As Buddhists, we should be familiar with the Suttas and if possible obtain our own copies. It is a sad fact that only we Buddhists who would not go to the original source for guidance. Do you find Muslims without the Quran or Christians without the Bible? It is only we Buddhists who are without the Nikáyas.
Having said that still it is very important to have a ‘Kalyana Mitta (a noble friend), as it is much more important than all else for one who wants to walk this road less travelled. It is even more important than one’s developed morality (Sila). Then that Noble Friend protects you from your own mind, until you are well established in the path.  Mind is a strange thing. It is always out to find others faults, and to justify your own thinking and actions. It is your Teacher, who could remind you now and then of this. A sense of 'hiri-ottappa' accompanied by mindfulness is to reflect on oneself only, and never let your mind to compare it to others (Hiri is an innate sense of shame over moral transgression; ottappa is moral dread, fear of the results of wrongdoing). Every time you do so, you get thrown away from this path. It is because of this mind, because of us trusting this mind that we never even now see the danger of Samsara, and we are forever in it. Thankfully I have such a noble friend. One can have only one or two such, the most. Otherwise you give into your mind again, and it decided what advice to take, and what to reject or ignore.  So I do hope that you  will find another Teacher close to you.
The most important thing to understand the Dhamma is to remember what is heard or read. Then follows the examination of the meanings of what is remembered. We tend not to do that. Just having a collection of books, or notes in the computer will not do. The process of learning the Dhamma goes through the stages of listening, remembering, constant reciting, mental observation and ideological understanding of the Dhamma. As per the scriptures, the self-study of Dhamma should thus have the following components:
Methodology of learning

It starts with careful listening with full attention (Suthaa).
Then what he has heard has to be registered in the mind (dhathaa).
The next step is to familiarize himself with what has been learned by reciting (vacaya paricita).
Then it has to be internalized with pondering over it, contemplating the meaning by applying it to yourself.  (Manasaanupekkhitha)
The next step is practising what one has learned to become a real knower of the teaching - The realization. It is the result of the above 4 actions.  (Ditthiya Suppatividdha)


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Can effective altruism (specifically Earning to Give) and Buddhism co-exist if Earning to Give was done to the extreme?
(This may be more of a philosophy stack exchange question; feel free to move it. Actually, the example I give below is probably off topic or something since it's the real meat and potatoes of the question: money.)
In general, where does Buddhism and the philosophy of effective altruism split, when one spends all their time Earning to Give? (Again this question assumes many things, a chat would greatly be appreciated.)
While reading The Middle Way by the Dalai Lama (give as a gift) this question keeps surfacing. In the book is says, "the aspiration to bring about others' welfare and the aspirations to seek buddhahood for this purpose." Maybe I'm misdefining the translation of "welfare"...but this point will come up again and again when reading about Dharma anyway. Please help answer the essential question, and not the details of this specific quote. It is arbitrary for the main game.
Perhaps what I mean is better though an example:
Somehow assume that a person has this extraordinary altruistic resolve, or even bodhicitta (if that's close to correct). And they decide to spend much time Earning to Give. Let's assume they work 16 hour days (from one job being professional, such as an electrical engineer, and a second in a similar job or a factory job--six days a week). Try to also assume they get enough sleep (7.5 hours), stay hygienic (taking a shower during a break at the factory), manage to eat bagged lunch, and everything else to spend virtually no money on unnecessary expenses such as rent (by sleeping in a van near both companies). And so, after all that, there is no time to meditate. Literally, every waking hour is spent Earning to Give. How on earth can this person seek buddhahood?! And wouldn't others' welfare be all what this person lives for anyway? (Additionally, since this question is seeped in money, also assume that 'Robin Hood tactics' are not a means to Earning to Give...)

The question is asking about Bodhicitta (Mahāyāna Buddhism), Confirmed Candidate of Future Buddha (Theravada).
I would like to explain Striving to attain the Nirvana with an example flying with airplane. If you offered more money, you can get more luxurious class or seat.

so, after all that, there is no time to meditate.

There is most simple way to attain Nirvana. Concisely, meditate and then attain Nirvana. This is a kind of flying with an economy seat. Because you offer less, you just get a seat what you pay for.
Here is Sutta Bahiya Sutta. He was the one who attained Nirvana the most fastest way in Gautama Buddha's teaching. Even though he attained Nirvana in fastest way in his last life meeting with Buddha, he strived for many uncountable years during his past lives. It means that it is not an easy job to be a student with flying colors in Buddha's teaching.
For the life of a confirmed Candidate of Future Buddha, the job is extremely harder to accomplish; only the strongest determination and dedication can go through because being a Sammasambuddha is highest class of attaining Nirvana. If you are going that way, you have to strive for perfect in offering. "Earning to give" or Earning to offer" is the very first step to strive for being Sammasambuddha. The candidate offered even his life to complete his offering capacity. There are countless of lives where candidate of Gautama Buddha dedicated just offering (Earning to give/donate). Yes, "there is no time to meditate", there might be the case because he just strived for donation, trying not to attach anything he owned. But the act of Dana is very first cornerstone to become a Sammasambuddha.
Here is list of paramis

And wouldn't others' welfare be all what this person lives for anyway?

I do not know exactly to what extent he lived/survived only for other's welfare (at least he needed to consume to be alive in particular past life but probably, I guess). I like to request reference/citation if anyone knows about Buddha past lives regarding to this statement.

How on earth can this person seek buddhahood?

This person had long way to complete all the paramis to become Buddha. Not a single life, not 100 lives, not 1000,000 lives but uncountable lives he strived for being Buddha.

where does Buddhism and the philosophy of effective altruism split, when one spends all their time Earning to Give?

Yes, it was done to extreme by the example above. Yes, both can co-exist if you're moderate person and you are going to strive for attaining Nirvana in normal way (just want to be a normal student of Buddha's teaching).
For example in real life two students may differ in determination and dedication. One is striving for LSAT to attend Columbia Law School or Harvard Law School. Another might say "he is not himself recently" but two students differ in their goals. So that kind of case is expected.

In the Dhammapada there is a story about the jealous monk Kala. The altruistic person in your OP is like the elderly woman in this story. The only difference is that this elderly woman wants to listen to the true Dhamma and learn from it. It is unfortunate that the altruistic person in your OP has no such inclination, even though he has given his life in the service of others. Before going any further let us listen to the Dhammapada Story.

”Once in Savatthi, an elderly woman was looking after a monk named Kala, like her own son. One day, hearing from her neighbours about the virtues of the Enlightened One she wished to go to the Jetavana monastery and listen to his discourse. So she told Kala about her wish; but he advised her against it. Three times she spoke to him about her wish but he always dissuaded her. But one day, in spite of his objections, the lady went to the Jetavana monastery. When the monk came to know that she had left for the monastery, he reflected selfishly, 'If she hears the Dhamma from the Master, she will have no more use for me.' He hurried to the monastery, and found her listening to a discourse given by the Buddha. He approached him respectfully and said, 'Venerable Sir! This woman is very dull. She will not be able to understand the sublime Dhamma. Please teach her only about charity (dana) and morality (sila)'.
The Buddha knew that Kala was talking out of spite and with an ulterior motive. So he admonished him, 'Because of your foolishness and wrong view, you have abused my Teaching. You are only destroying yourself.'

Giving (dana) is one of the integral parts of the practice of Dhamma. When practiced in itself, it is a basis of merit or wholesome kamma, but only when combined with morality, concentration and insight, will it lead to liberation from samsara, the cycle of repeated existence. If a person only practice giving in and of itself in this endless journey of samsara he will reap wealth, beauty and pleasure in future lives, but nothing else. A sad example of one such births is the dogs that get treated better than humans in the world today. Seeing a dog being treated as a 'little-furry-human' isn't necessarily wrong. It is simply that the dog is reaping what he has sowed in a previous life. Its past merits brought this doggie happiness in the future, in accordance with the kammic law of cause and effect taught by the Buddha. As the altruistic person in your OP never developed morality, concentration and insight, he never found the ‘Kshana Sampattiya’ (getting the rare fortune of seeing the Dhamma), which is a very rare gem in one’s existence.


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According to "proper speech" in Buddhism's eight-fold path, is cursing allowed if it's necessary to get the point across?
One of the points of Buddhism the eight fold lists "proper speech," but does this propriety in speech include the ability to insult others or express yourself strongly through the use of curse words/ cursing if it's necessary to get the point across to someone who wouldn't get the point otherwise? Why/ why not?

If  you have a question specifically about Buddhist practice, there's an SE for that. If you have a question about what "proper speech" means in philosophy, it could potentially be on-topic here (but I don't see it in this case). If you @virmaior me that you want it there, I can move it for you.

@virmaior Edit if you like, and send it over to buddhism.stackechange for me?

There is a whole range of what might fit into your scenario. An example or two would be helpful.

@user3169 without cursing myself, the "F" bomb, calling someone an "a-hole" that type of a thing

One of the Five Precepts (pañca-sila) - the basic training rules that is observed by all practicing Buddhist lay men and women -  is to follow the precept of abstaining from wrong speech. Wrong speech involves a great many things apart from uttering falsehoods. It includes insulting speech, malicious speech, even gossip.  This in positive terms is the practice of Right Speech.  It is said that "If you can't control your mouth, there's no way you can hope to control your mind.” This is why right speech is so important in day-to-day practice.
Cursing if it's necessary to get the point across to someone can be termed as harsh speech (spoken with the intent of hurting another person's feelings). The important point is that you were mindful of this slip. I do not see it as a transgression. It is not a sin as that of a transgression against a god, as in other faiths. This is only a trifling unwholesome act done by one who strives to practice the Dhamma, as opposed to the same act by another. What I said above is in keeping with the scriptures.

“Suppose that a man were to drop a lump of salt into a small amount of water in a cup. What do you think? Would the water in the cup become salty because of the lump of salt, and unfit to drink?”
  “Yes, lord ….”
  “Now suppose that a man were to drop a lump of salt into the River Ganges. What do you think? Would the water in the River Ganges become salty because of the lump of salt, and unfit to drink?”
  “No, lord ….”
  “In the same way, there is the case where a trifling evil act done by one individual [the first] takes him to hell; and there is the case where the very same sort of trifling act done by the other individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.”
  — AN 3:99

See this answer for some references to definitions of "right speech", but also "wrathful Buddha".
Assuming that the situation is as the question was phrased, i.e. "if it's necessary", then the answer might be yes it's allowed. This answer gave a (hypothetical and extreme) example of where even lying could be allowed (well not "allowed", exactly, but preferred as the lesser of two evils).
It might be especially allowed in Mahayana Buddhism, which maybe has more of a tradition of "skillful means" (doing something because it's necessary in practice, not because it's theoretically correct).
The concept of a "wrathful" Buddha (which is again, I think, especially a concept taken from Mahayana/Tibetan Buddhism) reminds me of some parents who said once that their children "would never take the boats out without permission: because they know that we would murder them" (the point of the story being that the boats and tides were dangerous for small children, and though the parents' wrath seems to or even claims to threaten the children, it is actually intended to protect them).
Still the number of times when you think it's necessary, versus the number of times when it's actually necessary might be very different -- i.e. it might be (too) easy to justify misbehaviour ("it's necessary ... I want to ... everyone does it"). This is where it might be useful to have a good role model to emulate -- maybe you know a good parent or teacher who would never insult people or use curse words?
Also FWIW I think that "proper speech" appears in two places: it's the fourth of the precepts, and the third factor of the Noble eightfold way.
I think that the precepts seem to be especially focused on social or inter-personal harmony, whereas the eightfold way is especially focused on your own personal perceptions. So maybe these are two/both reasons for "right speech": to promote a well and harmonious society, and as a means towards avoiding being upset yourself.