Search results for: "Concentration"

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  2. A Promise to Yourself
     … This then applies to the practice of concentration. You don’t just sit here letting the mind decide whether it’s going to settle down on its own or not. You have to induce it. You have to direct it. Make up your mind that you’re going to stay here and watch over it. “Putting aside greed and distress with reference to the … 
  3. The Happiness & Suffering of Others
     … When he got his mind into concentration, he directed it to remembering past lives, and he found that he could remember many, many, many past lives—in other words, his narratives. You think you’ve got lots of narratives as you sit down to meditate. He had more than many because his memory was so good. But it raised a question: Was he the … 
  4. A Home of Your Own
     … This is why concentration, on its own, is not enough. You have to have some discernment as well: the discernment to see what is really important to think about and what’s not. When something is not worth thinking about, you know how to take it apart so that it doesn’t take over. This means that getting the mind still is not just … 
  5. Appreciating Merit
    There’s that chant we have at the end of every chanting session: “Through the power of all the Buddhas, all the Dhamma, all the Sangha, may you forever be well.” What is that power? Where does it come from? The Buddha gained his power from his generosity, his virtue, and his meditation, developing concentration, developing discernment all the way to nibbana. As did … 
  6. Taking Stock
     … You’ve got the potential for virtue, concentration, discernment. It’s simply a question of learning to develop these potentials. Of course, you’ll find, as you look in your mind, there are a lot of other potentials as well, a lot of less skillful potentials. You’ve probably had some practice in developing those, too. But it’s important that you realize you … 
  7. The Good We Already Have
     … If you tune in to them and learn how to keep the mind tuned, you’ve developed one of the most useful skills in concentration. Once you get a particular state going, you learn how not to do so much that you destroy it, or how not to get too lazy so that it all falls apart. You have to invest a level of … 
  8. Owning Your Actions
     … While you’re practicing concentration, make a law for yourself that anything that’s not related to the topic of your concentration is going to be unskillful. Wven when you’re with the breath, you want to notice, “Is there any disturbance in here?” Once things start settling down and you feel secure here, ask yourself, “Could this be more refined? More settled? More … 
  9. We’re All Learning the Ropes
     … As the Buddha said, there’s no way you’re going to get into right concentration if you’re stingy, there’s no way you’re going to get into any of the noble attainments if you’re stingy. So generosity is a necessary part of the path. It develops a human quality, the quality of realizing that just as you love yourself, other … 
  10. Identifying Weeds
     … We’re trying to develop good qualities in the mind—like mindfulness, alertness, concentration, discernment—yet there are qualities that stand in the way. You’ve probably heard of what they’re called: the hindrances. These are the things that stand in the way of our concentration. You can compare them to weeds of different sorts. Sensual desire is like a vine. There’s … 
  11. An Inside Job
     … The whole path is something you want to keep in good shape—everything from right view on through to right concentration—with a very strong sense that it’s going to be for your welfare. Probably the most important element that goes into self discipline is having a strong sense of heedfulness: that if you don’t master the skills, you’re going to … 
  12. Fear
     … That gives rise to the next strength, which is concentration. Once the mind settles down, it can start seeing things clearly for what they are. In particular, it begins to see that through clinging there’s got to be suffering. It not only causes immediate suffering in the present but it also leads you to do things that cause even more suffering on into … 
  13. Overcoming Obstacles
     … strengthening your powers of concentration, giving the mind a comfortable place to stay in the present moment, a place where it can stay at home, feel at home, gain nourishment. We got this practice, and yet the mind keeps finding other things to get in the way. It wanders off in the search of interesting sensual pleasures or it gets worked up from being … 
  14. The River Gauge
     … Of course, when the Buddha talks about the qualities of mind you need to get the mind into concentration and he talks about how to make equanimity really solid—and not small-minded or small-hearted equanimity—he mentions that you have to have some joy as well. So as you begin meditating, think about the things that make you happy to be here … 
  15. To Be Your Own Teacher
     … So this is a good practice, not only for getting the mind to learn how to avoid the issues that would disturb its concentration, but also to gain understanding, gain discernment into how it tries to look for food in the senses, and learning how to do it more skillfully. Moderation in eating means that you watch what you’re doing while you eat … 
  16. Using the Committee of the Mind
     … Then the rapture gets based on concentration, which makes it even stronger, and then you move the mind to a state of calm and, eventually, to equanimity. In every case, you apply appropriate attention to these things, which means that you see that they’re good things and you try to develop them, maintain them, let them grow. But it’s based on the … 
  17. The Breathing Game
     … The skill is to make us more mindful, more alert, more concentrated and discerning. As with any skill, it’s important, one, that you start out with something fairly simple and, two, that you treat it like a game. If you get too serious and too emotional about it from the very beginning, you tie yourself up in knots. So treat the whole thing … 
  18. Meditator, Mediator
     … That’s why we practice concentration. Try to develop a sense of ease in the body, ease with the breath, ease being in the present moment. When you feel physically at ease, it’s a lot easier to be in a good mood and not feel so desperate, not be so impatient, because it’s our desperation or impatience that makes it difficult for … 
  19. The Four Biases
     … This is why concentration is a basis for discernment: You get a sense of stability, a rock-solid sense of imperviousness, where things just don’t seep in. That’s what enables you to live in the world without getting thrown off balance by the world. The people of the world may be slanted, they may be biased, but you don’t have to … 
  20. Sitting & Walking
     … Sitting meditation is more for deep concentration. Walking meditation is more for discernment. Ajaan Suwat would often mention that he got his best insights while doing walking meditation. But you have to know how to do it well. There are a few rules for walking meditation that are different from sitting meditation, having to do with the big differences between the two: One, the … 
  21. Equanimity Isn’t Apathy
     … If your concentration is strong enough, you can observe what you’re while you’re doing it. So, the issue lies in getting your mind in a state where it’s willing to learn, where it’s able to observe cause and effect, so you can master the skill. That’s how equanimity functions. It doesn’t mean not caring about what happens. You … 
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