Search results for: "The Breath"

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  2. Two Kinds of Cross-Questioning
     … We focus on the breath, learn to be sensitive to when it’s long, when it’s short, and how it feels when it’s long and it’s short, to see which feels better. Then you can try working with deep and shallow, heavy or light, focusing the breath energy in different parts of the body. There’s lots to play with here … 
  3. Worry vs. Heedfulness
     … Heedfulness November 16, 2019 Bring your attention to the breath. Try to breathe in a way that feels good. And try to stay with the breath all the way in, all the way out, each time you breathe in, each time you breathe out. What often happens, though, is that you stay with the breath a couple of times, and then another thought comes … 
  4. Worldly Equanimity & Its Uses
     … This equanimity also puts the mind in a position where you can be a good judge of what’s going on, because as you settle down with the breath, there are days when you find the breath is very responsive, and other days when it’s not. So you have to put the mind on an even keel to figure out, “Okay, what’s … 
  5. Judging Your Thoughts by What They Do
     … So we work with the breath to create a sense of well-being that gives us strength, and a stillness of mind that allows us to see things clearly for what they are. The concentration will also sensitize us to disturbances in the mind. The more you get in touch with the breath energy in the body, the more you begin to see that … 
  6. Matters of Life & Death
     … Notice what the breath is like when it’s really pleasurable. There will be a sense of fullness, a sense of ease in the breathing. Note that fact. There will be a sense that you really don’t have to do that much to the breath after all. Once you get that sense of the right touch, the light touch, that keeps you balanced … 
  7. Equanimity
     … After telling Rahula to make his mind like earth, he then taught him the steps for breath meditation, which involve a lot of proactive involvement with the breath, a lot of experimentation where you have to learn how to judge the results of your experiments in a reliable way. You’re not just sitting there letting the breath come in and go out any … 
  8. Clinging to Karmic Diarrhea
     … If it’s the breath, what kind of breathing do you like? Where do you like to focus on the breath? What kind of perception of the breath helps you settle down? This is something you have to evaluate for yourself. If not the breath, then what other topic do you find engaging? It’s important that you find something you like and that … 
  9. Recollection of Hell
     … focusing on the breath. That’s a form, one of the elements of form. You direct your thoughts to the breath and evaluate the breath: That’s a type of fabrication. You hold the perception of breath in mind, all this so you can create a sense of feeling that’s pleasant, easeful. You want to spread that throughout the body. Then you’ve … 
  10. Values
    When you focus on the breath and try to stay focused on the breath, it’s partly a matter of technique and partly a matter of your values. The technique can be explained in just a few pages—Ajaan Lee’s seven steps take just two or three pages. And they cover a lot of the territory in the technique: focusing on the breath … 
  11. Desire Is Part of the Path
     … being able to find some pleasure with the breath, to find a sense of refreshment with the breath that strengthens your mind, strengthens the ability to stay here and stick with the path. It’s good for the body, good for the mind. Even if you’re not planning to gain awakening, it’s a good skill to develop because it helps get your … 
  12. A Unified Committee
     … One part is devoted to the breath right now, other parts have nothing to do, so they start wandering off to the past, wandering off to the future, because that’s what they normally do. And when you won’t let them go wandering off as they normally do, they can create trouble. So you’ve got to find some way of getting everybody … 
  13. Character
    As we practice keeping the breath in mind, we bring three qualities to the practice. The first is mindfulness, which is the ability to keep something in mind. In this case, you’re remembering to stay with the breath. And you’re also remembering the lessons you’ve learned from your past meditations—things that worked, things that didn’t work—so that when … 
  14. The Gift of Meditation
     … So what are you doing as you calm the mind down? Often we talk about working with the breath, but sometimes you have to just let the breath go. It’s going to do whatever it’s going to do. You find a spot where you feel safe and secure, and just hold out there for a while and watch. Because it’s only … 
  15. Maintenance Work
     … Think about the breath and be aware of the sensation of the breathing. See? It’s not all that hard. Just doing it is not the hard part. The hard part is the maintaining: keeping it there. That’s because the mind isn’t used to staying in position, just as the body isn’t used to staying in position. But the mind tends … 
  16. The Taste Is Release
     … Think of the breath as surrounding you. We talk about watching the breath, which sometimes is unfortunate. It can give the impression that you’re in one part of the body, right behind your eyes, and you’re watching the breath someplace else, in another part of the body. So remind yourself: There’s breath in your eyes right now, too. If you can … 
  17. The Four Frames of Reference
     … Get back simply to the sensation of the breathing, right here, right now. How does it feel when you breathe in? How does it feel when you breathe out? We have certain preconceived notions about where the breath comes in, how it comes in, how it goes out. But allow yourself to put those notions aside and explore just the actual sensation of breathing … 
  18. All for the Sake of Freedom
     … This is the territory you’re going to try to inhabit right now—the body as you feel it from within—focusing particularly on the breath energy as it flows in the body. When you breathe in, where do you feel the breath? What does the breath feel like? Here we’re not talking just about just the air coming in and out of … 
  19. Cutting the Fetters
     … You’ve got the breath, which is form. You’ve got the feeling of pleasure that goes with the breath: That’s feeling. You’ve got the perception that holds you with the breath — how you visualize the breath coming in and going out, where it goes in the body, how it goes in the body, which sensations in the body can be labeled … 
  20. Together but Separate
     … You’re aware of the breath in a way that gives rise to a feeling of pleasure. If you can’t get the whole body pleasant, you try to get at least part of the body pleasant. Find which part of the body responds to the way you breathe, is sensitive to the way you breathe. For a lot of people, it’s down … 
  21. Take Care
     … Be very careful to stay with the breath. Be very careful to notice even the slightest hint that the mind is going to wander off. Catch it and come right back. The more sensitive you are to that potential, the more solid your concentration’s going to be. The more solid your concentration, the more you can see. The two go together. So, as … 
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