Search results for: "Suffering"

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  2. Fighting Attitude
     … In Ajaan Mun’s final Dhamma talk he said, “There are lots of things you’ve got to let go of in the practice, but the one thing you hold onto is your determination to see things through to the end of suffering.” That’s your inner warrior. And so the knowledge that comes from developing the mind through meditation: Often it’s unexpected … 
  3. Negotiating with Death
     … As long as we identify with these things, we’re going to suffer. And not only that, we’re going to do things that are unskillful in our attempt to hang onto them. The question comes up, “Why did he choose these five categories? There are lots of other ways you could divide up the processes of the mind. And the answer seems to … 
  4. A Friend to the World
     … Here we’re talking about someone who’s more than just an ordinary, everyday good person but someone who can really see into the causes of suffering and their end. Now, the ideal way to have friendship with this sort of person is to engage this person in discussion about these qualities, and to try to emulate them. So basically when you’re spreading … 
  5. Finding the Openings
     … It has rain, it has all kinds of things to make you suffer if you open yourself up to them. And yes, we’re often told that part of the practice is to be open to things, but I still haven’t found that teaching in the Pali Canon. The only openness the Buddha advises is when you’re open about your past or … 
  6. Put Some Heart into Your Practice
     … You realize that if your happiness depends on the suffering of others, it’s not going to last. When you’ve found something good, the wise attitude is to want to share it, and not just hold it for yourself. So, getting the mind into concentration requires an attitude of generosity. The same with virtue: Virtue is perfected at stream entry, which is a … 
  7. True Freedom of Speech
     … In other words, you’ve understood what the big problem in life is—the problem of suffering—and that the problem comes from within. It comes from what you’re choosing to do, starting with the thoughts of the mind. Then you realize that from the thoughts in the mind, it comes out your mouth. This means that that’s the first place you … 
  8. The Allure of Self
     … So you want to notice when you pick one up, especially one that involves suffering: Why? That’s the next step. You’ve seen the origination, what causes it. You’ve seen the fact that it passes away. Then when it comes back, you go for it again. What’s the allure? A lot of things we identify with, when you really look at … 
  9. Don’t Just Do It
     … It’s full of koans… lots of questions to which there is no answer, like: ‘What is the cause of suffering’?” Well, it just so happens there is an answer to that question. And that’s the whole point of asking the question to begin with—to arrive at useful answers. In this case, we’re trying to arrive at an ultimate happiness, an … 
  10. Death Is Normal
     … The grief you have can be turned to compassion as you think about all the people in the world who’ve suffered a loss. You see them walking up and down the streets all the time. They’re everywhere—people carrying a loss around. That thought transmutes your grief into compassion, which is a more uplifting and more useful emotion. But before you get … 
  11. The Dhamma Wheel in the Heart
     … He’s not a god who comes down and says, “You’ve got to do this.” He’s just saying, “If you want to put an end to suffering, this is what you have to do.” It’s the same on each level of right view. On the first level, mundane right view, it’s belief in the principle of karma and in the … 
  12. Skillful Papañca
     … You end up taking on identities that can lead to a lot of suffering. You can ask yourself, as an agent: What do I want to do? And how can I best do it? And take as your identity the decision to not neglect discernment, to guard the truth, to be devoted to relinquishment, and to train for calm. As for yourself as the … 
  13. Objectivity
     … Be very clear about what you don’t want to identify with, what causes suffering. That way, you take your partiality for happiness and you turn it into a reason to be more and more objective, less and less inclined to side with one point of view over another without good evidence. So even though the mind tends to be partial, you can find … 
  14. Friends with The Breath
     … The other is the pain doesn’t go away, but you can be with the pain, and the mind doesn’t suffer. But if you’re analyzing the pain, and it’s just getting too much, you’re not getting anywhere with it, then go back to the comfortable parts of the body. Those are your safe place. The pain can have the other … 
  15. The Second Frame of Reference
     … So simply having that perception that you have a role to play in how much pain there’s going to be, and how much suffering there’s going to be: That gives you the confidence to face down a lot of pains that otherwise you couldn’t stand. This is what mindfulness of feelings is all about: learning how to see the intentional element … 
  16. Befriending the Breath
     … Once you develop this good relationship with your breath, then it’s a lot easier to be on good terms with the people around you, and to be really helpful to them, because you’re not burdening yourself down with unnecessary suffering. That way you have more energy to help the people around you, to deal with whatever their issues are. So it comes … 
  17. In Line with the Dhamma
     … The Buddha came and basically said that there is an end of suffering, and anybody can do it. Yet there were still people who clung to their old beliefs and attacked him. They would rather be unhappy in their way than happy in the Buddha’s way. As we practice, we have to ask ourselves if we have that attitude as well. There’s … 
  18. Overcoming Fear
     … Some people say, “Here you are with your eyes closed, looking after your own mind, when so many people in the world are suffering.” But you have to ask yourself, “What are you responsible for?” The very first thing you’re responsible for is your actions. If you can’t trust your actions, how can anybody else trust them? You have to make your … 
  19. Training Your Minds
     … Remember that as you’re sitting here thinking black thoughts about those people, who’s suffering? You’re the one who’s suffering. They’re pretty oblivious, usually. Yet here you are all worked up. For what purpose? Have some compassion for yourself. Part of the mind will say, “Well, if I don’t think about this hard enough, justice won’t be done … 
  20. On the Surface of Things
     … That’s where the problem of stress and suffering happen, and that’s the level on which it can be solved.
  21. Do Jhana
     … Now, it is true that there are many of us in this society who are suffering from a negative body image. But that’s an unhealthy negative body image. Society is teaching you that your body’s ugly while certain people’s bodies are beautiful. But this contemplation reminds you that everybody’s body are made up of the same things. It’s a … 
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