Search results for: "Suffering"

  1. Page 118
  2. Don’t Be a Traitor to Yourself
     … And other people can decide, “Oh, I want that.” In that particular analogy, the Buddha says that if the first hawk doesn’t let go of the little piece of meat, it’s going to be suffering for a long time. So it’s good to learn how to let go of those kinds of things. Focus instead on the good food you can … 
  3. To Excel
     … And you have to practice to the level where you know that even if aging comes, illness comes, death comes, social unrest comes, or a split in the Sangha comes, your mind is solid enough so it won’t have to suffer. A verse in the Mangala Sutta says that you want to get the mind so that even when it’s touched by … 
  4. The Food of Feelings
     … That’s when there’s an end for suffering. So feed your breath well. And in turn, it’ll give you something genuinely good to feed on.
  5. No Happiness Other than Peace
     … Compassion in realizing that if you want your happiness to last, it can’t cause suffering to anybody else. And purity in that you really do look at your actions and their results, making sure that they stay in line with your principles. So we’re here not just for a pleasure hit. We’re here learning how to use happiness for really good … 
  6. The Forerunner of All Things
     … We want happiness but we create suffering. That’s because of the ignorance inside. And our hearts and minds are capable of all kinds of things. As he said, the mind is more variegated than the animal kingdom. Think of all the different kinds of animals there are—on land, in the ocean, in the air—and the different mindsets that each of those … 
  7. Normalcy
     … If we want to learn how not to suffer from them, we have to keep our minds normal in their presence. This is what virtue and concentration and discernment are for. They work together to keep the mind at normalcy. It’s bad enough that aging, illness, and death can come, but we often make them worse. We’ve got to practice so at … 
  8. The Best of a Bad Situation
     … But even when situations don’t get that dire, you have to realize that you’re addicted to your clingings, and your clingings are making you suffer. And as with any addiction, a lot of the problem is a lack of imagination. You can’t imagine relating to your thoughts, your feelings, your perceptions, even your acts of consciousness in any other way aside … 
  9. Defilements with Their Bambi Eyes
     … But then what kind of friends are they? Are they the friends who get you to commit a crime and then, when the police come, they run away, leave you holding the bag? They don’t suffer the results of karma. We do, the mind does. And then the defilements come back with new ideas, and we fall for them again, because of our … 
  10. Self-Knowledge
     … seeing where you are and getting a sense of the possibilities of where you can go in causing less suffering, less harm, through your thoughts, your words, and your deeds. That’s a task you can tackle and actually get results.
  11. You Contain Multitudes
     … If we were innately good, then why are we suffering? We’ve got a mixture in there. So have a sense of the range of possibilities that this opens up. The Buddha talks about perception as a mental fabrication, and that includes visualization: visualizing yourself as capable of following this path. Just think of the great ajaans in Thailand. They were born out in … 
  12. Being Somebody, Going Somewhere
     … realizing that his thoughts led either to happiness or to suffering and affliction. He saw that if a thought was imbued with sensuality, or ill will, or harmfulness, it would be afflictive, so he made up his mind to “beat it back,” just as a cowherd would beat back the cows he’s responsible for if they start getting into the rice fields. As … 
  13. Training Your Minds
     … But you have to keep looking at the possibility that, as the Buddha said, we can put an thorough end to suffering. There should be at least one part of the mind that’s determined to see that through, to see if it really is possible. That’s the part you’ve got to nurture. As for the other ones, as I said, sometimes … 
  14. Family Ties
     … His main exclamation around family life is just about how much suffering there is—how burdensome we can be with one another—and it’s one of those reflections that’s very useful when you sit down to meditate. Realize you can’t find happiness out there. It’s got to be in here. Sometimes, no matter how good you are, no matter how … 
  15. At Home with the Breath
     … The extent to which you can feel compassion for people who are suffering and empathetic joy for people who are happy or creating the causes for happiness: Those are good feelings to engender inside. It feels good to think these things. Thoughts of equanimity, when you realize there are certain things that are beyond your control and you accept that so you can focus … 
  16. Harmony Inside & Outside
     … If you find yourself suffering because of some deeply held notions, well, you’re willing to give them up, or at least try your best to give them up. In that way, an inner generosity, an inner largeness of spirit is what helps the meditation get genuine results. As for kind words, address kind words to yourself. There’s a famous story concerning Ajaan … 
  17. Conspiracies in the Mind
     … That’s the conspiracy that you’re really suffering from. The world outside is never going to be free of conspiracies or conspiracy theories. As we all know, this is the way human beings act. They know that some things are rightly regarded as wrong, but that doesn’t keep them from doing those things. They just try to do them in secret. That … 
  18. Take Down Your Sails
     … Even if people don’t touch it, just the fact that we’re living in a world where things can change, things are going to change, you can create a lot of suffering out of laying claim to “this has to be this way and I can’t stand it for being any other way.” This is why the Buddha teaches not-self. If … 
  19. Fabrication at the Breath
     … It’s just learning how to analyze it, learning how to master these processes so that you can get them on your side—on the side of wanting to develop a path that leads to the end of suffering—rather than just muddling around in your old ways and creating more and more suffering and stress and complaining about it, but not really being … 
  20. Ugly Body, Happy Mind
     … What’s creating a bridge between the physical pain and the pain that you’re suffering from in the mind? It’s a perception. What kind of perception? Why do you think in those terms? The same with the contemplation of the parts of the body: The Buddha recommends that you start with your own body first and then realize that any other body … 
  21. Opting Out
     … With discernment, you realize there are certain desires you could give in to, but they’re going to lead to suffering, and you find a way beyond those desires. When the goal is reached, when release comes, you’ve found a happiness that doesn’t have to depend on anything, which means it doesn’t have to feed on anyone. Remember the Buddha’s … 
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