Search results for: "The Mind"

  1. Page 118
  2. Bewildered
     … In particular, we try to figure out how they invade the mind and remain there. When we know that, we can figure out what to do so that they don’t remain in the mind. To give some explanation as to why pain can be so bewildering, the Buddha points out that there are many places in dependent co-arising where pain can appear … 
  3. Right Learning
     … It can be just there in the back of the mind. You know that it’s there, you don’t deny that it’s there, you admit its presence, but then you learn to work around it. Learn to see which tendencies you have in the mind that are going to latch on to it, and just let them go, let them go, let … 
  4. Patience & Hope
     … And where do your actions come from? From the mind. So skill in your words and deeds has to come from skill in the mind—which is what meditation is all about. We’re developing the skills of mindfulness, alertness, and ardency; the skills of concentration and discernment, that will allow us not to be overcome by the results of past actions, and to … 
  5. Compunction
     … In this case, you train the mind to be with one object and you look after the conversation that’s going on in the mind. Whatever it’s saying that might pull you away from the breath, learn how to put that aside. Whatever complaints it has, this is where you can use the term, “I don’t care. I don’t care about … 
  6. Universal Truths
     … Because as you work with the breath, you begin to gain a sense of the power that the mind has on the sensation of the breath. You can play with the breath: Make it long, make it short, deep, shallow, heavy, light, fast or slow. You can check the impact on the body and the impact on the mind of those different ways of … 
  7. Caring Enough to Doubt
     … And unlike a lot of the pleasures of the world that dull the mind, this pleasure doesn’t. It gives you a sense of well-being, a sense of strength, and clarity in the mind. As you pursue it, you begin to see, “Oh, yeah, it is possible to let go of unskillful qualities.” Maybe not everything right away, but you see that the … 
  8. The Pleasure of the Middle Way
     … It didn’t require that he take anything away from anyone else and it didn’t intoxicate the mind in the way sensory pleasures can. So he decided to explore further to see if that state of concentration could be the path. And the more he got to know the path, the more he realized that this was the solution to his problem. When … 
  9. Metta Metacognition
     … We’re not training only the mind to be smart and intelligent, we’re training the heart to be intelligent as well—in other words, to will things in a way that really is for your true happiness. If it’s just the mind, it’s pretty weak. But if you’ve got the mind working together with the heart, and you’ve got … 
  10. Pulling Out of the Narratives
     … There are more possibilities in the mind than there are dreamt of in your narratives. So try to deconstruct the narratives, see what’s left, and then see what other narratives, other ways of understanding the mind, you could create that would be more useful and productive.
  11. A Snare of Death Laid Out
     … It means the mind’s fascination with planning them, all the embroidery we create around them, all the perceptions and feelings and thought constructs—verbal and mental fabrications. Often that’s where our craving is focused. Often, when you desire a person, it’s not the person you desire. You desire your perceptions and thoughts of the person. So you want to get the … 
  12. Protection for the Holidays
     … When a feeling comes up—say, of pleasure or displeasure—you have to ask yourself, “Is this the kind of pleasure that will be good for the mind, or is it going to be bad?” You could just say, “Well, this is the holiday season, so it’s time to go along with the pleasure.” But no. Some pleasures are bad for the mind … 
  13. Worry
     … Otherwise, the mind will be hungry, desperate, and will jump at anything. So again, you’re training the mind not to be overcome by pleasure, not overcome by pain. You’re not only establishing something good here in the present moment, but you’re also doing this for the sake of the future. You will need these abilities when things get difficult. When unexpected … 
  14. Admirable Friendship
     … It was just disturbance. “What’s the disturbance in the mind? What am I doing that’s causing that disturbance?” If you can pay attention in here and ask those questions and look for those disturbances, that’s what’s going to solve all the problems. Because once the mind is not creating unnecessary suffering or disturbances for itself, it’s not going to … 
  15. Equanimity Isn’t Everything
     … They have a real pull on the mind, a real hold on the mind. This is where you have to exert a fabrication, like we’re doing it right now: focusing on the breath, adjusting the breath. There’s verbal fabrication in the directed thought and evaluation as you direct your thoughts to the breath and evaluate the breath. Bodily fabrication is the in … 
  16. Helping Others Is a Battle
     … To face up to those things, you have to get the mind in a state where it’s really at ease with itself, where you feel comfortable in your own skin and not easily knocked over by unskillful thoughts that come through the mind. Then you can deal with them. This is why we put so much emphasis on getting the mind into concentration … 
  17. Brahmaviharas on the Path
     … You have to realize, of course, that the brahmaviharas are not the natural, innate quality of the mind, any more than their opposites are. Ill will comes to the mind just as easily as goodwill. Thoughts of harmfulness come just as easily as thoughts of compassion. This means we have to develop the brahmaviharas. This is a kind of karma. It’s a mental … 
  18. Your Duty Lies Right Here
     … If you don’t train the mind, you’ll do things that get you reborn into a lot of suffering. So it all comes back here. What are you doing right now? What’s happening in the mind? What choices are you making? Are you making them skillfully? That’s where you’re responsible. If you’re not responsible for this, then can you … 
  19. The Web of Pain
     … This is to combat a tendency the mind has, which is to focus on the pains. You may have noticed that sitting here meditating for an hour, a lot of pain seems to come up in the body, whereas you can sit still for an hour and watch a movie, watch a TV show, and there doesn’t seem to be much pain at … 
  20. The Buddha’s Shoulds
     … In particular, all the factors of the path develop sensitivity of the mind so that you can see where in the mind is something of real value. As we’re sitting here meditating, we’re engaging in one of the Buddha’s shoulds. You should develop the path; you should develop concentration. Anything that gets in the way of your concentration right now, you … 
  21. Training Your Minds
     … When we talk about the mind being like a committee, sometimes it seems like that’s too small an image. It’s more like a crowd, and lots of people in the crowd have different agendas. So as you’re meditating, you have to realize that even though part of the mind is with the breath, there are other parts that don’t want … 
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