Search results for: "Thought"

  1. Page 124
  2. Putting out the Flame
     … Attachment to form, feelings, perceptions, thought fabrications, consciousness: Wherever there’s attachment, there’s going to be a being. You’ve taken on the identity of being a being through your attachments. But by taking those attachments apart, you go beyond being a being. When you’re a being, you have to feed. Just as a fire feeds off the wind, you’re going … 
  3. Recollection of the Buddha
     … If the mind settles down by thinking about these things, then you can finally put the thoughts aside and get back to the breath with a much greater sense of energy, a much greater sense of confidence and conviction, having generated a desire to do what the Buddha did. After all, he gained awakening while focusing on his breath. And that’s the technique … 
  4. The End of the World
     … In fact, most of them thought they were not going to survive. But they knew that at the very least what they would do in the present moment could make a difference, would have the possibility of making a difference, so they stuck with that. They kept doing what they had to do, had to do, had to do, what they’d been trained … 
  5. Make the Most of Right Now
     … Even though the path is made out of intentions, thoughts, words, deeds, still it’s a set of intentions, a set of aggregates, that provides the way out. You have to depend on this body, with all its illnesses and its aging, as a tool for practice. Either you take it as an object of contemplation, or you focus on the breath: contemplating the … 
  6. Why Now
     … And if you find that it is wandering, just drop whatever the thought is, no matter how important it may seem, or how interesting, or how entertaining. Remind yourself: That’s not what you need right now. You’re trying to develop a skill, the skill of being mindful and alert in the present moment. Why do you want to be here? You have … 
  7. Perceptions of the Breath
     … As the Buddha said, two of the factors of the first jhana—directed thought and evaluation—are verbal fabrications, the way the mind talks to itself. As you get the mind to settle down, there doesn’t have to be a lot of conversation. It can be like the conversation between people who know each other very well. One or two words is enough … 
  8. Afraid of Inner Pleasure
     … A lot of those things you thought would penetrate and destroy things inside really don’t destroy anything at all. This is *the *basic message of the four noble truths, that the suffering we experience in the world, the suffering that really weighs down the mind, comes from inside. People can be cruel outside; people can do horrible things outside. And they do. But … 
  9. Full Attention
     … You’re in the midst, being bathed by the breath sensation, letting it come in, letting it go out, and directing it simply with a thought: “longer” or “shorter,” “deeper,” “more shallow.” If you don’t find the breath refreshing, ask yourself, “What is getting in the way? What needs to be refreshed in the body right now? What’s not getting the refreshment … 
  10. Mindfulness in the Driver’s Seat
     … Our thoughts have arrows in them. They’re pointing in a direction. So we want to make sure we’re going in the right direction. That’s what mindfulness is for. It starts as a faculty of the memory. If you think of the charioteer, he has to keep a map in mind of where the different roads go. He also has to remember … 
  11. Universal Truths
     … And all the ignorant thought processes that go on through the day: You’re putting up a resistance to them so that you can understand them. It’s through understanding them that you can go beyond them, transcend them. These principles are universal. That’s why the Buddha called them ariya-sacca, which we translate as noble truths. But the word ariya,in addition … 
  12. Take the One Seat
     … So when you take this chair, the one chair in the room, sitting back and watching things, be very careful that your thoughts don’t move in and push you out of the chair or lure you out of the chair. That way, you can watch them in action and figure out: “What exactly am I doing here? Where’s the misunderstanding? What is … 
  13. Admirable Friendship
     … how you deal with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations; how you deal with thoughts, feelings, and perceptions; even how you deal with the act of consciousness. All these things are a matter of skill. This is why the Buddha didn’t present himself as a savior. He was a teacher. He pointed out the way. Part of his pointing out the way … 
  14. Strategic Wisdom
     … It’s no less Dhamma because of the fact that you thought it up and discovered and used it and got results. Even if it’s not in the texts, the fact it does lead to a lasting happiness means that it’s Dhamma. When the Buddha gave a set of criteria for deciding what is Dhamma and what’s not Dhamma, he didn … 
  15. Think of the Consequences
     … that this should be done or that should be said or this should be thought as a quick way of finding happiness. As the Buddha said, the path requires some patience. You can’t be lazy in the path, but at the same time, you can’t be impatient. You have to take things step by step as they happen, as the mind is … 
  16. Don’t Be Burdensome
     … Even if they saw a cow off in the distance and they thought it was a monk, they’d turn away. So the Buddha called the monks together and told them a couple of stories. One was about a monk who’d gone into the forest. The forest was a nice place but it had one drawback. There was a marsh nearby, and a … 
  17. Stop Shooting Yourself
     … The thought occurred to her: She’d probably been the victim of harsh speech many times, a victim of the gossip many, many lifetimes, and her feeling of oppression became even more overwhelming. After leaving meditation, she went to mention this to Ajaan Fuang, hoping that he would console her, say something gentle and kind and reassuring. But he said, “Well, it’s your … 
  18. Defilements Are Real
     … Some people take that as a burdensome thought—that there’s more work to be done—because they’d like to hear that there’s nothing more they need to do. Which means that they just want to live with the dirt and tell themselves that it’s not dirt. But they never get to see what a really clean mind would be like … 
  19. Maintaining Stillness
     … In other contexts, simply be aware of your sensory processes, noticing how you focus the eye on certain objects, what thoughts build up around those objects, seeing the process as it’s happening rather than running along with the current, but simply looking at the process and seeing exactly where in the process you’re causing yourself stress and suffering, either physical or mental … 
  20. Feeding on Feeding
     … In Indian thought, though, the basic action that they’re always trying to explain was eating. I think this is one of the best ways of getting to know the aggregates: to see how the aggregates function in eating. This is a very integral part of the experience we all have: We’re hungry, we look for food. We’ve got a body: That … 
  21. Wherever You Go, There You Aren’t
     … So whenever that comes up, remind yourself, “No, right here.” The thought that wants you to look over there is something you’ve got to look at right here. When you see your way clear to be able to do this: That’s when things will change. That nun, who finally was willing to submit to Ajaan Maha Boowa’s instructions, later became known … 
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