Search results for: "The Breath"

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  2. The Languages of the Mind
     … When you’re talking about the breath right here in the present moment, there’s a particular language that you’re trying to learn here. Right now we’re trying to stick with the language centered on the breath. Some people have noted that when they first read Ajaan Lee, his way of explaining the breath seems kind of strange, but as they start … 
  3. Just This Breath
     … So try to immerse yourself in the breath. The word kayagatasati means mindfulness “immersed in the body.” The “ –gata ” there is a suffix meaning immersed. Try to surround yourself totally with the breath. Be aware of the breath on all sides. That way you don’t have room to hold anything back. Things begin to open up in the body, things begin to open … 
  4. The Primacy of the Mind (2)
     … We’re not watching just the breath, we’re watching the process of fabrication, the processes of attention, as we watch the breath. I know people who say, “Why watch the breath? When you die there won’t be any breath to watch, so what will you hold on to then?” But in the way the Buddha teaches breath meditation in the four tetrads … 
  5. Hold on to Your Frame of Reference
     … that you’re going to stay with the breath in and of itself, regardless. Earthquakes can come, huge tidal waves can come crashing over on you, but you’ll just hold on to the breath. Keep the breath in mind. Keep remembering it every time the breath comes in, every time the breath goes out. This is where you want to be: right with … 
  6. Choices
     … There are lots of different ways you can breathe, and lots of different intentions can take with regard to the breath and your perceptions of what’s happening as you breathe in. Where is the breath coming in? We’ve all learned that it comes through the nose. But when you feel the breathing energy, where does it feel like when it’s coming … 
  7. Lessons from the Breath
     … Know when the breath is coming in, know when it’s going out. If you want, you can use a meditation word along with the breath, like buddho. It means awake. Think bud- with in-breath, dho with the out-: buddho, buddho. Allow the breath to be comfortable. Try not to force it too much. You’re not trying to nail the mind down … 
  8. In Control
    It’s important, as you settle down with the breath, that you try to make it your own—not that you’re going to try to force it to do anything that’s going to put the body out of balance. Actually, making it your own means first listening to what it needs. What does the body need? What does the breath need? Does … 
  9. The Right Time at the Right Place
     … Thinking about the breath: That’s vitakka. Evaluating the breath—how it can be made comfortable and how you can take advantage of that sense of comfort: That’s vicara. Then simply staying with the breath and nothing else: That’s ekaggatā. Those are the three cause factors in getting the mind into jhana. The results will be a sense of ease and pleasure … 
  10. People Who Think Too Much
     … Stay with the breath. There’s a tendency to ask, “Okay, I’ve seen the breath now, what’s next?” Go back and look at the breath again and again and again. Learn how to bring the mind to stillness in lots of different situations and learn how to maintain the stillness in lots of different situations. Then when you really begin to know … 
  11. Doing, Maintaining, Using
     … Mindfulness means keeping something in mind, in this case, remembering the breath, remembering that you want to stay with the breath. Alertness means noticing what’s actually happening right now. How does the breath feel? Is it coming in? Is it going out? Is it comfortable? Is it not comfortable? And are you staying with the breath? Is the mind about to leave the … 
  12. Concentration & Insight
    When you’re focused on the breath, you’re focusing on what’s called “form.” The breath is one of the elements that make up your sense of the form of the body as you feel it from within. In other words, you’re not concerned with how the body looks on the outside. You’re concerned more with how you feel it from … 
  13. Exercising the Mind
     … It’s the same with the breath. You watch the breath for a bit and then there’s a jump and then you watch it some more and there’s a missing gap. So if you see the mind about to jump away from the breath, say, “No, I’m going to stick right here.” Bore right into the breath. See if you can … 
  14. Reclaim Your Breath
     … After all, the breath has an effect not only on the body but also on the mind. So try to be fully aware of the breath. Think of it bathing the whole body, and you’re in the midst of this big breath-bath: the breath coming in, the breath going out, the subtler breath energies that flow through the arms, the legs, the … 
  15. The Committee of the Mind
    The Committee of the Mind April 22, 2022 We have that phrase in English, “to make up your mind.” It’s an interesting way of saying “to decide.” So make up your mind that you’re going to stay right here with one thing, with the breath. Make that your intention and try to maintain that intention all the way through the hour. You … 
  16. Be Precise
     … So, you focus on the breath. You begin to realize that the way you focus on the breath, the image you hold in mind of the breath, and the perception of the breath are all going to have an effect on how the breath feels—whether it’s going to be a good place to stay or not a good place to stay. But … 
  17. How the Breath Helps You to Die Well
    There are meditation traditions that have you look directly at your mind and they say of those of us who are focusing on the breath, “You’re going to spend all of your life focusing on your breath? What are you going to do when you die? When you die, the breath’s going to leave you. And you’ll be left with nothing … 
  18. Adolescent Practice
     … So, when you work with the breath, keep two things in mind. One is that you’re going to experiment with the breath to see what feels good right now. The other is that you also have to look at the way you’re experimenting. You watch both the breath and the mind as it’s dealing with the breath. And there are no … 
  19. Respect for Concentration
     … Just be with the breath as it comes in, as it goes out. And the next time it comes and goes out, remind yourself to stay with the breath. Try to get sensitive to how the breath feels. What does a long breath feel like? What does a short breath feel like? Which feels better? Experiment. You can try experimenting with deep or shallow … 
  20. Energizing Your Meditation
     … I remember when I first read about the Buddha’s teaching on the breath meditation, I was told that in yoga you manipulate the breath, but in the Buddhist practice you don’t change the breath at all. And to this day there are people who make this a partisan issue, saying that Ajaan Lee’s method is non-Buddhist—it’s a yoga … 
  21. Calm in the Storm
     … So as you’re meditating on the breath, you begin to notice that you’re learning not only about the breath, but also about the mind as the mind talks to itself about playing with the breath energies, the perceptions you hold in mind of how the breath comes in, how it goes out, and the feelings that you can develop through the way … 
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