Search results for: "Skillfulness"
- Page 141
- Trust in the Power of the Mind… People in the past had to develop skills that required very strong concentration, much stronger than is required simply in reading. The power of the mind is largely untapped. So here we are meditating, assuming that the mind does have some power. After all, if it were just the result of physical events, sitting here and meditating wouldn’t make much of a difference …
- The Swinging Balance… that no matter how bad things were on the outside, it is possible to develop skill inside so that you don’t have to suffer from those things. If you’re not making yourself suffer, you’re placing less of a burden on others as well. So whatever amount of time it takes to get the mind to settle down is time well spent …
- The Not-Self Discourse… It helps you let go of a lot of other, less skillful attachments. But then, when you begin to see—as your sensitivities get developed—that this, too, has its limitations, and keeping in mind the Buddha’s third noble truth, you say, “Well, how about letting go of even this?” That’s the task that lies before us. The five brethren have shown …
- Sense Pleasures & Sensuality… But, he said, if you notice there’s a pleasure where, when you indulge in it, unskillful qualities increase and skillful qualities decrease, you’ve got to step back from that pleasure, you’ve got to deny yourself that pleasure because it’s going to be bad for your mind. After all, there are some sensual pleasures that are actually good for the practice …
- Breath Meditation: Four Sets of Tools… You’re actually giving yourself the skills you’ll need to deal with them. That way, whatever’s weighing the mind down, you can release it from it. So these first three tetrads are basically dealing with all the component factors of getting the mind together with the breath, because what you want is a sense of the breath filling the body, a sense …
- Breath vs. Distraction… This way, if a distracting thought comes, it’s easy to follow through with the Buddha’s first instructions for dealing with distracting thoughts, which is to replace them with a more skillful thought—in this case, coming back to the breath because there’s still more to explore. Now, if those thoughts have a pull that keeps pulling you back, that’s a …
- A Slave to Craving… That ability to talk to yourself in a skillful way: That’s a good talent to have when you’re going to meditate, so that you can take a cheerful attitude to the setbacks, realizing that you put in the effort, and it may not show itself quite yet, but you can trust that, at some point, it will. That’s a lesson you …
- Fabrication Theory… Another quality that’s required to make this a skill is persistence. You stick with it again and again and again, because it’s the continuity of your effort that’s going to make the difference. You could focus on the breath for a few seconds and then wander off to something else and focus on it for a few more seconds and then …
- Scribe Knowledge, Warrior Knowledge… The path is a skillful form of action. The path is a type of kamma. But it’s a special type of kamma: kamma leading to the end of kamma*. *It’s also a special type of fabrication because it gets you to the unfabricated. But you have to develop it first. Only when it’s developed and it’s done its work, that …
- Interested in the Breath… How do you gain discernment watching the breath? There are two big issues that are related to gaining discernment with any skill, and they apply particularly to gaining discernment into the mind. Practicing with the breath is like practicing the piano. You have to be observant about what you’re doing when you’re playing the scales. How do you play the scales in …
- Patience & Tenacity… This allows you to focus instead on what you can do with your body, what you can do with your mind, in the sense of creating good kamma by doing skillful things So you can think about the fact that the body is just these different pieces. You might think about the skeleton. Visualize the skeleton to yourself and just go through each bone …
- To Strengthen the Path… You see that the best thing to do is to shape a state of mind that’s harmless, a state of mind that’s skillful. Anything that comes up in the mind that’s going to go against that, you want to put it aside. And you want to prevent it from coming up, if possible. As for the qualities that will get the …
- A Safe Haven Through Alertness… It becomes more and more a skill. As it develops, you develop both the breath and the mind, in the sense of being at home right here. This is your area and it’s very solid, very strong. When you come from a position of strength, it’s a lot easier to deal with the difficulties of life. So bring the mind and the …
- Eight Principles… When you find that you’re not content with your situation, ask yourself, “What are you thirsting for? What are you hungering for? And once you get it, how long can you keep it? Is it worth it? Wouldn’t it be better to develop the skills of mind where you don’t need things?” If you’re going to be discontented about something …
- Chopping Off Thoughts… There is a desire that leads to true happiness, a desire that has to be augmented by learning how to be skillful, being mindful, alert, and ardent in your meditation. Cultivate that desire and see how far it can take you.
- The Stages of Meditation… But there’s a separate skill in, one, learning how to get here and, two, learning how to stay. The thoughts will come up: “Well, this is boring. What’s next?” So say, “No. Who’s bored? Who’s saying that?” Start questioning those thoughts. Don’t believe everything that comes through your head. Don’t believe everything you think. Just see the thought …
- Oneness… This is an essential skill in the meditation. As for the insight that will arise from this, you don’t have to worry about it, at least not yet. Just make sure the foundation is solid.
- Coming into the Present… Use your perceptions as wise actions, skillful actions. Apply some of the Buddha’s teachings, and see where they lead you. He never promised a full explanation of reality or a master narrative of what the cosmos is all about. But he did promise some useful tools for putting an end to suffering, for understanding suffering, and putting an end to it. It’s …
- Understanding Pain… When you change your present karma until it’s more skillful, then you realize that you can be with the potentials of all kinds of things coming in from the past but you don’t have to suffer from them. It’s making this distinction that allows us to find release from suffering—the end of suffering in this lifetime. After all, people like …
- Mature Strategies… His teachings on generosity, virtue, and the development of goodwill — all the things that come under the category of merit — are skillful ways of employing your strategy of self. Basically, he has you take your sense of self, your sense of a continuing identity not only in this lifetime but also even into other lifetimes, and shows how to work with it intelligently so …
- Load next page...
