Search results for: "Mindfulness"

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  2. The Unity of the Path
     … You have to keep something in mind in order to get the mind concentrated. As the Buddha says, you keep the body in and of itself in mind, or feelings in and of themselves, mind states, or mental qualities in and of themselves. You keep those things in mind. Then you bring the qualities of mindfulness, alertness, and ardency. Mindfulness is the act of … 
  3. The Primacy of the Mind (1)
    The Primacy of the Mind (1) June 21, 2021 Mano-pubbangama dhamma, the mind is the forerunner of all phenomena: the first line in the Dhammapada. It’s well known, yet all too often when we come to meditation we forget it. We think that meditation is about simply accepting what comes in through the senses and going with the flow—in other words … 
  4. A Mirror for the Mind
    A Mirror for the Mind January 21, 2012 There’s a passage in one of Ajaan Lee’s talks where he says that the breath is like a mirror for the mind. This is why we look so intently at the breath, because it’s going to teach us some very important lessons about the mind. In particular, it’ll show us how to … 
  5. Dwelling in Emptiness
     … Wherever there’s a disturbance in the mind, wherever the mind is not still, take that as an example of the first noble truth, the truth of stress. If the mind is full of disturbances, it’s going to be pretty muddy. It’s not going to be clear. This is one of the reasons why we try to make the mind as still … 
  6. Beyond Duality
    Practicing concentration is a process of making the mind one. You focus on a single object, and the longer you stay with it, the more the object and the mind seem to blend into one. Take the breath for example. When you begin, it seems that you’re in one part of the body watching the breath in another part of the body. But … 
  7. Stepping Back
     … And what are you going to do then? If you have enough mindfulness to pull yourself out of your thought worlds, you’re safe. If you have enough mindfulness to pull yourself out of anything the mind does, you’re safe. We talk about the mind clinging, the mind hanging on to things, but it doesn’t have hands to cling. When it “clings … 
  8. Sit with It
     … And it’s the same with the mind. Another quote from Ajaan Lee: He says that the ways of the mind are more than can be put in any book. Your mind is your mind. There are similarities among our minds, which is why we’re able to have instructions and learn from instructions, but we each have our own particularities—the details of … 
  9. Proving the Teachings
     … That requires mindfulness and alertness. Mindfulness means that you keep reminding yourself this is where you want to stay for the next hour, right here with the breath. Alertness is the process of actually watching the breath, watching the sensations and also keeping watch over the mind, catching it when it wanders off and then bringing it back. In the beginning, keeping the mind … 
  10. Mindful of Your Potentials
     … There’s a potential for the mind to be skillful and a potential for the mind to be unskillful. If skillful qualities haven’t arisen in the mind yet, you can be mindful to make them arise. Then you’re mindful to keep them going. That’s the other thing you’re mindful of: Once something skillful is there, you don’t just let … 
  11. No Mistakes Are Fatal
    No Mistakes Are Fatal January, 2003 Our minds are pretty chaotic systems, which is why following the middle way is so difficult. It’s so easy for a chaotic system to get knocked out of equilibrium, to veer off to the left, to veer off to the right. Staying in the middle is difficult; it requires a lot of balance. So it’s no … 
  12. Analyzing Results
     … And when you’re right here, how do you maintain right here? Some thoughts may come up and nibble away at the edges of the mind, and it’s almost as if the mind can brush them off, nothing much happens. But other thoughts eat right into the center of the mind, or the mind goes out to eat them. Then you’re off … 
  13. Diagnosing the Mind
    There’s a phrase you often encounter in the teachings of the forest ajaans, that when you sit down to meditate, make sure that your mind is standing upright, not leaning forward or leaning back, leaning to the left or leaning to the right. Leaning forward or back means you’re focusing either on the future or on the past. You want to look … 
  14. Maintaining Goodwill
     … The most important thing is to learn how to develop the skills you need in order to keep the mind still right here: mindfulness and alertness. Learn how to be very skeptical of the mind’s claims when it says that this or that thought about the past or the future is really important, you’ve really got to think about it. You’ve … 
  15. Sort Things Out
    We’re trying to get our minds quiet so that we can sort through what’s going on inside. If there’s a lot of noise, a lot of commotion running around, you can’t see things clearly. And there’s a lot to sort out. If we could just trust that our minds were basically good, basically pure, it’d be easy: Just … 
  16. Finding the Openings
     … It blows your mind all over the place. A word of praise, and your mind gets all blown up. A word of criticism, and your mind gets blown around. So, you have to learn how to get your mind to offer less resistance to the wind, to allow the wind to go around it. Find a way to root the mind, first here in … 
  17. Perceptions of Earth & Space
    As you get ready to meditate, it’s useful to think about a series of comments the Buddha made about speech that also can be applied to the mind. If you’re going to say anything, the Buddha said, it should pass three tests: One, is it true? Two, is it beneficial? And three, is this the right time and place for that? Applying … 
  18. Catch It in the Act
     … That’s what to do by developing your mindfulness, your alertness, your powers of concentration. You help to get the mind out of its ordinary normal discussions, its ordinary inner dialogue—although dialogue is hardly the word, its more all the clamor that’s going on inside. You get the mind with the breath, putting your awareness with at least a still spot someplace … 
  19. Why Train the Mind
    Why Train the Mind October 17, 2011 We practice meditation because we want a happiness that’s reliable and harmless: harmless both to ourselves and to other people around us. We want to find a happiness that doesn’t depend on the ups and downs of life. Otherwise, it’s as if we’re riding a roller coaster. Some people get a thrill out … 
  20. Where Your Mind Gravitates
     … Here it is, your own mind, and when you’re not riding herd on it, it seems to have a mind of its own. When the Buddha talks about being sensitive to the mind as you breathe in, sensitive to the mind as you breathe out, this is what he’s talking about. The ajaans will talk about how when you sit down to … 
  21. A Seeker’s Habits
     … After all, it’s the same mind. The mind that’s sitting here meditating right now is the same mind that gives the orders when you’re out acting among people. So you want to make sure that your habits are also in line with the fact that you’re a meditator—that you practice training the mind. It all has to be aimed … 
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