Search results for: "Mindfulness"

  1. Page 168
  2. Mistakes
     … After all, the mind doesn’t have a hand that can grasp onto things. But it does have intentions, the intentions lead to actions, and we have certain ways of acting that we do over and over and over again. They become habitual. And the Buddha’s pointing out that we do these things in ignorance, and because we’re in ignorance, we cause … 
  3. Patience & Sensitivity
    The ajaans often make the point that when you begin meditating, you first have to take a survey of your body and mind: How are things right now? Before you focus on the breath and get started in what you plan to do for the evening, see what raw materials you have: what state is the body in; what state is the mind in … 
  4. Enlarged Awareness
     … It changes the balance of power in the mind. Things that used to seem large and overwhelming, when placed within this frame of awareness, seem a lot smaller, less threatening. And you can carry this enlarged frame wherever you go. It’s a matter of mindfulness, keeping it in mind all the time. As you do this, you begin to see the other things … 
  5. The World of the Noble Truths
     … And these becomings the Buddha talks about can happen in the mind. The world outside that we know is also a state of becoming. We’re in it because of becomings in the mind. We take on many different becomings in the mind in the course of the day. You focus on wanting something and then you take on an identity within the world … 
  6. Strength of Conviction: 1
     … Does it make sense? Does it seem like it’s going to be a good thing? What part of the mind is attracted to it? And if it’s the part of the mind that you feel is honorable and trustworthy, then you follow through. This, the Buddha said, is where you give rise to the desire to practice. And then you try it … 
  7. The Buddha’s Buffet
     … You’ve got a peace of mind that no amount of money can buy. The third quality the Buddha recommends is generosity. Realize that giving a gift is a trade. By giving any excess wealth away, you develop good qualities in the mind. You develop a more expansive mind, a more generous mind, a more spacious mind, one that really does develop goodwill for … 
  8. Samvega
     … Why the hell do I have to sit here with this pain? Why can’t we be more relaxed about it?”—all these comments the mind makes up: fear that you’re going to harm yourself, cutting off the circulation to your legs; you’re going to get numb and after you get numb you’re going to get paralyzed. The mind has all … 
  9. Happy About Kamma
     … This is why we train the mind. This is why training the mind involves sitting here with your eyes closed, watching the movements of the mind. It’s so that you can understand what you’re doing—first by seeing clearly what you’re doing. If you see that you’re making some unskillful choices, you can unmake them, because there is that element … 
  10. Observant & Ingenious
     … You’re not just here to confirm what the Buddha said, “Yes, everything is inconstant, stressful, not-self.” You’re here to develop your mind, to get your mind to settle down. When you get your mind to settle down, you get to see these things for yourself, instead of just following by rote. It’s easy enough to look at your mind as … 
  11. Right View as Tool
     … In other words, wherever the mind is pained, wherever the mind is weighed down with stress, you turn to look to see: Where is the clinging? It’s something you’re doing. That’s something you want to comprehend, and to comprehend it you need to develop right concentration. Otherwise, the mind won’t be stable enough, strong enough to comprehend the suffering. The … 
  12. Pleasure & Pain
     … As you begin to take apart all these various strands of fabrication in the mind, you’re going to run across something that’s unfabricated, at the point where the mind has no intentions at all to weave things together. When that happens, it’s very dramatic. Things open up in a totally new way. That’s one of the main benefits that come … 
  13. Goodwill & Heedfulness
     … It’s always important to keep that perspective in mind, that context in mind, when you’re developing goodwill as a meditation practice. We’re developing goodwill because there are dangers if we don’t. You can see them in the principle of kamma: If you act on ill will, you’ll create bad kamma. In fact, when the Buddha talks about developing goodwill … 
  14. Twigs & Branches
     … As the issue of how to make the breath stay with the mind and how to make the mind stay with the breath gets more resolved, then you can use your powers of evaluation to look at other things. You contemplate anything that you might be holding onto that’s getting in the way of the concentration—such as thoughts that ensnare the mind … 
  15. With Reference to the World
    The body in and of itself, feelings in and of themselves, the mind in and of itself, mental qualities in and of themselves: Notice the “in and of itself” or “in and of themselves” here. That’s the important point of what we’re trying to focus on. Take the body, for instance. Just try to be with the sensation of the body you … 
  16. The Power of Attention
     … Causes and conditions from the past would determine the present… But the first kind of causality opens the possibility that you can change your mind now, and it’ll have an impact now. That’s what we’re focusing on as we meditate. Of course, we’re dealing with this body, we’re dealing with this mind, and there are things in the body … 
  17. Faith in the Buddha’s Awakening
     … So keep these points in mind because they give you energy even when things seem to be closing in on you. There is an escape. There is an opening. Freedom is possible. And the quality of the mind is much more important than the mere survival of the body. Believing this helps you keep your values straight, that even if you don’t get … 
  18. Happiness – Yours & Others’
     … You’re trying to see if what the Buddha taught was true, that we gain happiness by training the mind. And you do it the only way you can do it: by training your own mind, by putting his teachings to the test. This, of course, puts you to the test as well, because if you’re going to give a fair evaluation of … 
  19. Not-self, Not No Self
    When you meditate, you’re taking responsibility for your mind: the thoughts that you’re going to act on, the thoughts that you’re going to focus on, how you focus on them, with what purpose. You’re being responsible because you realize that your actions will have an important impact now and on into the future. You want to make sure that the … 
  20. The World Is Aflame
    The eye is burning; the ear, the nose, tongue, body, the mind is burning. All six senses, the Buddha said, are burning with aging, illness, and death; passion, aversion, delusion. And those six senses are both his definition of the world and his definition of old kamma. It’s not a very life-affirming or world-affirming view, but it does affirm something else … 
  21. Judging Your Meditation
     … That person’s mind is that person’s mind; your mind is your mind. It’s like comparing yourself to other people in the doctor’s waiting room. There’s no contest as to who has the most interesting disease, or who has the most advanced disease or whatever. We all have our diseases, and the fact that your meditation is subject to ups … 
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