Search results for: "Concentration"

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  2. Steps in Concentration
    When the Buddha taught concentration, the how-to part of the instructions was in his description of right mindfulness. You’re focused on the body—for example, the breath—in and of itself—ardent, alert, and mindful—putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world. So where’s your breath right now? Anything that’s not related to this breath at the … 
  3. When Nothing’s Happening
     … If you let go and find you go into a deeper level of concentration, that’s fine. Learn to settle in and get to know that level of concentration. But there will come a point where you realize that your concentration is as good as you can get it. If you hang on here, it’s something that has to be maintained. If you … 
  4. Not Getting What You Want
     … concentration based on desire, concentration based on persistence, concentration based on intent, concentration based on analysis. The brahman says, “Then it’s an endless path. How can you use desire to get rid of desire?” Ananda asks him a question in return. He says, “You came to this park. Before you came here, did you have the desire to come here?” “Well yes.” “How … 
  5. A Valuable Gift
     … The mind has its currents, and when they’re concentrated they can be strong. You want to use them in a good direction. This is why we talk about not just plain concentration but right concentration: right concentration that’s based on skillful intent—the intent not to harm, the intent not to pursue sensual desires. Because there is concentration that’s wrong, concentration … 
  6. Discernment in Concentration
     … This is the kind of concentration that gives rise to discernment—as you’re doing the concentration. But be prepared for the fact that there’s going to be more demanded of your discernment than just seeing how you do the concentration. You want to take that quality of being reflective and use it to deal with whatever issues come up in the mind … 
  7. A Questioning Attitude
     … There was still another way that he hadn’t tried yet, the practice of concentration. But the concentration in and of itself didn’t do the work. He had to start asking questions again, “Can I use this concentrated mind to learn things?” In particular, the main turning point was when he used his concentration to delve into this issue: Where is there suffering … 
  8. What’s Worth Doing?
     … And as we know, the author said, the Buddha said that a sense of self is bad, so you shouldn’t try to create concentration. Right concentration has to happen on its own, and right effort is basically the effort of no effort—an attitude that short-circuits the path entirely. Again, you’re letting go like a pauper. You don’t have concentration … 
  9. Hindrances Based on Delusion
     … Often the problem of sloth and torpor arises in what’s called access concentration. You’ve been able to drop the distractions that keep interfering with your concentration, and your moments of concentration get longer and longer and more and more continuous. Things get comfortable and then you want to drift off and go to sleep. That’s the way we’re programmed. Ever … 
  10. Distinctions That Make a Difference
     … But you really get to know them as you practice concentration. This is one of the reasons why concentration is necessary for discernment, because when you’re concentrated, you’ve got all the aggregates right here. You’re doing them as part of the concentration. Say you’re focused on the breath: The breath is body, or form. It’s part of the wind … 
  11. Choiceful Awareness
     … Start out with mindfulness, which leads to concentration. It’s not the case that these are two separate practices. Mindfulness gets you focused on body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities, in and of themselves, all of which are the basic components of concentration. “Body,” here, of course, is the breath. Feelings: The feeling of ease that you’re trying to create with the breath … 
  12. Right Now
     … All I emphasized the other night role was that discernment plays after you’ve developed concentration. But it can also be your preparation for concentration on a certain level—at least enough to clear away a lot of the distractions that would pull you out of concentration. Try to notice: What are the topics you’re thinking about? Which direction does your mind tend … 
  13. Staying Normal
     … So all these qualities—virtue, concentration, discernment, and release—revolve around this normalcy of mind. They work together. Ajaan Lee has a passage in one of his books where he analyzes virtue, and in the course of his analysis, virtue starts turning into concentration and discernment. He analyzes concentration, and it starts turning into virtue and discernment. He analyses discernment, and it turns into … 
  14. The Goldsmith
     … One of the things you want to keep in mind is that you’re trying to bring the mind into a balanced state of concentration. You have to figure out first where you’re out of balance and then bring things back into balance. The calming factors—like concentration, calm, equanimity—are for times when the mind is hyperactive and has too much energy … 
  15. Heightened Skillfulness
     … On the one hand, you practice virtue in a way that’s liberating, conducive to concentration. In other words, even though you are scrupulous in following the precepts, you’re not tied up in your scruples because you realize that virtue is a matter of your intentions. When you’re clear about your intentions, then that kind of virtue really is conducive to concentration … 
  16. The Riddle Tree
     … This is how discernment fosters concentration. The typical pattern, of course, is that concentration fosters discernment. But as the Buddha said at one point, to get the mind to settle down to good strong concentration you need both tranquility and insight. Sometimes you’ll depend more on one side than on the other. And it will vary from day to day, from session to … 
  17. Tranquility & Insight
     … If the breath isn’t interesting, try to gain an interest in any of the topics of concentration that seem congenial to you. Learn how to get the mind really skillful at settling down with these topics and staying with them. As the Buddha said, the mastery of concentration requires both insight and tranquility. You have to have some understanding of how you can … 
  18. The Right Time at the Right Place
     … It doesn’t like to be confined, so the more spacious you can make your concentration, the happier it will be to be here. We’re doing this because right concentration is the heart of the path, and the Buddha defines it in terms of the jhanas. Back when the forest ajaans were beginning to teach in central Thailand, they came up against a … 
  19. Technique & Attitudes
     … Another attitude you want to bring is an attitude of respect, as the chant said just now, respect for concentration. Why? Well, because concentration takes work. We’re not here simply blissing out, and even though the instructions may be simple, they’re not easy. Especially if you’re the sort of person who likes your thoughts, it’s going to be hard to … 
  20. Feeding on Right Resolve
     … It’s basically the nourishment that keeps you going, and brings the mind to calm and concentration. Of those seven factors, there’s one sutta where the Buddha points out three in particular that are important: persistence, the concentration, and the equanimity. Persistence is the most active of the factors. Concentration and equanimity are more passive. The Buddha compares meditation to the work of … 
  21. Determination
     … But when the Buddha talks about renunciation, he’s talking about getting the mind into right concentration, which is the opposite of deprivation. It’s a trade up. Right concentration is your food. It’s your strength. He doesn’t have you follow the path starving all the way and then finally getting food at the very end. He gives you food to carry … 
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