Search results for: "The Mind"

  1. Page 171
  2. Intoxication
    When we hear the word “intoxication,” we usually think of what happens to the body and the mind when you put alcohol or drugs in the body. But as the Buddha said, intoxication goes deeper than that. Actually, we’re already intoxicated. This is the normal nature of human beings, the normal nature of all beings, basically. We’re intoxicated with youth, intoxicated with … 
  3. King Asoka’s Vow
     … This is where the real discernment comes in and applies both to the mindfulness and to the alertness. It’s the ardency that makes you eager to figure out what the right things are to keep in mind, and who are the right people to listen to. After all, even when you have a capability within yourself to depend on yourself, in the practice … 
  4. Freedom
     … All the thoughts and cares about your job, about your family, about all the things that the mind weighs itself down with: You don’t have to think about those things at all. That’s the freedom. The restriction is that you’re asked to stay with one topic, the breath. When you compare the two, the freedom is more important. In the course … 
  5. Mountains Moving In
     … Practice the Dhamma, train the mind, so that when aging and death come, you don’t have to suffer. This is a constant theme in the Buddha’s teachings. In the very beginning, when the young prince reflected on aging, illness, and death, realizing that these things were going to destroy whatever happiness he found—his family, his wealth, and his power—he wanted … 
  6. Cutting the Fetters
     … Then there’s the intention to stay here, and the directed thought and evaluation as you try to adjust the breath, adjust the mind, so that they fit together snugly. That’s all the aggregate of fabrication. Then there’s consciousness, which is aware of all these things. As you contemplate these things, you see that concentration is the best thing that the aggregates … 
  7. Allies
     … Even if it doesn’t push out all the sense of dis-ease in the mind, at least it gives you a place to stay from which you can watch the sense of dis-ease, both in the body and in the mind, from a position where you don’t feel threatened by it. This is where you can really put to use the … 
  8. The Intelligence of Restraint
     … We’ve talked about how, in following those instructions, you create an environment for yourself that’s ideal for the training of the mind, wherever you are—whether you’re inside the monastery or outside of the monastery. You observe the precepts, you practice restraint of the senses, moderation in speech, looking for seclusion when you can, and developing right view. Out of those … 
  9. Free to Choose
     … That’s not really a big issue, of course, but the big issue inside this area of your awareness is the fact that you are suffering, and the mind is causing itself to suffer, and yet the suffering isn’t necessary. The Buddha is saying that you’re free to learn how to put an end to it, you can devote your time to … 
  10. Learn from Your Mistakes
     … So look into the mind and see what in the mind goes for things that it knows will be harmful? What’s the allure? What was it that distracted you from your focus on the path? And then learn how to see the drawbacks of that distraction, so that it doesn’t get you the next time around. What this means is that you … 
  11. Guarded
     … It’s the basis, he says, of all good qualities in the mind. But it’s also the basis for your protection, realizing that you can’t just barge into a situation and immediately figure it all out. You’ve got to watch things for a while. And as the Buddha said, remind yourself that you’re like a person who’s sick. You … 
  12. Framing the Body
     … Why is it that you can look at a body one way and it’s attractive, and you look at it another way and it’s not attractive? What causes the mind to go for the attraction? Of course, it’s the desire. You’re using these perceptions to lure yourself, to lure the committee of your mind to go along with that desire … 
  13. Hitting a Wall
     … And each of us has very particular sufferings, very particular ways of suffering, particular issues that weigh down the mind. But there’s also a sense in which it’s something we all have in common. After all, we all do suffer. We recognize that. And as the Buddha pointed out, there’s a common pattern to the suffering. The same issue applies to … 
  14. Quiet in the Midst of Turmoil
     … So you’ve got to give the mind something better to feed on. This is why we practice mindfulness immersed in the body, totally immersed in the whole body. Be aware of the whole-body breath coming in and the whole-body breath going out. Try to make it as full as possible, as pleasurable as possible, so that it’s absorbing. It’s … 
  15. Truths of the Will
     … So when you’re sitting here, trying to get the mind concentrated, that’s what you’re doing: There is an effort that has to go into this so that the concentration will develop and grow. You don’t just watch states of concentration come and go, thinking that there’s wisdom in simply watching them come and go. The wisdom lies in figuring … 
  16. The Intelligent Heart
     … Then you look at what he has to say about training the heart, training the mind—in mindfulness, alertness, ardency, developing concentration, developing discernment, seeing where it is you’re causing yourself unnecessary suffering—and it all makes sense. As the Buddha said, though, just because something makes sense doesn’t mean that it’s true—but it’s a good sign. If something … 
  17. Analyzing Suffering
     … After all, this is why we’re quieting the mind, so that we can actually look at suffering, comprehend it, in the terms that he pointed out—because suffering is the big issue in life. Everything else becomes an issue because it’s related to suffering in one way or another. If you can focus on this issue, you take care of everything else … 
  18. A Recipe for Jhana
     … But that’s not how you get the mind to settle down. You get the mind to settle down by focusing on the breath, with some very simple instructions: Be sensitive to when the breath is long, when it’s short. Once the breath is comfortable, spread your awareness to fill the whole body and then notice how the breathing has an impact on … 
  19. Suffering Comes from Those You Love
     … It’s good to think about these things because, as the Buddha said, when you think about them it inclines the mind to release. You see that getting out of this system would be a good thing. Often it’s hard to admit. A couple of cases in the Canon: A man who’s lost his only son goes every day to the charnel … 
  20. True, Beneficial, Timely
     … You do have to think to get the mind to settle down. So you have to be able to judge what kind of thinking is the kind of thinking you want to engage in right now. What kind do you not want to engage in? You ask yourself those same three questions. First, is it true? Two, is it beneficial? And three, is this … 
  21. Evaluating the Practice
     … Some of the commentaries say that directed thought is when you bring the mind to an object, and then vicāra is just keeping it there. But the word* vicāra* in Pali—and its derivative, wi-jaan in Thai—both mean evaluation. Ajaan Lee really stressed the fact that you are evaluating. It’s a wisdom factor, a discernment factor, and it’s really important … 
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