Search results for: "Mindfulness"

  1. Page 175
  2. Is It Worth It?
     … Life builds on our own actions, and our actions are built on our state of mind, which is why we’re sitting here meditating, to see if we can master the skills that allow our desires to stop creating suffering and actually create a path to the end of suffering. That’s the kind of effort that’s well spent. And the desires that … 
  3. The Buddha’s Last Word
     … Sometimes you grow by listening, and sometimes you grow by thinking, and sometimes you grow by developing qualities in the mind. Those are the three ways in which discernment is developed. But the “completion” there is that you want to complete all the factors of the path. You want to complete all the good qualities of the mind. The heedfulness is the motivation that … 
  4. The Door of the Cage
     … But the nuts and bolts of what practices to develop, that’s where he goes into a lot of detail, very precise, very accurate, almost diagrams of how things work in the mind. These instructions allow you to bring the mind to a state of concentration where it can see its actions more clearly: where it is that it’s holding on, where it … 
  5. Why We Bow Down
     … So see respect not as a close-minded thing. It’s the opposite. If it’s respect in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, it opens your mind, it opens your heart. It opens you to the possibility of all kinds of really good things.
  6. Appreciating the State of Peace
     … Toward the end of the sutta, the Buddha says that you have to be determined on this mindfulness. In other words, you keep goodwill for all beings—including yourself—in mind, and it’s something you do with determination. You may remember that determination has four qualities, and they’re all expressed in the sutta. The four qualities are discernment, truth, generosity, and calm … 
  7. To Get Ourselves
     … It’s a way of developing a sense of detachment toward your food, a willingness to eat whatever you get, so it helps scrub away some of the defilements of the mind. The other reference to the customs of the noble ones is in the Canon, where the Buddha talks about four traditions of the noble ones. We chant it every now and then … 
  8. Compunction & Awe
     … As we imbue our minds with their qualities, we take our minds to a state that’s limitless as well. So these are some ways in which even fear can be a useful thing to develop on the path, to motivate us to practice, to get a sense that we really do need to get out of here as fast as we can. That … 
  9. Doing Your Duty
     … So you try to keep the mind on an even keel. These are times of danger and fear. The fear is unnecessary, aside from the type of fear that underlies the wisdom of heedfulness. Any fear beyond that is totally useless. The fact is that all times are times of danger, and this is a time of specific dangers. We take on the duties … 
  10. Inconstant, Stressful, Not-self
     … First you have to develop good, skillful states in the mind. This is why we’re meditating, working on concentration, working on mindfulness as we stay with the breath to develop a good, solid state of mind inside so that we have something to help us peel away all the really unskillful desires that may arise. This is one area where the three perceptions … 
  11. Practicing Meditation to Perform at Death
     … You get these pleasures you never had before, and part of the mind says, “Well, let me enjoy them for a while and then I’ll practice.” But then you forget. So, it’s good to reflect on these drawbacks, to keep the mind from just grabbing at whatever, and to get it to look for something better. This is why we practice for … 
  12. Train Your Hunger (The Sea Squirt)
     … It’s good to keep this point in mind. It’s often forgotten. I’ve been reading some books on the noble eightfold path, and the general message they give is that we suffer because we have the wrong map of reality: that inside we believe there’s a permanent self, and outside we believe that there’s a permanent happiness. And because of … 
  13. 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 … 
  14. Levels of Truth
     … See which ones you can stay with most consistently that allow the mind to have a sense of real stability and clear focus. If some of the subtle levels are too vague for you, you’ll lose your focus, and you find the mind drifting off, so choose a level of breath energy that’s appropriate for you right now. As for the other … 
  15. Comfortable as an Outsider
     … Our space is invaded; our minds are invaded. This has always been the case with every domestic culture where people try to domesticate you so that you live nicely within the culture. Even in societies where they have rites of passage where people go out alone into the wilderness, they have very set ideas of what you’re supposed to find there. You’re … 
  16. Being Right
    The mind needs time to be by itself, to straighten out its issues inside—which is why we have a place like this, a place of physical seclusion, so that you don’t have to spend all your time looking at other people’s issues. You’ve got just your own issues. And you have a chance to dig down inside and see where … 
  17. Guilt & Shame
     … Whereas if you don’t have an expansive mindset, haven’t developed the mind in virtue and discernment, and you haven’t learned how not to be overcome by pleasure or pain, then your mind is like a small cup of water. You throw that large crystal of salt in, and you can’t drink the water. It’s too salty. So regardless of … 
  18. Self-esteem
     … So when you see that happening in the mind, recognize it for what it is: a fetter. It ties you down, keeps you coming back. We don’t have to think about coming back through many lifetimes—even right here it just keeps you coming back to the same old mind-state that somehow tries to find some satisfaction out of making comparisons, hoping … 
  19. No One in Charge
    No One in Charge January 29, 2016 To maintain its health, the mind needs its own place to rest: not just resting in sleep, resting with alertness, awareness. That kind of place requires several skills. One is the skill of just being able to be quiet. Another is the skill of being able to cut away your interest in things outside. Some people find … 
  20. Over & Over Again
     … The mind has its seasons, just as plants have their seasons. Some things take a long time to grow and to ripen; other things ripen fast. You can’t choose which qualities in your mind will be the fast ones and which will be slow. All you do is keep looking after the mind: tending to it, watering it, giving it fertilizer. If you … 
  21. The Middleness of the Path
     … Sometimes the issue centers on how far you can get the mind to settle down. Given the level of concentration, given the level of mindfulness you have, maybe you can only settle it down a little bit for the time being, and yet you want more. It’s not good enough, especially if you’ve had better meditations in the past. The current meditation … 
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