Search results for: "Equanimity"
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- Dhammacentric… And even better than that is equanimity not of the flesh where things can calm down and arrive at an even deeper peace. That’s the basic pattern of those steps in breath meditation dealing with feelings. When feelings calm down, they let you look directly at the mind. You want to get the mind energized so that it feels good inside, gladdened inside …
- Be Observant… When it doesn’t go well, you watch it—not to be equanimous about it, but simply to learn. At the same time, you’re trying to build a good, solid observation platform. If you’re thinking of putting it in a particular part of the body, learn to have several parts of the body where you can place it. Sometimes an emotion can …
- Potentials for Rapture… In addition to the recollections, you might be thinking thoughts of goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, or equanimity: any theme that allows the body to relax, allows the mind to relax with a sense of well-being. Then notice how the breath feels and try to maintain that quality of breath. This practice of paying appropriate attention is very important. It’s what you’re …
- On an Even Keel… But no, you look at the path itself, and you can see that pleasure and equanimity play a huge role in the right concentration. The four jhanas are defined by their feeling tone. You want to develop pleasure, you want to develop rapture, but you have to learn how to do it in such a way that you don’t destroy your concentration. So …
- When Your Head Is on Fire… rapture, calm, concentration, and equanimity. So have a strong sense that you’re here to be active. The duty of mindfulness is to remember what you’ve learned about right view in general, along with specific techniques that have and haven’t worked for you in the past. You’ll find that there are techniques that work for a while and then stop. But …
- Wise Choices… There was one time when a monk said to the Buddha,” I do breath meditation.” The Buddha asked him, “What kind of breath meditation do you do?” The monk said, “I put aside thoughts of past and thoughts of the future, and I learn to develop equanimity around the present as I breathe in and breathe out.” As the Buddha said, there is that …
- Cut Through the Narratives… There are also pains of the flesh, pains not of the flesh, feelings of equanimity of the flesh, not of the flesh. Instead of focusing on what they mean to you, he says to focus on what they do to you. Certain pleasures, when you pursue them, just don’t happen. Some do. The pleasure comes and you pursue it. Sometimes pains come and …
- Dangers Outside & In… Expand your compassion, your empathetic joy, your equanimity, as is appropriate. If someone’s attacking you, he says, have goodwill for them. And start your goodwill there, focused on them. We’re often told to start goodwill with yourself, then go to people you like, and then people you’re neutral about, and then people you don’t like. But in a case like …
- In the Driver’s Seat… He said the actions of the past give the same kind of result, which is something very, very different, because if you have a change of heart—which includes developing unlimited thoughts of goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity; training the mind so it’s not easily overcome by pleasure, not easily overcome by pain; training it in virtue and discernment—then the results …
- A Happy Tradition… goodwill for all, compassion for all, empathetic joy for all, equanimity for all. You train your mind not to be overcome by pleasure, not to be overcome by pain. You develop your virtue; you develop your discernment. So, there are skills that can enable you not to suffer, no matter what your past karma is. He’s giving you power. For a lot of …
- On Your Own Two Feet… He doesn’t say to just be equanimous and non-reactive and accepting of everything. You develop the quality of non-reactivity so that you can observe reliably, and then you start your experiments. As when we’re working with the breath: The calmer you can make the mind, the more easily you’ll be able to observe what actually is healthy breathing and …
- Meaning in a Meaningless Universe… There’s generosity, virtue, renunciation, discernment, persistence, endurance, truth, determination, goodwill, and equanimity. These are the qualities that the tradition has said lead to awakening. It’s not a list you’ll find in anything attributed to the Buddha directly. It comes from the Jataka tales, which were later compilations. But they’re all qualities that the Buddha himself, at one point or another …
- Grace & Dignity… that no matter what, you want to do the right thing, the skillful thing that doesn’t harm anyone and that, if possible, can help others and help in your own development of virtue, concentration, discernment, your goodwill, compassion, your empathetic joy for people who are doing good things, your compassion for people who are doing unskillful things, and your equanimity for cases where …
- “My Way”… One of the reasons we meditate is because meditation is a good place to rest the mind so that you can look at your thoughts with a little bit more equanimity, a little bit less sense of “Well, just because I thought this thought, I’ve got to act on it,” or “I’ve got to speak it.” Ajaan Suwat used to have a …
- Doing Nothing… Calm—passaddhi—concentration, and equanimity build on that sense of fullness. The mind settles down to more and more refined levels until it’s really solid. Everything in the body is still. The mind is still. The breath seems still. It’s still because you’re so full of breath energy that the oxygen coming in and out of the pores is enough to …
- Everyday Feeding Habits… Even equanimity in concentration is said to be a very subtle form of pleasure. That’s the food that keeps you going. Of course, you’ll find that, out of the force of habit, you will sometimes drop this food and go for something else. You have to ask yourself, “Why?” This is where insight comes in. Concentration doesn’t solve all the problems …
- The Safety of Jhana… The happiness of jhana, the rapture and the sense of equanimity and ease that come from strong concentration depend on conditions, but they can get you to the unconditioned. As for using pain, that comes under right view. Once the mind is settled down like this, you can look at pain not with the agenda of trying to get rid of it, but more …
- Boxed Stories… There are also the mental qualities of equanimity or concentration, or whatever good mental qualities you’re working on. They’re all right here. Ajaan Lee makes the same point as well: You want all frames of reference to be right present here at the breath. It’s simply that one framework takes precedence, and you see all the other ones in relationship to …
- Pleasure on the Middle Way… You can view these impermanent relations of the world with a lot more equanimity. And a lot more discernment. And a lot less desperation. So the pleasure of concentration is an important part of the path. You can’t do without it. Sometimes you hear that right concentration is an optional part of the path, that you can just go straight for insight. But …
- Heedful, Attentive, Mindful… The qualities you’re trying to develop are mindfulness, the ability to analyze what’s going on in the mind, persistence, rapture, calm, concentration, and equanimity. Ajaan Fuang gives the example: He says, “If you want to see the mind, you don’t just follow it around. You give it something that it likes, and then it’ll be there. And then you can …
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