Search results for: "Generosity"
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- Protective Meditations… The power of generosity is that strong. Then finally, recollection of death: This also counteracts greed, with the thought that the things you might amass and protect in an unskillful way, you can’t take with you. Death could come at any time, and it may have nothing to do with disease or social unrest, or the diseases you might think are dangerous. Something …
- Things as They’ve Come to Be… So ask yourself, what would be inspiring right now? The Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha? Your own past generosity? Your own past virtues? Or do you need something besides the carrot? Do you need a stick? Think about death. It could come at any time, and you can ask yourself, “Am I ready to go?” Almost universally the answer is, “Not yet.” Okay, what …
- The Limits of Control… re meditating is to find out exactly how much control we can exert over form, feeling, perceptions, fabrications, and consciousness. This is the point of all the aspects of the practice. Generosity, for instance: One of your first experiences of freedom is when you have something that’s yours, but you decide you want to give it away, not because you have to or …
- The Power of the Mind… One is generosity, the ability to relinquish things that get in the way; and the other is calm. The mind tends to get worked up when it has to stick with something that challenges it, that forces it to give things up that it likes. If you allow it to stay worked up, then you’re not going to last for very long. The …
- Putting out the Flame… These principles go against our normal orientation; which is one of the reasons why the practice of the Dharma begins with generosity. Instead of taking in, you give out. You reverse the direction. The texts say that, in the final stages of breath meditation, you focus on inconstancy, you focus on dispassion, you focus on cessation. You would think it all stops there, but …
- Step by Step… The reason we’re commemorating him is because of the good examples he set, primarily in the area of generosity, persistence, and truthfulness. We look back on the history of the world, and there are very few people that really stand out for their goodness, but those who do, stand out because of these qualities. They’re generous with other human beings. They set …
- Values of the Noble Ones… The Canon lists ten perfections altogether. The Buddha himself never came up with this list, but the list does include things that he advocates elsewhere, in scattered places in the Canon: generosity, virtue, renunciation, discernment, persistence, endurance, truth, determination, goodwill, equanimity. Those are all good things to develop. You simply have to figure out which ones are appropriate right here and now. If the …
- Meaning & Becoming… It includes generosity, virtue, renunciation, discernment, persistence, endurance, truth, determination, goodwill, equanimity. When you develop these qualities, they take you out. So, if you’re looking for meaning and significance., it doesn’t have anything to do with the relationships you develop, although if you want to find what the Buddha calls an admirable friend, someone to helps you develop these qualities, that’s …
- A Conglomeration of Germs… If you use it to meditate—to give rise to concentration, to give rise to discernment—or as a means for generosity and virtue, that’s a sign that you really know how to use your body. Take advantage of this conglomerate of old kamma that you’ve got, and while you can hold it together, learn how to use it well.
- Equanimity as a Skill… I’m surrounded by dishonest people,” he said. “How can I find happiness in life? How can I find peace in life?” So I talked to him about generosity, virtue, meditation. “How do you meditate?” I gave him the address for the website. He seemed pleased, shook my hand, and went back to work. The irony was that night I was going to give …
- Patience… You have to learn how to talk to yourself, to remind yourself you’ve got this virtue of generosity that’s going to pay off someday. In the meantime, you think about how spacious your mind is because you were able to give. One of the most important lessons, though, is that there is a ranking of pleasures. Say you have some food. You …
- A Home for the Mind… As for the good you leave behind, that’s your generosity to the world. That, too, is a good quality to develop, because it actually goes with you as well. So when you’re meditating, it’s not just a technique for relaxation or stress reduction, although you do relax, and the level of stress does go down. But it’s also an opportunity …
- Anger… Think about their virtues, think about their generosity, think about their good side so that your response isn’t one-sided. That’s the problem with anger: It looks at things from one side. It’s like a one-eyed beast. It has no perspective. When you bring in two eyes, you can look at the good side and the bad side of the …
- The Acrobat… One is generosity, which means being generous not only with things, but also with your time, with your help, with your forgiveness if that’s called for. In general, it means having a giving attitude in every relationship. Instead of looking to the relationship for what you can get out of it, you look for what you can put into it. That’s the …
- Limitless is the Buddha… pain and you have to exercise some restraint over your clingings and cravings. There’s going to be some resistance. But what does the path ask you to do? Noble things: generosity, virtue. When you meditate, you develop a sense of well-being inside that doesn’t harm anybody at all. And that’s just the path. The goal is even more harmless, more …
- Happy to Be Here… the happiness of generosity, the happiness of virtue. You want to reflect on that and bring that attitude into the meditation. You’re going to be providing food for the mind, and you don’t want to force the food on yourself. You want to lay the food out in front of the mind and wait for it to be interested in eating. So …
- For When the World Can’t Help You… We also have the example of the Dhamma he taught on how to train the mind in generosity, virtue, and meditation. Then there’s the Sangha—the people who’ve practiced in line with what the Buddha taught and found that, yes, it’s true: You can achieve the deathless through this path. That’s an external refuge. Then you try to internalize that …
- Mud Houses… Make them into a state of concentration; use this body to practice virtue, generosity, and meditation; use the mind to get into concentration, to develop discernment, and to allow these things to deliver you to something that’s beyond them. That’s when you really lose your passion for these things, and all the stitching of the seamstress comes undone. What’s left after …
- The Purpose of Empathetic Joy… He starts with generosity, giving, virtue, the virtue of restraint; and then the rewards of giving and virtue: the various heavenly realms that you can enjoy. That’s bright kamma. But then he talks about the drawbacks of sensuality. He calls them not only drawbacks, but also the degradation that sensuality involves. Here you are, just eating up the results of your old actions …
- When Aging Closes In… You develop more generosity, virtue, persistence, endurance, determination, goodwill, discernment, equanimity. All these good qualities are your real treasures. That’s what you want to keep in mind: that true worth of a human life lies in the quality of the mind, the quality of the heart. When you have that conviction, it nurtures your mindfulness so that it grows into concentration. From the …
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