Search results for: "Attention"

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  2. On Idle Chatter
     … It’s a good exercise for developing appropriate attention. You ask yourself, “When I’m going to do this, when I’m going to say this, is it really worthwhile, is it really going to be helpful or harmful?” Make sure that in what you say, you’re acting as an admirable friend to other people. Those two qualities—appropriate attention and admirable friendship … 
  3. Friends with the Breath
     … This requires paying careful attention. As with any friendship, it takes time. But that length of time can be shortened if you’re really attentive, if you really watch. Try different ways of focusing on the breath, different places in the body where you can focus, different ways of adjusting the breath. Sometimes all you need to do is think and the breath will … 
  4. The Middle Way
     … When you work on a skill, you want to be able to look objectively at your handiwork and say, “This looks really good.” That’s because you’ve put a lot of effort into it, you’ve put a lot of time and attention, and the effort and the results come out well. Even if they don’t come out yet, at least you … 
  5. Truths Noble in the Heart
     … And the internal one is appropriate attention, seeing things in terms of the four noble truths. What’s noble about these truths? You look at them, and they’re pretty ordinary. There is suffering in life. Well, yeah, everybody knows that. And some people might notice that, yes, it does come from craving and ignorance. What’s noble about the truths is the fact … 
  6. Give of Yourself
     … But where those potentials are and how you develop them through appropriate attention, again, he doesn’t say. You have to explore. Then there’s the question of how to interpret his teachings. There’s a place where he says that some of his teachings are meant to have their inferences drawn out—in other words, you think about them and you think about … 
  7. A Good Place to Stay
     … If that doesn’t work, then just don’t pay any attention to that part of the body. Pay attention to the parts that you *can *make comfortable through the breath. If you have trouble staying with the breath, ask yourself, are there any leftover thoughts from the day that are impinging on your mind and keep getting in the way? If there are … 
  8. Four Bases of Success
     … that you really do pay attention to what you’re doing and you find it interesting to work with the breath energy in the body. They talk of the breath energy going down the spine: What does that feel like? Coming up the spine: What does that feel like? Which do you need right now? Sometimes, if you have a backache, it’s good … 
  9. Square One
     … They may keep coming in, but just don’t pay attention to them. And you try to be ardent, alert, and mindful. Mindful means keeping something in mind, i.e., the breath, and whatever lessons you’ve learned from past meditation sessions. Alert: Watching what you’re actually doing right now, along with the results you’re getting. And then ardent: you’re trying … 
  10. Learning & Respect
     … You want to pay careful attention to what you’re doing. After all, what is the Buddha’s message? We’re suffering because of our actions—which means we’re doing something wrong. So we have to learn: What is it that we’re doing wrong? We come into this world, we have certain desires that shape our sense of who we are, the … 
  11. Capable
     … You really give your full attention to what you’re doing, full attention to what the results are. You’re not just going through the motions. You put your whole heart into this. Give the breath one hundred percent of your attention. After all, it’s all around you: Wherever your focus is located in the body, there’s breath in front of it … 
  12. The Buddha’s Wisdom
     … telling you what to watch out for, what’s important—basically, telling you where to pay attention, and how to pay attention. You’re sending messages that you then pick up. Sometimes there are other messages that come in that don’t seem to be coming from the present moment. They’re coming from someplace else. The Buddha identifies these as voices coming from … 
  13. Clinging-Aggregates in Context
     … As for the world in which that thing exists, parts of that world may be totally irrelevant to your desire, so you don’t pay much attention to them. You pay attention to the parts that are relevant: the ones that either help you attain that goal, that object, that pleasure, or get in the way. Often you find yourself identifying with the various … 
  14. The Lightning Bolt
     … It’s not that you believe everything you hear, because the third factor is appropriate attention, as you subject that Dhamma to the right questions: Does this Dhamma sound like it’s going to lead to the end of suffering or is it going to get you entangled, either in views or social responsibilities that will distract you from really focusing on the mind … 
  15. Skillful in Everything
     … You cultivate the desire to learn, and then you stick with it and give it all your attention. You use your ingenuity. This list—desire, persistence, intent, and ingenuity—is called the bases of power, the bases of success. When you develop these qualities, you find not only that the things that you create are nicer but you’ve also got a nicer mind … 
  16. Remarkable Qualities
     … Really focus all your attention on this. How much have you observed your breath in the past? What do you know about the breath aside from the fact that it comes in and goes out? Actually there are lots of variations to the breath: in long, out short; in short, out long; long in and out; short in and out; heavy, light; shallow, deep … 
  17. Distraction & Drowsiness
     … As long as you don’t pay attention to thoughts on other topics, eventually they’ll fade away, fade away. It may take time, but don’t be impatient. They’re not your responsibility right now. Your responsibility is to be with the breath. The other problem, of course, is drowsiness. The best way to deal with that is to give yourself something to … 
  18. Dealing with Confusion
     … You can focus your attention on any one spot in the body that seems convenient or you can focus on the body as a whole right from the start. The choice is yours. What’s important is that you allow the breath to be a good place to stay, a comfortable place to stay. If the body seems tired or weak, think of breathing … 
  19. Life Well Lived
     … It’s only when your attention is focused but relaxed that you can maintain it. If it’s tense, it’s going to wobble, it’s going to jump off. And try to bring your full attention to what you’re doing. What you’re doing is developing good qualities of the mind that you can use in other parts of your life—because … 
  20. The Buddha’s Narratives & Yours
     … There’s another thing that he recommends that you not think about in his discussion on appropriate attention in Majjhima 2. He talks about questions that are not worth following, not worth paying attention to. And some of them are, “What was I in the past? Was I in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? How … 
  21. Respect for Emptiness
     … We tend to ignore them, we don’t pay them much attention. We’re so much more interested in running after things, getting the mind all stirred up, yet ignoring those little moments of stillness between what basically come down to moments of disturbance in the mind. We see the disturbance as interesting and the stillness as boring, and so we keep running after … 
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