Search results for: "Conviction"

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  2. Fabricating with Awareness
     … As for your conviction that you had to give in to the desire or the anger, there’s no “had to” there at all. There’s just one part of the mind bullying another part of the mind. So you reframe the issue, think in different terms, and at the very least you can withstand the power of that thought. You begin to see … 
  3. Pissing on Palaces
     … What we’re living for as meditators is to develop the qualities—in some cases they’re called the noble treasures—of conviction, virtue, a sense of shame and compunction over the idea of doing something harmful, the willingness to learn, generosity, and wisdom. These are qualities of mind you can take with you, and you don’t want to scrounge around for them … 
  4. Don’t Stop with Acceptance
     … How are you in terms of conviction? How are you in terms of virtue, relinquishment, learning, discernment, ingenuity? The need for ingenuity is one of the reasons why it’s good to read a lot of the Forest ajaans, because they’re very ingenious in how they approach things. Ajaan Maha Boowa makes the point that there are a lot of times when you … 
  5. A Strong Mind
     … So try to develop the strengths of the mind—conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, discernment—starting with this simple exercise of sticking with the breath. When the mind wanders off, bring it back. Wanders off again, bring it back again. Learn to make it comfortable with the breath, and then on to the other steps of breath meditation: being aware the whole body, calming the … 
  6. Getting Yourself
     … He had to find a path to the end of suffering before he could teach with any conviction, with any force, any power. So he had to focus first on himself, making sure he got his mind straightened out. All during that period when he was looking for the way, trying various practices, you don’t read about him being engaged with a lot … 
  7. Recollection of the Buddha
     … an admirable friend, a person of conviction, generosity, virtue, and discernment. That’s the kind of friend we want to develop outside, and the kind of friend we want to develop inside, too, so that we can be our own best friend. As we sit here and meditate, we can make it a pleasant pastime—doing it every now and then—or we can … 
  8. Adjusting the Flame
     … Ajaan Suwat would often talk about giving rise to a sense of conviction, a sense of feeling inspired that this is something you really want to do, this is a good use of your time, and it’s a privilege to be able to meditate. Then, with that motivation in mind, you look at what’s going on in the mind. Thoughts will come … 
  9. Victory over Death
     … Strength of conviction, that your actions really do matter. Strength of persistence, as you try your best to act in skillful ways. Strength of mindfulness and concentration, as you try to give the mind a place to rest fully alert and to gather its strength. And then strength of discernment, as you examine your own actions above and beyond what the Buddha said was … 
  10. An End to Suffering
     … Have some conviction in the path. This is what helps with that sense of desire, the sense of the willingness to put in the effort. There’s a phrase they have in Thailand, “People who know everything before they’re born,” or, “know everything before it happens.” And it’s not said in praise. We all have a tendency to want to figure everything … 
  11. Forgiveness
     … There’s mundane right view, which deals mainly with action and the results of action, the principle of rebirth, and the conviction that there are people who know these things from direct knowledge; it’s not just a theory. Then there’s transcendent right view, which deals more with events in the mind: suffering, its cause, the end of suffering, and the path to … 
  12. Choosing Your Allies
     … The Buddha said that wisdom starts with a question, “What when I do it will lead to my long term welfare and happiness?” Now, the wisdom here is based on conviction that your actions do make a difference and that long-term is possible, coupled with the realization that long-term is better than short-term. So this questions focuses on the fact that … 
  13. Right Effort
     … In the same way, you tune your effort, then you tune the rest of your faculties—your conviction, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment—to the amount of effort you’re able to put in. And the meditation will go well. So in this case, the discernment involves seeing how much energy you’re actually able to put in, when you’re pushing yourself too hard … 
  14. In Line with the Truth
     … Ananda said to the Buddha, “I’m convinced that there’s no one here who has any doubts.” “Well, you speak out of conviction,” the Buddha said, “but I speak out of knowledge. It’s true.” The most backward of the monks there was a stream-enterer, had seen his first taste of awakening. What’s important about this incident is that it shows … 
  15. As They’ve Come to Be
     … how to step out of other things as well. Even with the path: There are passages where the Buddha talks about applying the same five-step program to the five faculties. Conviction: It’s a good thing, but even it has its limitations. There comes a time when you have to see its allure and see its drawbacks and let it go, develop dispassion … 
  16. Cooking Food for the Mind
     … get bored with your cooking. At the same time, you learn to fix food that’s healthy, food that actually becomes medicine. This way, the strengths of the mind can grow. Conviction in the Buddha’s awakening, persistence in the practice, mindfulness, concentration, discernment: These are all strengths of the mind and they require good food, the food of the meditation when you know … 
  17. Protection Through Mindfulness Practice
     … You can’t go riding with a sense of, say, pride, or a sense of total conviction in the insight. Look for cause and effect in the very act of having an insight. Try to see what happens as a result of believing that insight. So, there are times when alertness provides protection by being long-term, and other times when it provides protection … 
  18. Directly & Indirectly to the Breath
     … In addition to generosity and virtue, these qualities include a sense of conviction in the Buddha’s awakening, learning about the Dhamma, developing your discernment, developing the attitudes of unlimited goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. These are the things that raise your level while you’re here as a human being. And again where do they come from? From the qualities you develop … 
  19. Perfecting the Mind in an Imperfect World
     … strength in your conviction, strength in your effort, strength in your mindfulness, strength in your concentration and discernment—so that you’re capable of more. In other words, you accept responsibility. That’s the kind of acceptance that the Buddha really does encourage. On the outside level, you accept the way things are, but on the inside level you accept the fact that you … 
  20. Generating Desire
     … So you have to go on faith, on the conviction that this is something you really should want. That right there may seem to be a contradiction: putting together the terms should and want. We think of wanting as something that happens naturally, and the shoulding as unnatural. But you can induce a desire—you do it all the time. So if you want … 
  21. Accepting the Way Things Function
     … You can make them function in a better direction.  Always keep that conviction and that possibility in mind.
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