Search results for: "Mindfulness"

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  2. Three Perceptions
     … We’re trying to see how the mind’s quest for happiness relates to the way things behave. You always want to keep your focus here, on the mind’s quest, even when you focus on the breath. When the breath gets more and more refined, with a sense of ease filling the body, you reach a stage where the mind and the breath … 
  3. Exploring Fabrication
     … Each of those approaches to bringing the mind into balance requires a certain amount of fabrication. After all, feeling and perception have an effect on the mind, and the breath has an indirect effect on the mind through the feelings. How do you use these fabrications to gladden the mind? How do you use them to steady the mind? How do you use them … 
  4. To Strengthen the Path
     … Those things can be pleasant, but they leave their imprint on the mind. They cloud the mind. What we want is a clear mind that’s fully present right here. Now this world that we’re creating right here, inside the body, where we’re inhabiting the body fully, is going to have to be fighting against other worlds that the mind tends to … 
  5. Sensitive to Stress
     … He doesn’t even define the mind—because your sense of these things will develop as you practice. But how do you develop that sensitivity? First, get the mind into concentration and be willing to stay there. Many people get very impatient. The mind gets quiet for a little bit and they say, “Well, what’s next? When do we get to the insights … 
  6. The Observer
     … Rule number one in either case is to keep the mind on an even keel. Have a strong sense of the observer, the part of the mind that’s simply watching what’s going on, and identify as much as you can with that. Ajaan Suwat once mentioned that when he first went to stay with Ajaan Mun his mind seemed to be all … 
  7. Willing & Observing
     … We can’t just sit here and watch the mind as it wanders from this to that to the other thing, and say, “Okay, I’m learning, I’m gaining insight into impermanence and in practicing mindfulness.” That’s not what mindfulness is all about. Mindfulness means keeping certain things in mind. And some of the things you want to keep in mind are … 
  8. Introduction: Meditation as a Skill
    The purpose of the meditation is to develop the skillful qualities in the mind. It takes the same principles that we would apply to any skill—being mindful, being alert, evaluating the results of your actions and being ingenious about figuring out new ways to solve mistakes: It takes those mental qualities and applies them directly to the mind. Think about any skill that … 
  9. The Dhamma Channel
     … For the mind to see the refinements of the breath, the mind has to get very refined as well. So think of your awareness being refined right here. Then, when there’s less interference from the mind, you’ll find there’s less interference from the breath. Things grow very, very still, and you can see things clearly. The slightest movement that comes up … 
  10. Perfect Breathing Isn’t the Goal
    We focus on the breath, we work with the breath, to give the mind a good place to settle down. If you want to be here for a long time, there has to be a sense of well-being. You try to create that well-being by focusing on the breath, by adjusting the way you breathe, by adjusting your perceptions of the breath … 
  11. Evaluation
     … To get the mind to settle down snugly with the breath, you have to survey what’s going on. This is part of the reflection: Is the mind snug with the breath? Is the breath snug with the mind? Are you ready to settle down? Ajaan Lee emphasizes the evaluation of the breath, but you also have to evaluate the state of your mind … 
  12. Reflections
     … These are the qualities you’ve got to get out of your mind. Sometimes in the texts they say that first you get the hindrances out of your mind and then you feel joyful and at ease, and the mind settles down. Other times, it’s in the process of getting the mind to settle down that you can fight them off. You give … 
  13. Timeless Practice
     … It’s basically right effort in the context of right mindfulness. So you’re not just watching things arising and passing away as they come and things go. That’s not the kind of mindfulness the Buddha is talking about. As he says, when mindfulness is a governing principle in your mind, you’re mindful that if there are skillful qualities that you haven … 
  14. Defilements with Their Bambi Eyes
     … The mind has its defilements: things that keep it from being bright, clear, clean, at ease. Some people find the term offensive. “What’s wrong with our minds? Our minds aren’t dirty,” they say. Well, compared to the mind of an awakened one, they’re pretty dim, they’re clouded, and sometimes it’s discouraging to see how many clouds we have filling … 
  15. Looking Inward
     … They govern our interactions with other people, but their primary purpose is training our thoughts, words, and our deeds—again, focusing in on our mind: the intentions that underlie our actions. At the same time, we develop qualities of mindfulness and alertness as we maintain our precepts. And, of course, meditation is a matter of directly looking in at your own mind. Other things … 
  16. Hurtful Memories
     … The other way is learn how to look at the whole process of how a memory comes into the mind. How does the mind go for it? What are the stages? You learn this by trying to stay with the breath as best you can and then noticing what happens as the mind leaves the breath. How many suggestions, how many whispers does the … 
  17. Little Decisions
     … You put it aside, but part of your mind is still working on it while you give the rest of the mind a rest. This is one of the reasons why we practice concentration so much: to get the mind well rested to do its work. You’re trying to develop the ability to see that when there’s anything impinging on the mind … 
  18. On Top of Your Actions
    It’s always good at the beginning of the meditation to survey your mind to see what kind of shape it’s in, and figure out what needs to be done to bring it into balance. Are you leaning toward thoughts of the future or toward thoughts of the past? Things that put you in a good mood, things that put you in a … 
  19. A Mind Like Earth
    Make your mind like earth. That was the Buddha’s first meditation instruction to his son. Earth doesn’t react. You throw disgusting things on the earth and it doesn’t get disgusted. The image of the earth is used both in teachings on patience and in teachings on goodwill. The two have to go together. You try to make your mind large so … 
  20. Right Now
     … With enough effort, with enough mindfulness and alertness, we can make changes in the mind. We can open up new channels, direct the mind in ways that are actually helpful for it rather than harmful. This is what the principle of karma teaches us. A lot of people say they have problems with karma, but that’s because they think of the larger cosmological … 
  21. After the Fire
     … mindfulness, keeping these issues of the skillfulness in mind—What’s the most skillful approach? What is needed right now? Keep those questions in mind. And from there the factors for awakening fork out into two sides. There’s the more active side, starting with the analysis of qualities in mind, when you look at to see what is most skillful, what is unskillful … 
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