Search results for: "The Mind"

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  2. Constructing & Deconstructing
     … Why does it invade the mind? Other times, when there’s not much pain, everything seems to settle down fine. Then you can ask yourself, after the mind is rested, what in here is still disturbing the concentration? Here you’re not so much looking for disturbances from outside. You’re looking for disturbances the mind is creating itself. And the classic example is … 
  3. Obsessive Thinking
     … When you can get sine distance from it, that’s when the mind can settle down. There are two ways of getting the mind into concentration: directed and undirected. The undirected approach is when you see whatever the mind is holding on to that’s not an object of concentration that you want, and you let go of it. The mind settles down on … 
  4. People Who Think Too Much
     … Learn how to bring the mind to stillness in lots of different situations and learn how to maintain the stillness in lots of different situations. Then when you really begin to know the breath, you really begin to know the mind, because you can’t really see the movements of the mind unless you have one place of reference, so you want to get … 
  5. Insight Is Seeing What’s Worth Doing
     … As you get the mind deeper in concentration, it’s the same issue: “What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness?” Okay, get the mind really still. And begin to notice how the mind puts mind-states together. You can see it both as you create the mind-state of concentration and as you see the mind slipping … 
  6. Mindstorms
    Mindstorms December 1, 2004 There’s a part of the mind that’s just aware. No matter what else comes into the mind — greed, anger, delusion, despair, depression, regret, or fear — it’s just part of the mind. There’s also another part that’s just aware of these things, but it tends to get blocked out when strong emotions come in. Still, it … 
  7. The Power of Intention
    After an active day like today, you may have to do some active sweeping out of the mind before it’s ready to settle down. Just remind yourself with regard to whatever you did this morning, whatever you did this afternoon: Sweep it out, sweep it out, sweep it out. It’s not a concern right now. What you’re planning to do tomorrow … 
  8. A Seeker’s Habits
     … And there’s only one place we can find that—when we look into the mind. This is why we’re meditating; this is why we’re training the mind. An important part of the meditation, an important part of the training, is getting the mind ready for the meditation in terms of the way we conduct our lives. We have to build good … 
  9. The Creator of Worlds
     … You’ve got a sense of well-being that nourishes the mind, so that you don’t have to go feeding in hidden corners, feeding off of other people’s scraps. So this is food for the mind, shelter for the mind, medicine for the mind. It provides the mind with all of its requisites. You can think of it as creating an honest … 
  10. Cause & Effect Right Now
     … But you can use this as a guide to your practice when you get the mind to settle down and things are very, very still. If there’s any appearance of stress, particularly more stress happening in the mind, ask yourself, “Can you see what you’re doing right now that’s causing that stress?” This requires that you be very observant. Because all … 
  11. Responsible for Your Goodness
     … The reason why healthy breath energy is nourishing to the mind is because it’s so near to the mind. It fills your awareness of the body with a sense of comfortable energy. That energy becomes the medium through which you experience every other aspect of the body. When that sense of well-being nourishes the mind, you’re in a much better position … 
  12. Passion for Nostalgia
     … If you create this as a habit, then this is where the mind is going to go as life comes to an end. At that point, you’re not going to want to be thinking about the future very much. It doesn’t present much in terms of hope, so the mind will cast back to the past because the mind is really good … 
  13. Countercultural Conditioning
     … Breathe in ways that gladden the mind, concentrate the mind, that are conducive to releasing the mind—things that we usually don’t think about. He says that if you pay attention to your breath, it has lots of potential, and it’s going to have an impact on the mind. Then there are new ways of talking to yourself—first, to get the … 
  14. To Delight in the Path
     … As you gladden the mind, it keeps you going. It also helps develop your powers of concentration. That’s the next step. As the Buddha said, when you’ve worked on gladdening the mind, the next step is to concentrate the mind. And the mind is a lot easier to concentrate when it’s been gladdened by good things. When it’s concentrated, it … 
  15. Right Action & Right Livelihood
     … So, for the livelihood of the mind, for the strength of the mind, this is where you want to look: getting the mind centered, learning how to relate to the body in a way where you feel at home with the body, at home with the breath, nourished and well supported. This is your livelihood for the mind. These are some of the ways … 
  16. Refreshment
     … The same applies to the mind. It’s nourished by its food, but it’s also subject to abrasion and wearing down. We live in a world where there are lots of very unpleasant things, things that threaten to wear the mind down. We have to figure out some way to find the strength not to be worn down by them. With the body … 
  17. Keep It Simple
     … Look at the mind, see what’s skillful in the mind and what’s not skillful. You know that mindfulness and alertness are skillful, so you stick with them. Try to be alert to the breath and keep remembering to stay alert to the breath. For the time being, any other thought that comes along not related to the breath can be dropped as … 
  18. Determination
     … If you think of the mind as a committee, when you make a determination like that, you’re basically putting out a warning to any members of the committee that might want to be traitorous that they would be recognized as traitors and shot. That gives the mind a strong impetus to carrying through. When the Buddha talked about determination, there were four qualities … 
  19. How to Feed Mindfulness
     … If you have harmful intentions in mind, part of the mind goes along with them and part of the mind doesn’t. There’s a conflict. And one of the mind’s tricks for going along with the harmful intention is to allow itself to forget that the intention is actually harmful. If this becomes a habit, it’s hard to develop mindfulness because … 
  20. Inner Worlds
     … But you have to remember that survival of the mind is something else—and something more important. The mind sheds bodies in the way we shed clothes. We wear clothes until they get old and worn out, and we can’t wear them anymore, and then we just throw them away. There will come a time when you have to throw the body away … 
  21. The Patience of a Hunter
     … So you want to get the mind still enough to see these things, and also give the mind a purpose. We’re not here just simply to watch whatever comes and goes and be okay with that. We’re here to see: What is the mind doing that’s creating the trouble? Every now and then, these things will show themselves if you’re … 
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