Search results for: "The Mind"

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  2. The Possibility of Letting Go
     … You want to be able to develop the mind so that even though the body gets weaker, the mind doesn’t have to get weaker along with it. This is why we need to make the mind more independent. Its skillful qualities are the things that make it independent. Often they’re just simple things—like learning how to keep your mind under enough … 
  3. Beyond Duality
    Practicing concentration is a process of making the mind one. You focus on a single object, and the longer you stay with it, the more the object and the mind seem to blend into one. Take the breath for example. When you begin, it seems that you’re in one part of the body watching the breath in another part of the body. But … 
  4. A Strong Mind
    We’ve got a whole hour now, so focus on developing the mind. That’s what the Pali term citta-bhavana, the word for meditation, actually means: You’re developing the mind. The question is, what do you want to develop? You could sit here and develop all kinds of thoughts. But that’s not what the word means. The word really means developing … 
  5. Think of the Consequences
     … The fact that it’s broad means you can catch things from different angles—things coming in and out of the mind that you might have missed if your focus were just on the one spot. So, this centered but broad awareness is good for the body. It’s good for the mind; healing for the body; healing for the mind. It allows you … 
  6. The Mind’s Song
     … And the same holds true for the mind. We come here to meditate to help heal the mind from all the damage it does to itself. We tend to think more of the stress coming in from outside, but actually we’re playing along with the outside stress, we’re singing along with the outside stress, which is why it gets into the mind … 
  7. Using the Committee of the Mind
    The fact that the mind is like a committee can be a weakness or it can be a strength. It’s a weakness when you’re trying to get the mind to settle down. You have a clear idea of what you want to do but not everybody in the mind is on board. You realize that there’s some free time here, and … 
  8. A Special Time
    When you sit down to meditate, keep reminding yourself that this is a special time for giving full attention to the training of the mind. Now, it is important that you regard the whole rest of the day as an opportunity to train the mind as well. In other words, try to keep the mind centered, keep watch over the mind in the midst … 
  9. Breath Meditation, Step by Step
     … The reason we spread thoughts of goodwill is to provide a comfortable place for the mind, comfortable thoughts for the mind. The next step in bringing the mind into position is to make it comfortable with the body, because that’s what you’ve got sitting here right now. And it’s a long tradition in the Buddha’s teachings that the mind can … 
  10. The Radiant Mind
     … This is how that light is useful for developing the mind. As the Buddha said, if the mind were not radiant like this, you couldn’t train it. You couldn’t develop it. So through this combination of commitment and reflection you make more and more use of the light of the mind, the radiance of the mind. After all, we do have this … 
  11. Genuine Happiness
     … You want to catch them as they try subvert your main decision, which is to be here and to learn about the mind in the present. Fortunately, as the mind does get more still, gets more centered, you can notice these voices more clearly. You can catch them in time. This is how you get more control over the mind. Because the mind can … 
  12. Insight from Developing Concentration
     … Yet now you think of your distractions as distractions when you’re trying to get the mind concentrated. You’ve made up your mind you’re going to stay here. But part of the mind is going to play traitor—or parts of the mind will play traitor. They make an agreement: As soon as your mindfulness slips, your alertness lapses, they’re going … 
  13. Here Be Tigers
     … It’s the mind that makes the difference. So make up your mind that you’re going to stay with the breath, you’re going to get the mind to settle down. And any thoughts that are not related to the breath right now, you’re just not going to continue them. They may pop into the mind, but you don’t have to … 
  14. Maintenance Work
     … That’s because the mind isn’t used to staying in position, just as the body isn’t used to staying in position. But the mind tends to move a lot faster and to be a lot more fickle than the body, which is why we have to work extra hard at that really hard aspect of the training: keeping the mind in one … 
  15. Basic Stuff
     … You realize that even though there is aging in life, the mind doesn’t have to age. There is illness, but the mind doesn’t have to be ill. There is death, but the mind doesn’t die. There may be separation, but the mind doesn’t have to get separated from its good qualities. So you want to invest in the mind as … 
  16. The Mind Like Water
    The Buddha often compares the mind to water, flowing water, and it flows because of craving. All our defilements, all of our emotions, are like flowing water, and we have to bring them into check if we want to understand them, get some control over them. As the Buddha said, it’s through mindfulness that they come into check. It’s like a dam … 
  17. A Total Training
     … You’ve got to feed the mind well. And the Buddha often talks about right concentration as food for the mind: rice, beans, honey, ghee—all kinds of good things for the mind. When the mind is well-fed, then you can watch it and see where it creates suffering and stress for itself. Oftentimes you find that it’s caused by the things … 
  18. Contentment
     … Look at the mind. What is the mind doing that’s causing suffering? What could it do to cause less suffering? To see this clearly, you’ve got to get the mind very, very still. And whatever way you get the mind to settle down in the present moment clearly, with mindfulness and alertness, try to develop those skills within the mind, develop those … 
  19. The Tricks of Denial
     … Well, the mind does that too. Sometimes there’s a lot of chatter going on in the mind and it’s an attempt to cover up something else. So if you look at it and see that the mind may be a little bit drawn to it, but not all that much drawn to it, or not especially drawn to it at all, but … 
  20. Learning from Desire
     … You need to employ these things in order to get the mind into concentration. And as you employ them, you get to know them well. I’ve known people who say, “Well, if you try to get the mind into concentration, or you want to get the mind into concentration, then it’s desire and clinging and craving; and there’s going to be … 
  21. Blessings
     … Your oxygen needs are met one way or another, and the mind comes to more and more stillness. There’s less distraction even from the breath. The breath doesn’t distract the mind, and that’s when the mind can see itself clearly. That’s the point when you can start to observe the mind and deal with even more refined issues as they … 
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