Search results for: "Attention"

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  2. The Form of the Body
     … That’s what we’re trying to focus attention on, and that requires looking at the body in such way that its importance can begin to fade. It looms less and less large in our concern. But that requires a lot of work. We have to chant that chant every day. We have to contemplate this issue every day, every day. “This body of … 
  3. Food for Endurance
     … When the Buddha talks about getting the most out of the Dhamma, he says you listen to it, and then you think about it using what he calls appropriate attention. This involves, one, not despising the speaker; two, not despising the Dhamma;, three, not despising yourself. In other words, you’re willing to listen to the Dhamma, and when you see there’s something … 
  4. Ups & Downs
     … What are you doing right now? You focus your attention there. You have to remember that the path is a series of causes, and even those causes have their causes. Some of them you have some control over and others you. You’re not going to know which are which until you’ve actually made an effort to exert some control. This is why … 
  5. Concentration as a Skill
     … If his mind hadn’t been in concentration, he wouldn’t have been able to see that, because when we cling to things usually we’re not paying attention to the act of clinging. We’re paying attention to the things we’re clinging to, oblivious to the stress that we’re creating for ourselves. But when you have this more refined clinging—and … 
  6. Calm
     … If you have any distracting thoughts, talk to yourself in a way that reminds you that you don’t have to pay attention to them. You’re not responsible for the thoughts. And, for the time being, they have no meaning. Think of them that way: They’re just the mind’s empty chatter or the play of images on a movie screen—red … 
  7. The Steadiness of Your Gaze
     … Our attention has slipped off someplace else. So keep zeroing in on the breath, zeroing in on the breath. Don’t let anything else pull your attention away.
  8. Obsessive Thinking
     … And I said, “You have to remind yourself that this is a narrative.” She said, “Oh yes, and because it’s a narrative, I should just not pay attention to it.” I said, “No, it’s a narrative that you like—part of you likes. That’s what you’ve got to look into.” This is where it’s good to think of the … 
  9. At Home in Jhana
     … Just pay attention to what you’ve got. The mind has a habit of fabricating things, so have it fabricate right concentration. You’ve got the breath, which is bodily fabrication. You’ve got directed thought and evaluation, which are verbal fabrication. And you’ve got feelings and labels or perceptions, which are mental fabrications. So instead of fabricating worlds outside, thought worlds that … 
  10. Take Responsibility for Yourself
     … You’re not paying careful attention enough. So try to develop that attitude of paying careful attention both inside and out. This is one of the reasons why in the old days in the forest tradition things were not all that explained. You had to look at what other people were doing. If you weren’t sure what to be doing, well, watch when … 
  11. To Depend on Yourself
     … Pay careful attention to your intentions before you act, before you speak, before you think. I know a lot of people who think that’s a big trouble. I’ve heard people say, “Why so much attention on little things like this? Why don’t we just open up to the large oneness around us and let it do its work, do its magic … 
  12. The Best News in the World
     … Heedful in the sense of realizing that if you don’t really pay careful attention to what you’re doing, you’re putting yourself into danger. But if you do pay careful attention, you can avoid dangers. Ardent in willing to do whatever needs to be done. As he said, his quest was the quest for what is skillful. Whatever was skillful, he would … 
  13. Cause & Effect Right Now
     … Because all too often all our attention goes to the stress and we miss the action. We’re looking in the wrong place. This is one of the reasons why when awakening comes it does come suddenly but it’s not totally sudden. The Buddha compared it to the continental shelf off of India: There’s a gradual slope and then a sudden drop … 
  14. Laying the Infrastructure
     … That’s where the work is to be done—not in your anticipation of where you’re going to go, but in paying really close attention to the breath right here and now. This is your path. If you spend all your time looking off to the horizon to see the big mountain we’re headed to, you lose sight of where you’re … 
  15. Taking Responsibility
     … It’s just that you’re not paying careful attention enough, and your attention is not enough all around. But those qualities can be developed if you take responsibility for them. This is a path that’s all about being responsible. That’s what the story of the Buddha’s quest for awakening was about: It’s a path of being responsible. We simply … 
  16. Truths of the Will
     … The Buddha talks of a quality called appropriate attention—yoniso manasikara, is the Pali term. Basically it means looking at things in the right way. And that’s something you can will. Looking at things the right way basically means looking at them in terms of the four noble truths, looking at the world in terms of suffering and the cause of suffering, the … 
  17. Inconstancy
    Try to keep your attention constantly with the breath, all the way in, all the way out. This is what makes the meditation special. Otherwise, you’re with the breath a little bit, and then you’re someplace else. Then back again, then someplace else. That’s the way your mind normally acts. Try to train it in new habits: the habit of staying … 
  18. Kind & Happy
     … And pay careful attention to how the breathing feels. Where in the body do you notice the sensation of breathing? In other words, we’re not just talking here about that air coming in and out of the lungs, but the feeling of the whole body breathing. There’s an energy flow that goes through the body that brings the air in and then … 
  19. Noble Priorities
     … The media keep pointing our attention over there, over there, over there, whereas the Buddha is saying, No, the place you really should pay attention is in here. So as you practice in the world, you have to realize that your priorities have to be different from the priorities of the world. It’s in this way that the Dhamma is counter-cultural not … 
  20. Dealing with Pain
     … One, don’t pay any attention to the pain; pay attention to the breath. Two, use the breath, what you’ve learned of the breath energy in the body, to breathe through the pain. And then three, analyze the pain in terms of those aggregates, those activities that turn the physical pain into a mental pain, so that you can release the mind from … 
  21. Food, Shelter & Work
     … Now focus your attention on the breath. As you breathe in, take a couple of good, long, deep in-and-out breaths, and notice where you feel the breathing in the body. Think of the breath not so much as the air coming in and out through the nose, but as the movement of energy in the body. Where do you feel that energy … 
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