Search results for: "Wisdom"

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  2. Long-Term Welfare
    The Buddha once said that the quest for wisdom, the quest for discernment, starts with a question: “What when I do it will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness?” This may sound strange, because we’re used to hearing the Buddha’s take on discernment or insight as dealing with inconstancy, stress, and not-self, which sounds like the very opposite of … 
  3. The Ennobling Path
     … And learn the persistence and wisdom that enable us to follow the skillful desires and put the unskillful ones aside, seeing what truly is in our own best interest. In other words, we sort through the imperatives our appetites place on us, and the imperatives that society places on us, learning to figure out which ones really are skillful. We need to sort out … 
  4. A Rite of Passage
     … the results of your actions so that what you actually do and say and think is in line with your ideals. That’s the quality that the Buddha calls purity. So. Wisdom, compassion, purity—these are the qualities of the Buddha. These are qualities that come from practicing this rite of passage aimed at true happiness. It’s not a rite of passage where … 
  5. The Duties of Happiness
     … things like wisdom, compassion, purity, discernment, and integrity. These are all good things. As we stay with the breath and we get it comfortable like this, we’re providing a safe space right here in the present moment where are all the parts of the mind can come together. And particularly, the parts that we tend to identify with, the head and the heart … 
  6. Questioning & Conviction
     … That’s how you develop your wisdom, how you develop your discernment, motivating yourself to realize that this really is a worthwhile project to pursue. Even though lots of people might say, “What could you possibly learn by just focusing on the breath?” you realize that staying focused here exercises your mindfulness, your concentration, your discernment, all the qualities you’re going to need … 
  7. Doing the Right Thing
     … one, not seeing clearly; two, not having the strength even when you do see clearly; and sometimes, you can see clearly and have the strength, but you don’t have the wisdom to deal with the unskillful members of your mind’s committee. Boil it down to those three issues, and the training that the Buddha gives in virtue, concentration, and discernment helps right … 
  8. The Uses of Fear
     … It’s an important part of wisdom, recognizing that there are dangers in life. It’s a necessary function of the mind, anticipating that dangers are going to happen. The important thing is not to let the fear get tied up in greed, aversion, or delusion. You want to bring more mindfulness, more clarity to the issues you fear, and to gain more skill … 
  9. Look at Yourself
     … The Buddha once said that this is a sign of wisdom: knowing what is your duty and what’s not your duty. The fool, he said, neglects his own duty and sticks his nose into the duties of other people. The wise person knows to look after his or her own duty. As for other people, if it’s not your duty, you leave … 
  10. Making Yourself Worthy of Trust
     … And there you have it, the three main virtues of the Buddha—wisdom, compassion, purity—in your search for happiness. So you internalize the examples set by the Triple Gem. That’s where the inner refuge comes in. You train the mind to be reliable because you start out with a mind that’s partly reliable and partly not. Ajaan Chah liked to say … 
  11. How to Be Alone
     … I couldn’t help thinking that if he’d been born in Thailand, he might not have died, for they have a whole tradition — the Buddha’s teachings — that acts as a storehouse of wisdom on how to be alone. And the Sangha provides an opportunity to learn directly from people who’ve had lots of time alone, leading a purposeful life, and have … 
  12. Intelligent about Change
     … It’s a strength that comes when you see you carry around too many loads, and you begin to realize, “Oh, this a load I can let go of; this is another load I can let go of.” That’s one of the signs of wisdom: your ability to see which things really are your responsibility and which things are not. And as you … 
  13. Selves with Skills
     … If it doesn’t come naturally, you learn how to make it more natural, because that’s an important part of wisdom. There are a lot of things that give good long-term results, but you may not like to do them. Yet if you have any sense, any discernment, at all, you’ll talk yourself into wanting to do them. The same with … 
  14. Potentials for Awakening
     … This, out of the seven, is the wisdom or discernment factor. And it’s interesting here that the Buddha says the potential that you develop to foster discernment has to do with seeing skillful and unskillful qualities in your own mind. This is why I said actions are important, because the question of which actions are worth doing lies at the basis of discernment … 
  15. Be Bigger Than Your Pains
     … You’re looking for a happiness that requires wisdom. It requires compassion and purity. That’s the skill we’re working on as we focus on the breath: developing qualities of mind we’re going to need to find that true happiness. We start with mindfulness because it’s a pretty simple mental faculty: just keeping something in mind, reminding yourself why you’re … 
  16. Willing & Observing
     … As the Buddha said, a good test of your wisdom is when you know something is unskillful, is going to lead to bad results, but you like to do it. Are you going to be able to tell yourself No, and stick with that No? If you know something is skillful, is going to lead to good results but you don’t like to … 
  17. Virtuous Beginnings
     … the fact that you’ve gained in wisdom, you’ve gained in well-being, you’ve gained in really solid qualities in the mind. You start right here with the practice of virtue and build on that. Because when you have virtue as your foundation, it’s a solid foundation. You don’t have to worry that other practices that are more advanced will … 
  18. Always Willing to Learn
     … You have to use crude wisdom—which means that even though it works, the results are going to be crude as well. So it’s best not to let your emotional waves develop that far. Ask yourself: What happened to all those skills you learned as a meditator? They’re not just for sitting quietly on a meditation seat. They’re for use in … 
  19. An Auspicious Night
     … For the monks, we have three months when we live in the rains retreat, and we’re often encouraged to live together so that we can learn from one another, encourage one another, benefit from one another’s mindfulness, discernment, wisdom, and skills. If you want people to be happy to share their skills with you, you have to show respect, but you also … 
  20. How to Straighten Out the World
     … So try to develop wisdom. Focus on things that really are your task. Focus on training your mind, because that’s really ultimately the best contribution you can make, not only to yourself but to the world around you. It’s a gift, the best gift there is.
  21. Free Not to Suffer
     … In Ajaan’s Lee’s explanation of the three qualities, ardency is the quality that embodies wisdom and discernment. In other words, you could remember all kinds of things about what the Buddha taught, and you could be watching yourself do all kinds of things in the present moment, and it would count as mindfulness and alertness. But if you’re not ardent in … 
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