Search results for: "Focus"

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  2. Giving & Taking Time
     … And you have to give up a lot of your other interests to focus on this. Ours is a society that likes to have its cake and eat it too—and get a few extra pieces on the side. But the practice, the training of the mind, requires that you have a clear sense of priorities and realize that there are a lot of … 
  3. Free to Do the Right Thing
     … So the purpose of those narratives is to focus you right here. The same with large metaphysical theories: There are very few in Buddhism. The important ones do to have to do with karma, your actions. And the Buddha is very clear in his teachings on action. What you’re experiencing right now is the results of past actions combined with your present actions … 
  4. Nourishing & Interesting
     … What kind of breathing would be refreshing right now? Which parts of your body tend to be most sensitive to the breath? Focus on those and see if you can get some exquisite breathing going, something that energizes you. Go straight to where the breath energy is needed and see what has to be done to maintain it. This is where the process gets … 
  5. The Path of Happiness
     … When you focus on the breath, then you get to your own mind. Once you get to your own mind, we can talk about the mind without having to bring any particular religion into it. That way, we can talk and understand each other.” So focus on your breath. Notice when it’s coming in; notice when it’s going out. Notice how it … 
  6. Listening to the True Dhamma
     … As for the affairs of the world outside, don’t focus on them at all. There’s work that has to be done, and it has to be done right here, inside. So focus your attention here. As you get focused here, you begin to see that the talk does refer to what you’re doing right now. When it talks about perceptions, okay … 
  7. Cooking the Mind
     … Instead, you focus on applying the heat right now and see how the mind responds as you cook it. The heat is the heat of your effort. Ajaan Lee has a nice image. He says it’s like putting a hunk of rock into a smelter. You apply the heat and the metals you want to get out of the rock will come out … 
  8. An Island of Concentration
     … If you’re jumping around, your focus is on the places you’re going to jump, rather than on where you are. But if you’re settled in, then you have room to expand and to explore where you are. But at first, you have to narrow your focus. It’s interesting that, for mindfulness, the Buddha gives images of having a very clear … 
  9. Guarding the Truth
     … Then, when we sit down to meditate, we’ve got the right focus, on intention. We intend to focus on the breath—ardent, alert, mindful—putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world. That’s the formula. We’re trying to get the mind into a state of concentration. As it settles in, you begin to see what’s going on in … 
  10. One Foot in the Present
    When you focus on the breath in the present moment, you want to take that as your anchor. As long as you’re with the sensation of the breath coming in, going out, at least you’ve got one foot in the present moment. You want to stay in the present moment not because it’s a wonderful moment, but because it’s an … 
  11. Analysis of Dhammas
     … This means that you can focus anywhere you want in the body. You can focus on your little toe if you like. You can focus in your bones. Just keep your focal point always to the fore. Ajaan Lee gives you some ideas for good resting spots of the breath, as he calls them: the areas from which the breath energy seems to emanate … 
  12. Making a Difference
     … So you focus on your breath. When the breath comes in, know it’s coming in; when it goes out, know it’s going out. As you do that, you have to bring some mental factors to the breath. The first is mindfulness, just keeping the breath in mind. Remind yourself: This is where you want to stay. And make this your frame of … 
  13. Stick with It
     … What are you doing at the beginning that requires that you gradually glide down? Can’t you go straight down to the breath? Have you ever noticed, when the mind does settle down, where it tends to like to focus? You may have some ideas of where you want it to focus or think it should focus, but where does it actually like to … 
  14. How to Be Self-Centered
     … So that’s where our focus has to be. That’s where we have to be centered. This means we shouldn’t try not to be self-centered. We have to be self-centered in a wise way, a skillful way. And that deals with two big problems. One is when you’re irritated by other people’s behavior. You should center your attention … 
  15. Proactive with Pain
     … Then you can focus on how you’re going to handle this well. Two things basically happen: Pain comes in, and you feel pushed out by it. You try to push it away, and it just doesn’t want to budge, so you go escaping to other places. The first thing you have to learn is how not to get pushed out by the … 
  16. Dwellings
     … Where right now is the warmest part of your body? Focus there and see if the sensation of warmth gets stronger as you hold that perception of fire in mind. Then allow it to expand. Can you spread the warmth around? This is useful on a cold night like this. On days when it’s hot outside, you can focus on water. Again, the … 
  17. Preparing to Die Well
     … You focus on some things and willfully ignore all the things right next to them. You focus on the skin and forget that just a millimeter under the skin is some pretty disgusting stuff. As you go deeper and deeper in, it gets even worse, right there in that very same body. Then you turn around and focus on what the sensual passion does … 
  18. Contemplation of the Body
     … Some of them complain they already have a negative body image so why focus on the negative side of the body? Others say that body contemplation is a way of fostering aversion to the body, which is an unhealthy mental state. Others say they’re not all that attached to their bodies, so why should they have to focus on the body? Or they … 
  19. You’ve Got Friends
     … You try to step out of purely mental concerns and focus on the physical sensation of breathing. Then see what you can do to make that comfortable. When I talk about the breath, it’s not just the in-and-out movement of the air, it’s the whole energy flow through the body. Often the problem is going to be right there in … 
  20. Customs of the Noble Ones
     … So it’s not that we don’t want things to be different from what they are; we just have to be very selective in where we focus our desires, and learn how to curb the desires that are actively causing suffering. Ultimately, at some point in the path, you get to the point where you have to let go of all desires, but … 
  21. Reflections on Kamma
     … They also apply to your sense of what you can accomplish in life, and where you should focus your attention to get there. You want to focus your attention on doing things skillfully, which means that you have to focus your attention on your intentions because they’re going to shape your life. This is why we practice meditation, so that we can get … 
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