Search results for: "Focus"

  1. Page 31
  2. Established in Full
     … For some people the word concentration seems to evoke images of getting the mind in a very narrow focus. This is a different kind of concentration, though. The mind is centered, which is why we call it concentration, but your awareness fills the body the same way as when you look at a painting: You focus on one spot that may be the most … 
  3. Strong & Heedful
     … For instance, when anger arises, instead of focusing on the object of the anger, focus on the anger in and of itself. When skillful states arise, focus on them, too. As you do this, you begin to see that there are times in the mind when things are at peace, when the mind has a certain level of intelligence. You want to foster those … 
  4. Samatha, Vipassanā, Jhāna
     … After all, we’re not here to think about those activities, we’re here to think about the breath, focus on the breath, perceive the breath, feel the breath. The breath is the focus. As you focus on the breath, all these other activities will gather around. If something’s getting in the way, then you can scratch here, scratch there, analyze it, ask … 
  5. Ready for the Truth
     … So the Buddha would focus on the drawbacks of the pleasures that could come from just generosity and virtue. The purpose, of course, was to get you to look for something better. That would be the next step: learning to see renunciation as safety, as peace. As I’ve noted many times before, renunciation doesn’t mean just giving things up. It means looking … 
  6. Working from the Inside
     … If there are areas of tightness in your throat and your chest, don’t focus straight in on them. Focus off to the side a bit. Let the breath energy gradually, gradually, gradually work around them. That’s evaluation. Then your alertness, when it’s really steady, develops into singleness of preoccupation. You’re with one thing and you watch that one thing. This … 
  7. Body & Food
     … Sometimes you hear people saying you don’t have to focus on that, focus on the sense of I, or your ego whatever. Let go of attachment to that, and that’ll care of everything else. But again, that’s focusing on abstraction, and the work at hand never really gets done. It gets swept under the carpet. It’s easy then to say … 
  8. Nobody’s Servant
     … developing the qualities we need right here, right now, food for the mind, the sense of well-being that comes when you focus on the breath. Allow the breath to become comfortable, think of the sensitive parts in your body and how the breath might nourish them. Sometimes just thinking of that as a possibility changes the way you breathe, changes the way you … 
  9. The Kamma of Concentration
     … You sit here and you choose to focus on the breath. That’s an intention right there. And the next question is: How do you maintain that intention? How do you keep supporting it with other skillful intentions? This is where you have to deal with the different techniques of how you get the mind to settle down, how you focus on the breath … 
  10. Escape Routes in the Present
     … And as you focus on the skill, the difficulties of the outside conditions don’t weigh on you at all. Or if they do, their weight is very minor. You know they’re there, but it’s no big deal, because you’ve got this whole other realm, this whole other dimension that you can focus on. I’m frequently asked about the time … 
  11. 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 … 
  12. Again & Again
     … It may seem repetitive, it’s something you’ve been doing over and over again, but don’t focus on that. Focus on the fact that this is the way out.” This reminds me of a conversation between the Buddha and a brahman. The brahman was in front of his house one day with some food, and the Buddha came by. So the brahman … 
  13. 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 … 
  14. 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 … 
  15. 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 … 
  16. 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 … 
  17. 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 … 
  18. 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 … 
  19. 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 … 
  20. 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 … 
  21. 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 … 
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