Search results for: "Discernment"
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- How to Think about Death… He says to “protect them with discernment.” That’s what the text says. So it’s not just a matter of watching things coming and going. You realize that there are some things that you want to make come, you want to make them arise. And you want to prevent them from passing away. Other things, unskillful qualities, you want to keep from arising …
- The Rewards of Stream Entry… As the Buddha said, stream enterers are complete in their development of virtue, and they have some concentration along with some discernment. The concentration was the amount of concentration that enabled them to get their minds to settle down, at least long enough for the path to come together. They haven’t mastered concentration yet; that comes later. And they’ve had the discernment …
- The Dhamma Eye… You had to use your concentration and your discernment to be really observant about what’s going on in the mind when it’s concentrated. That’s why you don’t grasp at habits and practices again. And the fact that there is an awareness that has nothing to do with the aggregates: That’s why you would never give your allegiance to any …
- The Desire for Things to Be Different… But there is a path—the path of virtue, the path of concentration, the path of discernment—that will get you where you want to go. It’ll take you to a different place from where you are right now, a place where there is no death because there is no birth. What’s important is that you can make a difference, and you …
- The Sublime Attitudes in Context… In this way, you’re not limited even by the limitations of what they call immeasurable goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity, because you pick them up with discernment and you put it down with discernment. In that way, they hold no danger for the mind.
- Three Noble Truths Versus Four… But if you push them far enough, and with enough discernment, you can turn them into a path that takes you to something that really is easeful and constant in the ultimate sense: nibbāna. That’s the wealth you’ve gained. Then you can let the concentration go. But even when you let go of the concentration, you still have it at hand. Look …
- Respect for Concentration… Concentration is what all the other good qualities—like discernment and release—depend on. To show respect for concentration is to show respect for our desire for true happiness. Give respect to the fact that other people desire true happiness as well. This is the path. The Buddha once said that Right Concentration is the heart of the Eightfold Path. The other seven factors …
- In the Context of the Path… You see that the path is made out of aggregates? Well, you’re supposed to let go of aggregates, right? That’s what discernment is supposed to do, right? Even before you’ve got the mind in concentration, you try to develop you’ve heard is discernment, and that can stop you from developing what you need to develop. Think of the image of …
- Who’s in Charge Here?… I see that I’m causing myself unnecessary suffering and I want to put an end to it.” With whatever is in line with that, you’ve got to say, “I’m going to side with that, whether it comes from inside or outside.” As the Buddha said, one of the measures of your discernment, particularly with regard to effort, is seen with regard …
- Reflect on What You’re Doing… It applies to your development of discernment. It’s always interesting to watch the Buddha teach children. He didn’t have a special watered-down Dhamma just for children, aside from the fact that he wanted to make things very clear and to get them started off on the right foot. So he taught a lot of good principles right from the beginning: honesty …
- Cooking the Present Moment… Then there’s your discernment, your ability to see what it is in a pain, as it comes up, that’s actually causing suffering. The Buddha talks about different kinds of pain. There’s the pain of fabrication. There’s the pain of the fact that things change. There’s the pain of simply unpleasant sensations. And it turns out that unpleasant sensation isn …
- Informing the Whole Committee… This is why concentration comes before discernment. And there is an element of discernment that is needed for the concentration itself. But the discernment that’s actually going to break through the mind’s misunderstandings has to be based on getting as many members of the mind in on the message. I mean you can read a book and learn all about the basic …
- The Management of Suffering… The final quality to look for, discernment, is defined as “penetrative knowledge of arising and passing away.” At first glance, that sounds simply like seeing things coming and going, but when the Buddha adds that adjective, “penetrative,” he means that you have a good sense of when something arises, whether it’s arising for good or for bad. Where does it come from? Where …
- Strategic Thinking… If you learn to think like this, your discernment develops in unexpected ways, ways that are helpful in all kinds of situations. As Ajaan Lee once said, if you have discernment, you can use anything to a good purpose. You’ve got this body, well, use your body for a good purpose. You’ve got feelings, perceptions, thought fabrications, and consciousness. You can learn …
- Breathing to Awakening… So, as you take an inquisitive attitude toward the breath and the mind’s relationship to the breath—and toward both of them as they relate to the present moment and as they relate to the process of fabrication going on in the body and the mind—you’re bringing your discernment to bear. That discernment is what’s going to give you your …
- Breath Meditation: The First Tetrad… What does the Buddha tell us to do with it? In the beginning, he says, use your discernment to discern the difference between long and short breathing—something very simple. Ajaan Lee would add that you can discern other differences as well—long, short, fast, slow, heavy, light, deep, shallow. Find the breath that’s right for you, a rhythm and texture of breathing …
- Fully Here… When the Buddha talked about full awakening, he said it’s both awareness-release and discernment-release. Awareness-release is the release from passion that comes from getting the mind into really strong concentration. Discernment-release is the release from ignorance that comes when your insight and discernment are really sharp. You need both—and you work on both together. Sometimes you’ll be …
- Universal Truths… Virtue, concentration, discernment: All these things should come together in your practice. So as you focus on the breath, try to do it in a virtuous way. In other words, do it with restraint. Remind yourself, you can’t go wandering off, dabbling in this, dabbling in that. You’ve really got to be true to the theme of your concentration. And your concentration …
- Sensitive to Fabrication… In particular: “What are you clinging to?” That passage we chanted just now has an unusual phrase, the very first one: “those who don’t discern suffering.” Everybody discerns suffering—but not clearly. All too often you hear people say, “The Buddha taught that life is suffering.” He never said that. He said something a lot more precise. He went through the different aspects …
- How to Read the Dhamma… Remember that discernment comes from listening, which includes reading, and from thinking. Then it comes in the practice. And although the discernment that’s going to make a big change in your mind is the discernment that comes from practice, it has to be informed by how you read and how you think. So go on the assumption that the Dhamma makes sense. If …
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