Search results for: "Discernment"
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- Sending Happiness… And then discernment: This is defined as penetrative discernment of arising and passing away. Now, “penetrative” discernment doesn’t mean simply watching things come and go. To be penetrative means noticing that when some things come, they’re really good; other things come and they’re not. And when they come, why do they come? So you penetrate into their causes and then you …
- Don’t Be Afraid of Mistakes… That’s what discernment is all about, learning how to look at your actions and to judge them properly. We hear all too often that meditation is about being non-judgmental. Actually, even though you don’t want to be judgmental, in other words jumping to conclusions, you do have to develop your powers of judgment. In fact, insight is a judgment call as …
- Goodwill for Free… Beyond that, though, developing goodwill is one of the bases for developing discernment. It leads to a type of concentration that is conducive to discernment if you apply it in that direction. From there it liberates you to the noble dwellings. So keep these points in mind. Goodwill does depend on a sense of right and wrong. Even though it’s immeasurable, there’s …
- Strength to Be Good… You combine conviction with discernment, in which you realize that there are short-term kinds of happiness and long-term kinds of happiness. The beginning of discernment is when you see that you want to be willing and able to abandon the short-term ones, if necessary, to gain the long-term ones. It’s a trade. Then there’s the strength of effort …
- Be Precise … That’s how the perfection of concentration leads to discernment, moving it into the four noble truths. But you don’t have to think in terms of the four noble truths. Just think, “What is this disturbance right here? And how can I stop it?” Try to be very precise in how you observe these things. We had a question this afternoon about what …
- Impossible Things… He said they’re a measure of a person’s wisdom and discernment. He didn’t say they’re a measure of your willpower. You need to use discernment to do the things you don’t like to do but give good results and to not do the things you like to do but give bad results. The discernment lies not only in seeing …
- Anti-slacker Dhamma… As for discernment itself, every way of thinking that’s not in line with discernment, you’ve got to develop dispassion for that. Only then, when all these factors of the path have done their work, do you turn the three perceptions on them as well. And then you’re free. What this means is that the Buddha didn’t start with the three …
- Training for Dispassion… It’s simply that our admirable friends show us—through their qualities of discernment, virtue, relinquishment, and conviction—that these things are possible and they can lead to genuine happiness: a happiness that we might not have imagined otherwise. So we depend on them to open these possibilities to us. But at the same time, we have to be up for the task. We …
- Control… So learn to be more discerning in what you look for in the present moment. Sometimes it seems that there’s nothing at all you can control. Well, that’s a misperception. Other times, you feel you’ve got to have everything under control. That’s a misperception as well. Be more discerning about what can you control, what lies outside your control. You …
- Playing Your Lute… And the “everything else” here applies to your conviction, your mindfulness, your concentration, and your discernment. In other words, when there are limitations on your capabilities, don’t sit down with a thought, “I’m going to sit here and won’t get up until I attain supreme awakening. If I don’t attain supreme awakening, I’m going to let my blood and …
- Actor & Experiencer… This comes down to the principle that Ajaan Lee repeated many times according to Ajaan Fuang, which is that a person of discernment can learn how to use almost anything as a means for furthering mindfulness, furthering concentration, furthering your powers of discernment. So learn the proper uses for what you’ve got. How do you learn? Through patience and endurance, using your powers …
- For the Survival of True Happiness… The final use is for the sake of discernment, because it teaches us, if we listen to it, that time takes things away. When we’re young, we see the body growing, getting stronger, getting more capable. Even though we see old people around us, we tend to think that that’s them. For us, our body is only going to go in the …
- Defilements at the Door… Build on that intention, because that intention is what gives rise to discernment, and the discernment is what gives rise to freedom and the happiness we want. In spite of the aggregates’ being inconstant, stressful, and not-self, there is something else that lies beyond those characteristics, beyond those attributes, and that’s where we really can be happy.
- Things that Arise & Pass AwayThings arise and pass away, and you might say, “So what else is new? You see it all around you.” Why did the Buddha say that your ability to see arising and passing away in a penetrative way is a sign of your discernment? What’s the penetration there? It’s in seeing why they arise and why they pass away. One of the …
- Steal the Dhamma… You ask yourself, “How far have I come in conviction? How far have I come in generosity, virtue, discernment, learning, ingenuity?” Four of those qualities—conviction, virtue, generosity, discernment—are the qualities of an admirable friend. So, to what extent have you learned from your admirable friends? To what extent are you an admirable friend to yourself? Then there’s learning, which means learning …
- Mindreading… You’ll find that this kind of work within the body is also helpful for the purpose of discernment. You start looking at the body in a new way. You experience the body in a new way. So remember that the important thing about meditation is balance. Often, to achieve balance, you to lean very far to the right or very far to the …
- Refuge in the Dhamma… What qualities do you want to develop in the mind? Virtue, concentration, discernment, mindfulness, alertness, patience, endurance? This is where you develop another level of refuge, when you start to take the Dhamma inside and you turn yourself into a more reliable person. If you work on developing your mind through mindfulness, you find over time that it really does make a difference in …
- Gratification… Concentration, discernment: These things are often very hard, yet they’re the skills we need to develop if we don’t want to suffer. So a second level of skill is learning how to develop skills in areas where it’s hard. That means you have to learn how to talk yourself in the right way—one, to remind yourself how important the skill …
- Training in Right Resolve… You have to put it into practice and then think about what you’re doing while you’re doing it, observe what you’re doing while you’re doing it, because that’s how the best kind of discernment, the most reliable kind of discernment, gets developed. It’s only when you’ve found something that meets that test, and you meet that test …
- Strength from Within… conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment. You notice that the three middle strengths there are basically identical with the section of the noble path that deals with meditation practice. So the meditation, of course, will be our real strength. But in addition, you need conviction and discernment. Conviction here means believing that your actions really are important. Ajaan Lee, when he was giving a …
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