Search results for: "Form"
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- The Languages of the Mind… In this way, the habit we have of forming concepts—what the Buddha calls directed thought and evaluation, which are verbal saṅkhāras—instead of being the problem, actually become part of the solution. When you find the mind wandering off, chattering about other things, just realize that those other things are not the issue right now. It’s not that you’ll never be …
- In Terms of the Four Noble Truths… One way this works is when the mind is really concentrated and then you leave concentration, it’s useful to ask yourself, “Where is the stress coming in? As soon as I leave concentration, what additional stress is there?” That’s one way of developing dispassion for those forms of stress outside of the concentration: attachment to the body, to feelings, perceptions, ideas, even …
- Common Ground… The form of the body, feelings, perceptions, thought fabrications, consciousness, these we have in common. And the ways we cling: We cling through sensuality, through our habits and practices, through views about the world, and through ideas of who we are. And although the views and the ideas of who we are, and our habits and practices, and the particularity of our ideas of …
- In Accordance with the Dhamma… We cling to form, we cling to feelings, perceptions, thought fabrications, consciousness, which means we feed on them, hoping to get some satisfaction out of them. As the Buddha points out, that’s why we’re suffering. So he wants us to gain a sense of having had enough of this kind of feeding. It’s through having had enough that we gain release …
- Testing Karma… It helps keep you from getting waylaid by lesser forms of happiness. But whether it’s true or not, you’ve got to put it to the test. So that’s what we’re doing here right now. We’re putting the Buddha’s teachings to the test. Always try to be clear about what you know and what you don’t know yet …
- Sucked into the Tube… See how they’re formed. To begin with, there’s usually just a little stirring in the mind and the body. Then at some point, you apply a perception. You apply a label to it, saying, “This is this, and that’s that.” It’s as if you have a little code for yourself. You recognize the code’s signals and often you create …
- Will Meditation Make You Grim & Dull?… It’s less an aspect of idle chatter or the other forms of wrong speech. It actually becomes a type of right speech. After all, genuine humor, genuine wit, is a sign of intelligence. You see the ironies of life. And because you feel more secure inside, you’re not threatened by them. So you can see them more clearly. One of the things …
- Ekaggata… You’re going to need both if you want your concentration to form a good foundation for insight. Finding the right balance here is an important first step in using your insight, using your alertness, to make your concentration just right.
- Refuge… But if you let your emotions get in the way, you fall into the four forms of bias. It’s interesting that the Thai word for bias, lamiang, is derived from the word for leaning,* iang.* You’re leaning in the direction of being unfair either because you like somebody or because you hate somebody or because you’re deluded or because you’re …
- Awe… That can form a basis for concentration, and concentration of that sort can put the mind in the right state to reflect on things in their proper perspective: to look at where you cling to things, and what might be in your best interest to let go. If you’re looking for your happiness in something that the elements could destroy, don’t think …
- Your Game Leg… How can you get everything together so you walk without a limp and get to where you want to go? There are four teachings, the Buddha said, that can’t be argued with and that form the basis of the practice. You know that if you’re following these teachings, you’re on course. They’re all very basic. I met a monk once …
- Peace on Earth… It’s one of the few forms of happiness where everyone gets a share. In other words, the good things you do for other people, based on your sense of well-being, don’t diminish your well-being. They actually strengthen it. So pay careful attention right here, because this is where everything starts.
- Being Still… But remember that being quiet is also a form of doing, and sometimes it’s the most skillful doing, the most skillful thing you can do. Try to keep the mind as quiet as possible, as still as possible, as if you’re listening to music far, far away and you want to try to make out the tones, make out the melody. You …
- Fear & Uncertainty… There are skillful forms of fear and there are genuine dangers out there, genuine dangers inside. But we can face them. This is why heedfulness is useful: It realizes that, in spite of the dangers, there are things you can do to avoid them. Particularly the genuine dangers: You can totally avoid the genuine dangers, the desires to do something unskillful. You can make …
- Everybody Benefits… That way, they gain more reliable guidance in their path and they gain the benefits of all the forms of merit: generosity, virtue, meditation. It’s through this symbiotic relationship that everybody benefits. This becomes especially dramatic on a day like today with the kathin. There’s been a lot of activity. A lot of people had to be fed. They came to support …
- Practice at Home… You’ll encounter some forms of meditation that have tried to strip all the values away, but they’re pretty minimalist and don’t really go that deep. For the practice to go deep, you have to know the values underlying the practice: a sense of priorities about what’s really important in life and what has to be put aside. As the Buddha …
- Respect for Concentration… The Buddha once said that right concentration forms the heart of the noble eightfold path, while all the other factors of the path are simply requisites, supports for the right concentration, to keep it right, to keep it on track. So have some respect for this quality of mind. Look after it. Sometimes it seems like we’re going against the Buddha’s teachings …
- Blessings… Then you find that what you need for the sake of true happiness, what you need to bless yourself, is here in potential form inside. You’re simply learning how to make the most of your potentials. There are a lot of possibilities inside. As Ajaan Lee, my teacher’s teacher, once said, the sad thing about human beings is that we have so …
- Choose Your Actions Wisely… He shows us what alternatives we have, alternative ways of acting that actually form a path away from that suffering. There’s a value judgment here, too: that suffering is not what you want. This judgment is a choice you make. The Buddha’s not forcing it on you. He’s simply recommending that you realize how you’ve created a lot of unnecessary …
- Noble Wealth… But the wealth of conviction, the wealth of discernment, and all the other forms of noble wealth, will never become worthless. So that’s where you should invest your time. That’s where you should invest your energy and all the discernment you can muster. The raw materials are here. As I said, they’re very simple. We all have them. We all have …
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