Search results for: "The Breath"

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  2. Mindful & Grateful for Lessons in Freedom
     … We’re remembering that it’s a good thing to stay with the breath. We remember the different instructions that tell us what we can do with the breath and what we can do with the mind so that we can get the breath and the mind to stay together. We’re trying to develop a state of concentration. And from the concentration, we … 
  3. To Purify the Heart
     … And the breath is a good place to stay to see this. Without the breath, you couldn’t move your mouth, you couldn’t move your body. It would be possible for the mind to think without the breath, but it’d be a disembodied consciousness. It wouldn’t have an impact on the world outside. It’s through the breath that you relate … 
  4. Right Now
     … But as the mind gets settled down, the breath gets more and more comfortable, you finally get to the point where you don’t have to keep on evaluating the breath. The breath is good: feels good coming in, feels good going out. You’re pretty well established in it. The act of evaluating the breath then becomes a burden. You see that that … 
  5. Mindfulness Defined
    What does it mean to be mindful of the breath? Something very simple: keep the breath in mind. Keep remembering the breath each time you breathe in, each time you breathe out. The standard translation for sati —mindfulness—is probably derived from the passage in the Anglican Prayer Book that says, “Be ever mindful of the needs of others.” In other words keep their … 
  6. Into the Cave with the Tiger
    As you focus on the breath, you want to be alert to what you’re doing. You want to be sensitive to the fact that you are doing something right now. The mind is not totally passive. It’s an active principle. The fact that we experience the present moment comes from fabrication. If it weren’t for the fabrications we’re doing right … 
  7. Focus on What You’re Doing
    You probably notice that as soon as you focus on the breath, the chattering classes in your mind start in, commenting on the breath, commenting on how well things are going, or commenting on whether you should continue meditating. Some of the comments are useful; a lot of them are not. An important part of the meditation is learning how to sort these things … 
  8. Patience & Urgency
     … If you’re going to think, think about the breath, evaluate the breath, play with the breath, get to know it really well. The only way you can really know the breath is by playing with it, trying to make it comfortable. If it’s not comfortable, try other ways of making it comfortable. Keep trying to figure out, if things are not going … 
  9. Voices in the Mind
     … We’re not just here to focus on the breath. You find that being able to be with the breath helps pull you out of a lot of dialogues by creating a new dialogue focused around the breath. But then through the force of old habits you get pulled back into old dialogues—your parents, your old friends, all sorts of inner voices. And … 
  10. Sticking with an Intention
     … After all, the breath is the force of life and it’s very immediate. It’s not far off or dubious. It’s right here, right now. You can see that sticking with the breath and allowing it to be comfortable is bound to have a good effect on the body and the mind. So there’s no doubt there. After setting up the … 
  11. Thinking & Evaluating
     … just thinking about the breath, asking yourself how you perceive the breath. There’s the feeling of the breath, there’s the perception of the breath, and the thinking about the breath. How do these mental functions interact? When you perceive the breath as uncomfortable, think about it for a while: What kind of breathing would make the body more comfortable? And if thinking … 
  12. Reexploring the Breath
  13. Adjusting the Breath
  14. Evaluating the Breath
  15. Exploring the Breath
  16. Evaluating the Breath
  17. Mind Reading
     … Or if the mind has extra energy, use it to think about the different aspects of the breath in the body. Where’s the breath in the spaces between your fingers right now, the spaces between the toes, other parts of the body that you tend to ignore? Take a really detailed inventory of the breath energy in the different parts of the body … 
  18. Directing & Not Directing the Mind
     … Just focus on the breath, focus on buddho or whatever your topic is going to be, and the mind immediately takes to it. Other people are not like that. They have to figure things out first. They have to have reasons: 1) for wanting to settle in with the breath or whatever their object may be; and 2) for letting go of outside preoccupations … 
  19. Change Your Perceptions
    When you’re focused on the breath, you need a perception to hold you there. The perception can be an image you hold in mind—a visual image, a word, a little sign to remind you that this is where you want to stay. If it’s a visual perception, this is where Ajaan Lee’s instructions become handy, because remember, when we talk … 
  20. Take Nothing for Granted
     … But with really the important things in meditation you can’t simply set you mind say, “Okay, I want awakening tonight” or “I want deep insights tonight.” What you can say is, “I want to focus on the breath. I want to be very sensitive to the breath. I want to make sure that all my conversation in the mind is about the breath … 
  21. Learning from the Breath
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