Search results for: "Feeling"
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- A Strong Sense of Self… Notice how it feels. You can try long breathing for a while, to see how that feels, and if long breathing feels good, keep it up. If not, you can change. You can try shorter breathing, deeper, more shallow, heavier, lighter, faster, slower. Wherever you feel the breath most prominently in the body, focus your attention there and watch it steadily so that you …
- Strength of Mind… Once the breath gets comfortable, one of the exercises you can try is to go through the different parts of the body and ask yourself, how does that part of the body feel when you breathe in? How does it feel when you breathe out? Does it feel good? Try adjusting for that part. You can start down around the navel, work up the …
- Concentration as Wilderness… Try to find a rhythm of breathing that feels really soothing, energizing, and refreshing for the body. In the beginning, this may mean deep, long breathing to energize parts of the body that ordinarily aren’t energized by the breath. Then, when that gets tiresome, you can let the breath get shorter, more shallow. Find a rhythm that feels really good, so that when …
- To Comprehend Suffering… Now, on top of that, there may be feelings of pleasure or pain or neutral feelings. And even though these may be associated with the body, they themselves are not “body.” It’s important to make that distinction, because we often confuse them. Say there’s a pain in your leg, a pain in your back, or a pain in your shoulder. The pain …
- The Committee of the Mind… You want to find a perception that allows the breath energy to flow smoothly throughout the body so that the body feels nourished, the nerves feel nourished, the blood vessels feel nourished—everything. So try different perceptions to see what helps. One that I’ve found useful is thinking of the body as like a big sponge. As you breathe in, the air can …
- The Path of Happiness… Breathe in a way that feels free and easy. You can experiment to see what rhythm of breathing feels best. Try long, deep breathing for a while to see if that feels good. If it does, maintain that rhythm. If not, you can change. Try long in and short out, or short in and long out, or short in and short out, deep or …
- Look after Your Mind with Ease… How is the breath going? Is it comfortable? Where do you feel the breath right now? When you breathe in, does it feel like you’re fully nourishing your torso all the way down? Is it nourishing the nerves? Is it nourishing your eyes, your ears? Think of the breath as the flow of energy in the body, and ask yourself where it would …
- Solidly Established… Choose a spot where you feel comfortable, and let the breath be comfortable as well. Try not to force it too much. Let it come in and go out at a rhythm that feels good. You might want to start out with a couple of good, long, deep in-and-out breaths. Then let the breath find a rhythm that feels right. Then do …
- Coming into the Present… Fire, of course, corresponds to the feelings of warmth. Earth is feelings of solidity. And water is feelings of cohesion, feelings of coolness. Every point of sensation in your body has all four of these to a greater and lesser extent. They may seem like a foreign way of thinking about the body, but this way of thinking has its uses, particularly when you …
- Respect… Then, when things have been cleared out, choose any one spot in the body where it feels natural to stay focused. It might be in the middle of the head, the chest, the abdomen. Focus your attention there and let it stay there for a while. See what kind of breathing feels good there. It could be long breathing, short breathing, fast or slow …
- Layers of Selves… In other words, finding the spot in the body that feels good. And then breathing in and out sensitive to mental fabrication, i.e., your perceptions and your feelings. How are the perceptions having an effect on you? How are the feelings having an effect on you? How do they get mixed together to have an effect on the mind? Then you find a …
- Right but Wrong… Udayin steps in and says, “Maybe he’s thinking about the fact that all feelings are stressful, and all actions result in feelings.” And basically, the Buddha says No, that’s not the time for that teaching. When you’re asked about kamma, the proper response is: There are three kinds of feelings—pleasant feelings, painful feelings, neither pleasant nor painful. After all, the …
- Consciousness, Name, & Form… Does it feel good? Does it not feel good? If it doesn’t feel good, you can change. As the Buddha said, the breath is the factor that has the most influence on your sense of the body as you feel it from within. So take some time to look at it on its own terms and don’t drag in other issues. When …
- Moods Are Not-Self… Part of the reason is that you feel surrounded by it. It’s in your body. It permeates your mind. It seems to be coloring the air all around you. But it is something you can get out of, and it’s good to remember that you can. So think about why you might want to get out of those moods, even though it …
- Discerning the Middle Way… One, what kind of breath is just right for you just now? This means “just right” for the body in the sense that it feels good breathing in, feels good breathing out. And “jJust right” for the mind: It’s not too light to detect, it’s not too heavy so that it gets burdensome. So you’ve got to adjust things and then …
- The Gift of Speech… There are things that will lead to good things down the line, happiness down the line, but they may be things that you don’t feel like saying—but still you talk yourself into wanting to say them. The measure of what should come out of your mouth should not be what you feel like saying, but what will have a good long-term …
- The Ennobling Path… The breath feels good coming in; the breath feels good going out. You can really bore into the breath and feel like you’re penetrating it. There’s a sense of oneness with the body, breath, and mind. At that point you don’t have to keep reminding yourself. Ajaan Fuang’s example is of a water buffalo. You’ve got to call your …
- Deconstruct Your Emotions… How does it feel? What kind of breathing would feel really good right now? What would energize your torso? What would nourish the muscles around the heart? In what way is the energy flowing through the body? Ajaan Lee talks about the down-flowing energy and the up-flowing energy. The terms actually come from the Canon. His interpretation is that when you breathe …
- Right Inner Speech… Would the Buddha ever saying anything that hurt somebody’s feelings? He’s been set up by some Jains, who told the prince, “You know, if the Buddha answers, ‘No,’ then you catch him in a lie, because he actually said something to hurt Devadatta’s feelings.” (I think he actually called him a lick-spittle, which is pretty extreme.) But if the Buddha …
- Into the Cave with the Tiger… When he was asked where a gift should be given, he answered, “ Where you feel inspired.” When the monks are asked where should a donation be given, they should say, “Give where you feel inspired, or where you feel it will be well used or well taken care of.” In other words, we have to recognize the freedom of the donor. Honor it, protect …
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