Search results for: "Focus"

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  2. Solidly Established
     … And focus on your breath. Wherever in the body you have a sensation that lets you know that now the breath is coming in, now the breath is going out, focus on that part of the body. It can be around the nose. It can be in the rise and fall of the chest or the abdomen. Choose a spot where you feel comfortable … 
  3. Self-esteem
     … They bite when, for some reason you can’t focus solely on what you’re doing and the results of your actions, you start to focus on other people and compare yourself with them. It’s something we all do. But the question is, “What do we get out of it?” If we compare ourselves in the sense of seeing something that they do … 
  4. Gladdening
     … And when you’re focused, where do you focus? Sometimes it’s easy to get sleepy as you meditate because you’re focused on one spot. So tell yourself, as you start out, that you’re going to make a survey. Focus here for a while; focus there for a while. A good place to start is around the navel, but Ajaan Lee also … 
  5. One Step at a Time
     … So the ability to focus exclusively on what’s happening right here, right now is a very useful skill. But it’s not the only skill we have to develop while meditating. Some people want to make the whole meditation just that: being in the present moment. But that’s only one of the skills we need to develop. There’s also the skill … 
  6. One Point, Two Points, Many Points
     … In cases like that, it’s smarter to start out with one little area and to focus on planting just that, caring for that. Say you plant a mango tree. You care for it for a couple years, and then when they give their first crop of mangoes, you collect the seeds and plant them. The same with the second crop. That way you … 
  7. For the Sake of the Deathless
     … But now we have to focus on the path to go there. It’s like preparing for a trip. If you simply think about all the nice things you’re going to do and see on the trip, but you don’t pack your luggage or provisions properly, the trip isn’t going to go very far and you’re not going to see … 
  8. Consciousness, Name, & Form
    When you’re establishing mindfulness on the body, the Buddha says to do two things: (1) Focus on the body in and of itself and (2) put aside greed and distress with reference to the world. The body in and of itself means not the body in the world; just the body as you have it right here. The body in the world would … 
  9. Discerning the Middle Way
     … You stop the adjusting then and see how long you can stay with that kind of breathing, that kind of focus—because the strength of your focus is also an issue. The Buddha’s analogy is of a baby chick you’re trying to hold in your hand. If you squeeze it too tightly, it’s going to die. If you hold it too … 
  10. In Gratitude- Ajaan Suwat
     … But the main focus is right here, where you’re responsible. As long as you don’t lose your focus, then you’re practicing in line with the customs of the noble ones. This connects with another teaching that Ajaan Suwat got from Ajaan Mun. As he said, this is one of Ajaan Mun’s favorite topics was practicing the Dhamma in accordance with … 
  11. Responsible for Your Goodness
     … the ability to drop all your other concerns and focus on what really is your responsibility, which is the shape of your mind. It’s so easy for us to talk about how we’re responsible for things outside, and that is part of our goodness. But where does that goodness come from? If you’re responsible for things outside and yet are doing … 
  12. Delusion Concentration
     … Both of these conditions depend on the focus of your mind on the breath, alert and mindful. You don’t want to drop your alertness; you don’t want to drop your mindfulness, because that’s what happens in delusion concentration. You’re not very alert and you really forget what you’re doing and so you slip into the pleasure. You always want … 
  13. An Auspicious Day
     … Because there does come a stage in the meditation where the in-and-out breathing stops; there’s no air moving in or moving out, but there is a sense of energy in the body, and that will be your focus at that point. So get used to focusing here. As you find a place where the breath is especially clear, stay there. And … 
  14. The World of the Body
     … Try to focus as much attention as possible on those sensations and keep your attention continuous. You’ll begin to see that little tendency to move off. As you learn to look for it, you can learn to say No to it. As you learn to say No to it, you start learning lots of important lessons about the mind. This is why concentration … 
  15. Looking Off to the Side
     … first the four jhanas, then the four formlessnesses that you can develop based on the fourth jhana, as interim goals that you can actually focus on in making the mind more sensitive. This is the important part of the practice: making the mind more sensitive to what’s going on. All the things you need to know about awakening are right here. Even the … 
  16. No-Tech Meditation
     … When you get to the fourth jhana, the breath energy gets more full in the body because of the steadiness of your focus, undisturbed by thoughts about the world. You get to the point where even the in-and-out breathing stops. You could pursue this through the formless jhanas, and get to the point where mental fabrications—perceptions and feelings— stop as well … 
  17. Sensitive to the Breath
    When you focus on the breath, you want to be friends with the breath, which means that you have to be friendly to the breath. The breath just sits there, comes in and goes out, and pretty much responds to your activities, the activities of the mind. And there is a part of the body that tends to be shy: feelings in certain parts … 
  18. Stepping Out of the Waves
     … It does have its solid aspects, but you don’t have to focus on them. Focus more on the sense of its being energy that can flow in any direction, that has no barriers, no boundaries. When you can think in this way, it’s a lot easier for the mind to settle down. Then, when things come up, you can just watch them … 
  19. Riding an Elephant to Catch Grasshoppers
     … What do meditators do? They focus on their minds.” The same with your world view: Think about your worldview until you get to the point where the narrative tells you that the important people in the world are the ones who focus in on their minds. There’s a nice passage in one of Ajaan Maha Boowa’s Dhamma talks, where he wrote a … 
  20. Birth Is Suffering
     … And only a very well-trained mind can be sure to focus on the skillful things at the moment of death and rebirth—and what you focus on is what creates a state of becoming. There will be a desire of one form or another. Around the focal point of that desire, there will form either a world—the world in which that object … 
  21. Not-self in Context
     … So right now your choice is, “Where are you going to focus?” Okay, focus on the breath. “What are you going to do with the breath?” Try to make it comfortable. “Once it’s comfortable what are you going to do?” Well, see if you can maximize that comfort, make it steady, and then allow it to spread so that the whole body feels … 
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