Search results for: "Attention"

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  2. A Meditation Karma Checklist
     … This means really paying attention to the breath and trying to be on top of the mind when it begins to wander off. Be really intent on what you’re doing. Don’t just go through the motions. If the breath gets mechanical and your awareness gets mechanical, pretty quickly you’re going to lose interest. So remind yourself that you’re here to … 
  3. As Days & Nights Fly Past, Fly Past
     … When you’re listening to a Dhamma talk, how do you listen? Do you listen attentively, single-mindedly? Give it your full attention, and if there’s anything of value, try to memorize it. As you memorize it, you think it over, see how it fits in with what you’ve learned so far, because when you see that it fits, that’s when … 
  4. The Mind Comes First
     … We tend not to notice them, but the Buddha’s calling our attention to them. He says that the mind is the forerunner of all things. Everything you experience comes from the fact that the mind is already moving out to see, hear, smell, taste, touch, think about things. In other words, what you bring to experience is going to have a huge impact … 
  5. Respect
     … When you respect something, you pay full attention. You really notice what you’re doing. You’ve really got to be alert. You’ve really got to be mindful. And you’ve got to be ardent. You really put your heart into what you’re doing. You may have noticed those three qualities were mentioned in the chant just now, the analysis of the … 
  6. Analyzing the Breath
     … So, if you find that the breath is boring, it’s because, one, you’re not paying attention; and two, you’re not asking the right questions. You’re assuming lots of things you don’t really know about the body in the present moment. Learn how to question those assumptions. Is the body as solid as it seems? Certain sensations of tension or … 
  7. Strategic Friends
    Gather your attention right here at the breath. Take a couple of good long, deep breaths and see where you notice the sensation of breathing most strongly. It could at the nose, could be at the chest, the abdomen, shoulders, wherever the sensation tells you very clearly that now the breath is coming in, now the breath is going out. Then allow the breath … 
  8. Right Mindfulness
     … Alert means you’re watching what you are doing, paying close attention to what you’re doing and the results you’re getting. And then of course mindful , keeping the body in mind. Putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world means that any time you might switch your frame of reference back to the world, you try to remind yourself, No … 
  9. The Buddha’s Protection
     … As he says, you apply appropriate attention to every situation you encounter. It’s not that each present moment is totally brand new or unheard of. It may be a new moment, but it falls under the same patterns that all the other moments of the past have fallen under. In other words, it’s a mixture of your past actions and your present … 
  10. The Stairway Up
     … Bring all your powers of attention to bear right there. And be glad that you’ve got the opportunity to practice. Don’t view it as drudgery. A lot of people are in situations where they have no inclination, have no idea what the practice is about. Or they may have an idea and the inclination but they don’t have the opportunity. Here … 
  11. The Skill of Patience
     … In this case you say, “Okay go ahead and chatter, but I’m not going to pay any attention.” It’ll say some outrageous things for a while to get your attention. But if you’re really persistent, if you have some patience, it’ll start to wear down. A lot of the results in the meditation come slowly—or they come suddenly, but … 
  12. Potentials Past & Present
     … But the Buddha found that by focusing attention on his breath, breathing in different ways to help the mind to settle down—energizing it when it needs energizing, calming it when it needs calming—that was his path to awakening. So there’s a lot of potential right here. Take some time to explore it. This is in line with the principle that he … 
  13. Because the Mind Is Purposeful
     … So pay full attention to the breath. If you find the mind slipping off, just keep coming back. Try to breathe in a way that feels good: relaxing when you’re feeling tense, energizing when you’re feeling tired. Think of the breath as a whole-body process. It’s not just the air coming in and out through the nose. That’s just … 
  14. Voices in the Mind
     … Another’s to try to develop thoughts of compassion; thoughts of equanimity; paying them no mind and no attention. And then reflecting on the principle of karma, that if you get involved with them it’s just going to be an endless round. Whatever they may have done to you can probably be traced back to some old karma of yours. So the reflection … 
  15. A Gentle Touch
     … One of the best ways to allow it to happen is simply to allow your attention to be still. You can work at this either from the way you deal with the breath, or the way you manage your awareness, direct your awareness, develop a certain quality of awareness, because we’re dealing right at the point where the mind and the body meet … 
  16. Sensitive to the Mind
     … It has all these needs, and it constantly demands your attention. It’s like a little baby that won’t let you sleep: crying about this, crying about that, hungry for this, pained here, pained there. It needs to move, needs to go defecate, needs to go urinate—all these things you have to do for it. And then what does it do? It … 
  17. Choices that Matter
     … You’ve probably had the experience where you want the results so badly that you’re not paying careful attention to what you’re doing. That’s a good intention, but it’s not skillful. It’s not focused in the right place. You want to focus your desires on the causes. Each time you breathe in, stay with the breath. Each time you … 
  18. A Connoisseur of the Breath
     … Alert means you’re watching what you’re doing, paying close attention to what you’re doing and the results that you’re getting from your actions. And of course you’re mindful, keeping the body in mind. Putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world: This means that any time you want to switch your frame reference back to the world … 
  19. Choices in the Present
    As you bring your attention in the present moment, it’s important that you understand that the present moment is shaped by two sorts of things: influences coming from your past actions and your present intentions. This means that you’re constantly playing a role in shaping your present reality. Now, that role is going to be limited by the range of options coming … 
  20. Into Position
     … Focus your attention there. Then try to decide how you know when a breath is comfortable or not at that spot. You try different ways of breathing, and you’ll find that some ways of breathing are more congenial than others. If you really get sensitive to the breath, you begin to realize that it’s not so much the air coming in and … 
  21. Caught in a Thorn Bush
     … The intent is when you give it your full attention: “So, it’s this thorn?” Okay, you focus on this thorn. And you may notice as you focus on this thorn that you have to be very careful not to pull the cloth in such a way that it tears on other thorns. So, there are some complexities in the path, but you deal … 
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