Search results for: "Focus"

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  2. A Safe Haven Through Alertness
     … On the one hand, you focus on the object of your concentration. On the other hand, you have to focus on your own mind to see how it’s relating to the object. Because sometimes you find that the breath just doesn’t want to get comfortable, and then you can ask yourself, “Well, maybe the problem isn’t with the breath, maybe it … 
  3. The Stakes Are High
     … If you develop the right attitude as you’re working with the breath—the patience to sit with things for a while; the ability to know where to focus or not to focus; what you can do so that when a pain comes up in one part of the body, how you can take the good breath energy in another part and see if … 
  4. Fourth Truth, First Duty
     … So focus on what you’re doing right now to develop the path. Right now you’re working on right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. You find a topic, like the breath, and you stay focused there. Keep track of the breath coming in, going out. In the beginning, you simply discern how the breath is going in the body right now, whether … 
  5. Toward Release
     … To gladden the mind, you focus on feelings and perceptions that give you energy. To steady the mind to get it concentrated, you focus on more calming feelings and perceptions—such as the labels you apply to the body or the breath. As you do this, you get more and more sensitive to the fact that you are doing things here in the present … 
  6. The Stages of Meditation
     … Even though we may aim at focusing directly on the awareness of the present, it’s a difficult place to focus. So we give ourselves crutches to get there. The breath is one of these crutches, as are thoughts of goodwill. When we’ve extended goodwill in every direction, we focus on the breath. When the breath is coming in, know it’s coming … 
  7. 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 … 
  8. 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 … 
  9. 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 … 
  10. 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 … 
  11. 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 … 
  12. 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 … 
  13. 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 … 
  14. 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 … 
  15. 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 … 
  16. 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 … 
  17. Intense Stillness
     … Or you can try moving your point of focus around: three breaths at the nose, three breaths at the base of the throat, three breaths at the center of the chest, three breaths down at the abdomen, and so on. Or you can change the topic for a while. You can think about the bones in your body. Start with the bones at the … 
  18. 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 … 
  19. 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 … 
  20. 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 … 
  21. 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 … 
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