Search results for: "Greed"
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- Defiant Like the Buddha… rid of them as quickly as you can, in the same way that a person who discovers that his head is on fire would immediately try to put the fire out. Greed, aversion, delusion: With these kinds of things, the Buddha said, “Put them out.” But there’s one negative mind state where he says, “Allow yourself to express it as long as you …
- The Buddha’s Cost-Benefit Analysis… But there are a lot of pleasures that are really bad for the mind, because they pull you down, they encourage more greed, more lust, more aversion when you’re worked up about the idea that they might be taken away, more delusion when you keep telling yourself, “Well, this is a really worthwhile thing to go after in spite of the obstacles,” when …
- A Post by the Ocean… Those things can pull you away — because it’s not just gross manifestations of greed, anger and delusion that pull us away. Your misinformed sense of responsibility can also pull you away: that sense of, “Well, I’ve really got to think about this. I’ve got to prepare for that. I’ve got all these other responsibilities out there in the world, things …
- Possessiveness… The Buddha then took that as an opportunity to call the monks together and tell them what was needed to keep the community together, to make sure there wasn’t going to be an easy prey to the forces of greed, aversion, and delusion. So the story starts with a sense of the fragility of the Dhamma. Once the Buddha passes away, it could …
- Samvega & Pasada… pleasure based on greed, pleasure based on aversion, pleasure based on delusion. That can be very chastening as well. There’s a word in Pali, samvega, which is very difficult to translate into English. Part of it is a sense of dismay: looking at your life realizing, “I’ve been spending a lot of time pursuing mirages.” And not only that, but also causing …
- Purity… the fine sand, and then the fine dust. This is his analogy for what you’re doing as you’re sitting here meditating. First you get rid of the gross hindrances: greed, aversion, and delusion; sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and anxiety, doubt about what you’re doing. Get those things cleared out. Then there are subtler defilements—just the little …
- The Story behind Impatience… If there’s any greed, anger, or delusion in the intention, you’re going to see it only in the present moment. After it’s passed, that intention is just a memory — and you know how memory tends to color things depending on what you want to see, how it fits into a good or bad narrative about yourself. But it’s just a …
- Only Natural… to see that, like the flickering light that gets people to laugh and cry, some of the fabrications provide a lot of emotional juice. Anger comes along with them. Lust. Fear. Greed. Envy. All kinds of things. But if you can see it simply as a play of light, then you realize, “Why get involved?” Part of the reason for getting involved is that …
- Investing in Noble Wealth… the virtue of avoiding excessive greed, of avoiding ill will, and of developing right view. Shame and compunction go along with this. Shame here is the healthy sense of shame that focuses on realizing that dishonorable action is something that you would be ashamed to do. That sense of shame is wealth. It’s not saying that you’re ashamed at yourself for thinking …
- Discernment on the Path… That way, greed, aversion, delusion, conceit, and all the other things that can spoil your insights won’t be able to get a handhold. Another image is of the rafters of a house. Discernment is the culminating factor in the five strengths and the five faculties. The other four—conviction, persistence, mindfulness, and concentration—are the rafters that you put up. But they’re …
- There’s Work to Be Done… At the same time, you put aside any greed and distress—any thoughts, really—with reference to the world. So there are two activities you’ve got to do here: trying to maintain focus on one topic like the breath, and fending off all the other thoughts that might pull you away. You can start out with a strong intention, but the intention needs …
- Three Levels of Refuge… Our greed, aversion, and delusion can cause us all kinds of trouble. But we can recognize that there is that trouble, but also there’s an escape from the trouble through our own actions: That’s what lies at the basis of what the Buddha said is the most basic quality for being skillful, which is heedfulness—realizing that you have to be careful …
- Skillful Selfing… You put aside greed and distress with reference to the world. In other words, anything that’s not related to the breath, anything that’s related to the world right now, just put it aside. Those are the two activities you do: the staying focused and the putting aside. Then you bring three qualities to bear on these activities. The first is that you …
- Rooted in Desire… When fear comes on, how are you breathing? How are you talking to yourself? What are the perceptions you hold in mind? When there’s greed, when there’s lust, when there’s anger: How are you breathing? How are you talking to yourself? What are the perceptions and feelings you’re focusing on? Can you change them? Part of you will say, “Why …
- The Mind Like Water… The same with greed, aversion, and delusion: They can arise in the mind and can kill off your goodness, even if there’s nothing outside disturbing you at all. So you have to look into these tendencies within the mind itself. This means that once we’ve made the effort to calm the mind down, it’s not the case that the job is …
- Understanding Happiness… It helps to cleanse the mind of its greed and to develop a sense of the needs of other people and how good it feels to help other people when you have something and they lack it, and you’re able to fill up the lack for them. And it so happens that when you’re generous, other people will tend to be generous …
- Mindfulness Immersed in the Breath… You feel the impact of thoughts—in the sense of the quality of the energy in the thoughts—whether it’s helpful or not, whether there’s any greed, anger, or delusion inhabiting them. You want to sensitize yourself to this area because it’s from this point of view that you can see more clearly what’s going on in the mind, what …
- Knowing the Body from Within… That’s how you begin to understand things like greed, anger, delusion, craving, and all those other mental states that cause suffering—learning how to watch how they form and how not to get hoodwinked into running along with them. But this requires becoming more and more sensitive to how things are happening here in the body, how the mind and the different properties …
- The Five Aggregates… You could think about the past, you could think about the future, you could give rise to greed, aversion and, delusion. Or you can turn these things into concentration. Take the body as the object of your meditation. Use the breath to create feelings of ease, feelings of comfort. Think about the breath, picture it to yourself: That’s sañña, or perception. Direct your …
- Contentment vs. Initiative… Ajaan Suwat used to like to make the point that even though the Buddha said that greed was a root of unskillful behavior, you should nevertheless show initiative in your life. In other words, if there’s wealth to be gained, if there are things to be changed for the better, you do that. And you’re developing good qualities of character as you …
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