Search results for: "The Mind"

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  2. Impossible Things
     … Why would you want to believe that? Who in your mind is saying that? It’s the part of the mind that doesn’t want to make an effort. Do you want to identify with that part of the mind? You can if you want to, but you don’t have to. You have the opportunity of identifying with better voices in the mind … 
  3. Why We Train the Mind
     … As the Buddha once said, there’s no simile to compare with how fast the mind can change—and the Buddha was a master of similes. Even the twinkling of an eye is slower than the way the mind can change. But it can be trained. That’s the important point. When you’ve reached the point where you see how doomed to failure … 
  4. Feelings of Pain
     … Both, however, comes right down to the fact that whatever the issue, it has to get traced back to the mind. There may be pain in the body, but if the mind has the right attitude, the right understanding, then the pain doesn’t have to disturb the mind. The mind that takes the pain and stabs itself with the pain: That’s the … 
  5. Good Traditions
     … So we want to look into the mind for our happiness. That means we have to train the mind. If the mind isn’t trained, it’s going to keep slipping outside, looking for a quick fix, looking for something easy: nice sights, nice sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, which are like junk food for the mind—food that tastes good, but doesn’t … 
  6. Useful Vocabulary
     … So one of the purposes of getting the mind into concentration is not just to have equanimity for everything. It’s to give rise to the mindfulness and alertness. As the Buddha said, that’s one of the uses of concentration: so you can see precisely when things are arising in the mind and notice the mind’s reaction. The more precise your vocabulary … 
  7. Voices in the Mind
     … It’s because of these desires that we take on all kinds of different identities in the mind, all the different voices. You can get involved in dialogues, taking on different parts, different roles, arguing back and forth—or one side of the mind encouraging another side of the mind, going back and forth that way as well. This really destroys any peace and … 
  8. Respect for the Breath
     … You’re training the mind, training the qualities of the mind. So you want to have respect for this process, because the mind does tend to insist that its other thoughts, its ideas, its desires, its likes and dislikes are more important. A Chan master once said that the great way is not difficult for those with no preferences. What that means is you … 
  9. Practical Wisdom
     … Why? Because the more you can gain some control over the breath, the more you learn about the mind and about the body at the same time, but particularly about the mind. Ajaan Lee says that the breath is a mirror for the mind. When you get the breath smooth, you can see your mind clearly there. Whatever’s happening in the present moment … 
  10. How & Why We Meditate
     … Just notice that there are other thoughts in the mind, not connected with the breath, but you don’t have to follow them. That right there is an important insight. You don’t have to run after everything that comes up in the mind. Then stick with the breath as long as you can and see what impact it has on the mind and … 
  11. Understanding Pain
     … Fortunately, the actions we’re doing right now are creating the kind of pain in the mind that’s causing the mind to suffer. If we change our present actions, the mind doesn’t have to suffer. So first we have to have this understanding: The fact that there’s pain in the body does not have to make us suffer. Then we can … 
  12. Working at Home
    Working at Home August 13, 2008 A traditional Pali term for concentration is vihara-dhamma, a home for the mind. It’s a place where the mind can stay. But it’s also more than that. As with any home, there’s more to the home than just the bedroom. And there’s more to the home than just living in it. First you … 
  13. Doing the Right Thing
     … Then to help the mind see clearly, we practice concentration and get the mind to settle down and be still for a while. You do whatever it takes to get the mind to settle down. This involves some discernment in noticing where the mind is obstreperous, or what it’s hanging on to so that it won’t settle down. You can figure out … 
  14. Maintaining Stillness
     … But to see these ways requires that the mind be still, and that we learn to keep the mind still in all sorts of situations. All too often, it’s easy to get the mind to settle down as you’re sitting here with your eyes closed. The trick lies in maintaining that same sense of balance, that same sense of stillness, even in … 
  15. For the Survival of True Happiness
     … In particular, train the mind through meditation. We use the breath as a way of anchoring our attention in the present moment so that we can observe the mind. We work with the breath both because it provides us with a comfortable place to stay as we’re watching the mind and because the breath is the part of the body most intimately connected … 
  16. Immediate Knowledge
     … Yet the things that are going on in the mind, what the mind is doing, all these activities, all the events in the mind right now, what’s the intention, which one is shaping things in the present moment, and what are the things being shaped: Those are things we very rarely know. As for the pleasure and pain that’s coming from our … 
  17. Reflect
     … Other times, you work on the mind. If you find that the mind doesn’t want to settle down with the breath, okay, what’s the problem? Maybe you need to give it something else to work with first, like contemplating the body or developing thoughts of goodwill. Maybe there’s a specific issue coming up from the day that you’ve got to … 
  18. Walking Meditation: Stillness in Motion
     … When we sit quietly, we’re trying to get the mind still, and we try to keep the body still as a way of helping the mind along. But you also want to be able to keep the mind still in the midst of movement, in the midst of activity. That’s where walking meditation comes in. When you get up from your sitting … 
  19. Three Stages in the Practice
     … That’s a healthy thing for the mind. And often we overlook that. That’s what the Buddha calls the pleasure that comes from seclusion: simply that you’re not going after unskillful thoughts; you keep the mind secluded from their influence. That brings a certain amount of ease to the mind. There’s a passage in the Canon where the Buddha talks about … 
  20. Honesty
     … And different parts of the mind will have embroidered a new screen behind which that committee member can hide. So when there’s a particularly strong reaction in the mind, you’ve got to react back strongly the other way. Say, “Why? What’s the reason? I’m not going to act on anything until I hear a good reason.” Often this committee member … 
  21. How the Tree Leans
     … The same applies to the mind. You can be sitting here very still with the mind focused on the present moment. But the present moment keeps changing. The present moment you were focused on just a few seconds ago is gone. The mind is leaning in different directions. As the Buddha said, based on the thoughts that you encourage in your mind, it’s … 
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