Search results for: "Focus"

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  2. Truth Without Air Quotes
     … There are intentions, acts of attention—choosing what to focus on, what not to focus on—perceptions; all kinds of things shaping the things we’re going to see and hear and taste and touch and smell, even before they happen. So no wonder we’re dubious as we get conscious of these different factors and see how they shape even basic things like … 
  3. Right View & Right Resolve
     … The more continuous your focus, the smoother the breath’s going to be: all the way in, all the way out, all the way through the mid-parts between the in and the out. The smoother the breath, the greater the sense of ease. So you focus on the causes, and in this way you get a sense of well-being in the present … 
  4. The Fabrication of Pain
     … You find a part of the body that’s not affected by the pain and you focus there. If the pain is in the knee, let it have the knee for the time being. If it’s in the arm, let it have the arm. You’re going to be someplace else, where you can develop a sense of well-being, a sense of … 
  5. A Heart Wider than the World
     … He just talks about where it’s best to focus your efforts: You focus them inside. You keep in mind the possibilities there. As Ajaan Lee says, “Before you make yourself large, you have to make yourself really small, focused inside. What’s happening right here with the breath, at the mind? What’s happening in the mind, right at the breath? Looking at … 
  6. When Attacked by Distractions
     … But as the Buddha said, if you focus on another person’s bad qualities, it’s as if you’re going across a desert, you’re hot, you’re tired, you’re thirsty, and you come across a little puddle of water in a cow’s footprint. If you spend your time focusing on the mud around it, you’re never going to get … 
  7. Gather ’Round the Breath
     … So focus on the second kind. There are feelings right here hovering around your sense of awareness, perceptions that hold you here. The breath is very close, so focus on the breath first. Eventually, you’ll be getting right at the sense of awareness itself. You’ll have a perception that hovers around that, along with fabrications, the thoughts that protect that awareness, that … 
  8. Think Your Way to Stillness
     … But the ironic thing here is that your self gets healthier the less you focus on it, and the more you focus on doing the skill properly. So train yourself to think about the breath in ways that are actually helpful, that make it more comfortable, make it easier for the mind to settle down here. As for other ways of thinking, you can … 
  9. Lessons from the Breath
    Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Know when the breath is coming in, know when it’s going out. If you want, you can use a meditation word along with the breath, like buddho. It means awake. Think bud- with in-breath, dho with the out-: buddho, buddho. Allow the breath to be comfortable. Try not to force it too much. You … 
  10. Weathering Karma Storms
     … bodily fabrication—the breath; verbal fabrication—the way you talk to yourself; and mental fabrication—the perceptions you hold in mind together with the feelings you focus on. These are the things that provide you with a safe shelter right now. So, first try to work with your breath. No matter what emotional content there may be in the thoughts that are coming through … 
  11. Occupy Your Body
     … When you’re looking at somebody’s face, what’s the shape of the area between the nose and the eye? Or between the nose and the lips? The lips and the chin? Or the eye and the eyebrow? In other words, focus on all the parts of the face that you didn’t focus on before, and that lets you see it more … 
  12. Perceptions as Targets
    When you focus on the breath, try to be sensitive to the image you hold in mind of what the breath is doing, and of where you are when you focus on it. Use those images as your targets to help keep you with the breath. And notice the impact that those particular perceptions have on your breathing. If you find that the breathing … 
  13. Befriending the Breath
     … So it’s not the case that you focus on the breath and then you forget about it. You use the breath as an anchor even when you’re focusing on the mind. The way to focus on the mind is first to get it anchored to the breath and in touch with the breath, so that you know you’re staying in the … 
  14. Start by Relaxing Your Hands
     … So you’re going to focus on the causes. It’s like cooking. If all you can think about is eating, then you’re not paying careful attention to what you’re doing. The food may burn, or you may forget an ingredient because you’re not paying careful attention to the steps that’ll take you to the food you want. So focus … 
  15. A Load of Straw
     … So your only responsibility to the world is to focus on doing what’s skillful. That’s all you have to take care of. As for the working out of everybody else’s karma, that will work out on its own without your having to get involved. Just make sure that your own present karma is skillful. One thing you can do that’s … 
  16. Mind Control
    Okay, time to focus on the breath. If you’re going to think, think about the breath. As for any other thoughts that might come into the mind right now, just let them go, no matter how important or how compelling they may seem. This is not the time and a place for them. One of the most important principles of the practice is … 
  17. Varieties of Mindfulness
     … So that’s where we focus our attention. That’s what we should keep in mind. This is called dhammanussati, keeping the Dhamma in mind. This is why the Buddha has us listen to the Dhamma, read the Dhamma, because the Dhamma contains all sorts of useful and encouraging ideas. For instance, there’s the passage where the Buddha is talking to his son … 
  18. In Alignment
     … And you have to be careful not to focus on them. As I was saying today, it’s like a sign on the side of a road. It says, “Now entering Valley Center.” But you don’t drive on the sign. You keep on the road. You notice that the sign is there, but you don’t focus on it. The same holds true … 
  19. Effective Self-Discipline
     … You realize that if you want results, you have to focus your energy on the causes. You have to focus your attention on them and get them right. Right now the causes are being mindful of the breath, being alert to the breath, and being ardent as you stick with the breath. Those are the issues you focus on. Sometimes it seems paradoxical. On … 
  20. Goodwill Is Respect
     … by the way you breathe, by the way you talk to yourself, by the perceptions you hold in mind, and the feelings you focus on. Be careful as you focus on the feelings, because if you generate a feeling of ease and then leave the breath and just focus on the ease, that’s going to last for a little while and then start … 
  21. Is the Buddha’s Wisdom Selfish?
     … You might ask, “This focus on your happiness and your suffering: Isn’t this selfish? Isn’t this a small goal compared to larger goals you can think of, such as working for the good of other beings?” Well, not according to the Buddha’s analysis of what suffering is and how happiness is found. Because one of the answers to the question, “What … 
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