Search results for: "Greed"
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- Up for the Challenge… There can be very strong greed, very strong aversion, a very strong sense of helplessness and weakness. And that’s something we can’t give into. This is one of the reasons why we meditate, to develop strengths of mind so that whatever choices we have to make, we’ll make well. There’s a passage in the Canon where the Buddha’s counseling …
- The Wisdom of Merit… We’re free to say No to our greed. He wants us to focus on that element of choice each and every moment. And so on what do we base our choice? What motivates us to give? Realizing that it’s going to be for our own welfare, both now and down the line. Notice that he doesn’t tell us to give because …
- Breath vs. Distraction… See the drawbacks of thoughts that would pull you into greed, aversion, delusion, or sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and anxiety, uncertainty. Have a strong sense that these things could take over your life if you’re not careful, and the other techniques for dealing with distracting thoughts will come easily. You’ve shifted the balance of power inside so that …
- Sense Restraint… Why do you go for things? If you find that lust is taking over, greed is taking over, or anger is taking over, you’ve got to learn how to argue with them and say, “That’s not the whole truth of things—there’s the attractive or unattractive side.” As Ajaan Lee would say, “Try to be a person of two eyes, not …
- Fabrication Theory… When greed comes up, when lust comes up, when fear comes up, pride comes up, you don’t have to go running with these things, because you know where they’re going to take you. They’re going to take you to places where you’re going to do and say things that you’re later going to regret. It’s like running round …
- Self-Control… no greed, no anger, no delusion. That requires a lot of strength. Most people live their lives in line with what the texts call yatha kamma, which means in line with your past actions. Your past actions push you in particular way and you just keep going along with the flow. Whatever comes up in your life, you let yourself get swayed by it …
- Infinity… It was through your intentions based on your views, and your views based on who you respected—whether you respected the noble ones or respected your greed, aversion, and delusion more. That was how you determined the course of your lives. But the power of your views at the moment of death alerted him to the fact that mental actions in the present moment …
- Skills to Make a Difference… Unskillful mental conduct would be inordinate greed, ill will, and having wrong views. Those are things you avoid. You abandon them if you find that they actually exist in you. Then you try to develop their opposites, which you have to approach as skills. Learning how not to lie at all is a real skill—one, because it’s so easy to just say …
- Antidotes… the question, “I’ve been meditating all this time, and I still have a problem with anger,” or “I still have a problem with the lust”—or fear, or greed, or jealousy, whatever the unskillful emotion may be. The expectation seems to be that sitting and meditating is going to take care of everything else. You have to remember that the concentration, the mindfulness …
- Asalha Puja… Is it really worth it? Look at the pleasure you get out of greed, aversion, and delusion. Then look at the drawbacks. The human mind is generally very poor at weighing drawbacks and advantages, drawbacks and benefits. We tend to go for the short term and forget about the long term. Then we complain about our suffering, forgetting that, well, we made the choice …
- You Can Make a Difference… That’s what his teachings are all about, why he called his goal *nibbāna, *which means the extinguishing of the fires of greed, fires of aversion, fires of delusion. The fires are burning, and we can put them out, so don’t just sit there burning away. Adjust the flame. That’s what the image of jhāna is for. *Jhāyati, the verb for doing …
- Self-Reliance… If there’s any greed, anger, or delusion—passion, aversion, harmfulness, ill will, any of these things—then once you know how to sense that, you can know right away: This is not a thought you want to follow. You’d better drop it. Other times, it takes time to watch. After all, you’re learning about a person here. Even though you may …
- Two Guardian Meditations… That means that the teaching he gave wasn’t influenced by any greed, aversion, or delusion. That’s one of the reasons why we can trust that teaching. Then there’s the bull, which is a symbol of his strength. As he said, as he was practicing different practices while trying to find the way to awakening, he developed qualities of conviction, persistence, or …
- Honoring the Noble Ones… Focus on the body in and of itself—ardent, alert, and mindful—putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world. So right now you’re focusing on the breath. As for any thoughts that have to do with the world, you put them aside. And you bring three qualities to this exercise: The first is ardency. Of the three qualities, this is …
- The Seven Treasures… When greed, anger and delusion come, when lust and fear come, you don’t believe them. You realize that these defilements focus on only a very narrow picture, a very narrow slice of life, and they almost willfully block out everything else, so that whatever you desire looks really good or whatever you hate looks really bad. But discernment is a quality that opens …
- Harmless & Clearheaded… Our greed, anger, delusion, distraction, or pain all get in the way. These are obstacles or hindrances. So we have to do our best to overcome them and not get discouraged when we see them. I don’t know how many people give up their meditation and say: “I can’t meditate. My mind is too distracted.” It’s like saying, “I can’t …
- Actualizing Your Potentials… When you keep that sense of distance, you can deal with setbacks a lot more effectively, remembering that the most important thing is to learn and act in a skillful way, i.e., with a minimum amount of greed, anger, and delusion, trying to be as harmless as possible. After all, whatever responsibilities we take on, whatever jobs we take on, there’s a …
- Breath Teaches the Bramaviharas… When you’re more centered inside, other people are less subject to your greed, aversion, and delusion. When you’re more solid inside, people can rely on you more. At the same time, you begin to realize there are opportunities for well-being that you may not have thought of before. For me, Ajaan Lee’s method of breath meditation was very different from …
- Multi-Dimensional Dhamma… That’s because we all tend to view our unskillful qualities as our friends—we like our greed, aversion, and delusion—and only by developing dispassion for them can we see through that supposed friendship. The second inner attitude is contentment with the physical conditions surrounding you. Contentment fits in with being unburdensome and finding seclusion. You learn to be content with the food …
- One Point, Two Points, Many Points… As for the other leaves, if they’re not helpful for your disease, why bother with them right now? The mind has this disease of ignorance, craving, greed, anger and delusion. And if we don’t take care of it, it’s going to fester, going to cause a lot of suffering for a long time to come. So focus on the leaves that …
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