Search results for: "The Mind"

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  2. Directed Thoughts, Random Thoughts
     … The part of the mind that wants to avoid the specifics and go for the generalizations: That’s part of the subterfuge of the mind to hide these things from itself. You want to get down to the nitty-gritty because there are committee members of the mind that are like dogs: They find something dead and they like to roll in it. Other … 
  3. The Karma of Pain
     … Because this is the big problem that weighs the mind down. If the mind can learn how not to burden itself with pains like this, the other problems in the world are not problems at all. Some of them may be soluble, some of them may not be soluable, but at least they don’t weigh on the mind. And that makes all the … 
  4. The Chess Game
     … Our normal reaction is to go out and blame our suffering on somebody else or something outside, but he says the real cause is there in the mind. Now, if the mind is already feeling haggard and fragmented as it is, it’s not going to want to hear this, but once you start to deal with a sense of well-being—a sense … 
  5. Anchored in the Present
     … We’re providing the mind with a stake to keep it in reference to the present moment. Otherwise, when you want to start looking at the mind or at feelings, it’s all too easy to get pulled away. You’re angry about this, upset about that, fearful about this, and then you go off into that thought world. So what we’re doing … 
  6. Seeing the Stillness
     … We try to create a sense of normalcy in the mind. The mind’s normal state is when it’s not deciding to kill or steal or have illicit sex or lie or take intoxicants. But it’s a state of mind we tend to overlook. The Buddha tells us to bring the mind to normalcy first by bringing our words and deeds to … 
  7. Judicious vs. Judgmental
     … Just bring the mind back to the breath, bring the mind back to the breath. Why? Don’t ask questions right now, just bring the mind back to the breath. But be observant while you do it, because as you catch the mind going off, you can learn some very interesting things. You come to a point where you can see the mind beginning … 
  8. Off the Continuum
     … This is why the Buddha said that right concentration is developed not only by emphasizing the tranquility or the serenity of the mind, but also by using some insight in order to master it. As he once said, if you want to master right concentration, you should develop insight together with tranquility, because you have to understand the mind to be able to get … 
  9. True to the Teachings
     … That’s what we’re doing now as we try to bring the mind to concentration. When the mind is concentrated, try to balance that concentration to make sure it’s not just a dull stillness. Make the mind mindful and alert, so that you can actually look into your own mind to see where there’s still any falseness in there—in the … 
  10. Patience & Consistency
     … You’re trying to watch the mind, observe the mind, so that you can understand the mind. That requires a consistent gaze, because otherwise we see the mind in just little bits and pieces. It’s like connect-the-dots. There’s a dot here, a dot there, but there are huge spaces between them. And these dots don’t come with numbers. So … 
  11. Cook Your Mind
     … We’re not telling ourselves that the mind’s basic awareness is already awakened. Ajaan MahaBoowa has a fine talk on that topic. He says if the mind were already awakened, what kind of awakening is this? We’re suffering. And if the mind had already been naturally pure but then got defiled, then if you got it pure again after impurities have come … 
  12. What Is One
     … Something interesting may be coming up in the mind—something, however, that one member of the committee doesn’t want to be revealed, and so it makes you sleepy. Or just plain old laziness comes in and you latch onto any sign in the body, any sign in the mind, that you’re getting sleepy, and make that an excuse to stop. In cases … 
  13. Battling Negativity
    The work of looking into the mind, ferreting out the causes of suffering and figuring out how to put an end to them, is very delicate work, very precise work. Which is why you have to get the mind very still in order to do it. It’s like threading a needle. You hold your breath, get the rest of the body still, and … 
  14. How to Listen to the Dhamma
     … That brings the mind into concentration. So, listening to a Dhamma talk doesn’t preclude getting the mind into concentration. In fact, if you listen to the talk well, and the talk is relevant to what’s going on in your mind, it can naturally lead to concentration. Then, from concentration, as the mind is really centered, you can develop more discernment that leads … 
  15. A Light in the Darkness
    A Light in the Darkness May, 2002 Let the mind settle down in the present. Sometimes you can use the word, “let.” Other times you have to force it because the mind sometimes has its moods where it’s not willing to settle down. It’s got all kinds of other issues to think about, all kinds of other agendas, and now it’s … 
  16. Secluded from Sensuality
     … So instead of continuing to focus on the body, he started focusing on the mind. Why is it that the mind can see all these things, admit all these facts, all these truths about the body, and yet still consciously ignore them? This is a tendency of the mind in general. When you want to go for something you know is unskillful, you block … 
  17. Normalcy
     … The best way to see things clearly is to get the mind into a state of stillness. We tend to think of the stages of jhana as very strong trance states, but actually they’re the mind in a state of genuine normalcy where it’s very perceptive, very clearly perceiving things as they are, as they come as they go, able to see … 
  18. Hurtful Memories
     … The other way is learn how to look at the whole process of how a memory comes into the mind. How does the mind go for it? What are the stages? You learn this by trying to stay with the breath as best you can and then noticing what happens as the mind leaves the breath. How many suggestions, how many whispers does the … 
  19. Be Precise
     … to get more sensitive to what the mind is doing. This, of course, relates to the heart of the teaching: the four noble truths. We’re doing something in the mind that’s giving rise to suffering, and we’re suffering because of our ignorance of what we’re doing. We also have the potential to do something that puts an end to suffering … 
  20. Because the Mind Is Purposeful
    Because the Mind Is Purposeful September 13, 2023 Meditation involves two things: One is getting the mind to be still, and the other is gaining insight into its processes. We can do the two together. The Buddha talks about the process of what he calls sankhara—which we translate as fabrication. As he points out, we fabricate all kinds of things. We fabricate our … 
  21. Exercising Discernment
     … If mindfulness is going to show you anything about the mind, if alertness is going to show you anything about the mind, you have to really stick with it. Otherwise, the really tricky parts of the mind hide themselves behind curtains you don’t see. You fall into those gaps that are such a frequent part of the mind’s ordinary functioning. As a … 
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