Search results for: "The Mind"

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  2. 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 … 
  3. No Extra Arrows
     … That’s the suffering that weighs down the mind. Without that suffering, the pain comes, the pain goes, but the mind doesn’t suffer. After all, the Buddha had backaches, he endured other pains, but he didn’t suffer. He just had the pains, experienced them, and they went past. That’s the skill we’re trying to develop. When the Buddha talks about … 
  4. 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 … 
  5. 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 … 
  6. 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 … 
  7. 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 … 
  8. 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 … 
  9. 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 … 
  10. On Top of Your Actions
     … But if part of the mind reflects back on something you did or said in the course of the day and you know that it was not right speech, you have to recognize that. And that puts the mind on the right track. The same with right action: Anything you did that was opposed to the principles of right action, you want to make … 
  11. Light Merit
     … The mind can be light; the mind can be fresh. As you work with the breath, you find with each new breath that there is a possibility for good energy coming into the body, bad energy flowing out. It’s a good symbol for what the mind can do, because the mind does not have to be a slave to what was done in … 
  12. Knowing & Acting
     … When the mind is in that mode, it doesn’t really gain any insight at all. But when it sees the connection—“Oh, you do this and this results. When you do that, that results”: That’s insight. It gives you a stronger, stronger sense of what you’re doing, whether it’s skillful or not, whether it’s causing suffering or not. The … 
  13. Setbacks
     … When the mind is nurtured with discernment, then it’s released from the effluents.” In other words, there is the possibility of having concentration without virtue or having discernment without concentration, but in cases like that they don’t lead to great rewards. It’s also not necessary that when you’re virtuous, the mind becomes concentrated or when you’re concentrated, you gain … 
  14. To Certify Yourself
     … If you notice that, you can let it go, and yet the mind can still stay in place. After a while, the process of the mind’s talking to itself about the breath becomes unnecessary too, because the mind is right here. Ajaan Fuang’s analogy is that it’s like having a water buffalo and you call the water buffalo to you. As … 
  15. Immersed in the Body
     … You really do want to get the mind into concentration because it’s an important part of the path. It’s your food on the path. It’s your foundation. If you’re going to see the mind clearly, you have to see it when it’s still—or as the Buddha used another term, when your mindfulness is immersed in the body. You … 
  16. Getting Your Head Around the Goal
     … It’s through these exercises of mindfulness and concentration that the mind’s powers of perception can grow. When the mind is more still, it can see subtler things. It develops a more refined sense of what kind of pleasure can be experienced in the present moment. It also becomes sensitive to more refined levels of stress, dis-ease, or disturbance in the mind … 
  17. Focused on the Breath
     … We’re here to learn about the mind. And one of the best ways of learning about the mind is trying to keep it in concentration—at the same time learning how not to be deceived by thoughts that’d pull you away. There’s a part of the mind that wants to be entertained, wants variety, wants change, so it’ll go for … 
  18. The Pursuit of True Happiness
     … The commentaries call this upadhi viveka , being secluded from the mind’s acquisitions, or the mind’s baggage: your cravings, your clingings, your conceits, your ignorance. Dig into the present moment and find out exactly what’s happening here. How is it that the mind can still create suffering and stress even when you’re centered in the present moment? It’s very subtle … 
  19. Rivers of Craving
     … There is this tendency of the mind to follow its cravings, which is what causes suffering. As long as the mind is weak, it gives in to whatever impulse comes in if it hasn’t been trained. So part of the training is to strengthen the mind, so that even when the body is tired, even when it’s sick, you still have mental … 
  20. Don’t Just Fatten Your Mind
     … We try to settle the mind with one object, like the breath, and bring the mind to the object in a way that it feels at ease and has a sense of fullness, refreshment. So we work with the breath to see what kind of breathing would feel good, and then we learn to live with that sense of well-being. This is why … 
  21. Choices in the Present
     … You find that it not only sends a sense of ease through the body, but it also soothes the mind. It helps to heal any wounds in the mind—places where you felt deprived, places where you felt hurt, wounded. This helps to ease a lot of the feeling of rawness that goes along with those wounds. Then, when you’re feeling healed and … 
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