Search results for: "Feelings"

  1. Page 45
  2. Equanimity on the Path
     … As far as feeling tones, the Buddha’s not concerned about what’s a true feeling tone. He wants you to cultivate the ones that are skillful. In other words, here the issue is simply a matter of beneficial and timely. Is this feeling tone going to be beneficial? Is this the right time and place for what’s pleasant? Is this the right … 
  3. Endurance with a Purpose
     … perceptions and feelings. Perceptions are the labels you put on things, to identify this as this, and that as that. The feelings, of course, are feeling tones of pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain. What you want to do is to use these fabrications to find the potentials in the present moment for creating a pleasurable place for the mind to stay. So … 
  4. Calm & Insight
     … the form of the body as you feel it from within. Feelings, which are feeling tones of pleasure, pain, neither pleasure nor pain. Perceptions—the labels you put on things, either as individual words or as images. Thought fabrications, where you put things together and think in full sentences. Then, consciousness which is aware of all these things. These are said to be fabricated … 
  5. Unattractive
     … And then feelings—feelings of pleasure, pain, neither pleasure nor pain. Those are all easiest to see as you’re focused on the breath. You’re bringing knowledge to an area where usually there’s a lot of ignorance. And it’s an area that’s very important: It’s how we shape our experience. There are a lot of reasons why, in Ajaan … 
  6. Strength for Your Goodness
     … You want to feel your breath, wear your breath. Think of the breath as surrounding you—because when we talk about the breath, it’s not so much the air coming in and out of the lungs. It’s the feeling of energy flow in the body, and you can feel that anywhere in the body. So notice where it’s most prominent: the … 
  7. Shame & Compunction
     … So when the Buddha is teaching the Kālāmas, he’s not simply saying, “Do your calculations of right and wrong in an unfeeling way.” Feel a sense of shame and compunction around your actions. When you see that the wise people criticize certain behavior, feel a sense of shame at the thought of behaving in that way, so that you don’t behave in … 
  8. How Right Mindfulness Leads to Right Concentration
     … When the mind is feeling antsy, how do you calm it down? When it’s feeling sluggish, how do you wake it up? What have you done in the past? Try to bring that memory to bear if the problem arises again in the present moment. And then you put aside greed and distress with reference to the world. Any other topic that would … 
  9. True Friends & False
    Take a few deep, long in-and-out breaths, and notice where you feel the breathing. You may feel it in the chest, down in your abdomen, anywhere you feel the motion of the body that brings the air into the lungs. Allow your attention to settle there. It’s easy to get there, but not necessarily easy to stay. It’s the staying … 
  10. One Point, Two Points, Many Points
     … Notice how the breath feels in the toes, how it feels in the fingers, how it feels in the arms and the back, how your posture effects the breath, how your breath effects the posture. In other words, use the meditation as an opportunity to explore. This is one of the good things about the breath as a focal point for meditation. You can … 
  11. Fear & Insecurity
     … You can take your form, feelings, perceptions, thought-fabrications, consciousness, and turn them into a path—like you’re doing right now as you meditate. You’re focused on the breath, that’s form. You’re creating a feeling of well-being. You use perceptions to stay with the breath, and directed thought and evaluation, which are fabrications, to adjust the breath and the … 
  12. The Pleasure of Concentration
     … Pay more attention to how the subtle breath energies flow in the body—what feels good, what doesn’t feel good right now. I’ve often found that the area around the heart, if it’s going to be open to you, can be very sensitive to breath energy, so try to get it to open up and then try to provide it with … 
  13. Skills for Living & Dying
     … Is the mind staying with the breath? How is the breath going? Is it tense? Is it tight? Does it feel constricted? If it does, think of it opening up. Experiment for a while to see what kind of breathing feels good. If there’s any tension or tightness in any part of the body, think of the breath going right through, dissolving it … 
  14. Self Esteem
     … Next down, there’s the horse has to feel the whip on his coat. Then there’s the horse who has to feel the whip cutting into his hide, and finally the horse who has to feel the whip cutting into his bone. In other words, if we’re wise we learn to look at the dangers around us and not wait for them … 
  15. Peace of Mind
     … The other way is that it gives you a place to be at peace when the breath feels comfortable coming in, feels comfortable going out. When you’re meditating, you really want to focus on this issue: What kind of breathing feels good, what kind of breathing is soothing to a tired mind, a tired body, what kind of breathing is energizing when you … 
  16. The First Noble Truth
     … the “I” that feels wronged, the “I” that feels self-righteous, the “I” that feels—whatever. The “I’s” that lead you to do all kinds of unskillful things: Learn how to step away from them. And when the path has done its work, you can step away from the “I” doing the path as well. It’s in this way that you can … 
  17. Dangers Outside & In
     … You look at what he calls mental fabrication, which includes perceptions and feelings, and you try to calm those perceptions down; you calm those feelings down. He doesn’t give you much to go on, but this is an area where the ajaans have lots to say. Ajaan Lee will talk about perceiving the breath energies in the body flowing through the pain. Ajaan … 
  18. Thinking & Evaluating
     … What’s wrong? What attitudes do you have that are preventing you from settling down? Or is there something wrong with the body? Is the body uncomfortable? Do you feel antsy? Do you feel like your energy level’s too low? Too high? You want to check things out. Think about what the problem might be, and then evaluate the situation. Sometimes there are … 
  19. Metta Means Goodwill
     … It’s hard to feel happy when you know that that happiness is causing suffering for others. But developing goodwill for everybody doesn’t come naturally. It takes work because there are a lot of people out there who are doing hurtful, despicable things. It’s hard to feel friendly toward them. So we have to sit down and think about why we might … 
  20. The Buddha’s Tools
     … form, feeling, perceptions, thought constructs, consciousness. That kind of analysis has a lot less friction to it, again, a lot less drama and blame. If we have a bad ego or a poor struggling ego, that frames the issues in one way. But if we say, well, there’s a feeling, there’s a perception, and there’s a way of fabricating thoughts, it … 
  21. Breath Meditation
     … Whenever you feel a need to let the mind settle down, it’s always at hand. The important thing is the relationship you develop with the breath. To begin with, it’s good to be on friendly terms with it. All too often, people develop an adversarial relationship with their meditation object. But if you’re on bad terms with your breath, you’re … 
  22. Load next page...