Search results for: "The Breath"

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  2. Damming & Diverting
     … the feeling of ease that comes when the breath feels good and also the perceptions that hold you in place—perceptions of what the breath is doing in the body, where the breath stops, where it starts. All of this fabrication goes into creating this state of concentration. And as you get really good at it, you find there are certain things you can … 
  3. Informing the Whole Committee
     … The part that wants immediate gratification, well, you give a little something to that by making the breath comfortable. The part that gets easily bored, you give something to that by asking yourself questions about the breath, exploring this whole issue of the breath energy in the body. The part that wants to talk, well, you give something to talk about, talk about the … 
  4. Mindfulness of Death
     … You’re going to be focused quite strongly there, so it’s good to have other good things right there next to the breath, memories right next to the breath, of what you should do when you stay with the breath. You engage in skillful mental fabrication, i.e., you choose the right feelings to focus on, to whatever extent you can create a … 
  5. Facing Your Responsibilities
     … You work with the breath. As long as you’re with the breath, you know you’re in the present moment. And after a while you begin to learn a very important lesson: that if you’re going to watch the mind, you watch it in its actions. You watch it in the act of dealing with the breath, trying to stay with the … 
  6. Homage Through the Practice
     … And be mindful of the breathing. In other words, keep the breath in mind. Then be alert to what’s going on with the breathing. When the breath comes in, know it’s coming in. When it goes out, know it’s going out. If it’s comfortable or not, notice that, too. The word “breath” here means the whole process of breathing. Your … 
  7. Maintenance Work
    It’s not hard to look at the breath or to think about the breath. What’s hard to keep on doing it continually, regardless of distractions. But it turns out that the hard part is one that’s most important, because then the mind has a good place to settle down. Otherwise, just thinking about the breath becomes just one more place for … 
  8. Analysis of Qualities
     … What images do you hold in mind? The same as when you’re dealing with the breath: What kind of image do you have of the breath? It’s good to think of the breath as the energy flowing throughout the body, down through the nerves, down through the blood vessels, out to the tips of the fingers, out to the tips of the … 
  9. A Gift of Well-Being
     … Think about the breath and ask yourself, “What kind of breathing would be most comfortable?” You can experiment. See what kind of results you get. Does long breathing feel good now? Ajaan Lee recommends starting out with long breathing as a way of energizing the body and energizing the mind. Then let the breath find its own rhythm. But it often helps to nudge … 
  10. Genuine Goodness
     … What are the best ways to bring the mind to stillness? What are best ways to gain a sense of well-being in the mind? Focus on the breath, see how it feels. What kind of breathing feels best? In focusing on the breath, you’re also learning about the mind. As Ajaan Lee says, the breath is like a mirror for the mind … 
  11. Shaping Your Life
     … The way you’re focusing on the breath right now has an impact on how you’re experiencing the breath. Your concepts about the breath, your concepts about what it means to be focused, your intention in being with the breath: All of these things shape the breath, shape your experience of the breath. You want to get sensitive to them so that you … 
  12. A Home for the Mind
     … Okay, now the mind is about to go, so double your efforts to stay with the breath. And remind yourself that the breath can be really comfortable. Rapture is one of the qualities that can come from staying steadily with the breath with sensitivity, with alertness. So if the breath doesn’t feel really comfortable, you can ask yourself: In what way it could … 
  13. The Skill of Renunciation
     … So when you’re going to focus on the breath, you can focus anywhere in the body. Take a couple of good long deep in-and-out breaths and notice where the sensation of breathing is most prominent, where it’s clearest and easiest to see that now the breath is coming in, now the breath is going out. Focus your attention there—and … 
  14. Talking Among Your Selves
     … So, focus on the breath. Talk to yourself about the breath. How does it feel right now? I noticed that when Ajaan Fuang was teaching his students, he would have them describe how they were feeling the breath. Then he would use their vocabulary to talk to them. There was one guy who had had trouble getting the mind to settle down with the … 
  15. Sort Things Out
     … As soon as you feel another distraction getting ready, what are you going to do? Usually it’s a sign that the breath isn’t as comfortable as it could be or that your attention is getting a little wobbly. So focus on in, deeper into the breath, and think of the breath permeating deeper into the body so that it feels more nourishing … 
  16. Occupy Your Space
     … First, with the breath: Think of the breath as a whole-body process. The Buddha talks about different aspects of the wind element in the body. One is the in-and-out breath. Then there are lots of other breaths in the body, too: the breath energy that goes up, the breath energy that goes down. You can notice this as you breathe in … 
  17. A Good Dish of Concentration
     … You’ve got form, i.e., the breath. Then you’ve got feeling, which are feelings of pleasure, pain, neither pleasure nor pain, that are here in the body. And as the Buddha said, by focusing continually on the breath, you can actually give rise to a feeling of well-being. That’s what we’re trying to create. Now, to focus on the … 
  18. Practice in Dying Well
     … So even though we’re focused on the breath, we’re here at the breath so that we can see our mind. Think of the breath as a mirror for the mind. It keeps you anchored in the present moment. If anything happens in the mind, it’ll show up in the breath. Consider it a way to getting to know your mind better … 
  19. For the Cessation of Dukkha
     … So the big separation line right now is between focusing on the breath and focusing on anything else that’s not related to the breath. Hold on right here. Try to make your sensation of the breath fill the body as much as you can. If you can’t feel the breath in the body or the subtle breath sensations in the body, focus … 
  20. Adjusting the Flame
     … When you breathe in, where do you feel the breath? From what directions does the breath come in? Where does it come in? When the breath sensations come in, do they fight one another or do they flow smoothly together? Look into that. And experiment. See what’s just right for right now. What level of energy does the body have? Often you come … 
  21. Breath Meditation: The Fourth Tetrad
     … You’ve got to deal with the pain effectively or else you won’t be able to stay with the breathing. Or a distraction comes up in the mind. You’ve got to deal with the distraction. You can’t wait until you’re finished dealing with the breath. And that fourth tetrad is also there for you to use. It basically gives you … 
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