Search results for: "The Mind"

  1. Page 47
  2. The Mind Set Tall
     … There’s a very important part of the mind that would really flourish if it weren’t subject to lust, weren’t constantly hankering after nice smells, sounds, tastes, and things to look at. This is why these defilements flourish: because of delusion, the things that the mind hides from itself. And the reason it hides them from itself is because it really is … 
  3. What Are You Doing?
     … And Ajaan Fuang told me to write back to him and say that the problem is not with the TV or your work or home, the problem is inside the mind. Don’t go criticizing the world out there. Start looking at what’s wrong with your own mind, the part of the mind that’s criticizing the world. It’s an important point … 
  4. Calm & Insight
     … Calm, he said, is a quality of the mind. Insight is a quality of the mind. And you need them both. It’s not the case that you first do one and then the other, although most people will do it that way. They tend to have either more calm in their minds or tend more towards insight—in which case, the Buddha says … 
  5. Evaluating Your Practice
    Evaluating Your Practice January 12, 2012 When you try to bring the mind into concentration, there are two mental faculties that do most of the work. One is directed thought, and the other is evaluation. You bring your mind to the object, or as they say in Thai, you lift the mind to the object, you lift the object to the mind. This means … 
  6. Strength of Conviction
     … You can train the mind. And the quality of the mind determines the quality of the action. This is why we meditate: to get the mind in good shape so that the actions it chooses are skillful, harmless, and beneficial. And the word “action” here means not only your physical actions and your words, but also the thoughts that go through the mind, because … 
  7. Remorse
    When you sit down to meditate and settle down with the breath, the mind becomes very sensitive. Sometimes things you did in the past that you don’t feel right about will come up. And they hurt. At times like that, it’s all too easy to start feeling remorse. Remorse is not an attitude or a feeling that the Buddha recommended. Because, as … 
  8. Worries & Regrets
     … He also taught attitudes to go along with the technique for training the mind: reasons for training the mind, ways to think so that unskillful thoughts don’t come in and take over. In this way, you’re not leaving the mind empty. You’re giving it work to do. One important thing to think about is the principle of kamma, along with the … 
  9. Close to the Heart
     … As you deal with the breath more precisely, with more sensitivity, you find that the mind is finally willing to open up to itself. Prior to that point it was used to being abused and misused and so it shut itself in, shut itself up, even against you. One part of the mind shut up against another part, and so the healing couldn’t … 
  10. The Treasure of Virtue
     … So these qualities—mindfulness, alertness, and ardency—are precisely what you need to get the mind to settle down. You’re mindful of the breath, and then you’re alert to watch both the breath and the mind to make sure they stay together. Then, if they’re not staying together, you put forth an effort to figure out: Is the problem with the … 
  11. Breath Meditation When It’s Hard to Breathe
     … This is even more the case with the survival of the mind. There are lots of tricks in the mind. The mind plays lots and lots of tricks on itself. If you don’t want to be fooled by those tricks, you’ve got to figure them out. So we have these potentials here: We have the breath, we have space, we have all … 
  12. Judging Your Thoughts by What They Do
     … This principle applies not only to external actions but also to the actions of the mind—in other words, your thoughts. When we settle the mind down into meditation, it’s not simply to watch what’s going on in the present moment. We want to give the mind the solidity to remember lessons from the past when they are necessary, and also to … 
  13. Desert Island Meditation
     … So make sure the mind is well stocked, and that you’ve been training good voices in the mind, so that when things get down, you can lift your spirits. As the Buddha says, “Know how to gladden the mind when it needs gladdening, how to steady the mind when it needs steadying, how to liberate the mind when it needs liberating.” These are … 
  14. Housecleaning
     … One of the most natural places for it to settle is right at the breath, because that’s where the mind and the body meet. But the mind doesn’t spend much time at home. It’s usually off travelling around. It’ll occasionally come back home, run through for a bit, grab a sandwich, and then head out the other door. As a … 
  15. The Bright Tunnel
     … Having to run around clinging to things all the time puts the mind in a miserable position. The other word for clinging is the act of taking sustenance: you’re feeding on these things. The mind that has to feed here, feed there—it’s a hungry mind. It’s a mind whose food source always has to be protected. It can’t go … 
  16. An Even Keel
     … You begin to realize that even though there are ups and downs, there’s a part of the mind that’s not affected by them. And a large part of the practice is getting acquainted with that part of the mind, being in touch with it, taking it as your dwelling place: simply the part of the mind that’s aware, that doesn’t … 
  17. Perfecting the Mind in an Imperfect World
     … That way you find you gain greater and greater unity in the mind, greater unanimity in the mind. When the mind is working together like this, then it develops a lot of strength. If you have a lot of unexamined thoughts and unexamined assumptions still sloshing around in the mind, they’re going to drag you down. You can’t gain awakening simply through … 
  18. The Flowing Mind
     … You’re doing it all the time, as the mind flows out to the senses. It’s not that things from outside come in and stir up trouble in the mind. The mind is going out looking for trouble, looking for distraction, looking for entertainment. Sometimes it looks for things to get lustful about; other times, things to get angry about. It’s because … 
  19. The Dead Snake Around Your Neck
     … This applies to experience both in meditation and out, so, as you’re getting to know the mind in meditation, you’re also getting to know the mind in everyday life. As you put concentration together, start with the breath. Try to breathe in a way that feels good and nourishing: restful if you’re feeling tense, energizing if you’re feeling tired. Then … 
  20. Friends Inside
     … Even though you thought it would be good, it’s a case of the mind cheating you. The mind that’s good only in word: It promises you’ll do something and then you don’t do it. The mind that flatters and cajoles: Flattery means just talking about how nice you are all the time. Even when you’ve made a mistake, the … 
  21. What You Bring to the Meditation
     … While it’s happening, if you can’t figure out any way to deal with it, just try to be with at least the part of the mind that’s on the breath, as the rest of the mind goes ranting and raving about whatever it’s worked up about. The purpose here is to figure out: How can you cut through those rants … 
  22. Load next page...