Search results for: "The Mind"

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  2. 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 … 
  3. 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 … 
  4. 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 … 
  5. 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 … 
  6. 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 … 
  7. 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 … 
  8. 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 … 
  9. 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 … 
  10. 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 … 
  11. 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 … 
  12. 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 … 
  13. Mindworms
     … As I said, this is where the image of the committee of the mind is useful. Not everybody in the mind has to be in that thought, and not every member of the mind *is *in that thought. It’s just that one ego-centric person has taken over and dominated things, but there are other Yous in the mind as well. So even … 
  14. The Buddha’s Investment Strategy
     … These two qualities – discernment and concentration, as they’re supported by mindfulness and alertness – bring the mind to greater and greater stillness, greater and greater clarity. So as we’re working with the breath, we’re not just working with the breath. We’re also gaining insight into the processes in the mind. This is a very useful and important investment of our time … 
  15. Driving Lessons
     … In particular, you’re trying to remember things that are useful to remember right now as you try to get the mind into concentration. After all, as a meditator you’ve had some experience of how the mind can settle down—what works, what doesn’t work—and you want to have that at hand. Not that you’re running it through the mind … 
  16. Breaking Old Habits
     … What are the things that weigh down on the mind, that oppress the mind? If you ask most people, they’ll talk about things outside: their job, their family, their worries about the economy or the environment. But if you look deeply in your own mind, you’ll realize that the main burdens on the mind are the things that come from within. This … 
  17. The Intelligent Heart
     … The training of the mind, as the Buddha said, is the primary requisite for a happiness that lasts: both because it gives you the strength to give up the other pleasures that would leave wounds on the mind, and because it allows you to see more clearly into what your own mind is doing. When the mind feels an urge to go off someplace … 
  18. Guarding Against Trouble
     … What are the effluents? The Pali word asava literally means *things that flow out. *In this case, they flow out of the mind. In some cases, the Buddha defines them as sensuality, becoming, and ignorance. But there’s a sutta where he talks about the effluents and they sound like anything that would create trouble for the mind. He lists seven different ways of … 
  19. Food for Consciousness
     … And it really gives a lot of good nourishment to the mind. It really strengthens the mind. We need to develop a taste for the good types of food because there are foods for consciousness that are like junk food—whole cupfuls of sugar in a little can of soda or huge amounts of fat in hamburgers and fries. For instance, we feed off … 
  20. Delight in Stillness
     … Right there, where the mind is disturbing itself, that’s suffering. You want to figure out why: What’s the craving that’s getting in the way? What are you clinging to? So do your best to get the mind to settle down. Find the greatest point of stillness in the body and stay there. Connect with it and keep your gaze as steady … 
  21. Mindful & Discerning 24/7
     … One of the reasons we do concentration practice is to give the mind some rest between the battles. But also, the process of getting the mind concentrated teaches you some important things about its workings. As the mind begins to settle in, you use directed thought and evaluation—verbal fabrication—to get the mind still. Ideally, you should get to a point where you … 
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