Search results for: "Focus"

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  2. The Wheel of Dhamma
     … When does the comfort come, and when does it go? In what ways, what kind of desire to make it comfortable actually is going to make it less comfortable? In what way do you focus the desire to make it comfortable and work with that desire so that it does get results. That’s where the skill of the four noble truths comes into … 
  3. The Path of Adventure
     … What you do is that you don’t focus on the thousands of steps, you focus on the one step you’re doing right now. Make sure that when you place on foot in front of the other, you’re placing it well and you’re going in the right direction. That’s all you have to do. It’s not hard. And remember … 
  4. Centered in the Body
     … It’s good to choose a spot on the body that tends to tighten up when you get anxious or fearful, and do everything you can to keep that spot open, even in situations where you feel anxiety or fear—knowing that if you lose focus, defilements are going to cut off your head, ignorance is going to put a big bag over your … 
  5. Chopping Off Thoughts
     … That’s the one thing you have to focus on for the hour. Tell your mind it has no business thinking about anything else. In order to keep the mind with the breath, you have to make it interesting, so explore what kind of breathing feels good right now: long breathing or short, heavy or light, fast or slow. There are no set instructions … 
  6. Harmless & Clearheaded
     … You can focus on any part of the body where the sensation is clear that now the breath is coming in, now the breath is going out. And explore to see what rhythm of breathing feels best. Try long breathing, short breathing, or longer or shorter, or more middling, deeper or more shallow. heavy or light or faster or slower. There are lots of … 
  7. Discernment Is in the Details
    When you focus on the breath, there are quite a few activities going on in the mind. But the two most important in getting you to be with the breath and stay with the breath are directed thought and evaluation. Directed thought is when you keep reminding yourself to keep coming back to the breath: “Breath, breath”—this is what you’re going to … 
  8. Start with Goodwill
     … So the brahmavihāras start with the wish, “May I be happy,” and then they focus us back to what we’ve got to do to train our own minds. So here we are. You’ve got your awareness and the breath, and you want to keep them together. It’s going to require that you focus very carefully on the breath. Where do you … 
  9. Mature Strategies
     … He says to focus on happiness, focus on what needs to be done for happiness, but also be aware of the limitations of how you’ve been looking for happiness. As you get more sensitive to those limitations, you can uncloud your mind to want something more refined. That’s where he offers you more refined techniques, more refined strategies. So in that sense … 
  10. Locate Your Craving
     … You have to be frank with yourself about that, but at the same time, if you focus on the pleasure once it comes, you lose your foundation. Then you’ve lost them both—the breath and the pleasure. So, you have to remind yourself the pleasure will be there, and as you keep doing the work of staying with the breath consistently, the pleasure … 
  11. The Path Is in the Details
     … Give yourself good intentions to focus on, as when you’re doing meditation: Give yourself a good intention to hold on to, so that the mind can develop the stability and the sense of ease it needs to keep watch continually in the present moment. You find, as time goes on, that the task gets lighter and lighter. You’re more familiar with that … 
  12. Taking an Active Role
     … What happened just now? Where did you lose your focus? Where did you allow the pain or the pleasure to overcome you, so that you lost your more proactive approach to things? This way, you’re less on the receiving end, and taking on more of the role of the skillful shaper, figuring out how to make the most out of whatever potentials you … 
  13. Exploring the Basics
     … Then there’s the quality of focus. It’s very easy to fall into old habits, that when we focus on something we tense up around it in order to highlight it in our awareness. But that simply creates a sense of discomfort, blockage in the body. So one of the skills of concentration is knowing how to stay focused without tensing up around … 
  14. Active Truth
     … You find that when you meditate — you focus on your breath like this or that — it works, it gets good results. In the beginning you’re dealing for the most part with individual truths, because sometimes a particular focus or a particular way of conceiving the breath is going to work for one session — in other words, it works for a particular problem — and … 
  15. Concentration & Insight
     … So when we focus on the breath, that’s where we’re focused: on the sense of energy that flows through the body. Because we don’t often see that as energy, it seems a little foreign to perceive it this way, but it’s actually the most immediate thing you sense about the body. So, take a couple of good, long, deep in … 
  16. In the Mood to Meditate
     … But the Buddha never has you focus on past kamma. He has you focus more on what you’re doing right now. This is why karma is very relevant to the meditation. If your mind is in good shape, then you’re more likely to do the right thing, shape your life in the right way. And you have that power. That’s a … 
  17. Holding On to the Path
     … So you keep focused on one spot as your primary focus. It may it be the tip of the nose, the middle the chest, any place where you find it easy to have a good strong focus, and then think of your awareness spreading out from that spot, like the lit candle here in the front of our room. The flame of a candle … 
  18. Freedom from Fear
     … But the Buddha says that you should focus instead on things that can be put under your control. Realize that those are actually your most valuable possessions. He points out two things: your virtue and your right views. If you look at your behavior and keep to the precepts, that’s the quality that develops all kinds of good qualities in the mind. Ajaan … 
  19. Working Hypotheses
     … Even something as simple as deciding what to focus on, where to put your attention, what to ignore: There’s an intentional element there. Which means we’re always making choices. We’re always trying to decide which choice is the best choice, and there may be a lot of uncertainty around it, but that’s the basic nature of a choice. You choose … 
  20. Learning from Desire
     … Okay, we’re going to focus on that as we breathe. We breathe in, breathe out, focusing on the breath. Then there’s feeling—the different feelings of pain there may be in the body—but we’re also trying to develop a feeling of pleasure by the way we breathe and the way we focus on the breath. Perception: the labels we apply … 
  21. At Ease with the Breath
     … Then there are the four sublime attitudes, contemplation of food, all kinds of things you can focus on that are congenial for getting the mind to settle in and stay in the present moment and not go chasing off after its thoughts. So the important principle while you’re meditating is to feel at ease with your topic. The breath is a topic congenial … 
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