Search results for: "Mindfulness"

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  2. Useful Vocabulary
     … So one of the purposes of getting the mind into concentration is not just to have equanimity for everything. It’s to give rise to the mindfulness and alertness. As the Buddha said, that’s one of the uses of concentration: so you can see precisely when things are arising in the mind and notice the mind’s reaction. The more precise your vocabulary … 
  3. Dangers Outside & In
     … You have to keep this in mind, so you’re mindful. Then you get the mind into concentration because the mind needs food, and if it doesn’t have the food of the pleasure of concentration, it’s going to go feeding off other things. This is when you learn that you can’t really trust yourself. Often, when the food that you can … 
  4. Dealing with the Hindrances
     … Meanwhile, you develop bad habits in the mind. As the Buddha said, the things you tend to think about a lot bend the mind. So every time it thinks, its thinking gets bent in that direction, like ruts in a road. The deeper the ruts, the harder it is to get out. Heedfulness works together with appropriate attention to keep the mind from getting … 
  5. Discernment in Concentration
     … You’re learning about the workings of your mind, and the workings of the mind don’t work only when you’re sitting here with your eyes closed. This is how the mind works as it goes through the day. When you begin to realize the element of choice that you have in your meditation to use your aggregates in a way that creates … 
  6. No Dharma Without Karma
     … the mind—the same mind that’s going to be doing the meditation. If you’re mindful in following the precepts, you’re getting basic lessons in mindfulness, alertness, and ardency—which are the qualities that meditation requires. So the practice of virtue and generosity are an important part of the practice of meditation. They teach you the right values. In other words, they … 
  7. Lessons of Distraction
    One of the more frustrating parts of concentration practice is when you find that your mind won’t stay where you tell it to. You could leave that as a lesson in not-self and just let it keep happening, but that wouldn’t really accomplish much. The important thing is not to get frustrated, and to realize that you’re going to be … 
  8. Self-Correct
    The Buddha’s instructions for getting the mind into concentration are found in his description of right mindfulness. You start by keeping the body in and of itself in focus. The “body in and of itself” means just taking the body in its own terms—your direct experience of the body right here, right now, without reference to how it looks to other people … 
  9. Where Perceptions Can Take You
     … That’s one perception you can keep in mind. Or when Ajaan Lee talks about the breath going down the back, down the legs, you can hold that perception in mind. Then there are levels of breath energy: gross, refined, and subtle. You can hold those perceptions in mind as well, because those will help move you beyond just being stabilized to what the … 
  10. Customs of the Noble Ones
     … What helps the mind to settle down? The Buddha says, “views made straight and purified virtue.” Those are the bases for right mindfulness, and then right mindfulness is the basis for right concentration. So make sure your views are straight: that if there is suffering in the mind, it’s caused by the mind. No matter how much you may be suffering over bad … 
  11. Settling In
    The mind is a compulsive wanderer. It has trouble staying with anything for any length of time, so much so that we think that that’s its nature—just to keep going and going, thinking of this, thinking of that, checking out things over here, over there. We forget that one of the reasons the mind keeps wandering like this—is so compulsive about … 
  12. Concentration Develops Right View
     … He learned one big lesson about sensuality—that if you’re going to train the mind, you have to get it past its fascination with sensual thoughts. This is a deep-rooted tendency we have: When we’re looking for a little pleasure, we think about sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, thoughts of lust. We get really fascinated about these things. The mind … 
  13. Stillness & Clear Seeing
    Each time you start to meditate, you should remind yourself that this is a very high level of work for the mind—an honorable level of work, a noble level of work. So put yourself in the mood to do something noble. You’re not going to just sit here and follow your thoughts wherever they go. You’re going to stand above them … 
  14. Learning from the Precepts
     … In this way, you’re training both the heart and the mind at the same time. You’re training the heart in the desire to be harmless, and the mind in the desire to know itself. Remember, of course, that the Pali word citta means both heart and mind. If you’re going to train one side of it, you’ve got to train … 
  15. Grief & Regret
    Ajaan Suwat would often comment on the need while you’re meditating to have some respect for what you’re doing, because this is an important skill that we’re working on, and it’s really good for the mind. In the Buddha’s words, you need to have some respect for concentration. That means several things. On the one hand, it means you … 
  16. A Culture of Self Reliance
     … We’re doing these things because we see that our minds are suffering, and the dominant values of the culture are not helping. They’re increasing our suffering. So you need to develop a sense of independence. You need to have a sense of self-reliance as you maintain these values, keeping in mind the fact that you’re doing it because the mind … 
  17. Customs of the Noble Ones
    We spread thoughts of goodwill to put our minds in the right frame to practice: “May I be happy; may all beings be happy.” This means we want a happiness that doesn’t cause harm to anyone, and we want them to find a happiness that doesn’t cause harm to anybody else either. Where are you going to find that happiness? You’ve … 
  18. Right View & Right Resolve
     … So we look at the mind. But to look at the mind, you need to give it a focal point, which is why we don’t look directly at the mind to begin with. We start with the breath, get the mind focused on the breath, and get used to being here. Notice what way of breathing feels really good. Notice where you feel … 
  19. Non-Reactive Judgment
     … Then we further train in mindfulness in this way. The Buddha said one of the functions of mindfulness on the path is to remember what right view tells you about what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s skillful and what’s not. Then you use your ability to keep that in mind to direct your efforts, to get rid of what’s … 
  20. Accepting the Way Things Function
     … So, as you go through life, you may say, “Okay, I’m going to resolve on goodwill.” And then you have to be careful, you have to be mindful as you chose your intentions, to keep them in line with your resolve. Remember that goodwill is a form of mindfulness. You have to be mindful that any time you come up with any thoughts … 
  21. Second Wind
     … Is the body sitting in the mind? Is the mind sitting in the body? Where is your mind in relationship to the body right now? In other words, be curious of what’s going on right here, right now. Begin to take things apart so that you can see how you put it all together. When there’s distraction, we drift off in other … 
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