Search results for: "Thought"

  1. Page 58
  2. Appreciation
     … They thought, “These poor Buddhists, they don’t understand their own religion, they’ve distorted what the Buddha had to say”—that’s what they thought. But if you look at what the Buddha actually had to say, it’s a very festive message, a very happy message. True happiness is possible. It is possible to totally put an end to suffering. You do … 
  3. No Arrows, Nothing
     … Instead of thinking about our thoughts in terms of their meaning, just look at them as movements in the mind. Try to look at what sponsors them, what causes them, and what supports them to the point where you realize you’d rather take them apart. Then take all these things apart. You begin to realize that the things you thought you needed, you … 
  4. Breath Energy
     … If everything in the body feels frazzled, your thoughts will get frazzled, too. And if you can’t feed on a sense of well-being here, you’re going to start feeding on whatever things—thoughts of revenge, thoughts of jealousy, thoughts of whatever—present themselves to the mind. The better your mind is fed, the less likely it is to want to go … 
  5. Timeless
     … Something you haven’t thought of for years suddenly shows up, and the simple fact that you hadn’t thought of it for years will compel you to go look into it. Again, imagine what it’s going to be like when death comes and suddenly your whole life starts flashing before your eyes. All kinds of events could suddenly grab your attention. Have … 
  6. Outside of the Box
    We start the meditation every evening with thoughts of goodwill. When you practice goodwill systematically, you’re told to start first with thoughts of goodwill for yourself, then with thoughts of goodwill for people who are dear to your heart, and then you work out gradually in ever widening circles: people you like, people you’re neutral about, and then even people you don … 
  7. To Have a Purpose
     … There’s listening, there’s thinking, and then there’s actually developing the qualities of the mind that are talked about in what you’ve listened to and what you’ve thought about. **All three of those types of discernment have to go together. Your discernment gets sharper as you put what you’ve learned and thought about into practice, and then reflect on … 
  8. Truthfulness
     … How do you test them? He said to shape your words and your thoughts and your deeds in line with them. And that’s not always easy. That’s why this is called being true. This is why it take strength of character, because sometimes the easy task is just to lie down and let things take their course. Or to just do what … 
  9. Just This Breath
     … If you see any thoughts arising in the mind about how much longer we’re going to be sitting here or how long we have been sitting here, just let them blow away. Think of the breath as going right through them, not giving them any space to land. You’ll find, as you stay fully immersed in the breath like this, that a … 
  10. Exploring Possibilities
     … Always be open to the idea that things you thought were impossible, burdens you thought could never be laid down — in fact they seemed such a permanent part of the mind that you didn’t even realize that you’ve been carrying them around — can be laid down. Explore that possibility. That’s what the meditation is all about.
  11. Possessiveness
     … resolve on renunciation, i.e., renouncing your fascination with thinking thoughts of sensuality; resolve on non-ill-will or non-affliction—in other words, maintaining thoughts of goodwill for yourself and for others; and resolve on harmlessness. Harmfulness would be the attitude that you don’t really care whether people suffer or not. You mistreat them not out of ill-will, but simply out … 
  12. The Search for Happiness
     … That teaches you to talk to yourself in a good way as you meditate, with directed thought and evaluation. Some people think that when start practicing concentration, they have to do something brand new call directed thought and evaluation. Actually it’s what the mind’s been doing all the time as it talks to itself: You direct your thoughts to a topic and … 
  13. Don’t Limit Yourself
     … Now, for a long time, as I was getting started with concentration practice, I thought it was impossible to observe the mind being distracted. All you could see, I thought, was what you’re focused on, and distraction came as a sudden pulling down of a curtain. So the question was, how could you know yourself being distracted? Then I began to see that … 
  14. Your Inner Ally
     … In the beginning it requires directed thought and evaluation. You keep directing your thought and your attention to the breath, and then you evaluate it. You’re evaluating both the breath and the quality of your attention, trying to figure out what kind of breathing and what kind of attention will feel best. In other words, it is possible to focus too strongly on … 
  15. Stepping Out of Truth Games
     … That principle applies not only to speech but also to your thoughts inside: when it’s useful to hold onto a particular truth and when to put it aside. You learn this by stepping back from these things and looking at them from the outside. Which is why when you’re practicing concentration, especially at the very beginning: When thoughts come up, the first … 
  16. A Practice, Personal & Social
     … A thought comes up and it’s as if it’s been sent around an office. Different departments in the office have their opinions on whether the thought should be sent up to the boss or disguised or suppressed or sent to the wastebasket. A lot of how we experience the world is from this internal dialogue. And it’s a part that nobody … 
  17. Merit & Skill
     … It’s because she feels that she would be happier dead than having to live with the thought that, if the child had died, she hadn’t done everything to protect the child. So sometimes we’re faced with difficult choices like that. But we end up choosing which one we think is going to make us happier. So everything we do has a … 
  18. The Story behind Impatience
     … You’re looking at your thoughts about how much longer you’re going to have to be stuck with this until you get results. That’s the kind of story that gets in the way of actually seeing what’s happening right here and now. So when you see those thoughts arising, learn how to put them away. This can be hard because a … 
  19. Potentials
    Potentials August 27, 2020 Direct your thoughts to the breath and evaluate it. You’ll notice when you’re evaluating it that you’re not simply saying that this is the way it is, passing judgment and leaving it there. You’re also evaluating what can be done with it. If it’s not comfortable, what can you do to make it comfortable? How … 
  20. Wealth Worth Holding Onto
     … Thoughts can come in, many times they’re thoughts you’d be just as happy to not have be there, but other times they come in and they’re compelling. Part of the mind says, “Here we’ve got a whole hour where we can think about this. You can wait and get into concentration toward the end of the hour.” But you have … 
  21. Go in Brightness
     … So you put aside thoughts of sensuality and focus simply on the sensation of the body as you feel it from within right now. Notice how the breath feels as it comes in and goes out. Notice what kind of breathing feels good. This is called using directed thought and evaluation. You direct your thoughts to the breath, then you evaluate the breath. Is … 
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