Search results for: "Thought"

  1. Page 58
  2. 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 … 
  3. 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.
  4. 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 … 
  5. 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 … 
  6. 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 … 
  7. 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 … 
  8. 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 … 
  9. 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 … 
  10. 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 … 
  11. 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 … 
  12. 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 … 
  13. 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 … 
  14. 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 … 
  15. Strength of Conviction
     … But you also know that the best way not to get sucked into your* own* thought worlds is to be able to stand apart from them a bit, observe them as events, and see where they come from so that you can actually do something about them. The same principle applies to other people’s thought worlds and emotional worlds as well. You don … 
  16. Reading Your Meditation
     … You don’t have to push it, you don’t have to force it, just allow that thought to open that possibility, and you’ll be surprised at how much the body can respond simply to the power of thought. Do the different parts of the body seem to be working together as you’re breathing in or are they working at cross purposes … 
  17. No One Size Fits All
     … Radiating out some thoughts of harmlessness, thoughts of goodwill, from a more concentrated mind gives them more force. Of course, this too is not solely for their sake. When you come out of meditation with a sense of ease and well-being, it helps direct how you’re going to deal with other people. Remind yourself, “Okay, bring goodwill to all your activities, to … 
  18. Admitting Mistakes
     … siding with an unskillful thought as opposed to a skillful one, taking up an unskillful practice and refusing to see the harm it creates. These are things we really have to be on the lookout for, because often they’re the things nobody else can see, the things that go on inside our mind. Other people may be able to see some of the … 
  19. Everyday Feeding Habits
     … the idea that you’re going to gain something important by going out and nibbling on these thoughts of lust, thoughts of anger, or thoughts of jealousy and resentment. You’re got to look into these things to see where you’re getting some sort of satisfaction out of them, and what a miserable satisfaction it is. It’s only then that you realize … 
  20. Your World to Practice In
     … If you can’t go out and get some physical seclusion, at the very least develop some mental seclusion, where you’re far away from thoughts of sensuality, far away from unskillful thoughts. They might be there nibbling at the edge of your awareness, but you don’t try to feed on them. Feed on the sense of well-being that comes from the … 
  21. Training the Whole Mind
     … So it’s an all-around training, not just learning to relate to the breath, but learning how to relate to everything else going on in the mind as well, so that skillful thoughts take over and unskillful thoughts get left behind. That’s when you can say that the meditation is a whole-mind process. That’s when it gives results penetrating throughout … 
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