Search results for: "Attachment"

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  2. Adjust the Flame
     … And don’t be afraid of being attached to the breath. I remember reading a piece by a monk, of all people, saying that you shouldn’t do concentration practice, because concentration practice is focused on one object, and it’s an attachment to that one object. Instead, you should let the mind wander around from object to object, and just note where it … 
  3. The Kindness of Body Contemplation
     … It’s also meant to overcome any kind of attachment to the body, realizing that this attachment can cause all kinds of problems, all kinds of suffering. I read recently about a lay teacher who decided that this was a bad kind of contemplation, meant to make women feel inferior, and so she had decided to substitute it with another one, having goodwill for … 
  4. A Happiness Based Inside
     … So it’s necessary that you develop both tranquility and insight, so that you can avoid the dangers of being attached to sensuality, you can avoid the dangers of being attached to the concentration in an unhealthy way—or of being attached to both in an unhealthy way. It’s the combination of tranquility and insight that really frees the mind from its misunderstandings … 
  5. A Well-Thatched Roof
     … There may be a slight attachment to the pleasure of concentration, even a strong attachment, but it’s a healthy attachment. You sometimes hear warnings about the dangers of concentration, but the danger of concentration lies in wrong concentration: concentration devoid of mindfulness, concentration devoid of alertness, concentration based on ulterior motives—to exert power over others, to win their respect—or wrong view … 
  6. Let Go Like a Millionaire
     … If you’re tired, what kind of breathing will give you more energy? If you’re wired, what kind of breathing will calm you down? As you begin to see the effect that the breath has on the body and mind, that’s going to get you even more attached to the breath—which is a good thing. Our minds have a habit of … 
  7. The Allure of Sensuality
     … All too often, the things we know are bad for us are the things we’re most attached to because we think we’re getting something out of them that compensates for the bad effects they can cause. This is why the Buddha’s analysis of the things we’re trying to get past in the practice includes not only seeing their drawbacks but … 
  8. In Terms of the Four Noble Truths
     … attachment to the body, to feelings, perceptions, ideas, even attachment to sensory consciousness. You want to notice that when you leave concentration, these things get heavier, more burdensome. The stories you build around them, the sense of who you are that you build around them, the sense of the world that you build around them, all of which is called becoming: It becomes a … 
  9. Mindful of Death
     … One is attachment to the body, identifying this body as yourself, the fear that you would go out of existence when this body goes. Two, there’s attachment to sensuality, all the pleasures you can think of here in the human realm that you’d hate to leave. Three, there’d be the knowledge you have done harmful things to other people, and there … 
  10. Guardian Meditations, Right & Wrong
     … And there is that aspect to it, but the more you think in those terms, the more attached you’ll get to it—and the more you’re going to want to find another body when you leave this one. The right way to think is that all of these intricate parts of the body that work together so well are not going to … 
  11. Think Calmly about Death
     … If you see any of these areas where you’re still attached—attached to the body, attached to sensual pleasures, attached to fear over your own past actions—okay, work on thinking about these issues in the right way so that they don’t become a burden as you’re trying to deal skillfully with one of the most difficult things in life, which … 
  12. Planting a Tree
     … But what is there to be all that attached to? The reason you’re attached to the body, if you’re skillful in your attachment to the body, is because there’s good that can be done with it—not because it’s good-looking, not because it’s attractive, but because there’s good you can do with it. So if you find … 
  13. Appreciating Dispassion
     … You see that you get attached to the concentration, but it’s a good attachment, because it keeps you from getting attached to other things. But because your sensitivities have been improved, you begin to see that the fact that you have to keep fabricating it becomes oppressive. So you look for a way out. You realize that if you stay where you are … 
  14. The Reality Principle
     … One is attachment to the body. The second is attachment to sensual pleasures. The third is the knowledge that we’ve done cruel and harmful things to other people, to other beings, and the fear that after death we’re going to be punished for it. And then the fourth is not having seen the true dhamma, having doubts about the true dhamma. Now … 
  15. A Concentration Diet
     … This is why when the Buddha was asked, “When arahants die, do they exist? Do they not exist? Both? Neither?” he wouldn’t answer, because we people are defined by our attachments, defined by our desires. When there are no attachments and no desires, there’s no definition. We can’t be measured by anything. When there’s no definition, nothing to measure, there … 
  16. Karma-ism
     … Once you start defining yourself, he said, “What is it that defines us? It’s our attachments, our cravings.” Things that we’re attached to: That’s what defines us. If you’re attached to certain feelings, you’re defined by your feelings. In other words, self-definition is an activity, it’s something you do. And it’s all bound up in suffering … 
  17. Fear & Insecurity
     … The Pali word for being, satta, can also mean attachment. He said, “Wherever there’s attachment, there’s the being. Where is the attachment? Form, feelings, perceptions, thought-fabrications, consciousness.” These are the things with which we create our sense of who we are, as we take on the role of a being. The problem is that the raw material from which we create … 
  18. Seeds of Becoming
     … You take the state of concentration as your model for all your other attachments, all your other cravings, and all the states of becoming in the mind that are built on attachment and craving. You take this as your model and you study it again and again and again, to get really, really sensitive to what it’s like to have the mind settle … 
  19. To Comprehend Food
     … They’ve got to have some very strong medicine to counteract that attachment. But if it gets to the point where you’re averse to food, that’s not right, either. But you do have to think about the implications of eating. That’s because contemplation of food connects with contemplation of the body. This is another big attachment. The problem with the body … 
  20. The Not-Self Discourse
     … That becomes your main attachment. It helps you let go of a lot of other, less skillful attachments. But then, when you begin to see—as your sensitivities get developed—that this, too, has its limitations, and keeping in mind the Buddha’s third noble truth, you say, “Well, how about letting go of even this?” That’s the task that lies before us … 
  21. Gladden, Steady, Release
     … If you’re attached to thoughts about your body or somebody else’s body, remember what happens to bodies: They grow ill; they get sick. You can’t really depend on them. If you’re attached to things being a certain way: Again, that’s really undependable. The only thing that’s dependable right now is the fact that you’re right here. You … 
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