Search results for: "Attention"
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- Befriending the Breath… It might be in the middle of the head, the middle of the chest, the abdomen, anywhere in the body where you feel that your attention can settle in settle in, settle down, and begin to fit together. All the scattered little parts of your mind come together and they click into place. So you’re fully here with the breath. You can fully …
- Transparent Becoming… Sometimes when you’re feeling anxious or scattered, it’s helpful just to think buddho in the mind—bud- with the in-breath, dho with the out—without paying too much attention to how the breathing feels. Just give the mind something to stay with. Or if you’re feeling discouraged in the practice, think about other people who have had problems in the …
- To Comprehend Suffering… This is the heart of the teaching, the central focus of the teaching, so pay a lot of attention right here and think about what the Buddha had to say about what you’re going to find right here. He started his path with right view. And right view, of course, is the four noble truths, focused on the issue of stress, suffering—dukkha …
- Pain & Patience… And if nobody is paying attention to us, we just add some more pain on until it becomes obvious that we’re suffering, and we hope somebody will notice and have some compassion for us. This works up to a point. Then it reaches a point where other people don’t want to help any more. So you’re thrown back on yourself. And …
- An Exercise in Freedom… It’s simply through lack of attention, lack of understanding, that we don’t really develop this part of our experience. So here we have the chance. Notice where you feel the breathing. Where are the sensations that tell you: “Now the breath is coming in, now the breath is going out”? And do they feel good? How does your torso feel? How does …
- Stubborn Clinging… looking after the breath, making sure your attention stays with the breath, making sure your thoughts stay with the breath, trying to be sensitive to how your thinking has an effect on the breath. You’re monitoring this at the same time as you’re doing it, creating the sense of concentration inside. Ajaan Lee was once teaching an old scholarly monk in Bangkok …
- The Gatekeeper’s Duties… This means you want to pay full attention to the breath. In addition to mindfulness, the ability to keep something in mind, the Buddha also recommends that you bring the qualities of alertness and ardency to this. Alert to see what’s actually going on: What’s the breath like right now? What’s your mind like right now? If there’s anything that …
- Two Kinds of Middle… It’s also a pleasure that can come as you learn how to direct the energies in the body—finding out where they’re flowing well, where they’re not flowing well, what ways you think about the energies that help them to flow better, where you focus your attention to loosen up the tension. That’s a pleasure that doesn’t depend on …
- Our Variegated Minds… So focus your attention there. Make that your basic assumption about people, about yourself. When you take that desire for happiness seriously, it’ll get you on the right path.
- Contentment… You keep directing your attention to the breath, and then you evaluate it. Is it comfortable? If it’s not comfortable, you can change it. Try longer breathing. Try shorter breathing. Try deeper breathing. Try more shallow breathing. Once you’ve got a comfortable sensation of the breath, then spread it out through the body. Learn to savor the comfort that comes from the …
- Sophisticated Dhamma… That sense of attention—not pushing things, but protecting them: That’s what gives your concentration a chance to grow. Another problem with respect for concentration, of course, is that once you’ve got it, then you say, “Okay, what’s next? Where are the insights?” Or you drop it for the least little thing, whether it’s fear or lust or anger or …
- Be Heedful & Think… Some people complain all this attention to minutiae seems to put a straightjacket around their minds. But actually it’s liberating. It frees you from the mind’s abstractions. It frees you from the mind’s ignorance. You focus on things that are right before your eyes, you look at them carefully, and you’re careful about your choices. In doing so, you get …
- Protecting Yourself Against Yourself… You’re not paying attention to important things in life, and you’re getting distracted by something that’s minor, or you get totally wrong-headed notions into your head. It’s good to have somebody inside who can alert you to this and to point out a better policy, something that’s safer and actually more in your true best interests. As the …
- Mindful of Your Potentials… As you pay more attention to it, it comes to the fore. When you get really good at this, you realize: How could you have not seen it before? Part of the problem, of course, is cultural. Here in the West, we don’t talk about breath going through the body, whereas in Asia they do. But it’s a possible sensation that you …
- Virtue… This is because our desires are not all that satisfying, yet we don’t know anything else, so we don’t really pay much attention. But the Buddha said, when you take your desire for happiness really seriously and stick to the kind of desires that really can lead to happiness, you begin to realize how valuable they are. You begin to treasure them …
- Skilled in Leaving Concentration… When the bell rings, you’re going to maintain your full attention in the body. You’re going to be immersed in your body. Think of that phrase, kāyagatāsati—mindfulness immersed in the body. You want your full awareness immersed in the body. You’re in the body, inhabiting it fully, as you get up, as you move around. Try to minimize your conversation …
- Concentration that Bears Great Fruit… As soon as the desire is fulfilled or you give up on the desire or something else takes your attention, you move on to another becoming. As the Buddha said, this is the process of rebirth, although he doesn’t use the word “rebirth.” He uses the word “birth,” but basically it’s further becoming or renewed becoming. It’s what happens not only …
- Circumspection… Your attention was someplace else, or you were asking other questions. Or maybe you weren’t even asking questions at all. As the Buddha identifies it, this factor of circumspection is another way of saying “discernment.” It’s good to remember that discernment has this quality. It’s not simply a matter of agreeing with the Buddha that things are inconstant or stressful or …
- Strength from the Basics… If you find yourself getting into an unhealthy breathing rhythm, where can you focus to get out of it? Focus your attention on the areas that are far, far away from the unskillful patterns. This may involve going into your hands and your feet, and just being conscious of what it feels like from the inside to have a hand, what it feels like …
- Verbal Fabrication… This is something you have to pay attention to. When the Buddha talks about directed thought and evaluation as factors of the first jhāna, they’re not just an unfortunate wobbling in the mind that can’t settle down yet. You’re using your inner speech to get things comfortable inside, to get the mind to be happy to be with its object by …
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