Search results for: "Mindfulness"

  1. Page 64
  2. An Inside Job
     … You can’t run controlled experiments inside your mind. In other words, you can’t tell part of the mind to do this at this time, and another part of the mind to do something else at the same time. They can’t go back to the same initial conditions. But the general principle that your actions will make a difference is one that … 
  3. Into the Cave with the Tiger
     … The only problem then was that as the mind wandered like that, thinking a lot like that, it was going to get tired. So he’d incline the mind to concentration. A mind that’s been engaged in skillful thinking—and has been developing a sense of self-worth that comes from skillful thinking—finds it a lot easier to settle down. Of course … 
  4. Insight Is Seeing What’s Worth Doing
     … As you get the mind deeper in concentration, it’s the same issue: “What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness?” Okay, get the mind really still. And begin to notice how the mind puts mind-states together. You can see it both as you create the mind-state of concentration and as you see the mind slipping … 
  5. The Missing Fabrication
     … When the Buddha talks about gladdening the mind, sometimes you have to talk to it. When he talks about concentrating the mind, you talk to it. In both cases, you talk to it until you’ve achieved what you want. The mind feels refreshed. The mind feels steady. Then you can stop the talking. But you don’t simply calm verbal fabrication for the … 
  6. Pure Action
     … It’s all a matter of training the mind, and realizing that that’s the true source of happiness: a trained mind. So we’re sitting here training the mind in what way? We’re training it in mindfulness, the ability to keep something in mind; and we’re training it in alertness, the ability to be sensitive to what you’re doing and … 
  7. Feeding on Open Wounds
    We’re born into this world in a position of weakness, because we have to depend on the world for our food—not only for physical food, but also food for the mind. The Buddha lists three kinds of mental food: contact at the senses, consciousness at the senses, and then what he calls intellectual intention, which basically comes down to your intentions in … 
  8. Square One
     … As the Buddha said, you need both tranquility and insight to get the mind into concentration. To get the mind into concentration, you’ve got to choose one topic. Clear away all other topics in the mind. They may keep coming in, but just don’t pay attention to them. And you try to be ardent, alert, and mindful. Mindful means keeping something in … 
  9. Mindfulness of Death
     … This is why it’s good to memorize passages in Pali, passages in Pali and English, so that you have some skillful thoughts sloshing around in the mind. After all, as death comes, the mind can latch on to all kinds of things, and if you’ve been impregnating your mind with good Dhamma, then that can have an influence on you at times … 
  10. Safety in Awareness
     … There’s something here in the mind that really is reliable, something you can touch in the mind that’s reliable. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we put so much effort in the practice, because there are so many things out there in the world and so many other things in our own minds that seem promising and then let … 
  11. Objectivity
    Some people make a big deal out of the fact the mind is never totally objective, never totally neutral. From that they claim that since there’s no objectivity, everybody is entitled to his or her subjective opinion. Everyone’s entitled to do what they want, to define happiness as they want, and to search for happiness in any way they want, because, as … 
  12. The Walls of Ignorance
     … So we need to learn how to take down these walls and divisions through our relentless honesty, relentless mindfulness, relentless alertness. The compartments of the mind that would allow us to do unskillful things — which would mean that we can’t trust ourselves — get torn down. The mind that’s truly one is the mind that can trust itself totally. There are no hidden … 
  13. Shelter
     … You have to be willing to take time, with a sense of confidence that this project we’re working on right here—getting the mind to settle down, getting a good place for the mind to stay—is going to take time because the mind is a very complex phenomenon. Part of it is willing to settle down and another part is not. This … 
  14. Happy to Be Here
     … Often we think that only after we get the mind in concentration will it be in a good mood, but that’s not the case. When the Buddha talked about it, he said that you start out with a sense of joy, a sense of gladness, and that provides a place where the mind can settle down. You want to be happy to be … 
  15. Working with Nature
     … As Ajaan Lee points out, when you’re trying to get the mind into concentration, directed thought, evaluation, and singleness of preoccupation are the causes. You keep directing your thoughts to the breath and evaluating it to make it a good place to stay. All of this may involve some activity. You want to get the mind still, but to get it still, you … 
  16. Random Word Generators
     … We’re learning how to be a good editor, for one thing, to decide which of our comments, say, on our mind, or on our breath, or on our ability to keep the mind with the breath are actually helpful; which ones are not. And this applies to all our activities. The mind has a habit of learning how to say unhelpful things, and … 
  17. Boxed Stories
     … body, feelings, mind, mental qualities. They’re all connected to the breath because after all, they’re all right here. When you’re with the breath, the fact that you’re attentive to the breath and alert to the breath creates a feeling of pleasure. When you’re with the breath, you’re mindful. The mind is getting a little bit more steady. That … 
  18. Capable
     … Our desire right now is to get the mind to settle down. So what can you do to get the mind to settle down? The Buddha gives his instructions in his description of right mindfulness. You keep focused on the body in and of itself—ardent, alert, and mindful—putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world. So you stay with the … 
  19. Getting Yourself
     … When he found the right path, when he was practicing deep concentration getting the mind into the various levels of jhana and gaining the different insights that came from that concentration, whatever pleasure arose in his mind, he didn’t let that overcome his mind, either. He was closely keeping watch on his mind, and only when he’d straightened out his mind did … 
  20. Dhamma Survivalism
     … As the Buddha said, there’s nothing as quick to change as the mind, and it can change into all sorts of things. That applies to your mind—and to everybody else’s minds, too. They’re just as changeable as you are. When you’re in relationship, the changes don’t get added. They get multiplied. So ultimate security is not in relationships … 
  21. Perspectives & Priorities
     … All too often, we hear mindfulness practices described as putting aside your inner critic and just accepting everything. But look at what the Buddha says concerning the qualities of mindfulness: Mindfulness itself is the ability to keep something in mind—and you don’t just keep it in mind as a decoration of the mind. It’s supposed to inform your actions. You’re … 
  22. Load next page...