Search results for: "Thought"
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- The Heart to Keep Going… Each time you pull out of a thought world, you strengthen that sense of the separate observer. And that’s a very useful skill as you go through the day. Sometimes it’s difficult to take the sense of ease you get in meditation and carry it off the cushion back into daily life. Sometimes it happens easily, but sometimes it’s hard. But …
- The Rewards of Right View… This is the pain that comes with the thought, “Okay, there is a way out. There is a deathless element. The Buddha guarantees that. Other people have reached it, but I’m not there yet.” That’s a painful thought: There’s work to be done. This is where you bring in the next perception: the perception of stress or suffering in what is …
- Choices… A thought may move but you can see it simply as an event. You don’t get into the thought-world. That’s a choice you can make, too. Realize that the mind is making choices all the time, so make them as skillful as possible. At the very least, tell yourself that you’re going to sit here and watch the breath, and …
- Not-self in Context… If any distracting thought comes up, you realize, “Okay, it’s there, but it’s not going to be there after a while. Why latch on to it if latching on is going to involve suffering?” You’ve probably realized that thoughts come up in the mind, and at first they seem interesting and entertaining. They have a lot of potential, so you go …
- Attahi Attano Natho… So it’s good to extend thoughts of gratitude his way. Of course, the best expression of gratitude is to continue the practice every day, to take his teachings and make them your own. Each of us fabricates his or her experience, so our understanding of what he had to say, what he had to teach, is going to be filtered by the way …
- Mind Reading… Use that thought to give yourself a sense of confidence, a sense of uplifting joy: calm joy, but joy nevertheless. Joy over the fact that the way is still open. These are some perceptions you can use to gladden the mind. If, however, you find the mind is too active, too wired, you’ve got to steady it. Here again you might use different …
- Breathing to Awakening… This allows you to recognize, when thoughts come up: If it’s a thought related to the breath, you want to encourage it; if it’s one that’s not related to the breath, you want to let it go. As for thoughts that are related to the breath, that’s where you come into the second factor for awakening, which is analysis of …
- True Protection for the World… In other words, when you internalize the example of the Buddha, and the Dharma becomes part of your daily behavior in your thoughts, your words, and your deeds, there will come a point where you touch the Deathless. And from that point on you become a true refuge for yourself, and a refuge for others. Again, you can’t save them from their unskillful …
- Single-minded… As soon as there’s a thought that you need some more in-breath, it’s right there. As soon as there’s the thought that the breath can go out, you don’t have to push it out from anywhere. It’ll go out from right there. Think of it in that way so as to minimize the amount of effort or tension …
- The View from the Mountaintop… appreciating the value of mental stillness and learning how to protect it and not let all the other thoughts interfere that keep yelling at you like insistent children, “Mommy, mommy, mommy, I’ve got a crisis right now.” Everything for a little child is a crisis. Everything for our thoughts seems to be a crisis as well: This has to be taken care of …
- What You’re Bringing… It’s not the case that a thought pulls you away with some sort of magnetic power. You’re actually the one who pursues things. But again, it’s based on the things you bring to the meditation. In this case, it might be something that’s lying around there unconscious in an area you’re not aware of. So be prepared for the …
- Rehab Work… Do healing actions, think healing thoughts, think healing perceptions. You start by training your thoughts or perceptions and learning how to breathe in a healing way. This is rehab work for the mind; it’s rehab work for the way you approach experience in general. So the Buddha wasn’t the kind of doctor who would have you lie in bed and remain immobile …
- Learning by Doing… So, now, you’re using the breath, using your perceptions of the breath and your thoughts about the breath, to create a good feeling in here—one that can be a home for your mind. Give yourself a good home to stay in. As you get well settled here, there comes a point where you start taking a interest in what you’re doing …
- The Carrot & the Stick… Like the passage we chanted several days ago: “Those who see danger and respect being heedful”—realizing that you can’t let your guard down, because sometimes just a tiny little thought comes into the mind, and you give it room. You feed it. You nourish it. You allow it to take root. And then, as it takes root, it destroys things. It’s …
- A Clean Break at Death… If you can’t reach that person any longer, spread thoughts of goodwill in that person’s direction. Do that many, many times, so that it becomes your automatic reaction to thoughts about that person. That way, when the time comes to go, you can make a clean break. The same principle applies to your attachments You want to make a clean break here …
- Limitless is the Buddha… Are you willing to put your preferences aside for right now and give yourself to the practice? The thoughts you like to think about and other things that lie outside the path, you’re going to put them down for the time being. You’re going to focus right here. Fortunately, the work required by the path is not all unpleasant. There are times …
- Karma & the Sublime Attitudes… If you see somebody suffering and people think that karma is just, the thought is, “They simply deserve to suffer, so leave them be.” But that’s not the case. Karma is complex. Think about all the many actions you do in the course of the day—all the different intentions and choices you act on. You’re creating all kinds of karma all …
- Time Well Spent… After all, directed thought and evaluation are what help you decide what you’re going to say out loud, and directed thought and evaluation are what you’re trying to practice here as you meditate. So direct your thought to worthwhile things, evaluate them in a way that actually leads to abandoning unskillful qualities and developing skillful ones. This way, the mind has a …
- Fabricating against Defilement… Verbal fabrication is directed thought and evaluation. Your anger may direct your thoughts at what a bad person that is, but you can consciously direct them in another direction, thinking for instance of the person’s good points. Then you can evaluate the situation to see which way of thinking is better for you, better for the situation. In other words, you learn how …
- Discernment… The mental side is made up of lots of little thoughts that are all glommed together. So the Buddha recommends that you take it apart in terms of the khandhas, in terms of the aggregates. Look for the feeling, and then look for the perception. An important perception is saying, “This is my suffering, this is happening to me,” which may be true but …
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