Search results for: "The Mind"

  1. Page 68
  2. Pleasant Practice, Painful Practice
     … to get to the point where the mind is neither taken with attractiveness or unattractiveness, to realize these are perceptions you apply that are not all that useful. When you can get past them, the mind is freed from a lot of worries and a lot of concerns. This is a method of practice that’s really important. Now, it’s not pleasant. As … 
  3. Where the Mind & Body Meet
    When you’re focused on the breath, you’re focused where the mind and the body meet. It’s through the breath that the mind is aware of the body, aware of having a body, and it’s through the breath that the mind exerts influence in the body; it can get the body to move around. And right here is where the Buddha … 
  4. Part I : Basic Instructions
     … We mentioned earlier today that the big issue is the way the mind fabricates things, and you get to know how the mind fabricates things by fabricating good things first. We’ve been fabricating all kinds of ignorant things that lead to stress and suffering, so now let’s fabricate something good: a state of concentration in the mind. Make way for the things … 
  5. Testing Insights
     … So even in the process of getting the mind to be still, getting the mind to be concentrated, there already has to be an element of discernment. Then, once you really are settled in there—you’ve gotten to the point where you’re skilled at getting the mind into that state, getting it to stay there, getting it settled in—then see if … 
  6. Nourishment from the Breath
     … We feed on rapture like the radiant gods.” We look for the mind’s nourishment in the sense of well-being, the sense of fullness that can come from concentration, but we have to give it our full attention for it to work. Often we get the mind in a nice place, and then we think, “Okay, let the mind go on automatic pilot … 
  7. The Real World Isn’t for Real
     … When you look at the breath, you’re very close to looking at the mind. When you look at the breath you give yourself a good foundation—a place to stand so that when you look into the mind and see things you don’t like about the mind, you’re not blown away. So try to develop a sense of ease, well-being … 
  8. Speech for the Sake of Stillness
     … That’s how you get the mind snug with its object, how you get the object just right for the mind. You’re focusing on the breath. Where do you feel the breath right now? Do you know when it’s coming in? Do you know when it’s going out? Does it feel comfortable? If it’s not comfortable, this is where you … 
  9. Truth as Medicine
     … It means simply that you have to learn how to think and speak and act in ways that are medicinal, that help cure the mind. And don’t be too impatient to get the results. After all, we’ve been harming the mind for how many years, how many lifetimes? When the time comes to turn around and heal the mind, it’s not … 
  10. Comfortable With the Truth
     … There are lots of currents flowing through the mind. The Buddha calls them asavas or fermentations, effluents, things that come flowing out, and if we’re not careful they become floods overwhelming the mind. You’re sitting here telling yourself you’re focusing on the breath and all of a sudden you’re far away someplace else. The mind’s been carried away by … 
  11. The Power of Choice
     … the part of the mind that’s working with the breath and is enjoying it. This is called being selective in what’s skillful and what’s not. It’s an exercise in discernment, and you’re using your discernment to get the mind to settle down. This is the ideal way of meditating. If your concentration contains an element of discernment, it’s … 
  12. Shoulds & Desires
     … But when the mind settles down, it does have an energy. That energy radiates out. And when the mind settles down, it’s a lot less likely to be hungry to act on greed, aversion, and delusion. So again, you’re giving safety to other beings. We’re looking for happiness in ways where there’s no clear line between who benefits and who … 
  13. Goodness Comes from Heedfulness
     … You make up the mind you’re going to stay with the breath, and five minutes later you find yourself someplace else, thinking about the past, thinking about the future, anything but the breath. If you try to trace it back, it’s hard to remember the point where the mind left the breath and got involved in something else. The mind does have … 
  14. Don’t Be Afraid of Jhana
     … In fact, this is where discernment arises, in this power of concentration that allows the mind to settle down, be still, and have a sense of well-being. If the mind lacks a sense of well-being, then whatever insights it gains are going to be distorted through aversion. But when the mind has a sense of pleasure, it’s like a person who … 
  15. The Raft of Jhana
    There’s a tendency when you hear the word “jhana” to think of some otherworldly state, something far removed from the mind as you’re experiencing it right now. But what is jhana made out of? In the passage we chanted just now, from the Analysis of the Path, it says that in the first jhana there’s directed thought, evaluation, pleasure, and rapture … 
  16. The Train Trestle
     … As for the mind, is it willing to stay here right now? Sometimes, if it’s not staying, the problem is with the breath or with the feelings. Sometimes it’s with the thoughts going on in the mind: things left over from the day. If you find a lot of left-over stuff, sort through it a bit. Imagine the Buddha’s point … 
  17. Staying, Moving, & Neither
     … Simply open and allow, and once you’re there with that kind of energy, it’s a lot easier for the mind to settle down in a way that doesn’t require a lot of effort, a lot of exertion. This is one of the problems with reading the texts too much. We get a lot of preconceived ideas of what the mind should … 
  18. Refuge
     … In the same way with the breath and the mind, you keep rewarding the mind with a really gratifying breath each time it comes back. After a while, the mind will be happy to come back on its own. Then when you’re here, you try to figure out a way to make it like staying here. After all, one rewarding breath: If you … 
  19. Patience & Endurance
     … What’s skillful right now? Try to get the mind to settle down. We want to get the mind in a position where it doesn’t get worked up over pleasure or pain, where it can see things clearly for what they are. To do that, you’ve got to give the mind a sense of well-being right now. It does need some … 
  20. Skills to Take Home
     … It’s good to have the mind in that space as often as possible so that it can really turn around and look at itself—so that you can realize the extent to which you’re still carrying something around is right there in the mind. If you’re busy with other people’s issues, it’s very hard to look at your own … 
  21. One Point, Two Points, Many Points
     … Just by exploring these issues, you can learn an awful lot about the mind — and make a big change in the mind as well.
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