Search results for: "Thought"
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- What You Can’t Change, What You Can… That wasn’t a possibility that the number crunchers had thought of. So the software rejected the data. It wasn’t until the data were overwhelming that they began to realize, okay, there was a problem with the software. Our awareness of our body and our awareness of our mind are often like that. Things are going on, but our sense of the possibilities …
- The Rivers of Karma… Vagrant thoughts will come into the mind about tomorrow, about today, yesterday. And you’ve got to realize that those thoughts are not in line with the original intention. No matter how useful or important they may seem, they’re not what you want right now. You’re trying to be very clear about what your intention is right now and how to stick …
- Shoulds & Ideals… You don’t want to get involved in restless and anxious thoughts, or tied up in uncertainties: “Is this going to work? Is this not going to work? Am I up to it? Am I not?” Just learn how to put those thoughts aside. Just focus on the question of how you can stay with the breath in a way that feels really good …
- Not Just a Witness… those who thought too much and those who didn’t think enough. The ones he was concerned about were those who thought too much, because they would find it difficult to get the mind to settle down. In cases like that, you have to keep encouraging them, he said. If the teacher is not around to encourage you, well, learn how to encourage yourself …
- Reclaim Your Breath… Just hold the thought in mind, “Breath can flow there, it doesn’t push anything.” The simple thought of allowing can relieve a lot of the pressure. So do your best to get acquainted with the breath energy issues in the body, what it means for the breath to flow well, and be ingenious at finding new ways of solving new problems as they …
- Reflect on Your Actions… But it’s also good to have someone you can talk these things over with, to get some ideas you may not have thought of before or to open up some possibilities that might not have occurred to you. Or to be a little more demanding in your sense of what you want—or sometimes less demanding: Sometimes we hold up unrealistic ideals for …
- Change Your Perceptions… bodily fabrication—the way you breathe; verbal fabrication—technically, it’s directed thought and evaluation, but in plain terms, it’s the way you talk to yourself; and then mental fabrication—perception and feelings. As you look at the Buddha’s teachings, you can see that a lot of them have to do with instructions on how to fabricate all these things more skillfully …
- To Know the Unconditioned… The first thing to go is the directed thought and evaluation, because their purpose is to fit the mind with the body, fit your consciousness with the breath, so that they stay together comfortably, with a sense of interest. Once they’ve been adjusted to a snug fit, you can drop the layer of directed thought and evaluation, and then just hold on to …
- Basic Intro… It doesn’t always go slipping off to thoughts of the past, thoughts of the future. It stays right here. Why is it important to stay right here? Because the intentions of the mind are happening right here, and we tend to miss them. We do things and say things and often don’t know why. It’s as if we’re on an …
- The Joy of the Battle… And when you can get one reason—as when you say, “Oh, I thought that this particular type of desire made me attractive. This particular desire appealed to this, this, this”—you’ve learned something important. It’s like learning a language. You don’t learn the whole language all at once. You learn it a few words at a time. Sometimes it may …
- Just-Right Concentration… That requires some thought. How are you going to breathe? What way of breathing is just right, right now? What do you need in terms of the breath? Do you need to be energized? Okay, breathe in a way that’s strong. Long in, short out. Do you need to relax with a short in, long out? One of Ajaan Lee’s observations is …
- More than a Slice of Mindfulness… In the same way, once the mind settles down and is happy to be at the post of the breath, then the Buddha says the next step is to focus on the body in and of itself, ardent, alert and mindful, but don’t think any thoughts related to the body. In other words, you don’t engage in direct thought and evaluation, and …
- Undefeatism… One thing you have to watch out for is once you set up a determination like this, there’ll be little blips of thought in the mind that say, “Well, maybe not tomorrow.” Or, “Today I’m too tired, let me rest tomorrow morning.” They’ll blip and then they’ll go away, but it’s as if they’ve left little landmines in …
- The Breath All the Way… When these thoughts have focused the mind, bring that focus back to the breath. Finally, if the mind is feeling burdened, figure out how to release it from its burdens, particularly if it’s being burdened with unskillful thinking. These might be thoughts of sensuality or thoughts of anger. How can you let go of those? Sometimes you focus on the object of the …
- Meaning & Purpose… Now, we’re told that we’re trying to overcome our craving for becoming, but the Buddha always thought strategically. Someone showed me a video the other day, where some Abhidhamma expert was talking about how people who try to get the mind to be concentrated are suffering from greed, which is an unskillful state. When the mind gets still and is not analyzing …
- An Even Keel… A thought will come and you want to watch it: both the thing that it’s thinking about and the thought in and of itself. Put a little question mark next to them. Ajaan Lee once said that one way of testing your insights is to turn them inside out: Suppose that the exact opposite of that insight were true? Or how about turning …
- The Chattering Mind… This is one of the Buddha’s techniques for dealing with distracting thoughts: They can chatter, but you don’t have to listen. You don’t have to get involved. Think of your body being like a large room. People are chattering off in one corner of the room, but you’ve got work to do in another corner. Well, they can chatter as …
- The Blood You’ve Shed… But just the thought of that possibility leaves us with an important lesson. No scores are fully settled. Things don’t come to closure. This is the nature of samsara: It just keeps wandering on and on and on. No story comes to an end. We watch plays, read books, where events come to a satisfying closure, and part of us would like to …
- Playing Your Lute… In other words, when there are limitations on your capabilities, don’t sit down with a thought, “I’m going to sit here and won’t get up until I attain supreme awakening. If I don’t attain supreme awakening, I’m going to let my blood and flesh dry out.” You’re not ready for that yet. Adjust your expectations for what you …
- The Four Noble Truths… In other words, if you were to follow with it, if you were to identify with it, where would it take you? Say a thought of anger arises in the mind. If you were to think that thought for twenty-four hours, where would it lead you? What shape would your mind be in? If it’s going to be bad for you over …
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