Search results for: "Discernment"

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  2. Defilements
     … This is why the Buddha said that to gain discernment, we have to see all these things as separate. Whatever comes up in the mind, good, bad or indifferent, you have to see it as something separate from your awareness. You can actually look at it. Where is it going? Where does it come from? Is it taking you someplace you really want to … 
  3. Light Your Way
     … You have to be virtuous, generous, develop your discernment, so that you can understand how the mind is creating suffering for itself. And then when you get there, you have to be extra specially careful, not to get complacent. If you have this right attitude, it’s like driving in a car. You’re driving at night, but you’ve got headlights. As long … 
  4. The Anatomy of the Present
     … It’s developed in virtue and developed in discernment. And it’s trained so as to not be overcome easily by either pleasure or pain. When your mind has these qualities, it’s like the large river, so that whatever past karma you’ve done in the past doesn’t really pain you that much. This gives you a sense of how things are … 
  5. Expanded Possibilities
     … Virtue, concentration, discernment: These are all good things. The qualities of mind that can be developed as you practice are all good things. Prior to meeting Ajaan Fuang, I’d always wondered if someone who attained nibbana would be dead or defeated—in other words, seeing that there was nothing worth desiring in the world, so you just give up on desire. But with … 
  6. Three Parts of Right View
     … As we look at the process of fabrication in the breathing, and the perceptions that go around the breath, that’s the beginning of discernment. We’re showing compassion for ourselves and for others. We’re looking for true happiness, and we’re doing it in a way that doesn’t harm anyone. As you’re sitting here, you’re not oppressing anybody at … 
  7. Choices
     … choosing to be generous; choosing to be virtuous; choosing to develop your mindfulness, your concentration, your discernment; judging what gives rise to long-term good results and what doesn’t; and learning the skills to make the mind want to stay with what gives long-term good results and not identify with the other things. We know that it’s not good to be … 
  8. Strength of Body, Strength of Mind
     … In Ajaan Mun’s final sermon, he talked about how every meditator is a warrior who requires discernment, mindfulness, and concentration as his or her support. But who in you is the warrior? The warrior is the determination not to come back and be the laughingstock of the defilements. Those are Ajaan Mun’s words. To be determined not to come back and suffer … 
  9. Wise about Pain
     … That sensitivity is the wisdom, the discernment, that we’re aiming at. It’s wisdom in action—that, and the sensitivity that allows you to deal with situations as they come up without having to refer back to books all the time. When you meditate, a lot of things coming up are not in the books. You need to have the attitude that “I … 
  10. Raise Your Standards
     … a mind that’s very clear, very still, so it can be very discerning, seeing clearly where the actions are. These movements of attention, now focusing here, now focusing there: Ask yourself, what caused you to change focus? When you frame things to yourself, what are the terms you use to frame them? You encounter this immediately when you’re working with the breath … 
  11. Turning Anxiety into Heedfulness
     … As for times when anxiety does come up, remember that whatever happens in the world, you’re going to need mindfulness, alertness, concentration, and discernment to deal with the unexpected. So instead of laying out all kinds of scenarios about what you’ll do if this happens, what you’ll do if that happens—which would just eat up all your time—just remind … 
  12. Stay Tuned
     … That’s how you give rise to the discernment that will set you free. The Buddha uses a different analogy. Of course in those days they didn’t have radio stations, so his analogy is planting a seed in a field. The field here is your kamma. The fact that you’ve got a body sitting here right now, that’s a result of … 
  13. Alertness: What Are You Doing?
     … For developing discernment, it’s the same sort of thing. This question of “What am I doing right now?” is the question that underlies the four noble truths. You’re doing something right now that’s causing stress. Look for it. When you get to something really big in the meditation—say, a sense of just knowing, knowing, knowing—always keep that question in … 
  14. Analysis of Qualities
     … That’s the role of discernment and insight in getting the mind into concentration. So, as you’re sitting here, which kind of questions are worth asking? Putting the mind and the breath together, you’re trying to use pleasure as the glue to stick them together. So how do you deal with the breath in a way that’s pleasant? How do you … 
  15. Put Your Heart into It
     … If you’re not honest, and your precepts are not honest, your concentration is not honest, your discernment is not honest, the practice isn’t going to get anywhere. Building on that, the Buddha talks of many other qualities of the heart. He extolls modesty, contentment, persistence, unburdensomeness. These are all qualities of the heart. We tend to think of someone being good-hearted … 
  16. Clearing Your Space
     … Even as things get more settled down inside the mind, and you start actively engaging in discernment work, figuring things out, there will come times when the problems you’re trying to work out have not been solved, but you have to put them down because you simply need to rest. If you can’t rest, you’ll wear out very quickly. So, clear … 
  17. Greed for Outer & Inner Wealth
     … The other treasures are learning, in other words, learning about the Dhamma, having a fund of knowing what the Buddha said on different topics so you can call them to mind when you need them; generosity; and discernment. Now, you’ll notice that some of these treasures are qualities of that admirable friend you’re looking for. That’s because admirable friendship leads beyond … 
  18. The Noble Truth about Craving
     … That’s the discernment part. When the Buddha describes the four noble truths as noble, this is why. They give you a perspective on your craving that lifts you above it, outside of it. It’s only when you get outside of it that you can see it for what it is and what it does. Think of the Buddha on the night of … 
  19. The Three Perceptions & Their Opposites
     … This is a necessary part of developing discernment, because only when you push against them do you really know how far they’re true and how far they’re not. But as Ajaan Lee says, eventually you’re going to have to let go of the concentration, even though it’s relatively constant, easeful, and under your control. That’s one of Ajaan Lee … 
  20. For Your Future’s Sake
    The Buddha said that the question that lies at the beginning of discernment is, “What, when I do, will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness? What, when I do, will lead to my long-term harm and suffering?” It’s a question that’s aimed at the future. In other words, you focus on what you’re doing right now, but you … 
  21. Questioning Your Conviction
     … Sariputta, “Are you convinced that the five strengths of conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment lead to the deathless?” And Sariputta says, “No, I’m not convinced. I know.” And how did he know? Because he questioned things, tested things, tested himself. **So even though conviction is the foundation post, it’s not the whole building. And before you put up the whole building … 
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