Search results for: "Focusing"

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  2. Discernment All Along
     … learning from the object you’re focused on. In his case, you learn from the silver. Silver reacts to heat in different ways. You can get rid of impurities in different ways. If you’re observant, over time you get a better and better sense of what you’re working with, and you can make better and better things out of it. The same … 
  3. Discernment
     … When the Buddha talks about the principles of causality, this is where he’s really focused. He’s not concerned with causality out there in the world so much, except when he uses it to illustrate points having to do with causality in the mind. The causality in here, of course, is intention, which is based on contact and also colors contact. The intention … 
  4. Meaning & Purpose
     … As he focuses our attention to meditate, he wants us to focus attention on that first kind of contact, our immediate sense of the body as we feel it, unmediated. The breath is the most obvious of the different elements, so focus there. It’s the element you can most easily control. You can make it longer, shorter, faster, slower, deeper, more shallow. So … 
  5. Anti-slacker Dhamma
     … This is why the Buddha focused all of his teaching on solving that problem. If it were no big deal, that’s what the first noble truth would be: Suffering is no big deal. But that’s not the truth. Suffering is aging, illness, and death; it’s sorrow, lamentation, and despair. All of these things are a big deal. And what use would … 
  6. The Gift of Meditation
     … When you’re focused on your development of mindfulness and concentration, other people benefit, too. So think of meditation as a gift, both to yourself and to the people around you. This is a major misunderstanding that people have, that we’re just here for ourselves, that we’re selfish, parasitic, not doing anything for the world. But how much can you do for … 
  7. A Rite of Passage
     … But sometimes the problem is how you’re focusing on the breath. So there’s a double stepping back. You’re stepping back from the other thoughts, and you’re also stepping back and watching your mind as it gets settled down with the breath so that you can figure out how to do it well. Ajaan Lee talks about how, as you’re … 
  8. Bad Friends Inside
     … Try to keep your attention focused right here in the present moment. Because all the important things in life are happening in the present moment. And in particular your intentions. The things you intend to say, intend to do, intend to think about: These are the things that shape your life. And all too often we’re not paying that much attention to them … 
  9. Defeatism? - Anything But
     … And it’s worth attaining, worth focusing your efforts toward, simply that you have to learn how to be mature in how you go about it. The four bases for success are desire, persistence, intent, and ingenuity. The desire there comes first because it’s your motivation. You have to want to do the practice. William James once made a distinction between two kinds … 
  10. The Brahmaviharas Are Not Enough
     … You stay focused on the breath in and of itself, and you put aside any greed or distress with reference to the world. The quality of ardency is where the discernment starts coming in, as you try to do this skillfully and really analyze where the suffering is. This active part of meditation often gets overlooked. It involves both the observer, the more passive … 
  11. Only Your Best
     … Think of your hour here as a meditator focusing on the breath as a time to show your craft in staying with the breath, so that when you come out from the hour, you have a sense, “Okay, I did my best,” because this is one of those areas where only the best will do. The state of your mind. Your ability to put … 
  12. Staying on Track
     … If he were here looking at the way you’re breathing, the way you’re talking to yourself, the perceptions and feelings you’re focused on, what would he say? When you come up with what seems like a good solution, give it a try, but then remember: You’re giving it a try. Our problem is that we’re all coming from ignorance … 
  13. Timeless Dhamma
     … You’re focusing on the breath coming in, going out. You’re not concerned with how your body manages in the world, whether it’s good-looking or strong enough or resilient enough to take on the tasks you want to take on. You just look at the fact you’ve got a body here. Try to look at the raw materials of your … 
  14. Perfections as Priorities
    Perfections as Priorities August 21, 2008 We sit here focused on the breath, mindful of the breath, alert. We want to make sure we’re not just mindful and alert for a few breaths and then off someplace else. We want to stay mindful and alert for the whole hour. And then at the end of the hour when you get up, you want … 
  15. The Five Precepts for the Mind
     … At the end of the retreat, one of the questions on the very last night was, “How do we carry this practice into our daily lives?” And so he focused on the five precepts: against killing, stealing, illicit sex, lying, taking intoxicants. Some of the people were upset. They thought that he was looking down on them, thinking that they, as lay people, were … 
  16. Respect for What’s Noble
     … craving for sensuality, craving for becoming—that’s to take on an identity in a particular world, focused on a desire of any kind. Then there’s the “you” who can bring the desired object about, and the “you” who’s going to enjoy it once you’ve found it. And then there’s the “you” who’s watching the other two senses of … 
  17. All for the Sake of Freedom
     … This is the territory you’re going to try to inhabit right now—the body as you feel it from within—focusing particularly on the breath energy as it flows in the body. When you breathe in, where do you feel the breath? What does the breath feel like? Here we’re not talking just about just the air coming in and out of … 
  18. Factors for Awakening
     … How do I stay more focused on the breath? This may involve breathing more heavily, or taking a quick survey of the body each time you breathe, going through the different parts of the body. One thing I’ve found is when that you’re getting drowsy, it’s helpful to move the spot of your concentration every three breaths: the middle of the … 
  19. Two Types of Dukkha
     … So the second type of suffering is where your energy is going to be focused. When that problem is solved, there’s nothing else to weigh down the mind.
  20. Strong & Heedful
     … For instance, when anger arises, instead of focusing on the object of the anger, focus on the anger in and of itself. When skillful states arise, focus on them, too. As you do this, you begin to see that there are times in the mind when things are at peace, when the mind has a certain level of intelligence. You want to foster those … 
  21. Look after the Source
     … Does the body need short breathing right now? Does it need long breathing? Deep, shallow, heavy or light, expansive, or more focused? That’s something you can play with, something you can adjust. You have a large measure of control here. So learn how to exercise your control: one, where you can have the most impact and two, where you can have the best … 
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