Search results for: "The Mind"

  1. Page 79
  2. Comparing Mind
     … Otherwise, you start drifting off, getting kind of drowsy, trying to force the mind to stay with one thing, and as it stays with one thing it begins to get dull—because the mind is used to jumping around: liking this, liking that, then deciding it doesn’t like this, running over there to something else. And it gets entertained as it jumps around … 
  3. Inner Critics
     … One of the reasons we meditate to get the mind still is to start seeing our own unskillful habits and to put the mind in a mood where it’s willing to admit them. This is why concentration is an important part of the path. But it’s not the whole path. Sometimes you hear the mistaken notion that when you reach a certain … 
  4. Isolating the Aggregates
     … When the mind is really still, you can see this as it’s happening. You can see it more clearly because you’re intent on not allowing it to take over your concentration. So it’s through your mastery of these different processes of the aggregates that you can actually get the mind to settle down—which is why when the mind has settled … 
  5. The Brahmaviharas Are Not a Complete Practice
     … You want to take your life in your hands and say, “I can make something good out of this.” You do that by training the mind. So, goodwill is a preliminary practice for getting the mind into concentration focused on the breath. But there are also passages where the Buddha talks about it as a topic of concentration in and of itself. He doesn … 
  6. Events as Events
     … First, you get the mind really still, and then you look at what’s going on in your experience of the body and the mind here in the present, on their own terms—on the terms of the body, on the terms of the mind, events in the mind, events in the body: what the Buddha calls, on the one hand, name and form … 
  7. Wisdom for Dummies Revisited
     … Part of the mind can train the rest of the mind. It’s simply a matter of getting the good part of the mind, the part that really does wish for your true well-being, to have more power. This is one of the reasons why, when we meditate, we work with the breath to gain a sense of well-being. The good part … 
  8. Feeding your Attack Dogs
     … that a lot of decisions are going on behind the walls you’ve erected in the mind, and you don’t like to think about the decisions you’re making. But the fact is, you are, and you’ve got to bring your radar down so that nothing can go below it. So prepare yourself for the fact that the mind is going to … 
  9. Dealing with Pain
     … It’s the way the mind communicates with itself through very brief and simple signals. And then there’s fabrication. This is where the emotions are along with your more complex thoughts. Then finally there’s consciousness—awareness of these things. The Buddha says we feed on these activities. And in fact, these activities are the activities that the mind usually uses in feeding … 
  10. Magha Puja: Showing Respect with the Practice
     … The practice of concentration is called heightening the mind. You’re letting go of all your sensual concerns and raising the mind to a higher level. You’re trying to find a sense of peace, a sense of well-being that comes simply from having your awareness settled inside. To focus on the breath, to know when it’s coming in, to know when … 
  11. Anger
     … But when you’re trying to overcome the anger in the mind, the lastingness of those hormones is not helpful at all. So make sure to see the thoughts and the physical symptoms as two separate things. The mind itself may have calmed down somewhat from the anger, but the physical manifestations are still present, obstructing your view of the mind, so you want … 
  12. Part III : Daily Life
     … He’s also talking about the death of the mind’s good qualities, its inner strengths. These are your most important treasures because they determine, on the one hand, what you’re going to do, how you’re going to act, how you’re going to speak, how you’re going to think; and those things, of course, have a huge impact on your … 
  13. Do. Maintain. Use.
     … Get the mind to the breath. Try to keep it with the breath. Experiment with different ways of breathing to see what’s comfortable right now. Experiment with different ways of conceiving the breath that allow the mind to settle down and stay with the sensation of breathing and to connect that with the different sensations in the rest of the body. You want … 
  14. A Good Mood to Meditate
     … If you’re going to find true happiness, you have to find it in the mind. So focus on whatever theme you find helpful to get the mind in a good mood to meditate, and then it’ll be a lot easier to settle down. When the Buddha describes suffering, he talks about clinging to the five aggregates. And we hear that one of … 
  15. Things As They Function
     … In other words, we practice generosity, we observe the precepts, and that trains the mind. Then we use that trained mind to look deeper into the mind. But it’s never a question of just sitting there and looking at whatever comes up in the mind. You’re trying to get the mind to act in as skillful a way as possible in its … 
  16. Mindfulness of Death
     … The heedless are as if already dead.” There is a deathless element in the mind that can be found if you work on your meditation. If you develop good thoughts in the mind, good qualities in the mind, they can lead you to something beyond death. So make the most of them.
  17. A Frame of Reference
     … This ensures that you don’t tighten up around it, so that the mind doesn’t feel restricted, the body doesn’t feel restricted. You have a sense of openness, even though you’re centered: staying right here with a sense of openness and ease around. That’s the quality you’re working toward, so that the mind can have a foundation. Only when … 
  18. Worlds
     … We ordinarily think of thoughts as filling the mind, but they also take place in the body as well. The mind is what does the thinking, but parts of the body get involved in the process. This is how we carry those whole worlds around. You sit here with your body, and all of the sudden it turns into someplace else. It’s all … 
  19. Take Your Time
     … Your mind is ready, you see the value of training the mind, and so you can focus in on the breath. But sometimes you find that it takes a while to get into the mood, and that’s perfectly fine. If there are mental habits or ways of thinking that get in the way of the mind settling down, sometimes you have to spend … 
  20. Awe
     … You’ve got the mind. What shape is the mind in? Fortunately, the Buddha doesn’t leave us stranded here. All too often in the West, this sense of awe is left simply as an aesthetic sense or a vague religious feeling. But the Buddha gives you further instructions on what to do with it. Take that sense of the earth and think just … 
  21. Commit, Reflect, Discern
     … You’re sitting here with your breath, but the mind is unwilling to settle down. Okay, what’s the problem? Is the problem with the mind, or is the problem with the breath? You can change the way you breathe to see if that makes any difference. Or you can switch to another topic, such as spreading thoughts of goodwill. When you spread thoughts … 
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