Search results for: "Concentration"

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  2. What Should & Shouldn’t Be Done
     … qualities of alertness, mindfulness, concentration, discernment.” So that’s what we’re doing as we’re sitting here right now: trying to develop our mindfulness and alertness and concentration and discernment so that we can become reliable judges as to what should and shouldn’t be done, and which results of our actions are satisfactory and which ones are not. Just make sure that … 
  3. The Power of Perception
     … In the Canon, Sister Dhammadinna said—and the Buddha confirmed what she said—that the four nimitta of right concentration are the four frames of reference or four establishings of mindfulness: keeping track of the body in and of itself, keeping track of feelings in and of themselves, keeping track of the mind in and of itself, keeping track of mental qualities in and … 
  4. Conceit Defanged
     … For non-returners, that means they’ve perfected virtue; they’ve perfected their concentration, but they’re still working on discernment. The “I” doing that is still the lingering scent. This “I am” can have nine different forms, they say, in which you compare yourself to others. Either the other person is worse than you are, or equal to you, or better than you … 
  5. Precarious Knowledge
     … In other words, you realize the knowledge you have about virtue, concentration, discernment, what to do when you meditate, is not something you’re going to be able to hold on to forever. So you try to get the most use out of it while you can. There is the opportunity right now. This is why the present moment is so important, not that … 
  6. A Mind Like Earth
     … Now, the simple fact of concentration is not enough to guarantee that you’ll be wise. Concentration can foster discernment, and in some cases, the discernment seems to follow naturally. But in other cases, you have to actively think about things, think things through, analyze them. So again, the concentration is a basis, the steadiness is a basis, but there is more work to … 
  7. Giving to the Meditation
     … You’ve got these qualities of mindfulness, alertness, concentration, discernment. They’re all there in an inchoate form. You’ve got the seeds for these things. The meditation is simply an opportunity to allow them to grow and to flourish, so that the seeds of well being that you already have will have the opportunity to show exactly how far they can go. So … 
  8. The River of Karma
     … This is an important principle to keep in mind, that when you attain a state of concentration you’re not running into some cosmic principle or “ground of being” or whatever. You want to view it as a kind of action, learn how to do it skillfully, and then observe it. This is where the four noble truths come in. You observe the action … 
  9. How to Think about Death
     … What is it that causes that catch in the heart? Can you perceive things in a different way? In addition to that questioning of your perceptions, you have to work on your concentration, so that you have some stability. The mind needs its foundation inside: first with the concentration and then with the discernment as you learn how to notice which motions of the … 
  10. Abandoning Craving
     … mindfulness, alertness, ardency, concentration, discernment. These are all good things to desire. That kind of desire for change is actually part of the path. So look to see where the suffering is and why you would desire it. We don’t think we desire suffering, but that’s what the Buddha says, and that’s what’s so ironic about what he says: Precisely … 
  11. Set Your Heart on the Breath
    Set your heart on the breath, as that’s essentially what concentration means—to have your mind set on something, to have your heart set on something. In the Buddha’s vocabulary, the word citta means both heart and mind. They don’t draw a clear distinction or a line between the two. This knowing faculty includes both knowing and willing. The two inform … 
  12. Study to Practice
     … the pleasures that come from concentration. So when you study, you get lots of recommendations for how to take apart unskillful emotions and how to fabricate skillful emotions in their stead. And those are just the first two steps in the Buddha’s five-step program, the ones that establish the truth of the fact that things are being fabricated in the mind, and … 
  13. Dichotomies
     … The Buddha sets out wrong view, wrong resolve all the way through the wrong concentration on the one hand, and right view all the way through right concentration on the other hand. They really are different. If you follow wrong view, it’s going to lead to a lot of suffering. If you follow right view and carry through the other factors of the … 
  14. The Regularity of the Dhamma
     … This is why we practice right concentration: to put the mind in a good position to see things clearly and carry out its appropriate duties. Actually, when the mind is in right concentration you’re standing where the Buddha stood when he discovered all of these things. It’s from this point of view that you can see: “This is the intention; this is … 
  15. Lessons from the Buddha’s Awakening
     … He developed concentration. You’ve got to develop discernment and concentration through the two qualities he said were necessary for every follower on the path: that you, one, be honest, and two, be observant. You commit yourself to the path, and then you reflect on what you’re doing. That’s how you come to know.
  16. An Inside Job
     … The mind begins to get more and more inclined to want to find stillness, so it turns more and more to concentration. At first, the concentration seems very peaceful compared to everything else, to the point where you would think it may be unfabricated. It’s just there, especially as you tune into deeper and deeper levels of concentration with an unbounded sense of … 
  17. Conviction & Focus
     … There’s the list of conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment. That’s the standard one in The Wings to Awakening. Then there’s another one, the strengths of a person in training: conviction, a sense of shame—a healthy sense of shame— compunction, persistence, and discernment. The two lists have conviction, persistence, and discernment in common. Those are the core strengths. It’s … 
  18. Analyzing Results
     … This is how the practice of concentration can lead to sharpening your discernment. The discernment and the concentration help each other along.
  19. Training Your Minds
     … The topic of right concentration is your breath. So channel all your interest into the breath. Channel your desire into the breath. Whether you gain this or that level of concentration, that’s not the issue. You want to make sure that you get your attention on target and keep it on target. That’s how you get results. The same with the other … 
  20. A Basis in Well-being
     … The sense of pleasure and the well-being that come in concentration, the Buddha realized that these can’t be taken as the goal of the practice, but they are the path. They give you the strength and the sense of security you need in order to gain a really balanced discernment into the way you act, into the way you do things, into … 
  21. Heedful of Small Dangers
     … You develop your first level of wisdom in the practice of concentration as you learn how to sidestep the distractions that would pull you away, the thoughts that say, “You’ve got to think about this, you’ve got to worry about this, now you’ve got a whole hour, let’s think about this. You’ll enjoy it.” You’ve got to treat … 
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