Search results for: "Mindfulness"

  1. Page 89
  2. Three Levels of Evaluation
     … how you can maximize them so that the mind can stay still and balanced for a long period of time, how to keep the mind clear so that you can get the higher benefits of concentration, i.e., the discernment that can come when things are very clear in the mind, with a strong foundation of mindfulness and alertness. It’s a lot easier … 
  3. Concentration
     … You can read as much as you’d like about discernment, inconstancy, stress, not-self, emptiness, whatever, but it’s not really going to have a hold on the mind until the mind settles down firmly and can be still. However much the mind likes to read about those things, its feeding habits are still low. Ajaan Chah’s image of Westerners is one … 
  4. Filling in the Buddha’s Outline
     … The Buddha is saying that suffering comes from our actions, and particularly from unskillful actions of the mind. The unskillful craving and clinging can be brought to an end by developing actions that crave and cling in a different, more skillful way: Crave to have right view, right resolve, all the way down through right mindfulness and right concentration. That’s a kind of … 
  5. Guardian Meditations
    One of Ajaan Fuang’s students commented that as she began to meditate it seemed like her mind was getting more and more defiled all the time. His comment was it was like cleaning the floor of your house: If you don’t clean the floor of the house, dust settles, and in the course of a day you have no idea how much … 
  6. Turning Points
     … On the contrary, it was a pleasure that allow the mind to see things clearly. In fact, he discovered as he pursued that path that it led to a state of concentration with total purity of mindfulness and equanimity. The mind was clear, malleable, and bright. This is how right concentration became the first factor of the path the Buddha discovered. The other seven … 
  7. Strength of Conviction
     … You can train the mind. And the quality of the mind determines the quality of the action. This is why we meditate: to get the mind in good shape so that the actions it chooses are skillful, harmless, and beneficial. And the word “action” here means not only your physical actions and your words, but also the thoughts that go through the mind, because … 
  8. The Dignity of Restraint
     … What attachments in the mind would be good to give up? Could our mind survive perfectly well without the things we tend to crave? The Buddha’s answer is Yes. In fact, it’s better off that way. Still, a very strong part of our mind resists that teaching. We may give up things for a certain while, but our attitude is often, “I … 
  9. Your One Responsibility
     … But looking at the world as Dhamma means you look at the movements of your mind. Those are the important dhammas. You keep in mind—this is where mindfulness comes in—you keep in mind the Buddha’s teachings on which qualities of the mind are worth developing and which ones you want to let go. That’s what the training is all about … 
  10. Training Heart & Mind
    We talk about meditation as training the mind, but we have to remember that the Pali word for mind, citta, covers both what we think of as mind and also what we think of as heart. So we try to develop both a good mind and a good heart. Some people miss this fact. They think it’s simply a matter of training the … 
  11. Noble Treasures
    The mind has a very deep habit, a little question inside that keeps getting asked over and over again: “What are we doing next? What are we doing next?” If you come up with a lot of different answers, the mind gets scattered and feels fearful. So, for the next hour, try to convince yourself that there’s only one thing you really have … 
  12. Choose Your Cravings Wisely
     … You’re focusing on the breath in the present moment, but you’re also keeping in mind what you want to do right now and where you want to go—because what you’re doing right now has a shape. It shapes not only the experience you’re having right now, but also where you’re going. Keeping the past in mind, both your … 
  13. The Wisdom of Dualities
     … You get the mind into a state of concentration, then you get it into another state of concentration, and you can compare the two. Or when you come out of concentration and you see the mind going for something, you can ask yourself, “Well, which is better? The mind when it was concentrated, or the mind when it’s running around?” The fact that … 
  14. Present-Moment Intelligence
     … You breathe in ways that gladden the mind, steady and concentrate the mind, release the mind. This doesn’t happen on its own. It’s a training. In the course of the training, you’re going to be talking to yourself as you give yourself directions: “Do this, do that.” Then you learn from what you’ve done. This is what the meditation is … 
  15. Big Things in Little Things
     … As the Buddha saw as he surveyed the world, the big problem is that people have no control over their minds. Their minds are what’s shaping their experience, and their minds are in horrible shape. And when the shaper is in bad shape, then of course the experience is going to be shaped poorly, too. So we’re focusing on the little things … 
  16. The Real World Isn’t for Real
     … When you look at the breath, you’re very close to looking at the mind. When you look at the breath you give yourself a good foundation—a place to stand so that when you look into the mind and see things you don’t like about the mind, you’re not blown away. So try to develop a sense of ease, well-being … 
  17. Fabrication at the Breath
     … These are the elements that create states of mind that inhabit both the body and the mind. So keep remembering, reminding yourself: It’s just these three types of fabrication. This is how concentration helps you gain insight into the mind, first in the process of getting the mind to have a sense of well-being and fullness and stability in the present, then … 
  18. Recognizing Fools
     … One of the reasons why we meditate is to give the mind something wise to do. Get settled, get still, so that you can observe the mind more carefully. Any thoughts that don’t have to do with getting the mind still, you can—for the time being—label as fools. Even relatively good thoughts about fixing potatoes for tomorrow, or making merit in … 
  19. The Prison Break
     … We’re trying to be mindful, alert, and ardent. Always keep one thing in mind. For instance, you keep the breath in mind. And keep in mind what you’ve learned from the past. You don’t have to keep running it through your mind, but have it available. As for alertness: Make a survey of your body, make a survey of your mind … 
  20. Alighting on the Dhamma
     … There’s no way it’s really talking about what’s going on in my mind right now.” As the Buddha said, the whole point of the Dhamma is that it points. That’s what the word desana means in Pali. It’s the Pali word for Dhamma talk, and it actually means pointing to the Dhamma. And it’s pointing into your mind … 
  21. Pleasure Has a Price
     … But if you feel well-nourished and at ease—the mind is in a good mood, the body feels strong from good breathing—it’s a lot easier to master some of the more difficult skills of the path and to pry your mind away from a lot of its other attachments. Many of us come to the meditation thinking that we’re just … 
  22. Load next page...