Search results for: "Kamma"

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  2. Right but Wrong
     … When you’re asked about kamma, the proper response is: There are three kinds of feelings—pleasant feelings, painful feelings, neither pleasant nor painful. After all, the whole point of teaching about kamma is to realize there are actions that are skillful, actions that are unskillful, and actions that are mixed. If you were to say that all action ends in stress, then why … 
  3. The Larger Picture
     … But seeing everybody undergoing it allowed them to see larger patterns, especially concerning the role of kamma. Then, from seeing the larger patterns, he focused on the present moment to see how he could undo those larger patterns as they played out in the kamma of the present moment. That was the insight that finally awakened him: focusing back on the present, after having … 
  4. Expert’s Mind
     … The right question to ask is, what are you doing? In particular, what are you doing that’s causing suffering? What could you do to stop that suffering? All of his really basic teachings have to do with action, which is why kamma is so central to what he taught. Kamma consists of your intentions, and your intentions are shaped by your views. If … 
  5. The Positive Side of Heedfulness
     … There are potentials coming in from your past kamma, but you’ve also got your present kamma. Make the most of that fact, so that even when you encounter situations you don’t like—whether in the meditation, your work, your family life, or your responsibilities around the monastery—see what you can do not to suffer around them. When I was with Ajaan … 
  6. A Taste of Freedom
     … It’s not the case that you have to go running with whatever comes floating up into the mind in the present moment, because a lot of thoughts come in from the past—your past kamma, your old habits. And the reason we’re meditating is because we realize we don’t want to stick with our old habits. There’s that saying: Don … 
  7. Brahmaviharas at the Breath
     … The other monk came and asked Somdet Toh what that was all about, and Somdet Toh said, “Well, obviously he’s got some kamma with that other monk in the past.” But then, of course, the question of who hit whom first: That’s really unanswerable. You could trace things back over many, many lifetimes, and you’d lose track of who’s playing … 
  8. Determination
     … As for equanimity, it realizes that there are a lot of things in life that we won’t be able to accomplish due to our kamma or other people’s kamma. Beforehand, you don’t know what those things are going to be, but you can’t let that get you down. You’ve got to have the determination to do the best you … 
  9. The Uses of Right Concentration
     … This had a lot to do with his kamma: The kamma was what determined whether the opening came or not. The important thing is that if the opening comes for you, you have to ask yourself: What’s the best use of this? Are you going to use the power to develop unskillful states of mind such as pride and conceit, or are you … 
  10. Your Goodness is Your Protection
     … your sense of conviction in the principle of kamma, your virtue, your compunction, your sense of shame, your knowledge of the Dhamma, your generosity, your discernment. These things are your protection. So we work on developing these things. Sometimes we’re afraid that the things we’ve tried to build up as we go through life will get torn down. And you have to … 
  11. Kindfulness
     … After all, there’s a lot of activity in the mind that comes simply from the force of past kamma, your past actions. And that’s not your kamma right now. Your kamma right now is what you do with those things. You have the choice to go with them or not. Try to make the most of that choice, because as you exercise … 
  12. One Thing Clear Through
     … the teaching on kamma. And he introduced kamma with two teachings: one on gratitude, one on generosity. He started out by saying that generosity is real. The gifts you give actually benefit you and the other person. This is something of real value. And you can think of the whole practice — all the way through the abandoning of greed, anger, and delusion — as an … 
  13. Pleasure & Pain
     … In other words, sitting with the pain doesn’t burn away old kamma. Just trying to be very still in the presence of pain isn’t going to burn away old kamma, either. But when you’re sitting with pain, things are going to come up in the mind, and you get to see them. You’re forcing the issue. Your old habits that … 
  14. The Bureaucracy of the Defilements
     … They’re creating your kamma and it’s all going to affect you. It’s because you, as the boss, delegated things and you tend to get distracted—you’re not even there in the head office all of the time—that you end up suffering from the decisions that these lower-level bureaucrats have made. So, one of the main purposes of the … 
  15. Serial Clinging Is Still Clinging
     … This is what the Buddha calls the kamma that leads to the end of kamma, and it’s going to require firmly held right views, and devotion to skillful precepts and skillful practices, and a consistent view of yourself as being responsible, of wanting to put an end to suffering, and believing in yourself that you can do this—at the same time, realizing … 
  16. Worries & Regrets
     … One important thing to think about is the principle of kamma, along with the immensity of rebirth. We sometimes think about things in this lifetime that we regret. The Buddha would have you cast your mind away from the present moment for the time being and just think about how far back into the past we’ve been trying to find happiness: struggling along … 
  17. The Train Trestle
     … There are certain limits to what you can do—this has to do with past kamma—but within the limits of what you’ve got here, you want to make the best use of the potentials you’ve got. As for the mind, is it willing to stay here right now? Sometimes, if it’s not staying, the problem is with the breath or … 
  18. Believing & Knowing
     … In the meantime, she had learned something about the principle of kamma. She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure that she was actually seeing real hungry ghosts, but the lesson she learned about kamma stuck with her. I found out later that prior to that she had been interested in magic spells. The whole point about magic spells is gaining power over other … 
  19. Focus on Your Intention
     … And what are intentions? Your kamma. This is why the Buddha called himself a kammavadin: someone who teaches kamma, teaches action with a focus particularly on intentions in the mind. So be very careful about your intentions, how you engage with these various potentials that you find in your awareness. One of the reasons why our lives are so scattered is because our intentions … 
  20. The Heightened Mind
     … And then there’s karma that’s neither bright nor dark, leading to the end of kamma. Bright karma, of course, is the good things you’ve done. Dark karma is when you break the precepts. Bright and dark is when you have a combination of the two. The karma that’s neither bright nor dark is the karma that leads to nibbāna. The … 
  21. Self-Doubt
     … He got to thinking about kamma: Here he was. Poor. Without a family. Nothing to support him. He told himself, “I’ve probably got lots and lots of bad kamma in my past. I really have got to do something.” So he made up his mind that he wanted to ordain. When he reached the age of 20, that’s what he did, but … 
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