Search results for: "Concentration"

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  2. Ask Yourself the Buddha’s Question
     … This part of concentration is called directed thought and evaluation. The Pali terms are vitakka and vicāra, and they basically constitute your mind’s conversation with itself. You want to train them so that they engage in an interesting conversation—a useful conversation. Of course, a lot of every conversation lies in the questions you ask. They’re actually what directs the conversation. This … 
  3. For the Sake of the Deathless
     … This is one of the reasons why the Buddha compared concentration to food. The different levels of jhana, he said, are like different grades of food. The highest, of course, is the fourth, which he says is like honey, ghee, and butter, really rich food. We learn to feed ourselves on this, so that the part of the mind that likes to make you … 
  4. Relaxing into the Body
     … The concentration we’re trying to develop here is a lot easier to keep going if it’s based on relaxation rather than on straining and stressing. So you might start with your fingers, go up the arms: Relax things. Some people have trouble seeing the different energies flowing in the body as breath energies. There are some energies that are not really directly … 
  5. Consciousness, Name, & Form
     … everything from right view all the way through right concentration. When you look at things on these terms, it’s a lot easier to do the right duty. You can look at your perceptions and intentions, for instance, to see if they add to your suffering, as part of the first noble truth, or help put an end to it, as part of the … 
  6. The Gift of Speech
     … Right after right resolve, which is the type of thinking that leads you to right concentration, comes right speech. And of course, the first level of right concentration starts with directed thought and evaluation, the way you talk to yourself. The way you talk to yourself will have a big impact on how you talk to others, and vice versa. When we sit down … 
  7. Victory
     … That requires developing strength, which is why concentration is part of the path. We bring the mind to the present moment with the breath so that we can gain some strength from the breath and gain strength from getting the mind to settle down and be still. So gather your thoughts in right now. If you’re going to think about anything, think about … 
  8. Stop Squirming
     … When you encounter something—whether it’s stress or craving or something that’s part of the path, like mindfulness or concentration—you have to know what to do with it. You don’t just watch it come or go. Stress and suffering are to be comprehended. The cause is to be abandoned. The path is to be developed so you can actually realize … 
  9. Licking Yourself Clean
    Licking Yourself Clean May 25, 2005 The Buddha once said that one of the prerequisites for concentration is a sense of comfort, ease, and wellbeing — both physical and mental. One of the reasons we recite those chants on goodwill, compassion, appreciation, and equanimity is to create a sense of wellbeing in the mind. Thoughts of goodwill are good thoughts to think. They feel good … 
  10. Perceptions of Self & Not-Self
     … You’re responsible for doing the concentration. You can’t say, “Well, the concentration is not-self, so I’m not responsible. I’m just watching it happen.” You have to do it. It’s something you develop. That’s the duty there. So you accept that responsibility. The self, along the path, functions in three ways. There’s the self as the producer … 
  11. Meditating When You’re Sick
     … I’m developing goodwill for all beings.” That’s a good exercise, so that you’re not concentrating on your own pain or concentrating on the limitations that the illness is placing on you. Spread thoughts of goodwill to all beings. Let your awareness expand out so that it’s not confined just to the body. “May all beings be happy. May all beings … 
  12. To Be Worthy of the Dhamma
     … Then you concentrate it, steady it. That calms it down. Then you release it stage by stage. You release it from gross perceptions to more refined ones, from gross feelings to more refined ones. When the mind is released in this way, it reaches an even deeper level of calm. Again the pattern is to be sensitive to fabrication, and the to calm it … 
  13. Ready for Death
     … This is for the sake of your concentration right now, and you’re going to need concentration at that moment, too. As the Buddha said, our rebirth is determined by our cravings. If we can crave a life where we can practice the Dhamma, that’s a good craving to have. But if you allow vagrant thoughts to come wandering in and pull your … 
  14. True, Beneficial, Timely
     … It’s actually one of the factors of the first jhana, getting into right concentration. You have to talk to yourself about what? You talk to yourself about the breath, because if you’re going to settle down with the breath, the breath has to be comfortable. It has to feel right in the body right now. It has to be clear enough for … 
  15. Determination
     … This is why we hold on to the practice of concentration. That’s our alternative pleasure. And we adopt views that are helpful on the path. Here again, there are a lot of things we hold dearly in terms of our ideas of right and our ideas of wrong, but if they get in the way, what’s their value? There’s a certain … 
  16. The Language of the Breath
     … As Ajaan Lee notes, the evaluation factor in concentration practice grows out of alertness in mindfulness practice—in other words, your ability to be sensitive to what you’re doing and to the results of what you’re doing. The act of evaluation builds on that as you learn how to adjust, to see what’s working, see what’s not working, first as … 
  17. The Larger Picture
     … We read about levels of concentration, levels of mindfulness, and we look at our mind, and it’s there for one breath and two breaths, then it’s gone. We compare ourselves to what we’ve read, we compare ourselves to what we would like to be, and we don’t like the comparison. It makes us impatient. A lot of our problems are … 
  18. There Is This
     … We get stages of concentration and we can develop a sense of self around that. Sometimes the sense of self is very pronounced; other times, it’s lurking inside something else. So here again, you have to have a matter-of-fact attitude as you spy on these things. When you’ve had a good insight, Ajaan Lee recommends thinking: “To what extent is … 
  19. Not Pained by Pain
     … Now, his explanation here is focused on how to give rise to a sense of pleasure, and then refine that pleasure in the course of getting the mind concentrated. Give rise to a sense of energy, and then refine the energy to have a calming effect on the mind—to get the mind into good strong concentration. But you can also use the same … 
  20. Right Here, Right Now
     … Stay right here and develop mindfulness right here, develop alertness right here, concentration, discernment: all right here: right here in the heart; right here in the present moment. Because everything we’re going to have to learn is right here. All the things we have to come to understand are right here. The Buddha talked about sankharas, fabrications, as being the main focus of … 
  21. The Buddha’s Questions
     … When you learn how to read your mind in this way, developing both that sense of heedfulness and greater skill in how you manage your practice of virtue, concentration, and discernment, then you finally get to those questions that he asked the five brethren: “Is form constant?” They say, “It’s inconstant.” “If it’s inconstant, is it pleasant or stressful?” “Well, if you … 
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