… We look at the Buddha, the way he behaved, the way he talked. He
doesn’t fit into some of our preconceived notions about what a teacher
should be. There are some portraits of the Buddha where he’s just all
sweetness and light, very gentle, very kind, who would never say
anything harsh to anybody. But if you look at the record in …
… If you didn’t stop, you’d think this was the normal way the mind has
to be. Look around you: This is the way everybody else’s minds are, so
you begin to think, “Well this is the way it has to be.” But it
doesn’t have to be.
As you get the mind more and more still, you begin to realize …
… Knowing which ways of breathing are uncomfortable, knowing how to vary the breath; knowing, “That way of breathing is uncomfortable; we’ll have to breathe like this in order to feel at ease”: This is Right Resolve.
The mental factors that think about and properly evaluate all aspects of the breath are Right Speech.
Knowing various ways of improving the breath; breathing, for example …
… What would be the most effective way of stopping that kind of behavior? The most effective way is rarely the route of anger. There are more subtle ways, more indirect ways, that are much more effective, much more lasting. But they’re not going to occur to you if you’re boiling over with indignation.
You may come to realize that you actually use …
… in the middle of a web.
Usually the spider is off to one side of the web, but it’s sensitive
to what’s going on in the entire web. Wherever a fly or other insect
comes and gets caught in the web, the spider immediately goes there,
deals with it, then returns to its original spot.
In the same way, you have your …
… This is why our practice sways back and forth, like a tree in the middle of an open field, swaying back and forth in the wind. If we don’t discover the enduring principle within us, we won’t be able to find anything to act as a true refuge—for our training and education are simply supporting factors.
This is why we should …
… bodily
fabrication—the way you breathe; verbal fabrication—technically, it’s
directed thought and evaluation, but in plain terms, it’s the way you
talk to yourself; and then mental fabrication—perception and feelings.
As you look at the Buddha’s teachings, you can see that a lot of them
have to do with instructions on how to fabricate all these things more
skillfully …
… Right livelihood means that we make our living in ways that are not
harmful to anyone, that don’t exploit anyone unfairly; in ways that
are honest. We choose honest ways of making a living because the way
we make a living permeates through our whole life. So that’s another
topic we can reflect on. Are there any areas in our livelihood that …
… In the same way, when a disciple of the noble ones is consummate in virtue in this way, guards the doors to his sense faculties in this way, knows moderation in eating in this way, is devoted to wakefulness in this way, is endowed with seven qualities in this way, and obtains at will—without trouble or difficulty—the four jhānas that constitute heightened …
… This way you can observe your state of concentration.
The Buddha recommends lots of ways you can observe it. Look for whatever you can recognize as form, feeling, perception, thought construct, or consciousness within the concentration, and then contemplate its behavior. One simple way is contemplating the activity of perception. To what extent does the perception you’re using as a marker for your …
… The king must stamp him out!”
Then King Pasenadi Kosala, with a cavalry of roughly 500 horsemen, drove out of Sāvatthī in the middle of the day and entered the monastery. Driving as far as the ground was passable for chariots, he got down from his chariot and went on foot to the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down to the Blessed One …
… You have to act in ways that will create treasures that you would like to keep with you. You have to treat your actions as your most important possessions.
There’s a passage in the Canon where King Pasenadi comes to see the Buddha in the middle of the day and the Buddha asks him, “Where have you come from in the middle of …
… end; sometimes it landed splat
in the middle. It all seemed pretty random. It wasn’t until he had
enlarged his view and was able to see the process happening to all
beings that he could see a pattern.
So to understand your mind, you have to be willing to sit with it in
the same way that you have a child and you …
… On the role of moderation and discernment in the practice: “The Middles of the Middle Way” in Beyond All Directions
On the meaning of mindfulness: “Mindfulness Defined” in Head & Heart Together; “The Agendas of Mindfulness” in The Karma of Questions
On the element of play in the practice: “The Joy of Effort” in Head & Heart Together; “Joy in Effort” in Meditations5
It’s often …
… Now at that time—it being the uposatha day—Visākhā, Migāra’s mother, went to the Blessed One in the middle of the day and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As she was sitting there the Blessed One said to her, “Well now, Visākhā, why are you coming in the middle of the day?”
“Today I’m observing …
… But if you take your stance in a comfortable way—a way that you can maintain because you’ve relaxed around it, and it doesn’t rely on tensing anything up—then you watch as things come into your range of awareness, and you see how they come, you see how they go, you see what interactions there are that cause suffering, and you …
… So breathe in a refreshing way,
breathe in a comfortable way, in a nourishing way. After a while, the
mind will settle in, and both body and mind will begin to feel
refreshed. When you’re refreshed and nourished like this, it’s a lot
easier for the mind to look at things in an unbiased way.
The concentration is necessary, but sometimes it …
… In the same way, once you accept the fact that the processes leading to suffering are complex, you appreciate the usefulness of the maps provided by dependent co-arising: They point out precisely where in the processes you can make a difference, so that causal patterns can be directed away from suffering and toward its end.
We can see this clearly in the way …
… He said that it’s like
seeing someone out in the middle of the desert by the side of the
road, sick, unable to care for himself. Regardless of who he is,
you’ve got to feel compassion for him. In other words, the person
who’s horrible in every way is creating a lot of bad karma for him or
herself. You’ve …
… The only way to see them is to stick with your original intention and keep yourself warned: “Okay, the mind is going to leave, so keep watch for how it does it.”
At the same time, work on ways to make the original intention a good one to stay with. Otherwise the mind is going to resist. Staying with the breath, if it’s …
Wings to Awakening | The Skill of Release
… Knowing which ways of breathing are uncomfortable, knowing how to vary the breath; knowing, “That way of breathing is uncomfortable; we’ll have to breathe like this in order to feel at ease”: This is Right Resolve. The mental factors that think about and properly evaluate all aspects of the breath are Right Speech. Knowing various ways of improving the breath; breathing, for example …
MN 53 Sekha-paṭipadā Sutta | The Practice for One in Training
… In the same way, when a disciple of the noble ones is consummate in virtue in this way, guards the doors to his sense faculties in this way, knows moderation in eating in this way, is devoted to wakefulness in this way, is endowed with seven qualities in this way, and obtains at will—without trouble or difficulty—the four jhānas that constitute heightened …
