Search results for: committee
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- On an Even Keel… You’re a wise committee chairman. The wise committee chairman is very patient: firm, but patient. When you can make your mind like earth like this, when you can keep it on an even keel like this, then the meditation becomes more and more of a skill. Something you can begin to rely on. In the beginning, it will have its ups and downs …
- Training the Whole Mind… In training the mind, you have to remember there’s a whole committee in there. In the past the committee has had its balance of power, its likes and dislikes, and the politics among the various voices in your mind. Each of them has different tricks for pushing its agenda on the rest. So just as these defilements have lots of tricks up their …Show 2 additional results in this book
- Encouraging Perceptions… But you have to think about the fact that you do have some skills, there are some things that you do well, and so think of those as the strong members of your committee. Then learn to take the lessons they’ve learned in managing things skillfully and apply them to your meditation. This is a skill that requires time, requires patience, so that …Show 4 additional results in this book
- Self-starting… But if something totally unexpected comes up, this is the point where it’s useful to think about the mind as a committee. Not everybody in the committee is siding with that unskillful state. Make sure at least that you have a couple members that are stepping back and not giving their approval. Even though there’s no way that you can immediately stop …
- Single-minded Determination… As you get to know your intentions, you begin to realize that the mind is like a committee. Sometimes it’s not just a committee — it’s a whole crowd. Even concentration is not the kind of single-mindedness we’re talking about, but it’s a basic prerequisite. It’s part of the training that takes you there. We take one intention and …Show 2 additional results in this book
- Wisdom Through Training… It’s as if there’s a committee in here, and you’re learning to get the committee to work together. If one member of the committee notices that another member of the committee is causing suffering, you can all agree that you want to put an end to suffering, and you can talk to one another. That’s how the mind observes itself …
- Don’t Get Discouraged… So you’ve got to turn around and check that, look at that, and realize that you don’t have to believe that member of the committee. This is where the committee image comes in useful again. Just because a voice is going through your head doesn’t mean you have to claim it as your voice, or that you have to believe it …
- Fear of the Truth… There may be a particularly insistent member of the committee, but it’s just that: nothing more than a member of the committee. It’s not the whole committee. And it’s not necessarily more real than anything else. This is one of the big things that brings down our practice: the belief that our good qualities are somehow less real than our bad …
- Fabrication at the Breath… The mind is like a committee. Some members of the committee like to meditate, and other members of the committee like to do other things. Every member of the committee has his or her own favorite pleasure. So you have to ferret that out as well, because sometimes there are a lot of states of mind that you don’t like. You identify yourself …
- Put Your Heart into It… Whatever disturbances there are in the mind, disregard them as just another committee member or block of committee members. They don’t have to have control over everything. You hold on. You’re resolute. You’re ardent. And you do this because you’re heedful. You realize that if you don’t train the mind, it’s going to get scattered all over the …
- Teaching Old Dogs New Selves… But you realize that, okay, this is a committee job. Different members of the committee have different skills, different abilities. Try to sort through them. See which ones are actually useful in the path. Back when I was in school, I was studying Augustine for a while. One of the lessons I learned about him was that—once he was converted to Christianity—he …
- The Inner Saboteur… So, it’s good to acknowledge that there are those voices in the committee and to learn how to look at them from a little distance, because we often identify with them very strongly. This is where the teaching on not self comes in handy. You have to ask yourself, “What kind of happiness do I want?” Do you want a happiness that’s …
Facing Aging, Illness, & Death : The Central Teaching of the Buddha
Mindfulness of Breathing: Mental Qualities (1)
… The first has to do with the image of the committee of the mind. If you see the mind as having lots of voices, with lots of different opinions, you might think of “mind” as a frame of reference concerned with the mind as a whole—the times when the committee has come to an agreement—whereas “mental qualities” refer to the individual members …Show 4 additional results in this book- Admirable Friendship… If you think of the mind as a committee, you’re strengthening your good committee members. You’ve got good friends inside. When your outside admirable friends have been internalized, then even though they may be far away, you feel like you’re close. When we first were setting up Wat Metta, a lot of Americans came and said, “Well, now that you’re …
- Relating to Results… The ins and outs of the committee that you’re dealing with here: if you pay careful attention, they can teach you a lot of fascinating lessons. So it’s not that we’re facing a dry stretch before we finally get to the oasis. As Ajaan Lee says, there are plants growing along the edge of the path, and if you pay careful …
- The Buddha Defines Wisdom… Every member of the committee of the mind wants happiness, simply that we have different ideas about what it means, what it would be, how to go about it. But if you can show the impatient members of the committee that there’s a well-being that can come right here in the present moment by being on the path, they’re more likely …
- Perceiving the Breath… You’ve told yourself you’re going to sit here and meditate, but who is there inside you? Who told whom inside? You find that there’s actually a whole committee here in the mind. Some of the committee members want to meditate right now, and other committee members have other ideas. They want to think about yesterday, think about tomorrow, think about whatever …
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The Five Faculties
Introduction
… You can think of the mind as being like a committee. A strength is a strong member of the committee, whereas a faculty is someone who has taken over the committee and runs it. When you think of the mind as a committee, it’s important to realize that each member of the committee consists of what the Buddha calls a bhava, or becoming …Show 3 additional results in this book
- Metta… In terms of the image of the committee of the mind, there are lots of committee members who have their ideas about what’s good about ill will, and you’ve got to learn how to reason with them so that you can get the whole committee onboard with the practice of universal goodwill. Only then can really trust yourself as you go through …
- Directed Thoughts, Random Thoughts… You want to get down to the nitty-gritty because there are committee members of the mind that are like dogs: They find something dead and they like to roll in it. Other committee members are more fastidious in their tastes, but you’ve got to admit to yourself you’ve got dogs in here as well. And you get to know them because …
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