… But the Buddha
pointed out that neither way succeeds in finding true happiness.
He said the true path was a middle way between these two extremes,
starting with right view, all way through right concentration. Then he
explained right view in terms of four noble truths: suffering, its
cause, its cessation, and the path to its cessation. His teaching was
like a doctor’s …
… down around the navel, the tip of
the breastbone, the base of the throat, or right in the middle of the
head at the palate.
When the breath energy starts spreading in your body as the air starts
coming in, where does the energy in the body start? And does it feel
okay? Does it feel like it has to battle its way through …
… You’re strict in your observance of the precepts but, at the
same time, you observe them in such a way that you don’t grasp at
them. In other words, you don’t develop any pride around them. And you
practice them in a way that’s conducive to concentration. This
requires skill, because a lot of people, when they’re strict about …
… Work your way up
through the torso, the neck, the head. Then with the arms, start with
the fingers, up the arms to the shoulders. See if your mind is willing
to settle down with the sensation of the body as it relaxes here into
the present moment. If it is, fine.
If it’s not willing to settle down, you have to ask …
… You’ve got to see how it performs, because you can describe the world in all kinds of ways, but which description is going to be best at giving rise to dispassion? There’s that sutta where a group of monks are going abroad to a part of India that wasn’t in the Middle Country in India and before they go, the Buddha …
… Often they had to go out of their way and face a lot of
difficulties. For that they deserve your gratitude. If everything were
predetermined, there’d be no need to be generous, because things would
just happen on their own. You wouldn’t have to go out of your way to
be generous. As for the people who helped you, they had to …
… for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way, the disciple of the noble ones has heard much, has retained what he has heard, has stored what he has heard. Whatever teachings are admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end, that—in their meaning & expression—proclaim the holy life that is entirely …
… This is important, too, because the way we make
our livelihood tends to blind us to the harm that we’re causing. If,
in order to feed, we need to do this or do that that’s harming someone
else, we usually find ways to justify the harm. In that way, we create
a lot of bad karma along with a huge patch of …
… This is a path that’s good in the beginning, good in the
middle, and good in the end—good all the way through. As for yourself,
remember that you’re not stuck with any particular innate nature. If
you find yourself thinking any petty or unwise or selfish thoughts,
that’s not necessarily your nature. Those are just habits you’ve
picked up …
… Daily Life
For the Survival of Your Goodness
June 20, 2011
Try to notice what way of breathing seems most refreshing. Notice where in the body you’re most sensitive to how the breathing has an impact on your feelings. These sensations may be around the heart, in the throat, in the middle of the head. Where are you most sensitive to the impact …
… So spreading thoughts of unlimited goodwill help in this direction is a way of preparing you to settle down with the breath. Then actually being with the breath is a very good way of showing goodwill for yourself right now. There’s enough suffering in life. You don’t have to compound it by breathing in a way that’s harsh, uncomfortable, or unhealthy …
… You’d start with a powder and then mix it with water, kneading
the water through the powder in the same way you’d you knead water
through dough for bread. In the same way, as you meditate, you get a
sense of ease from staying focused on the breath and then you knead it
through the body.
So you have to figure out …
… This image would have special resonances with the Buddha's teaching on the middle way. It also adds meaning to the term samaṇa—monk or contemplative—which the texts frequently mention as being derived from sama. The word sāmañña—“evenness,” the quality of being in tune—also means the quality of being a contemplative: The true contemplative is always in tune with what is …
… It’s simply showing two
different ways you can get the mind to be mindful and* *concentrated.
So if you find yourself having trouble settling down, remember these
two ways of doing it: thinking in ways that will get you more
interested in the present moment, and thinking in ways that can get
you uninterested in anything that would pull you away from the …
… In the same way, there are certain intersections in
your breath energy channels that tend to seize up first. It can be in
the middle of the chest. It can be in the solar plexus, or someplace
deeper down in the abdomen. We all have our own specific spots.
So you want to be especially careful around those spots. Try to keep
them open …
… Ups and downs are
normal.”
When you find yourself in the middle of a down, you can remind
yourself, “Okay, this is to be expected. It’s not the end of the
world. Your meditation hasn’t crashed. It’s part of the normal cycle
of meditation.” When you have that calm attitude, it makes it a lot
easier to try to figure out …
… This requires extreme restraint of the senses
because there is that tendency when you leave sitting meditation to just
let the mind go back to its old ways, which means wasting the stillness
you gained from the meditation. So you try to gather your mind together,
keep yourself focused, say, in the middle of the chest or wherever your
favorite spot is in your …
… Having sown it there, he
would sow it in the middling field. Having sown it there, he
might not sow it in the poor field—sandy, salty, with bad soil—or
he might. Why is that? It would at least go toward cattle
fodder.”
“In the same way, headman, like the excellent field are the
monks & nuns to me. I teach them the Dhamma …
… Place yourself in the middle and take a good look at the body, until you see that, when taken apart in this way, it vanishes into nothing, into ashes—what they call ‘death’—and you will come to feel a sense of dismay and detachment. If, however, you don’t see any results appearing, go on to—
5. Consider the fact that the body …
… There has to be a middle way between the expression and the suppression. This is important. Often as you meditate you try to tell yourself, “Don’t react. Just be equanimous. Don’t get excited. Don’t get worked up about things.” And then you try to convince yourself that that’s what’s actually happening. You see ideals of what an enlightened person …
AN 7:63 Nagara Sutta | The Fortress
… for the protection of those within and to ward off those without; in the same way, the disciple of the noble ones has heard much, has retained what he has heard, has stored what he has heard. Whatever teachings are admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end, that—in their meaning & expression—proclaim the holy life that is entirely …
Portraits of the Buddha | Noble Warrior : A Life of the Buddha
… Having sown it there, he would sow it in the middling field. Having sown it there, he might not sow it in the poor field—sandy, salty, with bad soil—or he might. Why is that? It would at least go toward cattle fodder.” “In the same way, headman, like the excellent field are the monks & nuns to me. I teach them the Dhamma …
