… You do it because this is the only way
to escape the suffering that can come when aging and illness start
closing in.
When the results aren’t coming as fast as you’d like, you find ways of
encouraging yourself. This is where the conviction comes in again.
When the results do go well, you try to figure out ways of putting
them …
… See what different kinds of breathing there are, and which
ways of breathing have the best effect on the body, best effect on the
mind. This gives you something to explore, something to get interested
in, something to get intrigued about. Something as simple as the
breath can have such an impact on your health, your body, the mood of
the mind. And as …
… There’s the way you breathe,
there’s the way you talk to yourself, the images, the perceptions you
hold in mind. You have to realize that you can breathe in different
ways, you can talk to yourself in different ways, you can hold
different perceptions in mind.
I was listening to a “Dhamma talk” a while back where someone was
saying that if …
… Part of the middle way that he ultimately formulated was the set of principles expressed in MN 101:
You don’t load yourself down unnecessarily with pain.
You don’t reject pleasures that are in accord with the Dhamma.
You’re careful not to be infatuated with those pleasures.
But you’re willing to endure pain when you find that pursuing even seemingly innocent …
… My father accompanied me as far as the middle of a field. There, when we had said our goodbyes, we parted ways.
That day I walked, passing the town of Muang Saam Sib, all the way to Ubon. On my arrival, I was told that Ajaan Mun was staying at the village of Kut Laad, a little over ten kilometers outside the city. Again …
… So staying in touch with the breath is an excellent way of getting yourself in touch with what’s going on with the mind.
At the same time, being in touch with the breath is the best way of staying in touch with how the body’s faring. If, when you’re eating, you stay in touch with the breath, you get a better …
… I’d be embarrassed to die
in the middle of this thought or this concern or this worry,
whatever.” It helps you step outside.
Then you can develop the alternative potentials. You can breathe in a
soothing way. You can remind yourself of topics that calm you down.
And those potentials are always there. That’s what you’ve got to
remember. We tend …
… the middle of the head—or wherever you feel that the breath, as you breathe in, seems to come from that spot. After all, the breath is not so much the air coming in and out of the lungs. The air on its own wouldn’t be doing anything. No matter how strong the wind outside, the air can’t push its way into …
… And this is one way
of analyzing things. Try to figure out what way of breathing is
skillful right now, what way is not skillful. That’s the Buddha’s
basic recommendation for how to analyze qualities: to ask that
question of what’s skillful and what’s not.
A couple of years back, I was talking to a group of people from up …
… 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 …
… 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 …
… 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 …
… There’s goodwill, kindness—those are two separate things,
by the way, goodwill and kindness—and then patience and equanimity.
Goodwill, of course, means you want them to be happy. Kindness means
you go out of your way to do good things for them. In going out of
your way, you learn how to develop right effort. You don’t just see
somebody working …
… 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 …
… 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 …
… 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 …
… 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 …
… 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 …
The Heart a Flowing Stream | The Heart a Flowing Stream
… Part of the middle way that he ultimately formulated was the set of principles expressed in MN 101: You don’t load yourself down unnecessarily with pain. You don’t reject pleasures that are in accord with the Dhamma. You’re careful not to be infatuated with those pleasures. But you’re willing to endure pain when you find that pursuing even seemingly innocent …
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 …
