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When the breath gets comfortable, its one of the HABITS of the mind....that, when theres a sense of well being the mind just drifts off "ok, lets go to sleep!" you gotta fight that tendency as well. This is one of the reasons we try and develop the WHOLE BODY AWARENESS and KEEP IT, WHOLE BODY - because that tends to counter-act the tendency to drift off. If your all around aware of the body, in the hands, in the feet, the arms, the legs, the back, the shoulders, the different parts of the face and the head, the chest, the stomach - ALL AT ONCE. Filling up the present moment with your awareness, its very hard to shrink back down and drift off - because there is that quality of shrinking that goes along with the sleepiness of the mind, so your thinking "EXPANSIVE", "EXPANSIVE", "EXPANSIVE" - throughout the WHOLE BODY. And you also find that there are ways of breathing that puts you to sleep and other ways of breathing that will wake you up. So if you find yourself getting drowsy or dozing, try to breath in a way that's more enlivening. Stay with the breath. Stay focused on the breath. Then theres the whole issue of TRYING, this is something you want to stick with but you DO have to put in effort in and it has to be skilfull effort. Part of skilfull effort is, that sense of encouragement - what the Buddha calls 'Generating Desire' whatever way you can to keep this from seeming like a CHORE, this should be something where you value the opportunity, look forward to understanding your own breath energy. This part of your awareness it could be so crucial, it gets so overlooked, so pushed-off into the corner. Heres your chance. Then you have to be watchful, its part of the 'TRYING' any little thing that going to come in to pull off you off - YOU HAVE TO BE ALERT TO IT! - the more quickly you can catch it, the easier it is to stay with the breath. So, you have to learn to read the warning signals "minds about to drift off" so I will learn how to know that. How its sending messages to you, that its getting ready to go. This is an important lesson in opening up some of the issues of the mind because the mind does have this tendency to hide some of its less skilfull intentions from itself, and this is one of them RIGHT HERE. Part of it wants to go and it knows the program tonight is staying with the breath, so it gradually elbows its way in surupticiously and all of a sudden "WHOOPS, THERE IT GOES" - YOUR GONE. Well, learn how to notice the elbowing, notice that tendency the mind has to pretend its not happening, once you can see through that - you will be a lot more squarely with the breath, more solidly with the breath. Then you have to judge the ammount of effort your putting in. Imagine the image - standing behind a child, holding your hands around the child as the child is beginning to walk and you can actually touch the childs body. The child will never get a chance to walk on its own, so you have to keep your hands an inch or two away from the childs body, to give it some freedom - but at the same time, you have to be RIGHT THERE and ready to notice when its starting to trip, starting to fall, your ready to CATCH IT. That's the kind of quality you want to have around the mind, around the breath - keeping watch over things. So those are some of the things to keep in mind as you try to stay focused on the breath. These are the basic elements of concentration and its good to stay close to the basic elements, even if you have been meditating for a long time. The really good meditators keep coming back to the basics, because you find there is an awful lot to see here and alot of the minds issues are right there in the basics. Then you start getting off into other areas...if you lose touch with the basics, you may start floating off and theres nothing to keep you grounded. So if your starting out, try to be clear about the basics. An experienced meditator that keeps coming back to the basics. Everything you need to know, everything you need to discover is all RIGHT HERE. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Thanissaro Bhikkhu 2011 - transcribed by James Ball Related Posts: Breathing Meditation Part 3 Breathing Meditation Part 2 Breathing Meditation Part 1 Read More | Write Comment xxHow To Leave Meditation (Part 1) June 08, 2011, 11:31:31 PM by ~riverflow | Views: 74 | Comments: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW TO LEAVE MEDITATION (PART 1 OF 2) A Dhamma talk by Thanissaro Bhikkhu Listen to the MP3 audio HERE We hear so much about how to get the mind into concentration that we tend to forget that there*s also a skill in how to leave it. Because these talks come at the beginning of the period, the skill in how to leave it doesn*t often get mentioned. But how you leave concentration is relevant to how you get back into it. In fact, this talk is going to be basically about what you should have done the last time you left concentration as a way of getting you into concentration this time. The first thing to do when you leave concentration is to stop and think about what sense of peace or ease you got from the concentration. And then you want to do two things with that: One, is you dedicate it to others. You*re going to be leaving concentration, you*re going to be dealing with other people. And when you deal with them, you want to come from a sense of well-being, a sense of ease, a sense that you have a source of happiness inside. So when you approach them, you*re not primarily concerned with what you can get out of them, emotionally or otherwise. And you feel more in a position that you have something to offer them, and that your goodwill for them comes from sense of well-being inside*so it*s stronger. Ajahn Lee*s image is of a tank full of water. You open up the spigot and cool water comes out because there*s water in the tank. If there*s no water in the tank, he says, just air comes out of the faucet. And although the air coming out may be cool, it*s not nearly as cool and refreshing as the water. So you want to remember that in your dealings with other people, you want to treat them with goodwill. Because if any ill will sneaks in, that*s going to get harder to settle down the next time you come to concentrate. So spread thoughts of goodwill. Reminding yourself that you*re coming from a good place and you see no need that you would want for anybody to suffer*what would you get out of their suffering? *especially if you*re coming from a position of well-being. Most of the time, if we want to see people suffer, it*s because we*re suffering: I feel as long as I*m suffering, let*s see everybody else suffer as well. That kind of attitude just leads to more and more suffering. So focus on whatever sense of ease and well-being you already have experienced. Think of yourself as being willing to share that with others. This doesn*t deplete your well-being*in fact, it augments it. If you can maintain that attitude of well-being, then when you come to sit and meditate again, there*s not a lot of garbage you have to clear out. You simply think thoughts of goodwill and everybody*connect up with that initial intention and you*re back where you were. The second thing to do is you reflect on the sense of well-being you may have gained during the meditation. Ask yourself: How did that come about? What was the breath like? Where was the mind focused? What had you done leading up to that point where the mind began to settle down? In other words, look for what worked, and then make a mental note to try that again the next time. So as your sitting here meditating, you have a sense of where you want to go, and you can go there a lot more quickly if you can remember, *Well, this is what it was like the last time it was good.* So you*re focused on the chest, or focused on the middle of the head*there*s some spot in the body where you should feel most natural in your focus*some ways of breathing that are conducive to the mind settling down. If you notice that, make a note of it. And as you sit down to meditate the next time, remember this worked last time when we go there right now. And see if you can induce that sense of well-being in the breath. And here the breath means not Facebook Connect only the in and out breathing but your whole sense of the body sitting here, the energy flow in the body sitting here: that*s breath as well. In fact, Recent Posts that*s much more important than the in and out breathing because it*s this sense of the breath-energy suffusing the body that really provides a home. It Breathing Meditation pt.3 by allows you to settle down in a body as a whole, because you need this larger buddhis8 frame in order to keep the mind from wandering off. If the mind has a very [June 14, 2011, 09:17:53 PM] small frame of reference, it can wander off easily, get knocked off its center easily. See if you can notice how the body feels when things are settled in, ------------------------- when it feels good, when it feels refreshed, nourished, at ease, energized, relaxed*whatever feels good for you. See if you can remember that and try it Re: Is there a Buddhist the next time around. monk/priest I can talk to on here? by greenspider This is especially important if you have the tendency to regard a whole hour [June 14, 2011, 08:22:38 PM] to settle down. This is a common problem in the meditation: If you have five minutes, you tend to be a lot more serious about it, a lot more focused, ------------------------- realizing you have only a little bit of time, so you*ve got to make the most out of it. And then if you have a hour, you think of it as a long, easy slide Re: Looking for Vegans by down*it doesn*t have to be too fast, just a nice, gradual time*have a nice greenspider settling-in five minutes before the hour ends. That*s the wrong attitude to [June 14, 2011, 08:07:34 PM] have. ------------------------- You have to remind yourself that beginning every session you don*t know how long you really are going to be able to sit for the session. You may get a Re: Is there a Buddhist coughing fit and have to leave. Somebody else may get a coughing fit. You monk/priest I can talk to on might die*it can happen at any time. There are people who have died while here? by ki4jgt they meditated*not because of the meditation*it just so happened. So you [June 14, 2011, 06:21:53 PM] won*t have the attitude that can you remember where your spot was, you remember what good breathing felt like*you*ll go right there. And if it turns ------------------------- out the mind doesn*t settle down, at least you*ve got something to work with. It makes it easier to settle down quickly. Re: Wallpapers by Jin Zhi [June 14, 2011, 11:42:52 AM] [end of part 1] Read More | Write Comment Top Poster xxThe Power of Intention buddhis8 buddhis8 77 Posts May 26, 2011, 12:05:47 AM by ~riverflow | Views: 85 | Comments: 0 The Pagan The Pagan Buddhist Buddhist -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 56 Posts linrx linrx THE POWER OF INTENTION 47 Posts A Dhamma talk by Thanissaro Bhikkhu ~riverflow ~riverflow Listen to the Audio MP3 HERE 43 Posts enjoysuffering enjoysuffering After an active day like today, you may find that you have to do some active 26 Posts sweeping out of the mind before its ready to settle down. So just remind yourself that what you did this morning, what you did this afternoon*sweep it Forum Staff out, sweep it out, sweep it out*it*s not a concern right now. What you*re planning to do tomorrow*just sweep it out. You*ve got the present buddhis8 admin buddhis8 moment*try to make the most of it. You have no other responsibilities, no Administrator other things you have to do or think about. This is one of the big ironies gmod The Pagan of human life is that we all want free time, but when we get free time, we The Pagan Buddhist don*t know what to do with it. We*re at loose ends*we fill it up all kinds Buddhist Global of Styrofoam peanuts and wood shavings. So sweep *em out. And if you find Moderator the mind wandering back to those things in the course of the hour, just cut gmod Koji it off, cut it off. There*s one of the Ajahns in Thailand [who] tells you Koji Global to think of your mind having a knife*any thought that comes up, just cut Moderator right through it. gmod hioncopal hioncopal Global And come back to the breath. Take a couple of good, long, deep in and out Moderator breaths and notice where you feel that sensation of breathing in the body. gmod You may feel the air coming in through the nose, but you can also feel the ~riverflow ~riverflow rise and fall of the chest, the rise and fall of the shoulders, energy flow Global in different parts of the body. Focus on whichever sensation seems most Moderator comfortable. And allow it to have some freedom. In other words, you don*t gmod want to clamp down on it. Give it some space so that you can feel free and all-in-balance all-in-balance open. Then notice what kind of rhythm that the breath develops as you allow Global it to be comfortable because you give it that space. And wherever you sense Moderator that sense of ease, think of the ease spreading out from that spot. You have lmod Jin Zhi to prevent that sense of clamping down on the breath. We do have this habit, Local and we tell ourselves we*re going to focus on something*we tighten it up, we Moderator squeeze it to keep it pinned down. Well, you can*t pin down the breath. And lmod Mat the more you try to pin it down, the more you*re going to mess up the energy Mat Local in the body. So allow the breath to have its freedom. You want to make your Moderator gaze as continuous as possible*all the way through the in-breath, all the way through the out. Just make that your game for the evening: how continuous can you keep your gaze on the breath? If you find it slipping off, well, just come right back*don*t get upset, don*t get discouraged. Just keep coming back, coming back, coming back. Once we give the mind something good to do with its free time, you*re developing good qualities: your persistence, your mindfulness. When you really are ardent at this, the mind will settle down. When the mind settles down, it*s got a home, got a good, safe place to stay. So look carefully at what you*re doing. Try to monitor the mind. It*s almost like one mind is watching the breath, and another mind is watching the mind itself. This is a quality of alertness. And although your prime focus should be on the breath, still you have to keep tabs on the mind as well, take in a sense of when it*s beginning to wander off and stray into thoughts of what happened today or what*s going to happen tomorrow*just say no, right here, right here, right here. All the important things you need to know about are right here. So look carefully right here*but simply allow right here to have a sense of freedom. This is the balancing act we do as we meditate*on the one hand you want to keep the mind right here; on the other hand, you want it to not have a sense of being imprisoned here. One of the best ways of doing that is to get it really interested in what is going on here. Think about the activities you may have done in your life where you really got absorbed*and it wasn*t because you were forcing yourself to be that activity*like drawing, engaged in any of the arts or any craft. That has you absorbed, that has you interested in it. It*s because you*re interested in it that you can get absorbed. Now as mastery develops, there*s also a sense of fluidity, that you think of doing something and you find it very easy to do it. That keeps you even more absorbed*there*s no sense of awkwardness. That takes time. In the beginning, working with the meditation you may find a certain awkwardness, the fact that the mind doesn*t seem to be settling down quite the way you*d like it to*there*s something in the way. But if you take an interest the process, that quality of interest gets over a lot of that awkwardness, as you begin to see what connects, what keeps the mind here, what pulls it away, what can bring it back. Then, as for anything else that might be nibbling away at the edges of your awareness, just let it go, let it go, let it go. You*ve got something right here that you can really focus on, really learn from. Everything you experience has an element of intention. There*s an intention here that focuses you on one thing rather than another. And there*s an intention in the way you pay attention to certain feelings and not other feelings; certain perceptions and not other perceptions; certain thoughts, certain sensations in the body. And that element of intention is the really important thing that we*re after here*seeing how we shape our experience out of the potentials that are here. There are potentials for pain in the body, there are potentials for pleasure; there are potentials for irritation, there are potentials for ease. What you want to learn how to do is focus on the helpful potentials. Then as you do that, you learn an awful lot about this process of intention. Then it gives you the sense of the power you have when you*re choosing to focus on something, and from that skillful focus you can fabricate things skillfully, and create a sense of ease even in the midst of a lot of pain. This is an important skill to develop. You might scan through the body and see where there*s some tension that you*re holding onto, and then very consciously breathe in and relaxing that tension all the way through the in-breath, all the way through the out. And then through the next, and the next, and the next. Get good at that. Then you realize you have a skill that you can apply to other patterns of tension in the body, the way the we tend to tense up around pain. And it gives you a more solid foundation where you can feel a bit more interest in trying to understand the processes of pain itself, to see what extent you*re actually making the pain worse by the way you think about it, the way you perceive it, when you can see how your intentions in the present moment have a big impact on your experience. That gives you a lot to explore. Then you begin to see the relevance of this meditation, because it keeps reminding you, you do have the ability to choose what you*re going to focus on, and when you focus on it, and what you*re going to do with it. You could sit here and spend the whole hour making yourself miserable or you can focus on sensations of ease, sensations of fullness that go with the breath. A lot of it is just allowing them to spread through the body and creating a very strong sense of well-being right here. Then you realize you*ve got an important skill that you can take into other aspects of your life*other times when there*s pain, other times when there*s weakness, when there*s illness. You*re not totally a victim of things, you have a handle on how you can look at things, understand them, work with them. So you can create this sense of well-being even in the midst of a lot of pain and a lot of disappointment, a lot of difficulty. Because, as the Buddha points out, the extent to which the mind is suffering has very little to do with things outside and very much to with how the mind is processing things outside. It is possible to live in difficult situations and not suffer. And so this is the basis of that skill: learning how to stay in the present moment and look at what the mind is doing in the present moment, how it handles the potentials that are right here, so you can make the most of them, create a sense of ease, well-being, a sense of feeling at home here*and you can inhabit right here and not get pushed out by pains and not get pushed out by unpleasant emotions. You*re here first. Keep reminding yourself that*that*s an important perception to hold in mind. It*s the same as with the body: pains come and go, but the body was here first, the breath was there first. All too often when the pain comes up, we tend to tense up around it and create a blockage in the way the blood flows and then that holds as a perception though its nothing*you get through that blockage. The breath can*t get through it and the breath gets confined to a narrow space. But remind yourself: the breath was there first, the flow of the blood was there first*the pain came later. Then you find it easier for your awareness to spread there, the flow of energy to spread there. It*s your space, it*s not the pain*s space. The pain came later. Don*t let it hem you in. And learn how to use this perception with other things that seem to be holding you in, confining you. The perception of confinement*that*s what*s actually holding you in. When you can drop that perception, you find that you have a lot more freedom. You have a foundation from which you can deal with these things, so that they*re not overwhelming you*you*re larger than they are, your awareness is deeper, larger, totally unlimited. When you learn how to perceive the problems of the world as small, and your awareness is a lot larger, that puts you in a much better position. And so working with the breath is a way of putting you in that position, so take some interest in what*s going on*how you perceive the situation in the present moment and how those perceptions may be contributing to the suffering that*s really not necessary. So a lot of important things are going on right here, right now. What you*re doing right now is the main factor in determining whether you*re going to suffer from the situation or not. There*s that line in Paradise Lost, where Satan says, *The mind can make a heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven.* Of course, he*s in hell at the time and he*s trying to think he can make a heaven out of it*it sounds very noble. But you also have to remember he made a hell out of heaven*that*s why he couldn*t stay there. All too often our mind is like that*things are not all that bad, but we make them a lot worse than they have to be. Learn how to turn that power around*maybe when things are bad you can make them no so bad. At the very least, you can learn how not to suffer from them*and that*s an important skill*probably the most important skill you can ever develop. So take some interest in what*s happening right here, right now. As for what happened today, what*s going to happen tomorrow*just let it drop away, drop away, drop away. At the moment, the past is just a series of perceptions, just some memories. Tomorrow is just a series of perceptions, anticipations. They don*t have the actual reality that your breath has right now. The breath is right here. So take some interest in how the mind relates to the breath, and then learn how to see what you can learn about the mind as you try to keep it anchored here, because the more you understand your own mind, the more you*re able to understand the powers it has, and learn how to use those powers wisely. 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