More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
April 21 - May 7, 2024
Every one of us has the capacity to be mindful, focused, understanding, and compassionate. That quality is inherent in everyone. You can call it Buddha nature. So when you say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” you don’t mean that you take refuge in a kind of god that exists outside of you. It means that you have confidence in your capacity to understand and to love.
Suppose we are feeling worry or anxiety. We practice, “Breathing in, I know that anxiety is in me. Breathing out, I smile to my anxiety.”
When we are caught in a strong emotion like fear or anger, our practice is to bring our attention down to the abdomen. To stay on the level of the intellect is not safe. Strong emotions are like a storm, and to stand in the middle of a storm is very dangerous. Yet that’s what most of us do when we get upset; we stay out in the storm of our feelings, and they overwhelm us. Instead, we have to ground ourselves by bringing our attention downward. We focus on our abdomen and practice mindful breathing, just giving all of our attention to the rise and fall of the belly.
Practice more walking meditation, more mindful breathing, and more sitting meditation to restore your capacity for compassionate listening.
“Breathing in, I know this is an in-breath. Breathing out, I know this is an out-breath.”
“Breathing in, I follow my in-breath all the way from the beginning to the end. Breathing out, I follow my out-breath all the way from the beginning to the end.”
“Breathing in, I’m aware of my whole body. Breathing out, I’m aware of my whole body.”
Breathing in, I am aware of some tension and pain in my body; breathing out, I calm and release the tension and pain in my body.”
Since you’re a practitioner of mindfulness, you know how to recognize a feeling of happiness, and you can also produce a feeling of happiness. With mindfulness and concentration, it’s always possible to bring forth a feeling of happiness.
“Breathing in, I’m aware of my heart. Breathing out, I smile to my heart with a lot of gratitude.”
We don’t need to grab onto, fight, or repress the unpleasant feeling. We simply recognize its presence. We stay free, even when we have a painful feeling. A feeling is just a feeling. And you are much more than that feeling. We shouldn’t let ourselves be carried away by a feeling, even a pleasant one, much less an unpleasant one. We just practice recognition of the feeling.
“Breathing in, I feel joy. Breathing out, I know joy is there.”
“Breathing in, I feel happy. Breathing out, I know happiness is there.”
Joy and happiness are slightly different. In the joy there’s still a little bit of excitement. Happiness is a more peaceful feeling, like contentment.
We have to be there for our feelings. There’s a whole river of feelings flowing in us day and night. Every feeling is a drop in that river. A feeling is born, manifests, stays for a time, and then passes away. We can sit on the bank of the river of feelings and observe, recognizing each feeling as it manifests, seeing it remain, and seeing it pass away. We shouldn’t identify ourselves with the feeling, nor should we try to push it away. We’re free, even from our own feelings. We have to train ourselves to recognize feelings. And with mindfulness we can bring forth a feeling of well-being, a
...more
“Breathing in, I know that a painful feeling is there. Breathing out, I calm that painful feeling.”
With the energy of mindfulness and concentration, we just recognize and embrace the painful feeling. “Hello, my fear. Hello, my anger. Hello, my sadness. I know you are there. I’m going to take good care of you.”
It’s like when a room is cold, you turn on your radiator, and it emits waves of heat. Those heat waves don’t chase out the cold; they embrace and permeate the cold air, and after some time, the air becomes warmer. There’s no violence in this; there’s no fighting. That’s what a practitioner does. Mindfulness and concentration embrace the pain.
“Breathing in, I calm my mental formations. Breathing out, I calm my mental formations.”
“Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I am aware of my mind.”
“Breathing in, I make my mind happy. Breathing out, I make my mind happy.”
“Breathing in, I concentrate my mind. Breathing out, I concentrate my mind.”
“Breathing in, I liberate my mind. Breathing out, I liberate my mind.”
Breathing in, I observe the impermanent nature of all Dharmas. Breathing out, I observe the impermanent nature of all Dharmas.”
“Breathing in, I observe the disappearance of desire. Breathing out, I observe the disappearance of desire.”
“Breathing in, I observe cessation. Breathing out, I observe cessation.”
“Breathing in, I observe letting go. Breathing out, I observe letting go.”
Deep relaxation of the body should be done at least once a day. It may last for twenty minutes or longer. You can do it in bed at night or in the morning.
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume. I will be aware of what I eat, what I consume through my senses, and what intentions and mental states I cultivate in my consciousness. I am determined not to gamble or to indulge in alcohol, drugs, or any other products that contain toxins, including harmful websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and
...more
The French poet René Char said, “If you can dwell in one moment, you will discover eternity.”
Make each moment an occasion to live deeply, happily, in peace. Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world, to make peace possible for the world, to make happiness possible for the world. The world needs our happiness.
