Tag: mind

A state of simplicity

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still-pond

It is completely natural that thoughts keep on arising. The point is not to try to stop them, but to liberate them. This is done by remaining in a state of simplicity, which lets thoughts arise and vanish again without stringing onto them any further thoughts. When you no longer perpetuate the movement of thoughts, they dissolve by themselves without leaving any trace. When you no longer spoil the state of stillness with mental fabrications, you can maintain the natural serenity of mind without any effort. Sometimes, let your thoughts flow and watch the unchanging nature behind them.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Your natural mind

Karl Duffy6 Comments

lake-2

If you don’t try to stop whatever is going on in your mind, but merely observe it, eventually you’ll begin to feel a tremendous sense of relaxation, a vast sense of openness within your mind – which is in fact your natural mind, the naturally unperturbed background against which various thoughts come and go.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

Thoughts arise and pass away

Karl Duffy1 Comment

A field of ocean waves force their way into shore at Cannon Beach against the strong winds along the Oregon Coast, USA.

During meditation we treat all thoughts as if they are of equal value. We try to be aware of them when they come up and then we intentionally return to the breath as the major focus of observation, regardless of the content of the thought!  In other words we intentionally practice letting go of each thought that attracts our attention,  whether it seems important or insightful or unimportant and trivial. We just observe them as thoughts, as discrete events which appear in the field of our awareness.

Jon Kabat Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living

Reacting or responding?

Karl Duffy1 Comment

No matter what the situation is,
we are responsible for our own mind states

Joseph Goldstein

Knowing the mental energies

Karl Duffy4 Comments

storm-sailingMany people fail to distinguish between their true nature and their personality traits, particularly their less desirable traits. The fact is you are not the worst characteristics of your personality. It is the nature of the untrained mind to want what it perceives as advantageous and to fear or hate what seems painful. Discovering how your heart and mind can work together to use these feelings allows you to move beyond them. You may feel overwhelmed by the circumstances of your present life or bound by past traumatic events. Again, this is a failure in perception. They are just mind-states which can be known. They can be seen as impermanent and not belonging to you and, therefore, they do not ultimately define your true nature.

Philip Moffitt

What we label today

Karl Duffy1 Comment

Label

The only reality we know is our concept of it.

Life is nothing till we call it something, and this is where mind training comes in.

Through it we learn to hold our concepts loosely, particularly those that allow unhelpful emotions to take over and cause us problems.

Karuna Cayton, The Misleading Mind