Mingyur RinpocheApplying attention practice, we use our emotions as a focus for developing awareness, an opportunity to look at the ‘looker’. Just as we need sound to look at sound, form to look at form, we need emotions to look at emotions. In fact, intense emotions can be our best friends in terms of stabilizing the mind, giving the restless bird a branch on which to rest.
Tag Archives: awareness
Just as clouds ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dilgo Khyentse RinpocheAnger might seem extremely strong, but where does it get the power to overwhelm you so easily? Is it some external force, something with arms and legs, weapons and armor? If not, then is it somewhere inside you? If so, where is it? Can you find it in your brain, in your heart, in your bones, or in any other part of You? Impossible though it is to locate, anger does seem to be present in a very concrete way, a strong clinging that freezes your mind into a state of solidity and brings a great deal of suffering both to yourself and to others. Just as clouds, too insubstantial to support your weight or be worn as clothing, can nevertheless darken the whole sky and cover the sun, so in the same way thoughts can obscure the pristine radiance of awareness. By recognizing the void, transparent nature of mind, let it return to its natural state of freedom.
Daily meditation practice ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheThe ultimate goal of meditation practice is to bring awareness to every moment of one’s life, not just the time one spends in a formal meditation session. That said, setting aside time each day to cultivate awareness is an indispensable part of the process. Most people find that the more time they devote to meditation “on the cushion,” the easier it is to bring awareness to their experiences “off the cushion.”
Your smile ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat HanhTo meditate does not mean to fight with a problem.
To meditate means to observe.
Your smile proves it.
It proves that you are being gentle with yourself,
that the sun of awareness is shining in you,
that you have control of your situation.
You are yourself,
and you have acquired some peace.
Recognizing obstacles as opportunities ~ Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur RinpocheOnce you commit yourself to developing an awareness of your Buddha nature, you’ll inevitably start to see changes in your day-to-day experience. Things that used to trouble you gradually lose their power to upset you. You’ll become intuitively wiser, more relaxed, and more openhearted. You’ll begin to recognize obstacles as opportunities for further growth.
Awareness of the teacher ~ Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam TrungpaAs a dharmic person, a practitioner, you also have awareness of the teacher and of other realized people whom you are studying with. The idea is to be without shyness and to be able to relate with your teacher, who in the hinayana tradition is an elder. You relate to the teacher as somebody who has accomplished the path already. Because you are without shyness, you can relate with the teacher and emulate him or her properly and fully. You have a sense of appreciation that you are and will be part of a certain tradition, a certain discipline. You have as an example a teacher who is behaving in a way that you should behave, and you have some sense of sacredness in studying and listening to the teacher.
The quintessential teaching of the Buddha ~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheAwareness is the quintessential teaching of the Buddha – from the awareness of cool air as you breath in and then out, to the profound awareness of natural perfection. And with boundless compassion and courage, the sole purpose and activity of all the buddhas it is to ring the alarm bell that brings us to this awareness.