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Merchants
Everything that you do you must do with clarity and awareness. When you see clearly, you’ll no longer feel the need to force yourself to do and complete everything. Now you are burdened with difficulties because you miss the point: whatever you do, you should just do with your body and mind completely. This will
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Wanting Knowledge is still craving
Scrolling through youtube – there are various topics on computer systems and system design – think it was titled 95% of z can’t explain the difference between x and y. I clicked on the video and watched it out of craving of wanting to know the answer – I did not know the answer but
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Burning house
The world is a peril. Abandoning the world. It is not safe. You are finding safety in a burning house. – is this similar to the words of the buddha Why do humans take refuge in the burning house The burning house is: When we treat impermanent as permanent, or uncontrollable as controllable…suffering arises. The
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Annata
Sometimes annata is translated as not self or non-self. It would be easier to say “Not under our control”. Everything in this world – kamma lokha – is not under our control. Impermanent. Subject to Suffering.
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Circumstances
Circumstances do not make you suffer, it is your attitude that makes you suffer Source: https://youtu.be/s2xvqFiWTRs
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Sensuality
Whether something is sensuality is determined by one question: how would you feel if you lost that thing, forever? If the mere thought fills you with dread, that thing is sensuality for you. Seeing the peril in sensuality means seeing the peril in developing such passionate relationships with anything at all, animate or inanimate. Your passion
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Just observe and know the mind state
Just know and observe the mind state – do not disregard it and do not overstep the mark by going too deep into it. Maintain the middle way. Do not say: “This must stop occuring, this is wrong” – try to get rid of it Do not say: “This is great, this is awesome more
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Focus on the breathe
There are some that disregard the breathe as management or distraction from facing the anxiety, restlessness and pain. It is a great shortcut and it just feels good – to focus on the breathe just wipes out all the ruminating on the past and anxiety about the future – because you can only focus on
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Top Priority
Your mind is your most important possession – so you have to give it top priority Learn all the skills to maintain the centre: Source: Thanissaro Bhikkhu – Not Crushed by the World
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The Quick way
https://buddha.co.za/discourse/snp.4.14
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Wrong View
Suffering is. No matter what you do or where you go in this world – there will be suffering. Ajahn Brahm said: “Suffering is expecting from the world what it can never give you” The universal truths (Marks of Existance) This world kamma loka (realm of the senses) cannot give one lasting contentment and peace.
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You don’t get freedom by choosing slavery
There is always a choice. When you choose to be a slave…a slave to wanting and craving for some thing. How could freedom arise from that. You can choose and create the conditions for wanting and cravings to diminish – letting freedom and liberation flourish. Instead of the love for kamma loka…there is nibbida –
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You are never locked in
You are never locked in. You always have a choice. Sometimes in life, one is in a situation where there is difficulty, stress and worry that arises. The cause is always the wanting and craving. However it may seem that this situation and the way one looks at it – is causing damage to the
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Don’t Torture Yourself
External things happen in life. They cannot be controlled. Another’s opinion on you, some objective or societal expectation. The speech of others. Why is it used over and over in one’s mind to torture oneself. These are perceived and sometimes created from ones own mind. Then one chooses to torture and berate one’s mind, body
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Is the View Correct?
There are many things that happens to one in the life and the clinging people have leads them to think and do more about these things. Is that view correct? Impermanence is the natural law of the 5 sense world – kamma loka. Doing good at school, impressing people, doing tasks, working a job, marriage,
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The Mind’s Immunity
A strong immune system from a healthy body fends off disease and infection. A strong and healthy mind – has immunity from hindrances.
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Is it Worth Going for or Thinking About?
Whatever pulling you away is inconstant. Unreliable. Stressful. Not Self. Not worthy of going for. What is the allure pulling you out? What is the obligation? It is not worth going for. Not worth churning out the thoughts. Sariputtas instructions about sounds you here – people say nasty things and they reverberate around your mind.
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Is this of any Value?
Ever find the mind asking is this of any value then making the choice yes it is, or no it isn’t. Who decides? Who knows? Is it the delusion of self for which the mind makes this choice. What is truly valuable? What is truly valuable in this experience, in this consciousness? Should positive outcomes
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Never Feel Mandated
Never feel that one has to meditate at a specific time for a specific time period. A teacher that mandates students to meditate for a certain time at specific times can be questioned and even disobeyed – in my view. Meditation is not a bootcamp. One does not improve by force. It is about gradually
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Anger or Ill-will: Lost the Path
Whenever you feel anger or ill-will you have lost the path. Giving in to the anger and ill-will will simply feed the anger eating demon. Being angry and unkind to it – to someone or something annoying you or pointing out your faults will only make it a greater demon. One must be kind and
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Getting Better at Meditation and Discipline
To get better at meditation and displine
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Freedom through Restraint
Freedom and ending is not acquired by indulging in the world of the 5 senses. Kamma loka.
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You can’t Change someone elses Mind
You can’t change some other mind. You can only change this mind (your mind) – it is the only mind that matters. Train the mind – to not want, to not control, to not desire things to be this or that way. Train this mind. This is the thing that matters.
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Let Go Freak
There is a common saying – a control freak. Someone that wants control over too much. What about going the other way? A let go freak. Letting go of everything.
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Give Up…
We are programmed to never give up. Never end it. Always keep going, keep striving. Go against the grain. Give up and let go…
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Remain Calm and Let Go
In meditation one lets go. Letting go of control and all the things. Your whole life may have been inclined to keeping control and holding on. So letting go and abandoning may arise fear and anxiousness preventing this from happening. If this happens just say “Calm and let go” and then allow the process to
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Can you Really Abandon the Body?
During meditation one relaxes the body then relaxes the mind gently. Focusing on the present – a nimitta or bodily sensation may arise. This may only happen if one is not overly controlling. No need to control and pull the mind in a certain direction. Set an intention and then leave it be. Can you
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Taking Refuge in the Present
Meditation becomes easier when the mind can be seen inclining to the wrong. When the mind takes refuge in the external – events, external perceptions, people, tasks, livelihood, praise and blame from others, measuring and comparing. This restlessness hindrance – can be seen and caught. Then one can choose or the mind may naturally incline
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Wanting to be
Mindful of one’s thoughts – one notices discontentment. A burst and shaken up thought that is negative. Then one looks at the cause of the dicontentedness. It is clinging. Wanting to be. Wanting the self to be perceived a certain way. As smart. As knowing. As a certain role. As a certain experience level. It
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The End
The tasks, goals and things to do…does not end. Once you seemingly achieve something or accomplish a goal – oftentimes it is not perfect. There is some slight problem or inconsistency that becomes the next task. The satisfaction and contentment one feels is short lived as now all the focus is put on this slight
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Forcing the Mind
Sometimes the mind gets shaken up. A stressful and agitated state. Thoughts of ill will may even arise. When noticed one may want to force and mandate the mind to calm down. But it does not work that way. The more you engage and be eager to calm the mind down – the opposite happens.
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Wanting More…
After listening to a dhamma talk on a podcast from Ajahn Brahm the next podcast that played was “Anything Goes with James English” and he was interviewing David Fishwick. David Fishwick is well off, an author, netflix Bafta winner, entrepreneur and rich person. Listen to the podcast for more info. In the podcast a lot
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Be a Broken Gong
When contact is made with the senses… Someone speaks harshly to you, accuses you of something, bad news is heard, one is putting pressure on you to complete a task quickly, physical pain makes contact with the body, someone punches the body, one sees a beautiful sight…. It is like striking a gong – the
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Chasing is endless
The more one chases wishes and thoughts. Analyzing things trying to find a solution. A perfect solution. An end. When that solution or result is achieved that is the end, right? Now one can be relaxed and contented…. No. At that point discontentment arises and it is on to the next thing. It is endless.
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This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self
sn.22.59 Regarding form, feeling, perception, volitional formations and consciousness as self – only leads to discontentment. If it is not self – then there is no need to care, to want, to crave, to cling and to wish for. This is not mine, this I am not and this is not my self. One can
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Negative Outcomes of Wanting
When the mind wants something – it acquires an intention, a planned task. There is now agitation. One cannot be calm as there is now a planned task and one wants to – at some stage – execute. Human action to attempt to complete this task. It also acquires conditioning. If the task is completed
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Not Wanting
Observing times when one does not want for anyone or anything… Time seems to slow down and a calmness descends on the mind. A _not wanting_ mindset will probably just arise when cravings and wanting have naturally fallen away. Actively fighting and working hard to drop or let go of wanting is yet another want.
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Many Train the Body. Few Train the Mind.
There are many people who train the body. The body is trained by exposing it to a degree to an extreme – endurance, flexibility, speed, height, length, warmth, cold and pain. Then time, energy, food and sleep allow the body to recover – eventually strengthening and improving in a certain characteristic. The body does not