GATHER ’ROUND THE BREATH

Transparent Becoming December 8, 2007 The mind is used to wandering around. That’s what the word samsara means. It’s not a place;

Sensuality January 26, 2012 Two big enemies of concentration are sensual desire and ill will. It’s all too easy—as you’re

Isolating the Aggregates July 20, 2011 As the Buddha says, one of the rewards of concentration is that you get

Chewed Up by Your Food October 9, 2010 I read a story recently about a Siberian tiger that had gone

Good Eating July 31, 2008 You may have noticed that when babies come across something new, they don’t engage in

Feeding Frenzy: Dependent Co-arising October 23, 2006 The Pali word for the worlds we create in the mind is bhava, which literally

Feeding on Feeding November 11, 2011 There’s a saying in Thailand that if you haven’t suffered, you usually don’t go

Levels of Truth October 7, 2010 Close your eyes, focus on the breath, notice where you feel the breathing. You

Full Attention December 29, 2011 Ajaan Suwat used to call this place our quiet corner here. We’re literally at the

Broad, Tall, & Deep October 6, 2010 When Ajaan Fuang was teaching people to meditate, they’d get to the point

Balance & Release January 27, 2011 When we focus the mind on the breath, we can observe both of them.

Generating Energy January 2, 2012 In Thailand they sometimes compare practicing meditation to flying a kite. It takes a fair

Sensitive to the Breath December 25, 2011 When you work with the breath, it’s good to not have too many

A Recipe for Jhana February 14, 2009 When you meditate, try to be very conscious of holding a particular perception

The Swinging Balance March 10, 2011 When you focus on the present moment, you’re trying to become friends with it.

Proactive with Pain September 4, 2011 Aging, illness, death: These are the things we don’t like to think about. And

The Poison Blowfish August 21, 2011 The Buddha didn’t say that life is suffering but there is a lot of