To deepen in concentration, we need to be willing to recognize whatever disturbances or hindrances might be present, however subtle, and to work with them skillfully, ultimately to release them. This allows the mind to settle to the next level of stillness. This talk is based on practice as described in Majjhima Nikaya (2), the Cula-Sunnata Sutta, The Lesser Discourse on Emptiness.
In connecting with the ordinariness of this moment we can taste the simplicity of life. Just the six sense doors not being grasped at or pushed away, but known as they are.
Collecting and unifying the mind requires both the immediacy of intention and the energy for patience and persistence. Developing clarity of intention and utilizing the three kind of energy may deepen your experience of concentration.
We explore the parami (or "virtue" or "perfection") of patience, including its nature and the nature of impatience, exemplars of patience, the connection of patience with other virtues (particularly wisdom and equanimity), and how to practice to develop patience.
The Buddha encouraged us to cultivate concentration for the purpose of seeing into the nature of our experience - as impermanent, unreliable, and not-self.
