Summary of Shaila Catherine's Beyond Distraction

Summary of Shaila Catherine's Beyond Distraction PDF Author: Everest Media,
Publisher: Everest Media LLC
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The default mode network is the area of the brain that is active when we are doing nothing, and it is typically active when we are thinking about things that are self-related. As you develop your mindfulness and meditation skills, you will notice your mind wandering less and less. #2 Selective memories are created to unconsciously prove that the judgments are accurate. Your emotions, biases, desires, preferences, and fears affect your perception. And what you assume about yourself as the perceiving subject distorts the perception of the object. #3 When you can turn your attention towards a thought without being seduced by the story line, you will be able to explore your tendencies, patterns, and the intentions that propel speech and action. #4 When you notice the thoughts that come into your mind, you may find that certain patterns are clearly harmful. Other patterns that run through your mind each day may not seem overtly cruel, greedy, or hateful, but they may still obstruct your concentration.

Summary of Shaila Catherine's Beyond Distraction

Summary of Shaila Catherine's Beyond Distraction PDF Author: Everest Media,
Publisher: Everest Media LLC
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 38

Get Book

Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The default mode network is the area of the brain that is active when we are doing nothing, and it is typically active when we are thinking about things that are self-related. As you develop your mindfulness and meditation skills, you will notice your mind wandering less and less. #2 Selective memories are created to unconsciously prove that the judgments are accurate. Your emotions, biases, desires, preferences, and fears affect your perception. And what you assume about yourself as the perceiving subject distorts the perception of the object. #3 When you can turn your attention towards a thought without being seduced by the story line, you will be able to explore your tendencies, patterns, and the intentions that propel speech and action. #4 When you notice the thoughts that come into your mind, you may find that certain patterns are clearly harmful. Other patterns that run through your mind each day may not seem overtly cruel, greedy, or hateful, but they may still obstruct your concentration.

Beyond Distraction

Beyond Distraction PDF Author: Shaila Catherine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614297878
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
Learn how to overcome distraction in meditation practice and develop clarity in your relationships, work, and activities with this new guide from a beloved meditation teacher. The mind can be a potent tool, used to guide extraordinary achievements, inspire good works, and incline your spiritual path toward peace and awakening. But the mind can also produce thoughts that lead to suffering. For many people, thoughts run rampant and seem to oppress or control their lives. Even the Buddha tells us that before his enlightenment, he sometimes found his mind preoccupied by thoughts connected with sensual desire, ill will, and harm. But he figured out how to respond to thoughts skillfully and developed a step-by-step approach to calm the restless mind. Now, Insight Meditation teacher Shaila Catherine offers an accessible approach to training the mind that is guided by the Buddha’s pragmatic instructions on removing distracting thoughts. Drawing on two scriptures in the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Shaila shows you how to overcome habitual modes of thinking, develop deeper concentration, and discover the insights into emptiness that are vital for a liberating spiritual path. Following the Buddha’s pragmatic approach, Shaila guides you through five steps for overcoming distraction and focusing the mind: 1. Replace unwholesome thoughts with wholesome thoughts. For example, if you find yourself thinking thoughts of ill will toward a person, try thinking instead of their good qualities as an antidote. 2. Examine the dangers of distracting thoughts. Weigh the costs of allowing thoughts of ill will, lust, greed, and so forth to obsess your mind. The costs of dwelling on distracting thoughts nearly always outweigh any supposed benefits. 3. Avoid it, ignore it, forget it. Develop the skill to turn your attention away from habitual distractions. Remove the fuel and let the fires of distraction die out. 4. Investigate the causes of distraction. By understanding the conditions that perpetuate habitual thoughts, you can learn to free yourself from those patterns. 5. Apply determination and resolve. Supported by wisdom, you can make a firm decision to stop dwelling on patterns of thought that are not supporting your deepest values and goals in life. Each chapter includes exercises and reflections to help you cultivate the five steps to deeper concentration. You’ll learn about your mind and develop your ability to direct your attention more skillfully in meditation and daily activities. And ultimately, you’ll discover for yourself how these five steps boil down to one key realization: In the moment you recognize that a thought is just a thought, you will find yourself on the path to a life of remarkable freedom.

Focused and Fearless

Focused and Fearless PDF Author: Shaila Catherine
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458783642
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
Now ordinary meditators (and non-meditators) can understand how to attain non-ordinary states with relative ease. Blended with contemporary examples, pragmatic exercises, and ''how to'' instructions that anyone can try, Focused and Fearless provides a wealth of tools to cultivate non-distracted attention in daily life and on retreat. Shaila Catherine has a friendly, wise approach to the meditative states (jhanas) that lead to liberating insight. Focused and Fearless is about much more than merely meditation or concentration. It offers a complete path towards bliss, fearlessness, and true awakening.

Wisdom Wide and Deep

Wisdom Wide and Deep PDF Author: Shaila Catherine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 086171623X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 596

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Book Description
"If you are interested in Dharma study, this book belongs in your library."---Phillip Moffitt, author of Dancing with Life "This book can be the guide for cultivating the inner calm we long for."---Christina Feldman, author of Compassion: Listening to the Cries of the World "This handbook respects both the ancient tradition and the needs of contemporary lay practitioners, without compromising either. Shaila Catherine blends scriptural references, personal examples, and timeless stories with detailed meditation instructions. The combination of pragmatic style and theoretical knowledge produces a striking invitation for the reader to apply these instructions and master the complete practice for awakening."---from the foreword by Pa-Auk Sayadaw, author of The Workings of Kamma "Catherine has managed a difficult feat---to be simultaneously encyclopedic and charming, all with extraordinary clarity. This meditation manual is a first for the West and will surely become a classic and a support for generations of practitioners."---Kate Wheeler, editor of In This Very Life: Liberation Teachings of the Buddha "Wisdom Wide and Deep is a powerful inspiration both for those who would like a glimpse of what's possible and for those intrepid explorers of the mind who want to bring these teachings to fulfillment. Highly recommended."---Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace "Written in clear, practical language, this book converts theory into direct experience. It is a detailed exploration of deep calmness as well as insight. The West needs such manuals."---Christopher Titmuss, author of Light on Enlightenment "A valuable work as both a practice guide and a reference manual."---Guy Armstrong, insight meditation teacher

Beyond Distraction

Beyond Distraction PDF Author: Shaila Catherine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614298114
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
Learn how to overcome distraction in meditation practice and develop clarity in your relationships, work, and activities with this new guide from a beloved meditation teacher. The mind can be a potent tool, used to guide extraordinary achievements, inspire good works, and incline your spiritual path toward peace and awakening. But the mind can also produce thoughts that lead to suffering. For many people, thoughts run rampant and seem to oppress or control their lives. Even the Buddha tells us that before his enlightenment, he sometimes found his mind preoccupied by thoughts connected with sensual desire, ill will, and harm. But he figured out how to respond to thoughts skillfully and developed a step-by-step approach to calm the restless mind. Now, Insight Meditation teacher Shaila Catherine offers an accessible approach to training the mind that is guided by the Buddha’s pragmatic instructions on removing distracting thoughts. Drawing on two scriptures in the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Shaila shows you how to overcome habitual modes of thinking, develop deeper concentration, and discover the insights into emptiness that are vital for a liberating spiritual path. Following the Buddha’s pragmatic approach, Shaila guides you through five steps for overcoming distraction and focusing the mind: 1. Replace unwholesome thoughts with wholesome thoughts. For example, if you find yourself thinking thoughts of ill will toward a person, try thinking instead of their good qualities as an antidote. 2. Examine the dangers of distracting thoughts. Weigh the costs of allowing thoughts of ill will, lust, greed, and so forth to obsess your mind. The costs of dwelling on distracting thoughts nearly always outweigh any supposed benefits. 3. Avoid it, ignore it, forget it. Develop the skill to turn your attention away from habitual distractions. Remove the fuel and let the fires of distraction die out. 4. Investigate the causes of distraction. By understanding the conditions that perpetuate habitual thoughts, you can learn to free yourself from those patterns. 5. Apply determination and resolve. Supported by wisdom, you can make a firm decision to stop dwelling on patterns of thought that are not supporting your deepest values and goals in life. Each chapter includes exercises and reflections to help you cultivate the five steps to deeper concentration. You’ll learn about your mind and develop your ability to direct your attention more skillfully in meditation and daily activities. And ultimately, you’ll discover for yourself how these five steps boil down to one key realization: In the moment you recognize that a thought is just a thought, you will find yourself on the path to a life of remarkable freedom.

Sailing the Worldly Winds

Sailing the Worldly Winds PDF Author: Vajrapgupta
Publisher: Windhorse Publications
ISBN: 1907314164
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
How do we really get on in this world? Tossed around by gain, buffeted by loss, borne aloft by praise, cast down by blame, how can we not be ground under, lose all direction, confidence, and sense of purpose? The Buddha had clear guidance on how to rise above these 'worldly winds', and Vajragupta here opens up for us the Buddha's compassionate yet uncompromising teaching. Using reflections, exercises and suggestions for daily practice, this book can help you find greater equanimity and perspective in the ups and downs of everyday life.

Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English

Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English PDF Author: Gunaratana
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861715292
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
Gunaratana offers basic instruction on the meaning of insight meditation through concepts that can be applied to any tradition. His focus here is on the Jhanas, those meditative states of profound stillness in which the mind becomes fully immersed in the chosen object of attention.

Wisdom Wide and Deep

Wisdom Wide and Deep PDF Author: Shaila Catherine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861718526
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 596

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Book Description
Wisdom Wide and Deep is a comprehensive guide to an in-depth training that emphasizes the application of concentrated attention (jhana) to profound and liberating insight (vipassana). With calm, tranquility, and composure established through a practical experience of jhana meditators are able to halt the seemingly endless battle against hindrances, eliminate distraction, and facilitate a penetrative insight into the subtle nature of matter and mind. It was for this reason the Buddha frequently exhorted his students, Wisdom Wide and Deep follows and amplifies the teachings in Shaila Catherine's acclaimed first book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity. Readers will learn to develop this profound stability, sustain an in-depth examination of the nuances of mind and matter, and ultimately unravel deeply conditioned patterns that perpetuate suffering. This fully detailed manual for the mind sure to become a trusted companion to many inner explorers.

The Dharma of Star Wars

The Dharma of Star Wars PDF Author: Matthew Bortolin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614292868
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Is Yoda a Zen Master? Is the story of Luke Skywalker a spiritual epic? The answers, as well as excitement, adventure, and a lot of fun, are here! This revised and expanded edition of The Dharma of Star Wars uses George Lucas’ beloved modern saga and the wise words of the Buddha to illuminate each other in playful and unexpectedly rewarding ways. Matthew Bortolin writes an inspiring and totally new take on this timeless saga, from A New Hope through Revenge of the Sith and television's Clone Wars. Great fun for any Star Wars fan. Includes instruction in The Jedi Art of Mindfulness and Concentration and The Padawan Handbook: Zen Contemplations for the Would-Be Jedi.

Woman Awake

Woman Awake PDF Author: Christina Feldman
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1930485727
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Because women have been conditioned to live according to traditional feminine values—conformity, passivity, and surrender of the self—they often feel powerless to transform their lives and afraid to lose their sense of worth. In Woman Awake, Christina Feldman suggests that it is possible for women to break out of their negative patterns and accept themselves as they really are. With a growing awarenss of the dignity of all life and its connection with them, women can overcome the social conditioning and myth-making that overwhelm and oppress them.For those women new to Buddhist meditation, Christina Feldman offers sensitive and valuable guidelines on breathing and relaxation—stressing, above all, that learning to understand, appreciate, and value themselves is the first step toward women's creative and joyful integration with the world.