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Every time you pay attention to your breath, you are making good karma.
jll
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Spiny
Spiny
Paying attention to the breath might mean that you are lacking attention elsewhere.
Breathing in awareness, is quite a different thing.
You open your mind in a state of relaxed attentiveness, or attentive relaxation.
You are still, but conscious of what is.
By watching the body breathing, you divert your attention form the endless chatter of your thoughts, to merely being still, and staying centred.
Meditation is doing you good.
Therefore, meditation is beneficial to your Mind and body's well-being. Therefore meditation is good for you.
Therefore you are creating a peaceful, centred stillness for you, which is beneficial kamma for yourself, but only perhaps in the most subtle sense.
Spiny
Meditation in the Buddhist sense is used to move the mind from negative states to positive states. Breathing meditation helps calm and focus the mind, By focusing the mind on the breath we are gaining an experience of training in concentration but the breath is neither a positive or negative phenomena in this sense of meditation and the only karma ( cause and effect ) we create will be neutral karmic potential.
Generally breathing meditation and mindfullness meditation are used as preliminarys to train the mind the real meditation starts when we meditate and try to single pointedly focus on minds that lead toward liberation and enlightenment, For example by meditating on the Lower path of our precious human life, rebirth, our kind mothers...etc or the Intermediate path of Renunciation or even the higher path of training in the 7 fold cause and effect method of bodhichitta or the exchanging self with others method of generating bodhichitta or training in meditation upon emptiness...etc This is where the real change begins because we move our mind toward these objects and their function is to transform the way we operate and think so we can eventually eliminate all suffering.
It's not a major thing, but when you direct your mind to the breath you're observing the give-and-take interplay of life, the required exchange to continue living a bit longer, the want/need and the act following each other... if you're really paying attention. Some day it might all of the sudden make you see things in a different way. If you can remain mindful of the breath for long periods of time (even all day long), that is also conducive to calm, concentration and a foundation for insight (like seated meditation).
It's not just the breath though, but it's certainly good karma to be mindful of the breath. It's where it leads that's important, and every little bit of mindfulness helps!
Spiny
Spiny
Spiny
I believe it is possible to make either dark kamma, bright kamma, mixed (i.e. dark-and-bright) kamma or neither-dark-nor-bright kamma depending on our intention and attitude while meditating.
Dark kamma may occur if we are trying to force our body or mind to sit still and watch the breath.
Bright kamma may occur if we are being kind and mindful towards our breath and allowing it to evolve into something beautiful.
Mixed (i.e. dark-and-bright) kamma occurs when we have mixed intentions. Maybe we are using a bit of force but we use it with the intention to overcome sloth-and-torpor. We may get rid of the sloth-and-torpor (which is a "bright" result) but also now, as a result of a forceful approach, our mind is restless (which is a "dark" result).
We may also be making neither-dark-nor-bright kamma while we meditate, which is the "highest" kamma because it leads to Nibbana.
I don't know if there is a Sutta to support this, but, I believe that neither-dark-nor-bright kamma is the kamma (which literally means "action" - but more specifically "intentional action") of stopping all intentional action. How do we do this? By "letting be" and "letting go".
So...it is not what you are doing (e.g. watching the breath) which is important, it is HOW you are doing it - what is your attitude/intention?
Also, in my experience, as much as I want to go straight for the "highest" kamma of "neither-dark-nor-bright" - it is often more skilful to, at the beginning of the meditation, focus on generating some bright kamma. When the mind is starting from a happy state it can more easily become mindful of the "neutral" objects. Whereas if the mind is not sufficiently "bright" then the "neutral" objects may appear dull and boring and mindfulness will not stick.
Metta,
Guy
If the mind has right concentration (samma samadhi), it has ended karma.
The Buddha taught the noble eightfold path is the karma that ends karma.
The Buddha taught right concentration has relinquishment as its sole object.
The Buddha taught right concentration has right view as its leader or forerunner.
:om:
Thats because the basic longing and sensitity is distorted by looking 'outside'. Looking in the wrong places. Its always distorted until we are a buddha.
Spiny
Metta,
Guy
Spiny
Spiny
For many people, it's quite easy to concentrate on the porno movie you are watching, but it's certainly not "right", as doing so would lead to more suffering, not less.
Spiny
http://www.dalailama.com/webcasts/post/63-mind-and-life-xviii---attention-memory-and-mind/2669
I don't think we can base citta with consciousness alone like they were mistakenly doing.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html#c
I am referring to concentration on breathing. :wow:
Spiny
Spiny
Spiny
Spiny