Ways to train your mind to be calm

Everyone will feel that life and work are quite busy nowadays, and they are often in a state of irritability and impetuousness. When they have such emotions and moods, it will have many bad effects on their physical health. When they do things, they will also be affected by their emotions, which often makes things worse. If you realize such emotions, you should use some methods to calm yourself down.

Contemplation of the body and bones, and contemplation of impurity

The Buddhist scripture that introduces the contemplation of white bones in detail is called "The Secret Zen Sutra". Friends can search for it themselves, then read it carefully and work hard to practice it. My personal experience is that as long as you practice the first view of concentration, your mind will naturally calm down. Moreover, as you practice more, your legs will no longer feel numb or painful, your sitting time will become longer and longer, and your legs and feet will be much more agile at ordinary times.

Mindfulness Rest Method

Resting is not sleeping, but actually entering a state of meditation. Almost all methods have a process of going from shallow to deep. For example, when someone recites the scriptures more times, he may not even realize that he is reciting the scriptures, as if he knows nothing. In this way, he will slowly enter into a state of meditation.

My personal experience is that you should never seek meditation. Buddhism is a study of wisdom. You must first study the content about Prajna in the Buddhist scriptures, truly let yourself realize "what is the true self?", and then start practicing. In other words, one can only practice the Tao after seeing the Tao.

Chanting the Buddha's Way

It means to use the Buddha's words and deeds as a reference and to monitor yourself at all times. For example, some people say that when meditating, one should "not have any thoughts". If one does not have any thoughts when meditating, then how could the Buddha have attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree? The Buddha realized the truth, so it is obviously impossible to have “no thoughts at all” while meditating. At the same time, it also explains that “not having a single thought” does not mean “not having any thoughts at all!”, because “not having a single thought” itself is a “thought”. Therefore, when we say “no thought arises”, it means that when there is “one thought”, other thoughts do not arise automatically. To put it simply, it means “focusing the mind on one thing”!

Anapanasati

This is what we commonly call the method of counting breaths. According to the scriptures, "Do not have any other thoughts, focus your mind on the tip of your nose. If the exhalation is long, you know that the breath is long; if the inhalation is long, you know that the breath is long. If the exhalation is short, you know that the breath is short; if the inhalation is short, you know that the breath is short. If the exhalation is cold, you know that the breath is cold; if the inhalation is cold, you know that the breath is cold. If the exhalation is warm, you know that the breath is warm; even if the inhalation is warm, you know that the breath is warm. Even if your body breathes in and out, you know it all." If you understand these sentences yourself, you will naturally calm down.

When I first started practicing this method, I referred to the random things people wrote on the Internet, but I couldn't calm down because every time I inhaled, I felt it in my lungs. If I wanted to "breathe", I had to hold my breath, and I had to count, which was very confusing. Later, I thought of what the Sixth Patriarch Huineng said: "Originally there is nothing, so where can dust gather?" I suddenly understood that breathing is a basic physiological function of human beings. This is a fact. Why are you counting it?

Method of reading

What is the pronunciation? To put it simply, it means to be focused, attentive, and single-minded, and to use the principles in the Buddhist scriptures to understand your daily life, work, and physical and mental changes. Zengzi said in the Analects of Confucius: "I examine myself three times a day." This is the same principle. There is no good or evil in reflection, but the principles that emerge from reflection often have good and evil. Therefore, we must be familiar with the true meaning of being a human being and use the true meaning to reflect on our own words and deeds.

Observation

This is a method I use according to my own situation. Some people meditate with their eyes closed, while others meditate with their eyes open. Those with open eyes can carefully observe the wall or water pipe opposite or a painting or a statue and observe with full concentration! There is a cartoon called "Shooting without Shooting". In the cartoon, when Ji Chang was practicing archery, he was staring at a "flea" and he could make a very small "flea" appear very big. If you can achieve one-pointed observation, don’t think about viewing small things as big. Sometimes you can even see that they are nothing. When you enter this state, don’t be happy, because happiness is a delusion. Once you are happy, you will immediately return to the original state!