Concentrating the Mind – by Ajahn Brahm

Criticism and anger need to be balanced with acceptance and love. Fault finding mentality is a habitual mind mode that’s usually focused on finding mistakes. It’s not wise because it can become an obstacle to developing our mind in meditation. When we try to be positive and build up a sense of appreciation, it’s easier to receive other people’s love and happiness. When we’re in a state of complaining, we lose all sense of peace, of calm, in this is life. When you speak, always use words that find solutions and balance.When you use words of appreciation, your internal emotional world changes and the harmony between people improves. Anger is like an anger eating demon. If you let it eat away at you, it will get worse. Instead, practice acceptance, which will lead to loving kindness and eventually, peace. This talk is all about emotional preparation before beginning samadhi practice, meditation practice, and insight practice. Things like developing a warm heart, being grateful, and working towards resolutions which will be useful and beneficial to oneself and others. – The path of Buddhism relies heavily upon the emotional world. In order to clear the path for meditation, we must be in touch with our emotions and develop those emotions which are beneficial to us. When we have the incentive to do something about our problems, we can begin to practice meditation.
 
This dhamma talk was originally recorded on a cassette tape on 31st December 1993. It has been remastered, but is still a bit scratchy. Nevertheless it is classic Ajahn Brahm and his fans will still appreciate its message.
These talks by Ajahn Brahm have been recorded and made available for free distribution by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia. You can support the Buddhist Society of Western Australia by pledging your support via their Patreon page.