Amplifying Your Potentials
July 25, 2016

Okay, focus on the breath.

Breathe in a way that feels really refreshing, that nourishes all the parts of the body that tend to get tired easily: down through the torso, into the head, deep into the brain.

The breath is a kind of food. It’s the energy that keeps the body going. It can often make up for a lack of food in other ways. So, learn how to make the most of this nourishment.

When it’s hot outside, focus on the aspect of the breath that’s cool. On days when it’s cold, you’re going to be focusing on the side that’s warm. All these different sides are there.

All these different potentials are there in your body and in your mind. It’s simply a matter of being with them quietly and watching and poking around here, a little bit there, a little bit there, trying things out to see what you can have an effect on, to see what potentials can grow.

We have a tendency, when the potential for greed comes in, to just pile more fuel on the fire. But there’s also a part of the mind at the very same time that has a potential for non-greed. The same with lust, the same with anger, jealousy—all these things that throw the mind out of balance. There’s another part of the mind that’s not playing along with that. So find that part of the mind and hang out there instead. Learn how to maximize that.

We’re like a little child that’s gotten a new stereo and just turns all the knobs up, not realizing that it’s not when things are really, really loud that the stereo’s good. The stereo’s good for lots of other things. In fact it’s much better when you use it in moderation.

We already know how to turn up the knobs on anger, greed, and aversion, delusion, jealousy, whatever. So learn how to turn up the knobs on the other side, the knobs that calm things down, keep things cool.

Those potentials are there. And it’s a matter of exploring them, finding where they are, and then learning how to nurture them: That’s how you bring the mind more under control.