Stay Home

When you focus on the breath, be really determined to stay here. You’re going to have to pay full attention to what you’re doing—in other words, full attention to the breath, full attention to the mind as it’s talking to itself. Make sure they stay together, because it’s when they stay together that they gain strength.

When the breath is one place and the mind is someplace else, they both get weak. As the breath just comes in and out on its own, and the mind is wandering around without any real nourishment, it’s trying to get nourishment out of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations—out of its awareness, out of its intentions—many of which have really nothing to offer you in terms of solid food.

So come back and be with the breath. The intention to stay here is a good intention. That’s the kind of food you need to be nourished. That’s how you gain strength. So it’s best to keep them together.

It’s like a person living in a house. You look after the house. If anything goes wrong—a pipe bursts, the electricity goes out—you’re right there to fix it. Any animals try to come moving in, you can drive them out.

At the same time, the house provides you with shelter.

But if you’re one place, and the house is someplace else, then if anything happens in the house, you’re not there to fix it. And you’re exposed to the sun, and the rain, and the heat, and the cold.

So. Stay right here. Be determined to stay right here. Don’t go wandering around. And pay full attention to what needs to be done. Because in the image of the house, sometimes there’s a tiny leak in the house someplace, and if you don’t notice it—even when you’re there in the house— dry rot can start in the wood and cause a lot of trouble before you’re aware of it.

So you want to be fully aware of what you’re doing right here. Fully aware of the body, fully aware of the mind. That way, any little thing comes up, you’re there for it. Otherwise, things just go their own way, their old ways. You really want to make a difference here. And to make a difference, you have to be really intent and maintain that intention. That’s when you can gain real benefits.