Getting Your Spiritual Act Together...
Tosh
Veteran
I've been on a Buddhist kind of path now for a few years, I've learnt a little bit about Buddhism, what it means (to me) to live ethically, to practise compassion and how to cultivate wisdom through meditation, and in some ways - particularly the practice of compassion - I'm committed. In fact, with regards compassion, sometimes I feel I don't have a choice in the matter. I'm a member of A.A., and when I meet a fellow alcoholic who is suffering, I do everything I can do to help. It's not a choice, it's something that just needs to be done, and I'm not complaining about that. In fact I think I'm very lucky to be in such a great position to be able to help others.
And this compassion spreads into my home life too. Mrs Tosh suffers with depression and I fully understand what I should be doing with regards this (i.e. being kind, understanding, not trying to fix her, listen when necessary, a hug and a kiss do a lot more than mere advice, putting her needs before my wants, etc).
So everything is cool with regards living ethically (mainly), and my practise of compassion is okay.
But with meditation - I find it really difficult to maintain. I've netflicks, internet forums, books to read, food to snack on - there's many different ways I can distract myself from myself. In fact the only form of meditation that I sometimes practise is mindfulness, and then only when I'm running.
I do visit a meditation class on a fortnightly basis - which used to help with motivation - but doesn't now. I look forward to the tea, biscuits and chat at the end of it.
I guess my question is, is there a method I can use to get my finger out of my ass - to stop wasting time on stuff like netflix and internet forums - and get a better meditation practise going?
Thanks in advance
Comments
It's called an Off switch.
I would suggest you are trying to meditate instead of not meditating,
Every morning, get up, sit in the meditation posture of choice but DO NOT meditate. You can do this for as long as you do not attempt any meditation.
Do not analyse or think afterwards about what occurs. Above all do not practice.
You can not fail or in fact you should . . . :crazy: .
There's no saying that your activities are a waste of time - with complexity comes variation - be easier on yourself.
If your assessment was convincing, then you would act on it.
Try to first sit for 5 minutes - this is short enough to be incorporated into any routine - if you cannot maintain this then examine why as against the other tasks you undertake for comparable periods of time.
Be honest with yourself and accept your answers as genuine - work through them with yourself.
I find that meditation is being and being is what is happening - I would hazard that one is never far from it.
It could be because you are also making up time for the family. And in your own time, you feel like you want to relax a bit. How about motivation comes to you naturally. I think you can start by listening to some teachings about meditation. Could you do this when you are running?
Aha - Bring the body and the mind will follow - routine eh? I don't know why I didn't think of it myself; I use that one for lots of stuff, like running.
Right, I'll give this a try this evening (I'm not a morning meditator; I'm normally to busy running around to get ready for work, alongside the other noisy gimps that are my family).
Thanks and thank you all to the rest that replied too.
Tosh
I find that there are blocks of time when meditation works for me...makes a difference...helps me clarify...and so forth. There are other blocks of time when I just seem to spin my wheels. So, when it is working for me, or when I feel more of a need for meditation, I do it far more often. When I hit those periods when it just isn't working for me, I lay off from the meditation, but still make every attempt to be mindful.
You obviously want to meditate – IMO you can only do it if you are motivated and inspired. I would recommend you search for a group that can deliver profound realizations (as opposed to talking about them), it is certainly inspiring when the students can testify firsthand what the teacher has told them.
Yes, I believe you, but it's not possible in my circumstances. Time and money are factors. I have a family, I work, and I'm a committed A.A. member. To add yet more time out of the house wouldn't be fair on my family, and to subtract time from A.A. wouldn't be right either.
I'll just have to work with what I've got! And to be honest, it's more than enough.
@Tosh
But with meditation - I find it really difficult to maintain. I've netflicks, internet forums, books to read, food to snack on - there's many different ways I can distract myself from myself.
You obviously do have a daily choice between recreational activities and meditation.
One offers distractions from the human condition while the other offers the often disquieting facing of it.
The real question is why any of us choose the latter.
I find a Buddhist meditation practice to largely be what we prioritize in our life.
My method of dealing with your specific difficulty is to either formally meditate** before** recreational activities and thereby manifest a priority of meditation over my likes or dislikes
or
I set aside a daily specific doable block of time for formal meditation that I prioritize over any other possible alternative activities.
It often feels like a childish battle for me as well.
I borrowed this from @Jayantha 's blog:
"What is the meaning of mindfulness? Mindfulness is attention
without greed, hatred, or delusion. Without bias, prejudice, or
pre-conceived notions. Awareness of the three characteristics of existence in whatever phenomenon you are observing."
If we can catch ourselves when we're have our moments, and if we can also notice the three characteristics in everything that we do.. I would say that we a meditating just not in posture.
I think some soul searching is required.
Beeby Jesus, please no, don't make me.
:eek2:
That's easier said than done. Right, I'll do it now; things have quietened down in my noisy house!
Perceptive.
Yes.
Same thing. The sitting body is the mind body. You are quite disciplined from running, staying off alcohol and being an ex-soldier. From your running, you know every run is different. The same will happen with a day end sit still. Let the mind run. It will run out and start to settle in time.
If you do a formal just sitting . . .
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikantaza
. . . you end up confronting the mind. Don't bother, let it win.
There's nothing wrong with some distraction, so long as you don't lose yourself in it. You can even use the experience to observe your own reactions while you're doing it. Meditation develops mindfulness, so try bringing mindfulness to everything you do. You can reach a stillness, what people call serenity, whatever you are doing. And I don't see why running meditation should be any less effective than walking meditation.
This is interesting. Maybe it's company you need more than spiritual development at this point in your life?
Right people - your ideas of meditation are wrong - completely and utterly wrong.
sit and "what"?
sit and 'watch'?
Meditation is not a conceptual THING its
neither GOLD or BEING or BLING!
Just know and be the knowing thing
If it appears golden
then you're that golden being thing
TRY and TRY and Try and WHAT?
hey look at that thing that surrounds what's NOT!
That's you, you know;
but you must know it
otherwise your practice is
well nought and naught and theres nothing to it!
But the fact
you can react
gives you the chance to be
just this and that
Really guy's I'm not taking the piss,
but insight into in sight's bliss
and don't let others take the piss!
Anataman!
Love and kisses!
As soon as the family is off to their respective morning destinations (office & school, that is), with supra-human effort I stay away as determinedly as I can from the computer in order to kickstart my day.
Shower, yoga routine and meditation.
Only then, sitting in front of the screen and checking mails.
On days when I give in to the computer craving, I shower at ten and the whole morning gets wasted away, to the point that either my yoga or my meditation sessions will have to be sacrificed before I begin to prepare lunch.
But I have found that focusing mindfully on the present moment, whenever I happen to be and whatever it is I'm doing, helps curb the guilt somehow.
Shower, yoga routine and meditation.
Sounds like a plan.
People easily spend fifteen minutes in the shower (mentioning no genders) but do they cleanse their bodies and minds? Grooming is a total commitment. Mantras in the shower might be an alternative to singing . . .
People have to find the right practice for them. Yoga is meditation. Running can be. Putting a devotional/inspiring image on an IPad and bringing ones attention to it whilst squashing a cushion is all possible.
What @Tosh has to do is not a chore but a cushion cha-cha . . .
:clap: .