All day awarness

Fenix

How can I start developing awareness threw out my day and other times then just a couple of minutes every day (meditation). I feel like I can´t start practicing, that I have to much important things to do, no time to practice. I´m scared of practicing. What if I can´t do it? What if its not what I wanted it to be? What if others label me as a flake?

Sometimes I say OK now is a good time to practice, but then almost straight away I have thoughts and feelings that "There´s no point of practicing now" and "It will never help anything, do something useful..." and "I´ll start off tomorrow fresh" or "I´m hopeless etc..."

I know it may sound stupid, but I´ve been trying, yes, not actually practicing for over a year now probably. I just cant seem to start. and if i do I just get so lost in the scheme of everything, work, spiritual, health, fitness, school, future, social, personal all these aspects I´m trying to do and lose sight of everything

Everyday just seems to get harder and harder and circumstances more difficult.

Is this the same thing that we aim to do in Buddhism? The all day awareness part. Its about lucid dreaming
http://www.dreamviews.com/f49/all-day-awareness-dild-tutorial-kingyoshi-113253/

On a side note, if practicing Buddhism is just that than I´m surprised if Buddhists don´t spontaneously gain dream control, or do they?

TiaP

If by awareness you mean mindfulness it can be cultivated throughout the day with a little bit of know-how. I found it most easy to start with solitary and non-planning tasks such as chores, walking somewhere, taking a shower even! There are lots of resources on the interweb and in various books that give guidance on how to develop mindfulness in everyday tasks but it basically involves staying in the moment and each time your mind wanders off into thoughts, planning, reflecting, judgements, anticipation etc, bringing it back to the present moment and the task at hand. Just like in meditation except your meditation object is whatever you are doing rather than the breath say. The key I find it doing it with kindness i.e. don't beat yourself up mentally if you find at first your mind is constantly getting distracted.

Take a leaf out of Thich Nhat Hanh's book and wash the dishes to wash the dishes If you have to wash them anyway you may as well do it mindfully.

Once cultivated it brings a great sense of peace and happiness to all the little things in life that you do and used to let your mind wander while doing. When I notice my mind wander and bring it back I sometimes feel a palpable calming effect as I relinquish past worries or future concerns and just do whatever it is I am doing without thoughts or judgements.

I don't know much about lucid dreaming I'm afraid, it isn't part of my practice. But like any practice I'd start small and build up. Make it easy for yourself. It's surprising how quickly you can build up a solid practice by chipping away at it slowly but surely.

best wishes

federica

I'm amused....
Don't you realise that the moment you say "OK,now is a good time to practice"... You've actually already been practising?
There is no start, there is no stop. Being awake and conscious IS your practice! There is no beginning and there is no end...all day, every moment, is an opportunity!
It's not like tennis coaching, or football practice.... there is no period of 'on' or 'off'...
This is it. You're in the practice, right now, all the time.

I don't get how you could not know that.....

KarmaDondrupTashi

Things are worse in the beginning because for the first time we notice all the clutter that was already there.

Jeffrey

All of this is thinking in the space of awareness. You don't have to sit on a cushion. Just flashing for a moment that this is all thinking is a good valid practice.

Square Zero

Everybody has their own square one, and they get back to it. That seems to be a universal thing. We want to be something, right? Even if we are back to square one, we are ther, we are something. We don't want to be nothing, and we constantly avoid that. That is the problem. So the only alternative--not even alternative but the only choice so to speak--is to be zero.

So square one si the basic ground from which we function, and square zero seems to be beyond even our functioning: Isness, without any definitions. It is not so much branching out, but branching in. You achieved your identity at square one, and that seems to be the problem. So ultimately one has to return to zero. Then you begin to feel that you can move around. You can do a lot of things, not be numbered. You're not subject to your own numbers, and you are not confined to a pidgeonhole. So your situation could be improved if you know you have nothing but zero, which is nothing. There's no reference point anymore, just zero. Try it. It is an expression of immense generosity and immense enlightenment.

~Trungpa Rinpoche

mantra0

I have the same problem because I'm busy but I merge my awareness training with my activities so I'm training my mind every moment in a day yet still doing all the daily activities.

I'm doing mindfulness. It's insight meditation on the move.

Before you can do such convenient practice, it's advisable to do basic samantha style meditation such as focusing on breath or mantra meditation, TM etc. for a few weeks (as preparation) before you do insight/vipassana meditation, and apply the mindfulness in your daily life without needing to sit down a few hours a day.

If you want short cut and try to do mindfulness ASAP, there are some Vipassana centers that offer 10 days course for FREE.

I hope you'll find this useful.

kaci

@Fenix - it sounds to me like you might be interested in lojong (mind training), its a tibetan tradition that integrates well with daily life. i would recommend B. Alan Wallace's book "Buddhism with an Attitude" - its a very clear and (in my opinion) fairly accurate presentation. the other approach would be to seriously take up the ariya magga (noble eight fold path) and focus on the details of sila - essentially lojong provides a recipe-like approach to this. in thai theravada there is the work "Buddhadhamma" by Phra Payutto - if you can find it this is a great guide as well but not as much of a straight forward recipe and it does not address the subjective/contemplative aspect with techniques as much as lojong does.
erm, i have been known to say that dhamma amounts roughly to "be nice and pay attention to what you are doing" - which is not quite as easy as it sounds.. .

cheer.

Mr_Serenity

For me having a conversation with someone on the phone or in person probably is the best way to practice. Being able to pay attention to someones speech and be receptive with them is a skill that comes from being aware.