Break It Down

ThailandTom

Do any NB members break down an experience or situation to investigate exactly how it came into being, the causes and effects it may have had on you or those around you? How important do you feel this is to everyday practice?

how

How else could you test if such basic buddhist teachings like dependant origination, the eight fold path, the four noble truths, etc. are really true?
It's importance as a daily practise is now something I leave to my meditation but there are buddhist paths that deliberately set time aside each day for such reflections.

Floating_Abu

Do any NB members break down an experience or situation to investigate exactly how it came into being, the causes and effects it may have had on you or those around you? How important do you feel this is to everyday practice?

I don't do that, at least if I understand you correctly, Tom.

Sabre

Depends on what kind of experience.

Something new and interesting, something I can not neglect, I'll reflect on it. Like deep meditation sessions, it is very fruitful to ask yourself why that deep concentration arose. Or basically everything to do with mindfulness is sometimes useful to reflect on. (The things in the maha-satipatthana sutta)

Something not so exiting, something ordinary, or something that doesn't have to do with the Path per se, I don't reflect on it. A conversation I had for example, I don't go and rewind.. which I did quite a lot when I was younger. But that's a waste of time.

Metta!

Invincible_summer

I think such reflections run the risk of making the person reflecting obsessed over their actions and worrying about everything they do. Especially if one has the tendency towards social anxiety.