Habit energies

ClayTheScribe

I've stumbled across Buddhist teachers speaking about habit energies and how we all have them. Lately I've become much more aware of them, how I talk really fast and in great volumes around my mom out of habit, how I do almost the same thing every day when I get home from work, how I continually procrastinate on cleaning my apartment. Not all these habits are unskillful, but several of them are and border on addictive behaviors. How do you work with your habit energies and forming new patterns?

ozen

By moving our attention towards peace.

taiyaki

with awareness.
meaning attention and clarity of what is happening.
then whatever arises be it a habit or a thought you just notice it as it is. whether it is good or bad, you just notice it.

awareness is important. paying attention and being present is most important.

but that also must be balanced with a relaxed body and mind.

so for instance there may be craving for pizza. with awareness we notice that there is the craving. we discern oh this is craving for pizza. then the body is examined. is the body hungry? or is it just habitual energies coming and going.

if one is relaxed and not in tension in body and mind then one can have a relaxed awareness of what is occurring.

in doing so we realize that everything arises and falls. even if we believe that things might last forever. and even if these habits come back, we have a tool to live in relationship to the habits. we don't have to feed them, nor neglect them.

they become precious objects of our experience.

and slowly overtime they all dissipate. but one shouldn't come with that intention because that strengthens the habit. one should come with a curious relax attentive awareness.

kind of like holding a kitten.

this imho is the best way to hold suffering. let it do its thing and we learn from it.

hope this helps.

ozen

Yup, works like a champ.