Buddhist Hobby
lobster
Crusty Veteran
From another thread (so to speak)
Join a club where you get to do things would help or take up a hobby especially one that is fruitful. Maybe, you can consider knitting. You could meditate as you knit!
http://outoftherockingchair.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/buddhism-and-knitting/
Mindfulness in activity is something you will notice in practicing sangha. Eating, strutting in togas . . . aka walking meditation, mindful washing up etc.
Take it a little farther. What hobbies ease you into mindfulness?
As I was cycling at a pace that would make a Rastafarian pedestrian blush, admiring the spring world, an elderly fellow traveller approved:
'Yeah man, take it easy. Take it easy!'
Others have mentioned mindful driving, running etc
Is cooking part of your practice? Everything? Return to the breath . . . nice and easy . . . ?
Comments
It got to be meditation!
Actually I love to sew and quilt and once I start I can lose myself in it for hours, it feels very mindful to me, I'm just lost in the moment, or in the 'flow'. I also love to sweep the floor and won't use the vacuam cleaner, I find the repetitiveness of sweeping very calming and I do it mindfully.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
I try to bring it into everything but some activities are certainly easier. Doing jigsaw puzzles, wood carving, doing dishes, tending the houseplants and garden,mowing the lawn (I use a reel mower so much less noise and I can mow barefoot), hiking, kayaking.
Dog walking
NB
I draw and paint mandalas while sipping green tea. Excellent hobby for mindfulness and free therapy session. Boring household chores can also be excellent opportunities for mindfulness "ah" moments.
Running; it's more about the mind than the body.
great ideas guys . . . I love the mindful dog walking, even though I don't have a dog, still take him for a walk . . .
The Dalai Lamas hobby is repairing watches . . . how he gets the time I don't know . . .
My wife is sold on the idea that knitting can be used as a medatative practice, and is a fan of Tara Jon Manning (who was a student of Trungpa Rinpoche). I have friends who do flower arranging, archery, calligraphy and photography as a meditative dicipline and hobby. I used to tie trout flies and have thought about taking it up again - do a blog about it - I'm a bit conflicted about it because of the purpose of the flies
The great thing about dog walking, is once you've learned the confidence to let them off the lead, you can just observe them, and all they seem to do is pee, poo, sniff, run, bark and play, mine does not care to bring sticks or balls back, but chases squirrels and pigeons tirelessly. And that's all there is to it, well apart from responsibly picking up the poo in a little black bag. Feeling the warmth and softness of it through bag and getting a waft of the odour has made me gag a couple of times. Perhaps your dog is better to take for a walk - no mess, no maintenance.
That list of activities is what Mrs Citta says occupies my day too. Apart from the squirrels...they are too fast for me.
I am a bit more traditional in the fact that my own hobby has been intertwined with Zen for centuries. I practice Iaido (Muso Shinden Ryu), the art of drawing a sword against an imaginary opponent. It is very difficult to get a perfect draw, cut, chiburi (shaking the blood off the blade) and noto (returning the sword to the sheath) and in many cases practitioners spend a lifetime trying to get a perfect moment where mind, hands, feet and sword all work in harmony. I get the same thing out of searching for the perfect Karate Kata (Shotokan, Wado Ryu) or Kung Fu form (Lau Gar).
Apart from that I find birdwatching very conducive to mindfulness, they appear when they wish to appear and if you are not mindful you miss them.
I have an app on my phone called chirp, and from time to time I stop and identify the birdsong and the birds. I found a lesser spotted woodpecker in the park last year and saw one for the first time in my life. I stood under the tree looking up at for I don't know how long, but it was nice to see and hear it producing it's distinctive knocking sound that reverberated around the park. Despite it being so loud and distinctive, not many people were aware, or even interested in it. I think a good hobby, should open your eyes to the world that 's been taken for granted.
Ah bird watching . . .woodpeckers . . . a few years ago watched them feeding their young. That was magical. Quite a few on our local common. Loads of parakeets in London these days. A few days ago I was at a nesting point for the elusive kingfisher. Sadly though seen by someone that morning, the parents did not return to their bank hole whilst I sat mindfully hoping to catch a pic . . . will go again. Saw a pair of collared doves sitting on a foot bridge this morning. Do not see them as often as I would like . . .
My cousin practises this. One day, she was due to have lunch with my mother and some friends, but arrived slightly late, and apologised, explaining her practice had made her forget the time.
My mother's friend questioned her on this discipline, and asked her to give a demonstration.
My cousin gave a one-word response:
"No."
My mother said that the look on her friend's face was priceless.
No clarification, explanation or justification.
Wonderful.