One thing at the time
mockeymind
Veteran
HI everybody, I am in an exploration where I try to do things one thing at a time. I encountered so much distraction, its like a the mind acts as a radio receiver - open to any kind of signal. I could do "focus" only for a few minutes - 5-10 mins max. After that, mindfulness slips again and grab thoughts.
Here are some tasks that I started, Having meals without TV, radio or anything that distract me from just eating. Doing programming at work without trying not to think of anything else aside computer codes. I am thinking of disabling notifications from my smartphone so I could just use it just one apps at a time.
I heard something about meditating facing a wall with open eyes, can this enforce more focus on mindfulness? Anybody who did exploration on the same project - Any feedback would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
Comments
Phew!! You've set yourself a tough task there @mockeymind - one that I think could possibly be successful in the confines of a monastery perhaps but really hard in our every day world.
Best of luck though!
A friend of mine was in a Zen group, and they did meditation facing a wall with eyes open.
In the Dzogchen group where I belong, we meditate with eyes open, though not facing a wall.
What you've set out to do, @mockeymind, sounds difficult when you attempt to verbalize it and describe it as a goal.
If you just think of yourself as simply aspiring to be mindful in your everyday life without much fuss nor fanfare, it is attainable.
I, for one, have pledged to live mindfully one breath at a time, even through the most menial happenstances our daily life presents us with.
I find the short attention span less dauntingand easier to achieve.
Good plan.
Many people try to do several things at once. In fact it is encouraged for worker drones.
Mindfulness is not easy in all situations and is easiest with simple tasks, journeys to work, eating without distraction, walking, cleaning, bathing, focussing at the task in hand at work etc.
Do these slowly carefully and attentively as you can. Return when you can, as you say, to gently focus.
Yes. Any form of formal, enforced or focussed mindfulness will be helpful. A formal meditation practice will be time well spent. The Zen practice you describe is a good plan.
http://www.bodhizendo.org/zazen.htm
Mindfulness seems to be one of the simplest yet difficult things, doesn't it? I mean, it should come naturally and without effort because it is clearly desirable, and I know that when I practice mindfulness I benefit from it greatly! However, in our busy lives, we are expected to "multitask" and have several irons in the fire, all red hot. @mockeymind, I do some of the same things you do to practice mindfulness, I eat my breakfast with no distractions( most times anyway), I will drive to work with no radio on in the car to cloud my mind with banal chatter. I have found that practicing walking meditation works well for me. Being mindful of every step, how the ground feels beneath your feet, the flexing and movement of your leg muscles and the focus on breath really help me.
Thanks for all the responses.
-
It started when I listened to a dharma talk, learning that the mind is more becoming complex when its multi tasking. When I was a little boy, (because of our family background in military) we are not allowed to eat with radio turned on. It was a belief that it was disrespectful to the food. I never knew that was the better way. To focus just on the meal. We do the same thing when cleaning the house, no music, no nothing - just cleaning until the work is done. Now its clear to me that kind of training is useful and can be applied into the practice. Just trying if I could re-train my mind.
I'll try to dig more into zazen.
Yes, it's a useful approach, and the more you do it the more natural it will become. This might be of interest: http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Thich Nhat Hanh - The Miracle of Mindfulness.pdf
@mockeymind -- Rather than trying to put a fence around daily life events, maybe you could strengthen the capacity to do one thing at a time by facing a wall.
In daily life, the escape hatches are all around us. But when facing the wall, there is no place to run. This practice may be pretty hard to start with, but with practice, the need/desire to escape recedes and the ability begins to reach out into daily events.
It's sort of silly, when you think it through: How many things could anyone actually do at one time? Still, learning to do one thing at a time seems to take some practice.
Good luck.