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daily practice
lobster
Crusty Veteran
From another thread
I have been meditating on and off for years but looking to make a committment to a daily regular practise. Good to be here. I can see there is a lot I can learn.
Who is committed? How did that happen?
My daily practice is meditate and exercise. Without it I would be commited to the funny farm or an unsuitable cult.
https://cundi.weebly.com/meditation.html
The exercise is showing benefits, now have three types. I likes variety. Yoga, chi kung and martial arts warm up.
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First thing of a morning I sit and of an evening I sit...."Shikantaza"
and during the day....
Each commitment/reinforcement improves our well being. For example I need to do a concentration practice and will have to work ot how best to incorporate that ...
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/piyadassi/wheel001.html
I have a practice. It may not be the best practice by other people's standards, but it's my practice and I practise it as best I can.
I practise being a good person.
It takes up most of my waking day, lol.
Most of the time, it works.
When not, I keep practising.
One day, I'll have it down pat.
I hope...
Bravo @federica
I seem to remember you chant. People can progress all the way to enlightenment and back with such a practice.
For example Tara Mantra can be:
and so on ...
The 21 Taras is the practice I learned and celebrated
https://buddhaweekly.com/mother-taras-many-armed-protective-embrace-21-taras-according-to-surya-gupta-a-very-special-celebration-of-supreme-mother-tara-the-liberator/
It is an open practice, developing a series invoking the feminine aspects in 21 forms or attributes.
Om tare tuttare ture soha
I love Green Tara?
She's my bee-atch....
I am not sure if I will be able to upload this photo well, but there is a beautiful image of Green Tara that I love.
I wonder how monks manage to ward off unskillful thoughts when presented with a likenes of Green Tara such as this...
aye,green tara art for the win.very pretty,with no sexual intention....my practice of refrain?
That's THEIR problem.
I am of the opinion (and I am not alone in this - far from it!) That all prejudicial tendencies towards nuns have been, in the past, and still are, very much constructs of Monks, not of the Buddha.
To add responsibility onto the shoulders of the female ordained follower, is highly contentious and controversial, and to my mind, shows fault more with the male lineage than the female.
Green Tara is not a seductress.
She is a helper and counsellor in time of need.
If those who are passionate wish to get hot under the collar, then Red Tara is your go-to manifestation....
I should add. @Buddhalotus , that I am not inferring you were making women - or Tara - responsible for the reckless and unskilful thoughts men might have, faced with such an image.
That was not my intention.
I was merely pointing out that when it comes to practice of the 3rd precept, and the self-control of sensual/sexual thoughts, each one has to work on that aspect for themselves.
And both here, and elsewhere, threads on suppressing sexual desire, watching porn and other pastimes associated with an active libido, seem to have been predominantly posted or begun by male participants on forums.
It seems to me a high number of male Buddhists see this aspect of practice as quite a difficult one to master...
This reminds me, @federica, of a Muslim friend of mine who told me that women must cover themselves so as not to trigger lustful thoughts in men.
Well, it's up to men to learn to control their drives, not us becoming walking mummies.
My point exactly...
But I hesitate to derail the thread.
Sorry, I meant "mummies," but don't know how to correct
Mod note: Done.
Suppressing things always seems to lead to stressful and broken outcomes.
You have a generous period of time in which to correct or alter the content of a post.
I will say it can make things awkward if someone quotes your post - and then you change it. It can affect the whole timbre of a thread, but I have to add, it's extremely rare that it happens.
A commendable indication of how measured we are with our words here.
If you need to correct a typo, click on the little cog to the top right of your post.
A button with 'edit' appears.
click, and your post is ready to amend.
If you don't amend or correct your post in time, and there's something you'd like changed, drop me a PM. I will oblige if I can, but well into a thread with subsequent responses to a post, I'm often reluctant to delete a comment completely....
Thank you for the explanation, @federica
?
I sit once in the morning and once in the evening. It’s supposed to be every day, but I often miss one. Mostly I practise breath meditation, but sometimes I do visualisation for a few days.
I’d like to firm up my practice though. I’m planning to join a retreat in the spring, and I hope that’s one thing I can ask the teachers about.
I also read a lot and listen to audiobooks and dharma talks. Too much reading and not enough doing probably.
@adamcrossley
Good luck on the retreat.
Whilst preparing for a retreat, I started learning Meditation to make the most of the experience. The retreat had been a joint attendance, going with friends. They all dropped out, so I went alone. Prepared. A few years later I started calling myself Buddhist. Nobody will meditate for us.
Sometimes practice can be in a different form ...
Yesterday our local Catholic Tantra Baby Jesus Temple was a great place to celebrate the end of humbug week ...
Life is practice! Oh you knew ...
Jesus Christ! Sun of Cod. Have Mercy on me
A scener ...
My daily practise had wavered some. However, I have a break till 7th January so I am making time each morning and evening to meditate, drink my tea mindfully and mentally remind myself of the Noble Eightfold Path ??????
@Kundo
“Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.”
― Jelaluddin Rumi
After a really hard year in a rut, the daily practice is starting to return. Thank Cod!
Mindfullness bell, raking, and NB . ??
Ditto. BTW...nice to meet you...
Thank you, @Vastmind
Meditating on death and impermanence is what keeps me motivated. And from time to time Bodhichitta does, when I feel like there's a possibility of becoming a Buddha. I feel like Arhatship is possible all the time because impermanence and no self can be verified through reflective wisdom. A Buddha though? Emanation bodies and blessing all beings? That's tough to swallow, though that is the goal and motivation if it is attainable.
Fascinating.
Everything is dead, death and impermanent. Which means life, Buddha Buds and flowers, life and Everything.
Is it a positive experience for you? I have a dead body in the freezer [that lobster is well past its eat by date]. ? I find a preoccupation with life may come from death based meditation. Otherwise is it morbid? Freaky? Best kept private or for traditional sangha die hards? Not sure what?
Do you feel meditation on death is a dying phase?
Speaking of meditation on death.....
We lost our beautiful dog Jessi on Sunday morning. She had a seizure during the night which left her paralysed. We took her to the vet where we found out she had a brain tumour so we had to let her go. Sitting with her, holding her as she slipped away was an experience. After the vet confirmed her dead, he closed her eyes and let us say our farewells. I stayed on the floor with her and after about two minutes, she opened her eyes, let out two big sighs and was perfectly still. The vet had warned us of movement after death due to brain activity lasting longer than when breathing ceases. I also knew this due to my study of biology. But afterwards, I kept pondering the teaching on the Bardos. I also marvelled at how quick and peaceful it was for Jessi. I know that I want to go that way too. I’ll definitely be practising the breathing techniques for entering the Bardos when I die. It was amazing to witness.
(Yes I know as a dog she would likely not know any Dharma teachings. But maybe she was my Dharma teaching?) Regardless, I miss her terribly, but feel some comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering.
??????
Sending blessings and good wishes, @Kundo. I shall use my gifted mala (
) to recite mantras in her memory, tonight. 
Thanks Fede ????❤️❤️??
Thanks for sharing everyone
Now. Do I write something? Or practice? No difference really. So I'll do some formal practice ...
I found a formal concentration meditation to do. Basically a small light (usually dark when I sit) on my monitor keeps me occupied.
Here is (hopefully) a useful link
https://tricycle.org/magazine/problem-meditation-instructions/
I still have my eyes open ?