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Dealing with boredom?
What is the best way to deal with boredom? It's times like now where I just can't think of anything to do. I'd rather not indulge in watching tv, playing video games, or engaging in any other pointless, mind-numbing activities
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Namaste,
Raven
I do meditate. Twice daily for 30-40 minutes. I still get bored though, plus I don't have the willpower to meditate much more than that. I could find amusement in playing a video game for a couple hours, but then when I am meditating the game will be running through my mind nonstop. This is why I am asking for alternate, healthier suggestions as to how to prevent boredom without polluting the mind or regressing meditation progress
I wish I had more time for reading.
If you are bored, you simply need to expand your mind. Now, countless others have lived before you and they or others have left lots behind (in books) on which we can ruminate during those seasons in which our own experiences are shallow or dry.
Wide-open horizons surely cannot bore a person with a curious mind and an adventurous soul.
Life is for those who would awake from sleep and follow their hearts.
Perhaps you fear to startle those around you? That could be boring, indeed.
Perhaps you define yourself too narrowly out of respect for some standards you see set for you? Break out and be bold!
Boring is being 85 years old and living in a nursing home where they won't even let you stand up and stretch lest you might fall and break something.
Boring is being made to sit for hours at school or work.
Boring is something that should happen on somebody else's time —not your own!
What the world needs now is a lot more unconventional acts of love and wonder. And it's going on all around you most of the time! Be brave and don't ever be afraid to celebrate life on your own terms!!!!!!! Any other terms would be phoney, and that's BORING!!!!!!!
Oh yes - I
Namaste,
Raven
Anyway, there are various different forms of meditation as you probably know, maybe try researching them on the net or asking knowledgeable people on them.
Even in moments when you are doing nothing but you are also not meditating, why not trying to remain in that moment for a while with just yourself and your thoughts. You can learn a lot about the nature of the mind when you do this. Not focusing on your breathing in the lotus position or chanting, just lay down, sit down whatever and remain in that moment.
Other things that are productive, go for a long long walk somewhere. Take in your surroundings and take time to notice new things about them every day.
Go on a self retreat to really test yourself, I think in doing this we understand more about being bored and how to overcome such a thing.
You could do something that needs to be done around the house. Fix a broken plug, clean a room, anything domestic like that.
I often write poetry and I am working on a prose project at the moment which has been running for the last few months. Draw something, paint a picture, take some abstract fotos!
lol, the list is endless
Reading the suttas and listening to the Dhamma.
Going for walks and admiring nature eg. skygazing.
Observing how suffering arises in others and how they handle it.
Learn to play a musical instrument, plant a garden, etc.
there are lots of things to do that are good for you and can become a part of your Buddhist practice. We just have to have the confidence and discipline to stick with them.
Sometimes, boredom is the feeling to sit with. When we can dissolve boredom with right view, we are free to be at peace without external amusement. Look at your boredom... what is it? Where does it come from? What seeds it? What does it feel like? Where is it located?
With warmth,
Matt
Mtns
Use the prickly discomfort of boredom as an energy source for deep inquiry. What is this thing you are calling boredom? What is its essence? Does it have an independent existence? Does it arise in relation to something else? Is it real? Who is feeling bored? Is there an entity that gets bored? Who or what is this entity? Is it real? Etcetera.
Dig all the way down, stay with it, don't let yourself fall back into conditioned habits and modes of thinking/feeling.
Being bored is I am sure much a modern day emotion if you will. Well to a certain extent with the advances of technology and things to numb the mind with. It is hard to commit to doing nothing becuase it is exactly what the untrained mind doesn't want to do. Just like somebody who is really really over weight finds it hard to get up, drop the cake and go for a gym session. Once you do get up and do it a couple of times, you see a slight progress which encourages you to keep going