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Meditation going by the wayside
skullchin
Veteran
I'm a new father. Meditation has been difficult. My goal is merely 25 minutes a day. Lately I have been choosing extra sleep over meditation. I need to get back into it as I've haven't meditated in about a week.
Okay, just thought I'd share, hoping for some encouragement.
Okay, just thought I'd share, hoping for some encouragement.
0
Comments
Funny how attention and responsibility constitute (for my money) the core teachings of Buddhism and yet we pick and choose what to pay attention to and what to be responsible for. Oh well, live and learn.
Here's a story I always liked:
Stingy in Teaching
A young physician in Tokyo named Kusuda met a college friend who had been studying Zen. The young doctor asked him what Zen was.
"I cannot tell you what it is," the friend replied, "but one thing is certain. If you understand Zen, you will not be afraid to die."
"That's fine," said Kusuda. "I will try it. Where can I find a teacher?"
"Go to the master Nan-in," the friend told him.
So Kusuda went to call on Nan-in. He carried a dagger nine and a half inches long to determine whether or not the teacher was afraid to die.
When Nan-in saw Kusuda he exclaimed: "Hello, friend. How are you? We haven't seen each other for a long time!"
This perplexed Kusuda, who replied: "We have never met before."
"That's right," answered Nan-in. "I mistook you for another physician who is receiving instruction here."
With such a beginning, Kusuda lost his chance to test the master, so reluctantly he asked if he might receive Zen instruction.
Nan-in said: "Zen is not a difficult task. If you are a physician, treat you patients with kindness. That is Zen."
Kusuda visited Nan-in three times. Each time Nan-in told him the same thing. "A physician should not waste time around here. Go home and take care of you patients."
It was not yet clear to Kusuda how such teaching could remove the fear of death. So on his fourth visit he complained: "My friend told me when one learns Zen one loses the fear of death. Each time I come here all you tell me is to take care of my patients. I know that much. If that is your so-called Zen, I am not going to visit you any more."
Nan-in smiled and patted the doctor. "I have been too strict with you. Let me give you a koan." He presented Kusuda with Joshu's Mu to work over, which is the first mind enlightening problem in the book called The Gateless Gate.
Kusuda pondered this problem of Mu (No-Thing) for two years. At length he thought he had reached certainty of mind. But his teacher commented: "You are not in yet."
Kusuda continued in concentration for another year and a half. His mind became placid. Problems dissolved. No-Thing became the truth. He served his patients well and, without even knowing it, he was free from concern over life and death.
Then when he visited Nan-in, his old teacher just smiled.
From: http://www.101zenstories.com/
Wow, that's rough. I've heard advanced meditators say that they need less sleep when they are on retreat, but I suppose that may not apply to shorter meditation sessions.
Are there moments when you could do significant non-standard meditation? Maybe rocking-the-baby meditation? Or cleaning meditation? Also, you can maybe do a few minutes of meditation as your are lying down ready to sleep.
Keep updating because I think this is a useful topic. Really, it's the ultimate in practical Buddhism.
Just remember u meditate to develop skillful qualities inside and outside meditation. That kind of Guilt its unskillful. Keep your mind uplifted, smiling all the time, and meditation will come.
Therefore, it's actually probably even more important to be mindful outside of your practice. Sure it's great to set aside 25-30 minutes to feel all relaxed, but mindfulness is needed during our daily lives. In my experience, I've found that life is easier when there's a constant meditation present. Just an effortless presence during day-to-day activities.
Just because the mind is like 'OK, now meditation, now stop'.. doesn't mean anything has changed lol..
Thoughts, emotions, sensations, the breath.. they all arise and cease.. rise and fall..
Why choose to get involved will all of these when getting off the cushion?
Heck, I've found it so much more useful in dealing with everyday life stuff I don't even practice formally anymore.
The practice never ends chief. Or well err.. it does but yeaa.. keep 'practicing' lol
Being mindful at all times is sometime just too tough. A compromise is to have certain cues that tell you to be mindful.
Gil Fronsdal told a story about Kamala Masters, who was a single mother of four. She didn't have time to meditate, but her teacher told her that every time she walked down the central hallway in her house, she was to do it mindfully.
She credits this practice to allowing her to quickly advance when she finally began to do retreats years later.
Fronsdal also mentions a Zen tradition of always entering a room leading with the foot that is closest to the doorway. This is also supposed to be a cue to be mindful.
In any case, I hope OP does get a chance for closed-eyed meditation. Any more hints?
Keep accumulating merit, and this will help with these kinds of obstacles!
Thanks for everyone's advice and encouragement
Update us on any insights you gain from this experience! It's a good topic.
My son has been sleeping for longer stretches so I've been getting more sleep. I've gone to meditating before I go to bed as my wife is falling asleep. I'm back up to meditating most days. Now if I could only meditate twice and day and go on a weekend retreat that would be something!!