Just to add ' just doing it ' does not imply a clenched jaw and a steely eye. It means doing daily what your teacher has prescribed for you, no more no less, and importantly , as others have said, with no expectations. None.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”
Relaxation is so useful! Relaxed jaw actually is extremely useful
besides all meditation techniques; which all are very valid. . also maybe a bit of tai chi . . . last recourse simply gently massaging the jaw muscles - simple but very wonderful
I know Tai Chi is not Buddhist, but it is very nice overlap.
Relaxation is so useful! Relaxed jaw actually is extremely useful
besides all meditation techniques; which all are very valid. . also maybe a bit of tai chi . . . last recourse simply gently massaging the jaw muscles - simple but very wonderful
I know Tai Chi is not Buddhist, but it is very nice overlap.
I think you might possibly have missed the bit about ' what your teacher has prescribed for you. no more no less '. And I did not mention ' relaxation ' as I do not think that there is a consensus about its place in practice. Its certainly not an aim of practice.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”
Wayfarer,
I am older as well (53) We all have problems with motivation from time to time. I try to keep it simple. You are going to die...maybe an hour from now or maybe a couple of decades BUT it IS going to happen. When I have problems with motivation I try to bring this to the forefront in my mind..not as an intellectual idea or construct but the Reality of it, the Knowing of it. So you have a choice...dying with Awareness and no fear or dying freaked out, confused and at the mercy of your past karma. Your practice is the ONLY thing that will get you through that process. I should clarify though..its not a matter of freaking yourself out and guilting yourself into doing practice..its about giving yourself a reality check....putting things into perspective...
"But if you know how to observe yourself, you will discover your real nature, the primordial state, the state of Guruyoga, and then all will become clear because you will have discovered everything"-Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche
Fa Dao wrote:Wayfarer,
I am older as well (53) We all have problems with motivation from time to time. I try to keep it simple. You are going to die...maybe an hour from now or maybe a couple of decades BUT it IS going to happen. When I have problems with motivation I try to bring this to the forefront in my mind..not as an intellectual idea or construct but the Reality of it, the Knowing of it. So you have a choice...dying with Awareness and no fear or dying freaked out, confused and at the mercy of your past karma. Your practice is the ONLY thing that will get you through that process. I should clarify though..its not a matter of freaking yourself out and guilting yourself into doing practice..its about giving yourself a reality check....putting things into perspective...
As Guru Rinpoche said:
Having assembled here, you all must listen well. The minds of all these Buddhists of Tibet, for the most part, have never been prepared. So in all of their Dharma activity, thoughts of death and impermanence have not arisen in their minds. If it had arisen, this laziness and indolence would have never existed...
dzogchungpa wrote:I like this piece of advice from ChNN's "Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State":
The Dzogchen teachings advise one never to force the condition of one's energy, but always to be aware of its limits in all the various circumstances one encounters. If at times one does not feel like sitting down to practice then one should avoid setting up a struggle against oneself. It could be that there is some problem of our energy that we don't know about behind our feeling like this. In such situations it is important to know how to relax, and how to give oneself space, in order not to block the progress of one's practice.
I agree. But so often I don't feel like sitting, and yet I'll get on the mat anyway, and in less than 2 minutes all my excuses have disappeared and I'm already enjoying being there. My mind can be so fickle. The problem, as pointed out earlier, is that self-diagnosis malfunctions. The solution is to follow tradition FIRST, then evaluate my progress / state of mind / energy levels etc. The mat is den, retreat, refuge - even if you just sit on it blankly. The mat is the only place to make decisions about practice because anywhere else you are not yourself.
People will know nothing and everything
Remember nothing and everything
Think nothing and everything
Do nothing and everything
- Machig Labdron
dzogchungpa wrote:I like this piece of advice from ChNN's "Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State":
The Dzogchen teachings advise one never to force the condition of one's energy, but always to be aware of its limits in all the various circumstances one encounters. If at times one does not feel like sitting down to practice then one should avoid setting up a struggle against oneself. It could be that there is some problem of our energy that we don't know about behind our feeling like this. In such situations it is important to know how to relax, and how to give oneself space, in order not to block the progress of one's practice. Problems of loneliness, of depression, of mental confusion and so on, also often derive from an unbalanced condition of our energy.
And here he is talking rlung, vata, the air element in our bodies.
How would one go about regulating this element to address such a disorder then?
"Even if my body should be burnt to death in the fires of hell
I would endure it for myriad lifetimes
As your companion in practice"
--- Gandavyuha Sutra
Anders wrote:
How would one go about regulating this element to address such a disorder then?
Yantra yoga, prāṇayāma, eating a vata pacifying diet and so on.
Do you have any reliable resources to point to for a vata pacifying diet Malcom?
Not always satisfied with the credibility of some of the links found online.
'When thoughts arise, recognise them clearly as your teacher'— Gampopa 'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
Anders wrote:
How would one go about regulating this element to address such a disorder then?
Yantra yoga, prāṇayāma, eating a vata pacifying diet and so on.
Do you have any reliable resources to point to for a vata pacifying diet Malcom?
Not always satisfied with the credibility of some of the links found online.
Dr. Lad's website has good reliable information about this.
Wayfarer wrote:As I understand Buddhism, it may be quite a hard path to follow, in the sense that it does demand right effort and constant application.
I find it is sometimes very hard to stay with it and to maintain a daily commitment to meditation practice and observation of the precepts. This is especially so because where I live there is no recognition of the meaning of it and nobody who I practice with on a daily basis.
Maybe try committing to a daily hatha yoga practice. Ten minutes or so, and see if that makes it easier or harder to sit down and meditate. It's generally easier to tame the body than the mind. I can almost always place my right arm where I want it, placing my mind where I want it is more difficult.
So if I neglect sitting or don't keep the precepts properly, nobody notices or cares.
You have seemed to noticed and cared, which is virtuous. In the end, the only practice you can really judge is your own.
Thanks for the tips. Actually a lady moved into the neighbourhood who was a yoga teacher and I went to half a dozen classes, but I'm pretty terrible at asanas, my balance is off and I move like an old bit of machinery. My sitting practice is actually alright by comparison. My challenge is learning how to do without a lot of the stuff I habitually lean on. I think a good retreat would help.
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
Thinking about the sufferings that I experienced and witnessed gives me motivation. Sometimes it even bring tears in my eyes before even I start meditation.
but seriously motivation for me is directly experience the truth Buddha spoke and the rest of the lineage which can be experience, that what can be seen in certain states is beyond any fantasy books, even stories from sutras more look the regular things, so maybe try little by little for example approach antta experience thru trekchod etc.