For various reasons (school being a big one), my practice has waned lately. It has bothered me a great deal, but I was so stressed with school I could never bring myself to meditate when there was homework to be done. I need to learn to re-organize my priorities, because in the long run I actually care about my practice more, but this is not always reflected in my actions.
In any case, it is the summer now and I want to get my practice back in order. I did this challenge a couple times in the past, and it worked very well. Since my experience has born this to be very skillful means, I'm back.
This week I wish to practice for half and hour each day. I would prefer this occur in the morning, but it is my first week back and I am going to be flexible. Next week perhaps I will require greater discipline.
Thank you, everyone here, for providing this space of encouragement. You are all my benefactors
The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
- d.sullivan
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:24 am
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Every blade in the field,
Every leaf in the forest,
Lays down its life in its season,
As beautifully as it was taken up.
Thoreau.
Every leaf in the forest,
Lays down its life in its season,
As beautifully as it was taken up.
Thoreau.
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Wishing you all the very best!d.sullivan wrote:For various reasons (school being a big one), my practice has waned lately. It has bothered me a great deal, but I was so stressed with school I could never bring myself to meditate when there was homework to be done. I need to learn to re-organize my priorities, because in the long run I actually care about my practice more, but this is not always reflected in my actions.
In any case, it is the summer now and I want to get my practice back in order. I did this challenge a couple times in the past, and it worked very well. Since my experience has born this to be very skillful means, I'm back.
This week I wish to practice for half and hour each day. I would prefer this occur in the morning, but it is my first week back and I am going to be flexible. Next week perhaps I will require greater discipline.
Thank you, everyone here, for providing this space of encouragement. You are all my benefactors
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- d.sullivan
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:24 am
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Thank you, Ben!Ben wrote:
Wishing you all the very best!
My first week was pretty successful. I shamefully admit to missing one day this week. I beat myself up pretty bad about it, but oh well. I think challenging myself to half an hour a day was a tiny bit much, and it made me less likely to hit the bench if I didn't feel I had a whole half hour free. All in all, I am actually pretty happy with my progress. I was surprised at how easily I have been able to concentrate considering how long it has been since I meditated regularly. That was a very pleasant surprise!
I am going to challenge myself to another week of sitting once a day, but I won't be as much of a stickler about the minimum time I need to sit. As long as I actually get to the cushion and stay there for at least 20 minutes or so, I will be happy. I'll check back at the end of the week to let you all know how it went.
Every blade in the field,
Every leaf in the forest,
Lays down its life in its season,
As beautifully as it was taken up.
Thoreau.
Every leaf in the forest,
Lays down its life in its season,
As beautifully as it was taken up.
Thoreau.
- NoMoreSnoozeBar
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2012 10:01 pm
- Location: Virginia, USA
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Hello All,
I wanted to post here as I still persevere through the challenge of setting the foundation of my practice. My present goal is to sit for at least 30 minutes per day. I have accomplished this some after several days at 15 minutes then worked up to 30. I still let life and tiredness keep my away from the cushion when I know that I need to be there. I think I will aim to wake up before I need to and sit while everyone else is still asleep. This seems to be the most ideal time for me given the busyness and fullness of my evenings around the house.
With no teacher or local meditation classes, I am trying to gather my resources as much as possible, and I am thrilled to have found this forum.
Be well!
~Chris
I wanted to post here as I still persevere through the challenge of setting the foundation of my practice. My present goal is to sit for at least 30 minutes per day. I have accomplished this some after several days at 15 minutes then worked up to 30. I still let life and tiredness keep my away from the cushion when I know that I need to be there. I think I will aim to wake up before I need to and sit while everyone else is still asleep. This seems to be the most ideal time for me given the busyness and fullness of my evenings around the house.
With no teacher or local meditation classes, I am trying to gather my resources as much as possible, and I am thrilled to have found this forum.
Be well!
~Chris
Metta,
~Chris
Hitting the snooze bar of life may seem easier, but practicing toward awakening is a much better idea.
~Chris
Hitting the snooze bar of life may seem easier, but practicing toward awakening is a much better idea.
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Hi!
I'm just starting out, and so far have been very undisciplined. Today is the first day of my new routine:
Every morning:
walking meditation four lengths of my room (mostly just to wake up). This is about 20 paces in total!
5 mins calm awareness (the very first stage described by Ajahn Brahm in Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond
Metta: all four phrases for me, then a circuit of the first phrase for people I'm meeting today
+ more metta as needed/as it develops
Another two lengths of the room (mostly to get some feeling back in my legs)
The metta sounds selfish, but it's recommended in the guide I'm following to start exclusively with yourself at first (interestingly Ajahn Brahm recommends the opposite as he says most of us find doing metta for ourselves the most difficult).
This is a pathetically small amount, but if I stick to it for a week it will be more discipline and consistency than I've ever managed before. I'm trying to be realistic.
Good luck to everyone in their practice
I'm just starting out, and so far have been very undisciplined. Today is the first day of my new routine:
Every morning:
walking meditation four lengths of my room (mostly just to wake up). This is about 20 paces in total!
5 mins calm awareness (the very first stage described by Ajahn Brahm in Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond
Metta: all four phrases for me, then a circuit of the first phrase for people I'm meeting today
+ more metta as needed/as it develops
Another two lengths of the room (mostly to get some feeling back in my legs)
The metta sounds selfish, but it's recommended in the guide I'm following to start exclusively with yourself at first (interestingly Ajahn Brahm recommends the opposite as he says most of us find doing metta for ourselves the most difficult).
This is a pathetically small amount, but if I stick to it for a week it will be more discipline and consistency than I've ever managed before. I'm trying to be realistic.
Good luck to everyone in their practice
Last edited by Feathers on Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
- James the Giant
- Posts: 791
- Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 6:41 am
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Good work for being realistic! Even that small amount is nothing to be sneezed at. And good luck.Feathers wrote:Hi!
This is a pathetically small amount, but if I stick to it for a week it will be more discipline and consistency than I've ever managed before. I'm trying to be realistic.
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
- LonesomeYogurt
- Posts: 900
- Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:24 pm
- Location: America
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Hahaha good to know I'm not the only one who does that.Feathers wrote:Another two lengths of the room (mostly to get some feeling back in my legs)
Good to see you're starting up a practice. Please let us all know how it's going.
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.
Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.
His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta
Stuff I write about things.
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.
Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.
His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta
Stuff I write about things.
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Well it's . . . let's be honest, not really going :p It's been a horrible few weeks with deadline after deadline, but term is now over, so I am going to try and get started again. I have to admit, I have actually missed doing metta.LonesomeYogurt wrote:Hahaha good to know I'm not the only one who does that.Feathers wrote:Another two lengths of the room (mostly to get some feeling back in my legs)
Good to see you're starting up a practice. Please let us all know how it's going.
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
The important thing is to not be too hard on yourself. Sometimes, the right conditions don't present themselves. The important thing is to keep on applying the effort. In time, greater opportunities will present themselves and take advantage of them when they occur.Feathers wrote:
Well it's . . . let's be honest, not really going :p It's been a horrible few weeks with deadline after deadline, but term is now over, so I am going to try and get started again. I have to admit, I have actually missed doing metta.
Wishing you all the best,
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Modus.Ponens
- Posts: 3854
- Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:38 am
- Location: Gallifrey
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Before you all, I make the strong resolution to meditate every day.
'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' - Jhana Sutta
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Well done on your adhitthana, MP.Modus.Ponens wrote:Before you all, I make the strong resolution to meditate every day.
I wish you every success!
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Modus.Ponens
- Posts: 3854
- Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:38 am
- Location: Gallifrey
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Thank you Ben!
Just finished my meditation, even if it was short. Baby steps.
Just finished my meditation, even if it was short. Baby steps.
'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' - Jhana Sutta
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Right here we go again. My exams are over, I've had a few days' sleep, and the world in general is looking a little better. So the plan is 15mins morning, 15mins evening of sitting - starting with present moment awareness and hopefully getting to focus on the breath. I'll also chuck some metta in at some point, but starting out with those two 15mins . . . I've just downloaded the Insight Timer app, if anyone uses it and wants to add me . . . well my name is Deborah. Not sure how you actually find people :p
- Khalil Bodhi
- Posts: 2250
- Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:32 pm
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Good job! I usually try to sit for 50 minute in the morning (between 4:30am and 5:30 am EST ) and around 35 minutes in the evening. I'll keep my eyes peeled and will make a group for the Dhamma Wheel Meditation challenge.Feathers wrote:Right here we go again. My exams are over, I've had a few days' sleep, and the world in general is looking a little better. So the plan is 15mins morning, 15mins evening of sitting - starting with present moment awareness and hopefully getting to focus on the breath. I'll also chuck some metta in at some point, but starting out with those two 15mins . . . I've just downloaded the Insight Timer app, if anyone uses it and wants to add me . . . well my name is Deborah. Not sure how you actually find people :p
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183
The Stoic Buddhist: https://www.quora.com/q/dwxmcndlgmobmeu ... pOR2p0uAdH
My Practice Blog:
http://khalilbodhi.wordpress.com
-Dhp. 183
The Stoic Buddhist: https://www.quora.com/q/dwxmcndlgmobmeu ... pOR2p0uAdH
My Practice Blog:
http://khalilbodhi.wordpress.com
Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge
Hey all,
I downloaded that insight timer app, then searched for dhammawheel; KB has already made a group, so join up.
And I'm just putting this pledge out there: I'm going to renew my daily meditation practice in the simplest way possible, by meditating each day for no fewer than 10 minutes a day. Of course, I hope to grow that into something larger. As it is, though, I'll settle for this modest goal.
I downloaded that insight timer app, then searched for dhammawheel; KB has already made a group, so join up.
And I'm just putting this pledge out there: I'm going to renew my daily meditation practice in the simplest way possible, by meditating each day for no fewer than 10 minutes a day. Of course, I hope to grow that into something larger. As it is, though, I'll settle for this modest goal.