| | Great Questions:
Short answer:
Three Trainings. When working on Morality, that of the world, the ordinary ways we make this world a better place, work within that framework. Feed yourself, make money, pay your bills, do good, have fun, avoid hurting people when possible, make a positive difference, etc.
When working on the trainings in Concentration: find great practice conditions, fix your attention on the object, develop that to depth and stability.
When working on the trainings in Insight: See the true nature of all phenomena in every instant if it is at all possible, or whatever other specific wisdom tradition instructions you have.
The assumptions, contexts, advice, supports and criteria for success in these Trainings are all different, radically different. Yes, mindfulness helps them all, yes they can inform each other, but plenty of them are just their own thing.
Thus, when in The World: do your best to make the ordinary world a better place, a healthy place, an enjoyable place, a sane, safe, kind, beautiful place. Why not? This just makes sense.
When on retreat or during practice sessions: practice according to good instructions with everything you have got.
Compartmentalization within reason is the key to success, integrating what integrates naturally, and realizing that plenty of things only make sense in their specific context.
This is my advice anyway. It worked well for me and still does.
I wrote something about this in MCTB: most of Part I talks about this. You can find it on the wiki. |