| | Thanks for the kind welcome. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, exactly. I don't feel stuck, or that I'm flying ahead. I'm interpreting the teachings as I've read them or heard them on a podcasted dharma talk.
1. Sitting. I've been sitting since April 2010. Began with Anapanasati, 20 minutes. Counting breaths 1 - 10, then noting in and out. After reading Daniel's book I experimented with noting practice for 30 minute sittings for several months, always coming back to the breath. It was a little too intense. Tried that for about 2 months, before deciding I needed to strengthen my concentration. Since then I've been doing Anapanasati, focusing on the in out breath at the gateway. I visualize breathing in an out of the nostrils. I have moments every several weeks of momentary stillness, where everything gets very still for several seconds and sometimes the visual field seems to "dissolve", like snow on a tv. My eyes are closed, when it happen it's very stimulating and pleasant. The longest it's lasted is for up to a couple of minutes (which feels very long), and it's finally broken, my recognizing the stillness. Other times I can go for days or weeks, where I have to be very careful not to have my sitting interrupted, sometimes by sleepiness, other times by restlessness. When I can, I bring myself back and refocus.
2.Metta. When I first heard about Metta practice, I dismissed it as new age silliness last summer, but I came to the conclusion that I needed self metta to move my practice forward. To make sure that I was able to do my best meditating. I read quite a bit on Metta, and didn't find a practice that seemed to fit until I read a book by Sharon Salzberg and adapted a for line chant, may I live with free from danger, may I have mental happiness, may I have mental happiness, may i live with the ease of well being for 15 minutes, 3-4 times a day, when I can. It seems to make a difference bit by bit.
3. Dhamma. I either read excerpts from the Pali Canon or listen to dhamma talks by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Bhuddist Geeks, or Dharma Seed. Probably everyday to and from work.
4. I do the best I can to follow the eight fold path. Right speech is the toughest nut for me to crack.
So that's where I think I'm at.
Thanks, |